Fasting

Adverse effects

Refeeding syndrome

Main article: Refeeding syndrome

Refeeding syndrome is a metabolic disturbance which occurs as a result of reinstitution of nutrition in people and animals who are starved, severely malnourished, or metabolically stressed because of severe illness. When too much food or liquid nutrition supplement is eaten during the initial four to seven days following a malnutrition event, the production of glycogen, fat and protein in cells may cause low serum concentrations of potassium, magnesium and phosphate. The electrolyte imbalance may cause neurologic, pulmonary, cardiac, neuromuscular, and hematologic symptoms—many of which, if severe enough, may result in death.

Refeeding syndrome can occur when someone does not eat for several days at a time usually beginning after 4–5 days with no food.

Gallstones

Main article: Gallstone

Fasting can increase the risk of developing gallstones for some people. This is thought to occur due to decreased gallbladder movement with no food to be digested, which can cause the bile to become over-concentrated with cholesterol, combined with the liver secreting extra cholesterol into bile as the body metabolizes fat during rapid weight loss, further exacerbating the situation.

Political application

Fasting is often used to make a political statement, to protest, or to bring awareness to a cause. A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt, or to achieve a goal such as a policy change. A spiritual fast incorporates personal spiritual beliefs with the desire to express personal principles, sometimes in the context of social injustice.

The political leader Gandhi undertook several long fasts as political and social protests. Gandhi's fasts had a significant impact on the British Raj and the Indian population generally.

In Northern Ireland in 1981, a prisoner, Bobby Sands, was part of the 1981 Irish hunger strike, protesting for better rights in prison. Sands had just been elected to the British Parliament and died after 66 days of not eating. 100,000 people attended his funeral, and the strike ended only after nine other men died. In all, ten men survived without food for 46 to 73 days.

The American civil rights activist César Chávez undertook several spiritual fasts, including a 25-day fast in 1968 promoting the principle of nonviolence and a fast of 'thanksgiving and hope' to prepare for pre-arranged civil disobedience by farm workers. Chávez regarded a spiritual fast as "a personal spiritual transformation". Other progressive campaigns have adopted the tactic.

Religious views

Main article: Fasting in religion

Fasting is practiced in various religions, and details of fasting practices differ.

Yom Kippur, Tisha B'av, Fast of Esther, Tzom Gedalia, the Seventeenth of Tamuz, the Tenth of Tevet, and Fast of the Firstborn are examples of fasting in Judaism. Yom Kippur and Tisha B'Av are 25-hour fasts in which observers abstain from consuming any food or liquid from sunset until nightfall the next day and include other restrictions. The fasts of Esther, Gedalia, Tamuz, and Tevet all last from dawn until nightfall and therefore length varies depending on the time of the year. The Fast of the Firstborn is not biblically mandated and can therefore be ended early in the case of a seudat mitzvah.

Lent is a common period of fasting in Christianity. In the Catholic Church, the current practice of fast and abstinence is regulated by Canons 1250–1253 of the 1983 code. They specify that all Fridays throughout the year, and the time of Lent are penitential times throughout the entire Church. All persons who have completed their fourteenth year are bound by the law of abstinence on all Fridays unless they are solemnities, and again on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Fasting must be observed by those who have attained their majority, until the beginning of their sixtieth year. The precept to both fast and abstinence must be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Certain communities of Lutheran Churches advocate fasting during designated times such as Lent, especially on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. The rogation days are traditional days of fasting, as well as abstinence of meat, in Lutheranism. A Handbook for the Discipline of Lent delineates the following Lutheran fasting guidelines:

1. Fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday with only one simple meal during the day, usually without meat.
2. Refrain from eating meat (bloody foods) on all Fridays in Lent, substituting fish for example.
3. Eliminate a food or food group for the entire season. Especially consider saving rich and fatty foods for Easter.
4. Consider not eating before receiving Communion in Lent.
5. Abstain from or limit a favorite activity (television, movies, etc.) for the entire season, and spend more time in prayer, Bible study, and reading devotional material.}}

In addition to the fasts mentioned above, Catholics must also observe the Eucharistic Fast, which in the Latin Church involves taking nothing but water or medicine into the body for one hour before receiving the Eucharist. In Lutheranism, the Small Catechism, with regard to the Eucharistic Fast, states: "Fasting and bodily preparation are indeed a fine outward training". Though voluntary in Lutheranism, the Eucharistic Fast is kept from midnight until the reception of the Eucharist. Theologically, the "Eucharistic Fast is always in anticipation for the Eucharistic Feast, a reminder of the Last Day when all poverty is abolished, the necessity of fasting has ceased and every prayer answered as all of God's people celebrate the marriage supper of the Lamb."

