REPORTER

published SEPTEMBER 2022

by abrams press

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The Oldest Cure in the World

Adventures in the Art and Science of Fasting

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When should we eat, and when should we not?

The answers to these simple questions, as journalist Steve Hendricks shows in his irresistibly readable exploration of fasting, are not at all what you might expect. Stop eating for long enough, and you’ll set in motion cellular repairs that may slow aging as well as prevent and reverse a variety of diseases, including diabetes and hypertension, rheumatoid arthritis and epilepsy, asthma and schizophrenia, and much more. Astoundingly, fasting has even been proven to make chemotherapy better at killing cancer while protecting patients from the worst of chemo’s side effects.

Hendricks also takes us on a tour of the surprisingly expansive history of fasting, a chronicle as rich in telling detail as it is comprehensive in its scope, from the ancient Chinese woodcarver who fasted to still his mind and “to forget I have four limbs,” to the unlikely nineteenth-century doctor whose stupendous forty-day fast on a New York stage caused a stir around the world and inaugurated the modern era of therapeutic fasting that we’re still living in.

Threaded throughout are Hendricks’s own adventures in fasting, by turns playful and moving. One of these, his fast of twenty days, helped launch the recent wave of interest in fasting when an account of it was first published a decade ago. The lasting achievement of The Oldest Cure in the World is to guide us through a terrain we thought we knew well—our own bodies and when to feed them—but whose secrets we’re only beginning to unlock, with great promise for health and longevity.

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“An illuminating exploration of the rich and varied history—and myriad health benefits—of fasting. . . . Mr. Hendricks, a freelance reporter, is a deft stylist (fatty foods are ‘coronary and gastric assailants’; the marketing labels for a health fad are ‘linguistic casseroles’), and he excels at describing the experience of going without food.”

Wall Street Journal

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“Hendricks’s book is a remarkable blend of authoritative history, illuminating science, and endearing storytelling. In The Oldest Cure in the World, Hendricks gives us the wonders of fasting—too long neglected by doctors and scientists, too often misunderstood by most of us, yet so potent a therapy—with marvelous clarity, page-turning crispness, and appealing humanity.”

Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee

Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Emperor of All Maladies

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“Fasting, long regarded as being ‘on the wrong side of respectability,’ deserves serious consideration as a medical treatment, argues journalist Hendricks (The Unquiet Grave) in this thought-provoking survey. Hendricks writes that the practice has been shown to help with illnesses as varied as asthma, psoriasis, irritable bowel syndrome, and migraines. But it’s ‘simply too counterintuitive to think not eating could make you healthier,’ and the medical community has yet to embrace it. That’s a mistake, Hendricks insists: it’s cheaper than drugs and has fewer side effects, and he touts it as an ‘astoundingly and variously useful’ method that’s been hiding in plain sight for millennia. The author weaves a fascinating personal narrative (fasting helped his idiopathic hypersomnia) with a comprehensive history of the practice, from prehistoric humans who fasted from necessity up to modern-day clinics that use it. While enthusiastic, Hendricks is careful not to oversell fasting’s benefits (there’s much it ‘cannot do, no matter how many incautious boosters say otherwise’), and he pulls no punches when highlighting flaws in research, as with studies that emphasize ‘profit rather than health.’ His levelheaded, irreverent approach and sharp reporting set the book apart. The result is a winning mix of captivating storytelling and fascinating science.”

Publishers Weekly

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“Steve Hendricks set himself the Herculean task of weaving together the long history and deep science of fasting with his own revealing self-experiments—and has succeeded brilliantly in turning out a captivating tale. The Oldest Cure in the World is an engrossing tour de force and offers a bona fide strategy for slowing the aging process.”

Dan Buettner

#1 New York Times–bestselling author of The Blue Zones

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“Few people know that science has shown fasting is a key that unlocks ancient restorative systems and mobilizes some of the body’s most powerful regenerative mechanisms. In The Oldest Cure in the World, Steve Hendricks proves to be a master of explaining the multitude of benefits that various kinds of fasting can unleash. Fasting is a core part of my integrative cardiology practice. This book is a must read for those looking for a long healthspan.”

Dr. Joel Kahn

Author of Your Whole Heart Solution

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A September nominee for the Next Big Idea Club.