Fasting vs. being healthy

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OraLabora,
I have come to this conclusion because I have read nothing to say the original 12 had any physical problems. Well, perhaps, Peter did have a mother in law., maybe a pain in the neck.
 
Bread & water:

A normal serving size is considered 2 oz. and would be 120 calories. Assuming 6 servings per loaf, that would be 720 calories.
 
Remember too that many saints who fasted also lived lives of prayer. They perhaps don’t need as much calories as they are praying and meditating all day instead of doing hard physical activities.
 
It’s not just about calories.

Bread and water don’t supply the vast number of vitamins and minerals you need to keep certain bodily functions from shutting down.

You can survive for quite a while on an extremely low-calorie diet, as long as you’re getting all essential vitamins and minerals.

Without the vitamins and minerals, you will die in a matter of months from vitamin deficiencies.
 
It’s not just about calories.

Bread and water don’t supply the vast number of vitamins and minerals you need to keep certain bodily functions from shutting down.

You can survive for quite a while on an extremely low-calorie diet, as long as you’re getting all essential vitamins and minerals.

Without the vitamins and minerals, you will die in a matter of months from vitamin deficiencies.
So bread, water and Centrum then? 😃
 
OraLabora,
I have come to this conclusion because I have read nothing to say the original 12 had any physical problems. Well, perhaps, Peter did have a mother in law., maybe a pain in the neck.
But, not everything about them was written about them. We can’t really fill in the blanks with our own suppositions. We just have to assume that what was written, is all we need to know, and the rest, well, they had private lives too.
 
But, not everything about them was written about them. We can’t really fill in the blanks with our own suppositions. We just have to assume that what was written, is all we need to know, and the rest, well, they had private lives too.
I would have assumed that Jesus healed them to 100% health. Given that Peter was in his 60s when he was executed, and John was in his 90s when he died. 60 is already way above the normal life expectancy of the time and given that Peter didn’t die of natural causes, he could have lived longer.
 
It’s not just about calories.

Bread and water don’t supply the vast number of vitamins and minerals you need to keep certain bodily functions from shutting down.

You can survive for quite a while on an extremely low-calorie diet, as long as you’re getting all essential vitamins and minerals.

Without the vitamins and minerals, you will die in a matter of months from vitamin deficiencies.
Yes, I agree, so why are we supposed to fast on bread and water??? Isn’t this unhealthy???
 
Yes, I agree, so why are we supposed to fast on bread and water??? Isn’t this unhealthy???
Catholics are NOT required to fast on bread and water.
Fasting cleanses the soul, raises the mind, subjects one’s flesh to the spirit, renders the heart contrite and humble, scatters the clouds of concupiscence, quenches the fire of lust, kindles the true light of chastity.
[St. Augustine, On Prayer and Fasting, Sermon lxxii]
Fasting is a disciplining of the flesh and a spiritual necessity. It is a means of humbling one’s pride and atoning for sin. Fasting helps defend against the worldly excesses that separate us from God. Through hunger, we learn to master our unruly carnal appetites. When done properly, fasting, like physical conditioning, will produce discomfort. The benefit is the strengthening of oneself against the temptations of Satan & the World.

Fasting, defined as “denial of the flesh” as a way to “strengthen the spirit”, should be thought of as gift - offered by our Holy Church - to bring us closer to God.

Use it or lose it.
 
One must also remember that the bread we eat now is rather different from what they ate then. Flour was not kept in sterile conditions, as it is now, nor was it bleached; it was almost always whole grain, and usually protein supplemented by virtue of including bugs.
 
One must also remember that the bread we eat now is rather different from what they ate then. Flour was not kept in sterile conditions, as it is now, nor was it bleached; it was almost always whole grain, and usually protein supplemented by virtue of including bugs.
Yes, but then it also wasn’t fortified with a number of vitamins and minerals.

The bread that we consume now is routinely fortified with iron and B vitamins. It would actually help maintain health for longer than bread in ancient times would have.
 
As a nutritionist, I must comment that eating less than 1200 calories per day becomes a serious health risk.

It’s not just about the calories. It’s about the vitamins and minerals your body needs to function.

Prolonged fasting is unhealthy. It can lead to death. I cannot encourage it.

Reports of people living for years on a few pieces of bread a day or just a little rice are frankly totally false.

You’d die of scurvy in less than a year because of lack of vitamin C.
Indeed, Catholic history seems to suggest that prolonged fasting can lead to death in some cases.

In 1981, Brendan Hughes, Tommy McKearney, Raymond McCartney, Tom McFeeley, Sean McKenna, Leo Green, John Nixon and Laurence McKeown voluntarily refused intake of all food for a period of 53 days and lived to tell the tale.

Later that year, others attempted to extend limit. Francis Hughes to 59 days. Joe McDonnell, Raymond McCreesh and Patsy O’Hara to 61 days. Thomas McElwee and Michael Devine to 62 days. Bobby Sands to 66 days. Kieran Doherty to 73 days. All expired at the end of multi-day comas.

That said, most contemporary North Americans should be able to reduce their daily food intake by one-half or more, for shorter periods of time, with no ill effects and minimal discomfort.

I personally know of one case this year where an adult took no food for more than 60 hours during Easter Tritium.
 
Catholics are NOT required to fast on bread and water.

I guess I am going off various apparitions, which I believe, asking us to fast specifically on bread and water on Wednesdays and Fridays; I know not everyone believes in this but I am just asking an honest question about something I believe in.
 
Yes, but then it also wasn’t fortified with a number of vitamins and minerals.

The bread that we consume now is routinely fortified with iron and B vitamins. It would actually help maintain health for longer than bread in ancient times would have.
On the other hand, they don’t have the processed stuff we have today. No significant air polution, less stress, more physical exercise, etc.
 
On the other hand, they don’t have the processed stuff we have today. No significant air polution, less stress, more physical exercise, etc.
There were no firearms, offshore powerboats or bluetooth headsets. Hydrogen-filled zeppelins were few and far between. Nevertheless, some in the scientific community claim that more than 50% of all humans who lived during the first century are already dead.
 
I guess I am going off various apparitions, which I believe, asking us to fast specifically on bread and water on Wednesdays and Fridays; I know not everyone believes in this but I am just asking an honest question about something I believe in.
Fasting for two days out of the week and then eating normally for the rest of the week (or even eating a little extra to catch up) won’t put most of us on the “brink of starvation”.
 
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