[jstanek]

It's important to remember that anecdotal evidence is not scientific in any way. Just because there exists "peoples' wisdom" doesn't mean that this wisdom is correct. This is why science exists in the first place, to explore and explain natural phenomena.

[bikamonki]

Sometimes science is not a discovery endeavour, sometimes it just 'explains' something that we already 'know'; that knowledge may be the product of accumulated experience, intuition, observation or mere chance. It seems valid then, to highlight an old religious ritual like fasting as evidence that such practice works to improve physical health. Do note that the writer of this comment is an atheist.