1911
'During the twentieth century, many popular books have recommended periods of fasting as a key to health. Hereward Carrington's 1908 book Vitality, Fasting and Nutrition recommended regular fasting for good health. Upton Sinclair (1878-1968) followed up on Carrington's theory in 1911 with his own book The Fasting Cure, which recommends long periods of starvation as a means of combating tuberculosis, syphilis, asthma, liver trouble, and cancer. In a subsequent book, The Book of Life, Sinclair wrote: "I have known of two or three cases of people dying while they were fasting, but I feel quite certain that the fast did not cause their death, they would have died anyhow."'
Whelan, E.M. & Stare, F.J. (1992) Panic in the Pantry. Prometheus Books, Amherst, NY.
[with thanks to Stephen Barrett, MD.]