Fasting

Fasting: Myth Or Reality?

From: R. Graeber, Alternative Practitioner and Health Educationalist

For most people, when they think of fasting, there is usually a religious connotation to it - i.e. like biblical fasting. It really does not matter which part of the world one comes from, there is some kind of fasting that is associated with people who practice religion.

So one sees the Islamic world fast right through the day during Ramadan, Christians observing the season of Lent or if they don’t, at least a token fast on Good Friday, Hindus fasting on certain days of the week, Buddhists not eating after their noon meal and Jews doing an absolute fast on the days of Yom Kippur and Tisha B'Av. So much so that for the common man, fasting has somehow got tied up with the rituals of religion. Once that happens, logic is usually suspended.

Fortunately, we haven’t yet thrown the baby out with the bathwater. Slowly but surely, people are looking at fasting as not just being a ritual in religion but as a force by itself.

Stripped of the myth, fasting opens itself up to being advocated by doctors and being researched as a means of health and healing. So while the religious ones can practice it for the good of their souls in this life or the next, the ones who like scientific backing can find their comfort zone with the practice too.

There are many kinds of fasting. The first is the total fast where not even a drop of water passes your lips. Then you have water fasting or juice fasting where your intake right through the day is only liquids.

There are other fasts where certain foods are not eaten – like meat for example or all non-vegetarian food. Certain others could be an all-fruit or an all-vegetable fast or maybe even a carbohydrates or a protein fast. Medically, one has to fast before certain blood sugar or cholesterol tests and also before surgery.

What does fasting do for the body?

If we were to clinically look at the body as a wonderfully complex machine, fasting is its downtime. All production equipment needs to be rested and renewed with servicing. This is what a fast does to our bodies. Considering the principle of ‘gigo’ or garbage in and garbage out that most of us follow, we need this time out (see also: Body Acidity).

Most of us live to eat and not eat to live, which is what every other living being on the planet does. The great thing about our body is that even then, it does not quite rest. It goes about finishing off the other chores that need to be done like getting rid of the toxins accumulated in the body. For energy, it breaks down the fats accumulated so now you know why there is weight loss during a fast (see also: Fasting and Weight Loss).

Like every other mode of healing, fasting should be handled with care as well. Anything in excess can only harm the body and it might just lead to conditions like anorexia. So a fast has to be approached responsibly. Start off with a day of fasting and go on to a week every half year. To learn more about it you should read: do´s and dont´s for fasting.

This will be great maintenance for your body. Your body gets detoxified, renewed, refreshed and ready to face the days ahead. All for the price of nothing. Fasting is Nature’s way of healing and restoring (see also: Detoxification and Colon Cleansing).

For more information I recommend reading:

• Fasting Studies and Medical Claims about Fasting 
• The Effects of Cleansing 
• Ways to detox and
• What Fasting really means 

When you’ve got such a wonderful means at your disposal, shouldn’t you be reaching out and grabbing it with both hands?

May the force of fasting be with you.

Alternative Practitioner and Health Educationalist