Hunger is a common denominator felt by all life forms to ensure survival and nourishment. At extreme end of hunger and fullness, humans and animals react differently.

In hunger, human and beast act to save themselves from starvation, and in extreme instances prepare to eliminate competition. Surprisingly, when it comes to satisfying hunger, human and beast respond differently. Animals hunt and eat until appetite is satisfied, neither overeating nor storing food beyond instinctive need. Of course, there are many exceptions.

In contrast, human behaviour progressively changes. Even after fulfilling appetite, they tend to indulge in overeating. Ultimately, it becomes sumptuous eating for seeking pleasure and displaying status (one of the most expensive foods is Almas caviar - $34,000/kg approximately). Relationship between food and vanity-driven ego in humans is hard to ignore.

This behavioural divergence reveals fasting's unique transformative power for humanity. Animals are designed with natural restraint, while humans have undermined this instinctive balance through abundance. We have developed ego-driven relationships with food that extend far beyond nutrition into orbits of status, pleasure-seeking and identity construction.

Ancient civilisations used fasting to harmonise human mind, body and soul before codified divine guidance. Egyptians, Mesopotamians and Zoroastrianism practised priestly fasting for encounters with deities. Vedic and Buddhist traditions sought enlightenment. China was developing Taoist practices while Greeks institutionalised it. Pythagoras fasted for 40 days, believing it increased mental perception and creativity; Hippocrates prescribed fasting for patients with certain symptoms of illness; Plato labelled........

© The Express Tribune