Eastern Orthodox Christians fast during specified fasting seasons of the year, which include not only the better-known Great Lent, but also fasts on every Wednesday and Friday (except on special holidays), together with extended fasting periods before Christmas (the Nativity Fast), after Easter (the Apostles' Fast) and in early August (the Dormition Fast).

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints generally abstain from food and drink for two consecutive meals in a 24-hour period, on the first Sunday of each month, and members are invited to donate the money they would have used for those meals to assist others in need (called a fast offering).

Muslims fast during the month of Ramadan each year. The fast includes refraining from consuming any food or liquid from dawn until sunset. It is a religious obligation for all Muslims unless they are children or are physically unable to fast.

Fasting is a feature of ascetic traditions in religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism.

Mahayana traditions that follow the Brahma's Net Sutra may recommend that the laity fast "during the six days of fasting each month and the three months of fasting each year".

Members of the Baháʼí Faith observe a Nineteen Day Fast from sunrise to sunset during March each year.

In alternative medicine

Although practitioners of alternative medicine promote "cleansing the body" through fasting, (as though it were a diagnostic fast) the concept of "detoxification" is a marketing myth with little scientific basis for its rationale or efficacy.

During the early 20th century, fasting was promoted by alternative health writers such as Hereward Carrington, Edward H. Dewey, Bernarr Macfadden, Frank McCoy, Edward Earle Purinton, Upton Sinclair and Wallace Wattles. All of these writers were either involved in the natural hygiene or New Thought movement. Arnold Ehret's pseudoscientific Mucusless Diet Healing System espoused fasting.

Linda Hazzard, put her patients on such strict fasts that some of them died of starvation. She was responsible for the death of more than 40 patients under her care.

In 1911, Upton Sinclair authored The Fasting Cure, which made sensational claims of fasting curing practically all diseases, including cancer and syphilis. Sinclair states that he recommends fasting for all diseases except tuberculosis. Sinclair has been described as "the most credulous of faddists. In 1932, physician Morris Fishbein listed fasting as a fad diet and commented that "prolonged fasting is never necessary and invariably does harm".

Types of fasting

Type by religion

Main article: Religious fasting

• Lent
• Great Lent
• Tenth of Tevet
• Seventeenth of Tamuz
• Fast of Gedalia
• Vrata
• Fast of Esther
• Tisha B'Av
• Yom Kippur
• Fast of the Firstborn
• Ramadan
• Nativity Fast
• Apostles Fast
• Dormition Fast
• Fasting in Buddhism
• Nineteen Day Fast
• Daniel Fast
• Black Fast
• Fasting in Jainism

Type by method

• Electrolyte supplemented water fasting
• Dry fasting
• Juice fasting
• Water fasting

Type by schedule

Source:

• Alternate day
• Eat: stop: eat
• Intermittent fasting
• One Meal A Day (OMAD)/Warrior diet
• Prolonged fasting
• The 16/8 or 14/10
• The 40-days and 40-nights
• The 5:2

Type by motivation

• Autophagy
• Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder
• Calorie restriction
• Drunkorexia
• Hunger strike
• Inedia
• Insulin resistance management
• Longevity
• Sallekhana
• Weight loss

References

Sources

• .

