What does fasting do for you?

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MonteRCMS said:
A RIGOROUS fast requires a doctor’s supervision.

A “normal” fast means you only eat one FULL meal + two lesser meals in a day. And avoid snacks.

But if your work is strenuous, then you are not permitted to cause injury to yourself or others.

[Most people normally do not eat FULL meals.]

You really need to read up on and study fasting.

Fast | Catholic Answers

[In normal usage, abstinence means not eating meat.]
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I am familiar with the Catholic Church’s instructions regarding Fasting per se. I just personally love the traditional Jewish fasting which is found in the OT, which in fact even in the NT you get to see similar absolute-fasting. I think it is certainly a different feel and pushes you into a more spiritual day with the Lord. Besides, i don’t really do much of a physical work when i fast privately, however i do NOT recommend it to anybody who is not fit to do so, especially for more than a day at a time. But I have some Protestant friends who do a 7-day (INSANE!) fasting on water only. They claim that it’s a matter of spiritual discipline and physical adaptation. I still think that it is what really rigorous means.
 
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MonteRCMS said:
But if your work is strenuous, then you are not permitted to cause injury to yourself or others.
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Also you should take into account if you are going to need to drive or do any work where you need to stay alert for fear of causing injury to yourself or someone else.

As I always say, remember that a lot of the monks and nuns who fasted were spending all day in a cell praying…not driving down the interstate in a car or operating an assembly line or a forklift. Think about it.
 
First - for me - it shows I got dominion over my body -
that my body doesn’t call the shots.
DON’T give in to the body, and your spirit becomes stronger.

Second - it brings me clarity of focus.
Scripture comes alive. Praying. Everything.

The moment I eat, I become sluggish - and my Godly mood disappears .

I did hear of a Protestant guy who did 40 days of fasting - kept a journal -
then eased himself back from water to orange juice to a milk shake - etc
 
CatholicTurk said:
Although i have not done it in a long time, when i do it privately, i do the Old Testament absolute-fasting (no eating/drinking) for a full day (sunset to sunset). And usually approximately 18 hours into it that pounding headache starts due to lack of sugar and water (and coffee, i guess!!) along with such drained energy.
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Yeah, this is the type of thing where I personally would consider it dangerous due to the going without water. Dehydration is not good.

You can see where the OT going without water might be a useful exercise for a people who lived in the desert though, and might not always be able to just have a drink of water on demand.

Similarly, the Lent fast falls at a time of year when people in Europe at least would have been concerned with conserving food during the last stretch of winter, before spring arrived with a bunch of new things suddenly appearing to eat.

I also think fasting was such a popular penance in olden times because people were poor, didn’t have entertainment for the most part, and had little or nothing of pleasure that they could give up other than their food. Nowadays we could give up Internet, TV, video games etc. instead of food.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
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CatholicTurk:
Although i have not done it in a long time, when i do it privately, i do the Old Testament absolute-fasting (no eating/drinking) for a full day (sunset to sunset). And usually approximately 18 hours into it that pounding headache starts due to lack of sugar and water (and coffee, i guess!!) along with such drained energy.
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Nowadays we could give up Internet, TV, video games etc. instead of food.
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I agree… it’s all about giving up what really matters to us daily, and so it becomes a personal sacrifice, a gift to give back to the Lord in thanksgiving. But then again, i think there is a certain element to fasting itself, like Jesus said, there is a certain kind of demons who would come out only by fasting and prayer. When i do the absolute-fasting, everything (habits, sins, problems, luxuries) that matters in my daily life to me seem to be very insignificant all of a sudden. Perhaps that’s really what the Lord wants us to see and comprehend after all.
 
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The kind of fasting that is best for me is to give up one little food thing a day or per meal: such as salt, butter, ketchup on my burger, the last bite on the plate that I really want, the extra cup of coffee, etc. Or to eat the two day old leftover when you really would rather toss it away. Small things that helps establish self-control and can be offered to God.
 
Thanks for all of the great replies—you’ve given me much food for thought, so to speak!
 
Fasting should bring us closer to Jesus Christ.

A priest I know told some men I was with “never fast alone; fast with Jesus”.

Fasting is a form of mortification, a prayer of the senses or the body.

We make our appetites serve God!

Fasting CAN strengthen our will, order our appetites and desires to serve the good, provide the world with a good example of temperance, make reparations for our sins and the sins of others.

Fasting is an “act of faith”, forgoing a temporal good in the faith that a greater supernatural good can come about.
 
