Fasting. Why do we do it?

Today is the beginning of lent. In March the Bahá’í Faith fasts. In April Ramadan begins and the Islamic people take on a month of fasting. Buddhist monks fast regularly. Jewish people fast for Yom Kippur. And the fitness world fasts on and off all year with the newest trend, Intermittent Fasting.

Only a few years ago we were heard chants of “six small meals a day!” “eat all day!” “never let your body starve!” “starvation mode means your body is shutting down!” It seemed that skipping breakfast alone was the worst thing you could do to yourself. Right?

Well now it’s 2020 and some health & fitness experts are down to one meal a day! So let’s look at this ancient, and sometimes spiritual, history of fasting, and see if it’s healthy or harmful.

What is fasting?

The dictionary describes fasting as “an abstinence from food, or a limiting of one’s food, especially when voluntary and as a religious observance.” While the common medical definition is “Fasting is the willing Refrain from eating three full meals.” Some people even consider the hours that we sleep fasting hours, and our modern word breakfast, comes from breaking the fast. So aside from the hours that we’re sleeping, why do we intentionally deprive ourselves. Is it a miracle spiritual awakening, or medically dangerous?

Why do we fast?

From earliest times, fasting has been a traditional means of increasing spiritual awareness. It is one of the ancient methods by which shamans alter their consciousness. It is mentioned repeatedly in the Bible, and is practiced in some form by nearly every mystical discipline. Eastern traditions teach their disciples to fast as a means of purifying their bodies and attaining mastery of physical urges. In Western religions, fasts are observed as a counterpoint to feasts and celebrations, and as a form of penance and self-control.

Christians and Catholics observe Lent. This 40 day period is a spiritual practice of sacrifice. Omitting luxuries, both food and material possessions to simplify life, lessen the ego, and get closer to God before Easter. Some people give up meat, some sugar, some alcohol, some television, or dating.

In the Bah’ai Faith, fasting is a complete absence of all food and drinks for a 24 hour period. Shoghi Effendi, (once leader of the faith) explained: “It is essentially a period of meditation and prayer, of spiritual recuperation, during which the believer must strive to make the necessary readjustments in his inner life, and to refresh and reinvigorate the spiritual forces latent in his soul. Its significance and purpose are, therefore, fundamentally spiritual in character. Fasting is symbolic, and a reminder of abstinence from selfish and carnal desires.”

In Islam, Muslims believe that fasting is more than just abstaining from food and drink but also includes abstaining from any lies, ignorant or indecent speech, and from arguing, fighting, or having lustful thoughts. During Ramadan fasting begins at dawn and ends at sunset, where afterwards a modest meal may be eaten before bed. During this time Muslims are asked to remember those who are less fortunate than themselves as well as bringing them closer to God. 

In Hindu religions fasting is an integral part of daily and weekly life. Hindu people from different sects, cultures, and geographic locations across India fast on different days and for different amounts of time based on local customs, but the reason behind the act is mirrored in other world religions. It’s a sign of self-control, sacrifice, spiritual clarity, connection to divine, and a release from impulsive behavior.

Whether your religious, spiritual, or purely rational, humans have been drawn to this process for thousands and thousands of years. WHY?

Eating is a human necessity in all cultures, in all countries, since the dawn of time. It seems that fasting is simply is one of the most primal of the challenges we can give ourselves and humans love a defined challenge to overcome. Fasting sharply outlines the limitations of our own self-control, and reminds us of the intrinsic pleasure of food, and how unconscious we can be in our eating habits.

What’s the Science behind it?

Well, it’s a mixed bag. Is starving yourself regularly good for you? No. But on the other side, scientists are discovering more and more that the human body does not need to be constantly taking in and digesting food for optimal health either. And there can be a genuine scientific benefit to giving our bodies time to process, while still eating enough calories to run the machine properly. It seems fasting in general can be harmful but done in moderation for short periods can have some benefits.

Then in comes IF or Intermittent Fasting in 2012 (check out our blog all about IF here) and ratios like 16:8, 20:4, or 5:2. Some people trying eating 3,000 calories one day, followed by 500 the next. It’s all over the place. So scientists start to back up and look at individual cases.

There are a number of undisputed medical facts about the effects of fasting however, which are valuable to know.

What happens when we deprive ourselves of food?

An average human of normal weight can survive without food for approximately sixty days. Obese people may be able last far longer – in some documented cases, over a year. When the body is deprived of food, it responds by making radical changes, consuming itself in ordered stages to keep the cells of the brain (primarily) and vital organs (secondarily) alive. Yes, you may lose fat. You may also lose hair, nails, cells, muscles, and bone tissue. So, it’s definitely not a diet.

This is true starvation mode and in order to feed the brain and other tissues, the body breaks down fat and proteins into glucose (a form of sugar) and ketonic acids, which the brain uses at the rate of a quarter-pound per day. The liver goes into overdrive to metabolize these substances; by the third day of a fast, it is producing four ounces of ketonic acids and two ounces of glucose per day, all from the breakdown of body tissues (mostly fat). To lessen the stress on the liver and other organs, the overall metabolism drops slowly to a bare maintenance level, about two-thirds the normal rate, over a period of thirty days. The blood pressure also drops fairly quickly as a fast progresses.

So how is IF different?

Firstly, Intermittent fasting is not full starvation mode. No matter what timing system you’re using, you’re not going multiple days without ANY food. You are, however, giving your body time to properly digest.

 The food we eat is broken down by enzymes in our gut and eventually ends up as molecules in our bloodstream. Carbohydrates, particularly sugars and refined grains (think white flours and rice), are quickly broken down into sugar, which our cells use for energy. If our cells don’t use it all, we store it in our fat cells as, well, fat. But sugar can only enter our cells with insulin, a hormone made in the pancreas. Insulin brings sugar into the fat cells and keeps it there.

Between meals, as long as we don’t snack, our insulin levels will go down and our fat cells can then release their stored sugar, to be used as energy. We lose weight if we let our insulin levels go down. The entire idea of IF is to allow the insulin levels to go down far enough and for long enough that we burn off our fat.

Does it work?

Well, everyone is different. Only you can decide what works for you long-term, because whatever you decide to do, you need to be eating a good amount of calories from healthy sources with a balance of macros, getting good exercise and feeling good about yourself. For a lot of people, IF is aa way to bring consciousness back to eating, taking a page out of our spiritual past and putting some challenges and limitations around an anything-goes eating style, that can be super beneficial. Other people can’t do it, or don’t need to. If you already have a healthy balanced relationship to food, you feel great and you’re lifestyle is consistent, IF may be an unwelcome life-change.

Food for thought.

What we can learn from our human history and fasting fascination is that evolutionarily, we feel grounded, connected, and in control while working and eating within some limitations. Depriving ourselves from 100% pure pleasure all the time can be a real re-focusing for the soul. So, if that’s something you want to try… keep researching, take it slow, and keep it healthy.