The Oldest Cure in the World

Adventures in the Art and Science of Fasting

De: Steve Hendricks

Narrado por: Jonathan Todd Ross

Duración: 17 h y 44 m

Resumen del Editor

A journalist takes listeners into the science and history of intermittent fasting, an ancient practice in the middle of a red-hot resurgence, exploring the body's power to heal itself.

One in ten American adults tried intermittent fasting last year, and they may be on to something. The latest research shows that fasting repairs cellular damage, improves the outcomes for chemotherapy patients, and helps with keeping a healthy weight, leading to a resurgence in recent years.

Journalist Steve Hendricks’s The Oldest Cure in the World tells the history of fasting—from the ancient world (Jesus treated an epileptic with fasting) to its rediscovery centuries later, thanks in part to a heartbroken doctor who resolved to starve himself to death only to find renewed vigor—and become a media celebrity in the process. Hendricks introduces us to the people who are reviving this long-lost remedy, including open-minded doctors who have explored and practiced fasting despite the medical establishment's resistance over the centuries and everyday people eager for a cure to what ails them.

The Oldest Cure in the World is a smart narrative look at a very hot topic, offering a fascinating look at the science behind the counterintuitive concept of going without food for our health, and chronicling the author’s own illuminating and entertaining forays into fasting.

©2022 Steve Hendricks (P)2022 Podium Audio

Best mentor during your next fast

I was planning to do a long fast but wanted a little support to put me in mood without spending thousands of euros in retreats. I couldn’t find a better mentor than this book.

The book became my friend during my fast. Explained to me the history, shared amazing stories, and dived into science of fasting in a very personable and often funny way.

I love it. Hope you too.

Excellent perspective of healthcare today

Excellent historical and overall perspective of fasting along with the health crises today. As a health care provider I have been very moved by the content and agree it is an area the requires more research.

Absolutely Fantastic!!!

Listen to this book if you want to learn the truth about how our amazing bodies can heal.

Awesome book!

Thoroughly enjoyed this informative, amusing story. The author's word choice and writing style were entertaining and kept the listener enthralled. I highly recommend to those already fasting daily like me as well as to those who have no information or inclination on the subject.

Great history, light on the science

This is indeed a very thorough recounting of the various characters throughout history who reported on fasting. I'm grateful that the author took the time to debunk some of the myths around some of these figures like Hippocrates and Pythagoras. If you love history, and are particularly interested in fasting, this book will be very entertaining for you.

My interest lies not so much with the detailed history of fasting, although it's interesting (to a point), but rather more of an understanding how it works, and how different types of fasting compare. This isn't that kind of book. It's not an instruction manual or a scientific analysis. It's both a personal biography of the author's journey with fasting, as well as the history, as well as personal accounts of two specialized fasting centers, one in the US and one in Germany.

There is a bit of scientific explanation to the book, but it's fairly minimal compared to the biographical and historical content. The other thing that might be good to know for some is that the author is vegan and is very confident that a low-fat vegan diet is the best diet there is, so you'll need to deal with that little piece of bias, unless of course you have that same bias. :)

I thought the narration was quite good. My only issue is that it was extremely slow. I had to push it up to 1.3X in order for it to sound like it was going at normal speed. I normally listen to things at 1X or 1.1X these days, but this seemed excessively slow. Other than that there were the usual occasional mispronunciations of names and such, but that's to be expected I suppose. Interestingly, one doctor who is featured prominently (Goldhamer), has his name pronounced one way in part of the book and a different way in another. Go figure.

The writing is, well, sometimes extremely, shall we say... flowery? That might be nice in an essay, article or even a fairly short book, but a book this long it just got a little tiresome. It's as if the author was either trying to show off or just lengthen his book by using complex sentence structures and thirty dollar words. I heard him speak on a podcast recently and he does not speak that way, so it's not like his natural way of communicating. I suppose some people might enjoy this, whereas it may be a barrier for others. For me it was ok to a point, then started to get a little annoying. I could have also done with all his blow-by-blow reporting of his physical bodily functions throughout his fasts. He does give a "trigger warning" at one point about these, I probably should have heeded that!

I do think it's a good reference about fasting's history though, and despite some issues with the writing and narration, I think it's a decent read for those interested in the subject.

worth the read (or listen!)

As someone who has been dealing with inflammation and disease for many years, I found this book very eye opening. I plan to do more research and start fasting!

In lightning

Very informative! I feel there’s a lot of info to be taken away from this book and will definitely utilize this information for my health.

Fascinating book, one of a kind

Excellent storytelling from a master of his craft. The author turned his cover story for Harper’s in 2010 into this book. Erudite, yet accessible, it’s a tale worth reading/hearing if you have an interest in personal health, nutrition, and non-traditional medical curatives.

The reader does a fine job as well. I’ll have to keep an eye out for him.

A note to the producers: please mind the sibilance.

Great Information

Loved the history of fasting. Author’s turn of phrase and story telling made this a very enjoyable listen!

Bravo

Excelente book. Thank you
Hopefully all doctors can read and change their protocol wit their patients