No worries, I’m not giving medical advice lol simply giving the known science behind what fasting does.

Fasting is healthy and God designed human bodies to endure short & long periods of no food. Yet, fasting can be dangerous If a person doesn’t have bodyfat needed to turn into ketones, when all bodyfat is depleted that’s when fasting is no longer fasting but has crossed the line into starvation.

God isn’t calling us to starve, but to Fast.

The current minimum Fasting requirements the Church has isn’t going to hurt anyone. The current minimum requirement is not even long enough without food to switch the body’s energy source.

Fasting is truly a practice in Trusting in God alone for our survival. Benefits of Fasting are experienced Spiritually, Mentally & Physically.
 
Fasting mortifies and subdues your passions and your will, and it’s penance.
 
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Wife.of.Gabriel said:
No worries, I’m not giving medical advice lol simply giving the known science behind what fasting does.

Fasting is healthy
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You’re advocating ketosis.
It’s not necessarily “healthy” and in some cases can even be life-threatening.
And even if it doesn’t reach the point of ketosis, fasting is not at all “healthy” for some people who have blood sugar issues, eating disorders etc.

This sort of thing is why I don’t like fasting discussions on the forum, because there are always some people who think fasting is the greatest thing ever and they do not seem to understand or be sensitive to the fact that other people’s health can be seriously endangered from fasting in the way they describe. We are all different and some people have medical conditions that they may not even be totally aware of until they start trying to seriously fast.

And of course we’re not talking about the Church’s “minimum fasting requirements” because usually when someone cares enough about the fasting topic to start a thread, they aren’t talking about the requirements for 2 fast days in Lent that aren’t even “fasting”, or the one hour before Communion.

If a person wants to fast seriously or regularly, I recommend that they talk to their doctor first, explain what they want to do, and follow any advice of the doctor.
I’ll leave it at that.
 
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virgo said:
I’ve tried fasting and praying for intentions, but all I feel is hungry, grumpy, and hypoglycemic.
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It’s great isn’t it?

Try fasting for a short period and each time aim for a bit longer. I like to abstain from certain snacks until 3pm although I still need to learn temperance when I get to 3pm.

☺️
 
Isn’t it the truth? I typically do GREAT until about 4:00 p.m., then reach a low point and start craving bad stuff. I think it is a dip in serotonin or dopamine at that time.
 
I do believe you might be confusing Ketosis with Ketoacidosis.

They are frequently confused with each other, but are completely different from each other.

Ketosis is very healthy and is scientifically proven to heal the body from various conditions (like seizures in children) & prevents or eliminates certain diseases (like Type 2 Diabetes); while, on the other hand, Ketoacidosis is a very dangerous, life-threatening condition for a Type 1 Diabetic.

Fasting is one way to get into Ketosis, a condition where the liver, once the body is depleted of glucose & glycogen, converts fat (either consumed fat or body fat) into ketones for the body to use as it’s energy source. Eating a very high fat/low carb diet, is another way to get into or remain in Ketosis.

Bottom line, Fasting is very healthy and God designed our bodies to not only handle it, but to benefit from it physically, mentally & spiritually. The Church has always recognized the benefits & has required Fasting since the very beginning. Jesus, our example, Fast for 40 Days at least once in His earthly life. My understanding is that Jews were required to Fast twice a week at the time of Christ and we know He fulfilled the Jewish Law, so it’d be reasonable to assume that He Fasted twice weekly in addition to the longer Fast specifically recorded in Scripture.
 
virgo said:
I’m very curious about fasting, as I’ve had friends of various faith traditions over the years practice this ancient and global tradition. I’ve tried fasting and praying for intentions, but all I feel is hungry, grumpy, and hypoglycemic. Am I approaching it all wrong? How do you feel when you’re fasting? Is there a prayerful enlightenment I should be feeling as a result of fasting? I’d love to hear your experiences.
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I’ve experienced it both ways-almost easy when it seems to be driven by the right purpose, where God seems to be in and behind it, and difficult and strenuous when its all me. In any case three benefits generally are realized when it comes together right: a gain in self-discipline, a drawing nearer to God, and answered prayer in certain cases.
 
I know a doctor who treats gastrointestinal ailments by herbs. He completely abstains from eating twice a year for a month.
For 30 days every six months he lives only on water.
Abstinence from food, he is practicing for medical purposes, and, because he’s Adventist, I think that he does not believe that his abstinence is a fasting.
 
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