>Farmers have generally had pretty terrible (imbalanced) diets

So they invented and clinically tested Intermittent Fasting? Trendsetters! ;-D

I don't disagree with you, but here's my point - they weren't eating Cheesy Poofs and Mac and Cheese, they were eating... greens, legumes, root vegetables, etc. Whatever was local and seasonal or that they could preserve using salting or canning. In this regard, even if there was scarcity, what they were eating was likely better for them than what much of our population calls food today.