No, they saw that hunger is bad and nobody would want to go hungry voluntarily. Suffering for your faith, mortification of the flesh, self-flagellation, etc.
Certainly not a "Diet secret of the ancients", some beneficial side-effects are mostly accidental. (And to be honest, going hungry wasn't exactly hard throughout most history.)
Certainly not a "Diet secret of the ancients", some beneficial side-effects are mostly accidental. (And to be honest, going hungry wasn't exactly hard throughout most history.)
But, well, we've got pretty deent beer out of it.