References

1. "fasting {{!}} Definition, Description, Types, Benefits, & Facts".
2. (December 2018). "Intermittent versus continuous energy restriction on weight loss and cardiometabolic outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials". Journal of Translational Medicine.
3. (February 2018). "Intermittent fasting interventions for treatment of overweight and obesity in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis". JBI Database of Systematic Reviews and Implementation Reports.
4. (October 2017). "Impact of intermittent fasting on health and disease processes". Ageing Research Reviews.
5. (June 2019). "Dietary patterns and management of type 2 diabetes: A systematic review of randomised clinical trials". Nutrition, Metabolism, and Cardiovascular Diseases.
6. (17 December 2021). "Intermittent fasting and obesity-related health outcomes: An umbrella review of meta-analyses of randomized clinical trials". JAMA Network Open.
7. (25 March 2009). "Do You Need to Starve Before Surgery?". Abcnews.go.com.
8. Norman, Dr. (17 April 2003). "Fasting before surgery – Health & Wellbeing". Abc.net.au.
9. (1 January 1994). "Anesthesia Information (full edition) | From Yes They're Fake!". Yestheyrefake.net.
10. (2013). "Fasting in mood disorders: Neurobiology and effectiveness. A review of the literature". Psychiatry Research.
11. (2012). "Understanding Nutrition". Cengage Learning.
12. (2017). "Flipping the Metabolic Switch: Understanding and Applying the Health Benefits of Fasting". Obesity.
13. (2024-04-12). "Efficacy and safety of prolonged water fasting: a narrative review of human trials". Nutrition Reviews.
14. (November 1982). "Fasting: The History, Pathophysiology and Complications". Western Journal of Medicine.
15. "Snake Diet—What It Is and Why It's Dangerous".
16. Cahill, G. F.. (1983). "President's address. Starvation.". Transactions of the American Clinical and Climatological Association.
17. (November 2021). "Antiaging diets: Separating fact from fiction". Science.
18. (June 2008). "Refeeding syndrome: what it is, and how to prevent and treat it". BMJ.
19. (2015-12-01). "Restricted versus continued standard caloric intake during the management of refeeding syndrome in critically ill adults: a randomised, parallel-group, multicentre, single-blind controlled trial". The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.
20. (2011). "Complications of emergency refeeding in anorexia nervosa: case series and review". Acute Medicine.
21. "Dietary advice for patients with gallstones".
22. Garcia, M. (2007) ''The Gospel of Cesar Chavez: My Faith in Action'' Sheed & Ward Publishing p. 103
23. Harinarayanan, A.. (1986). "GANDHI'S FASTS: AN ANALYSIS (Summary)". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress.
24. [https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/18/newsid_2514000/2514727.stm ON THIS DAY 1981: Violence erupts at Irish hunger strike protest] , ''[[BBC News]]''
25. Shaw, R. (2008)''Beyond the Fields: Cesar Chavez, the UFW, and the struggle for justice in the 21st century'' University of California Press, p.92
26. Espinosa, G. Garcia, M ''Mexican American Religions:Spirituality activism and culture''(2008) Duke University Press, p 108
27. Shaw, R. (2008)''Beyond the Fields: Cesar Chavez, the UFW, and the struggle for justice in the 21st century'' University of California Press, p.93
28. "History of the Fast".
29. "1983 Code of Canon Law". [[The Holy See]].
30. (10 October 2011). "Historical Dictionary of Lutheranism". Scarecrow Press.
31. link. (9 February 2009 . Retrieved 3 February 2010. [https://web.archive.org/web/20090209190015/http://www.lcms.org/pages/wPage.asp?ContentID=246&IssueID=19 Archived copy] at the [[Internet Archive]])
32. Pfatteicher, Philip H.. (1990). "Commentary on the Lutheran Book of Worship: Lutheran Liturgy in Its Ecumenical Context". Augsburg Fortress Publishers.
33. (1899). "The Lutheran Cyclopedia". Scribner.
34. "Fasting Guidelines". Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church.
35. Weitzel, Thomas L.. (1978). "A Handbook for the Discipline of Lent". Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
36. "The Small Catechism". [[Evangelical Lutheran Synod]].
37. (8 January 2015). "Communion Every Sunday: Surprise, Surprise".
38. (2020). "Tempted to fast? Fasting and feasting as the Body of Christ". Lutheran Mission Australia.
39. "The Law of the Fast".
40. Brahma's Net Sutra, minor precept 30
41. (1 August 2008). "Hunger: An Unnatural History". Basic Books.
42. Porter, Sian. (May 2016). "Detox diets". British Dietetic Association.
43. David Gorski. (23 May 2011). "Fashionably toxic".
44. Griffith, R. Marie. (2000). ''Apostles of Abstinence: Fasting and Masculinity during the Progressive Era''. ''[[American Quarterly]]'' 52 (4): 599-638.
45. Kuske, Terrence T. (1983). [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780723670469500205 ''Quackery and Fad Diets''] {{Webarchive. link. (20 April 2019 . In Elaine B. Feldman. ''Nutrition in the Middle and Later Years''. John Wright & Sons. pp. 291–303. {{ISBN). 0-7236-7046-3
46. Hall, Harriett. (2016). [https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/natural-medicine-starvation-and-murder-the-story-of-linda-hazzard/ "Natural Medicine, Starvation, and Murder: The Story of Linda Hazzard"] {{Webarchive. link. (1 June 2019 . Science-Based Medicine. Retrieved 1 May 2019.)
47. [https://www.medicalbag.com/home/features/despicable-doctors/linda-hazzard-the-starvation-doctor/ "Linda Hazzard: The "Starvation Doctor""] {{Webarchive. link. (1 June 2019 . Retrieved 1 May 2019.)
48. Upton Sinclair, ''The Fasting Cure'' (New York: Mitchell Kennerley, 1911), p. 44.
49. Sinclair, ''The Fasting Cure'', p. 44.
50. Fishbein, Morris. (1932). [https://archive.org/details/1932FishbeinFadsAndQuackeryInHealing/page/n261 ''Fads and Quackery in Healing: An Analysis of the Foibles of the Healing Cults'']. New York: Covici Friede. p. 253
51. "Intermittent Fasting: How It Works".