What is Fasting

Fasting is the absence of food or liquids and in some cases both over a period of time.  In most cultures, breakfast, lunch, and dinner with occasional snacks are normal throughout the day. Fasting disrupts this normal flow of activity.

There are many different reasons for fasting, the most popular; religious, medical, self expression for art or making a political stand or protest. 

Fasting was a technique that was used as far back as the 5th BC when the Greek Physician Hippocrates would recommend it to some of his sick patients. Some physicians even recognize a fasting instinct where patients suffering from a certain illness, would lose their appetite. They believed that maybe the body knew best and possibly administering food during this time would upset the recovery process. 

Fasting has evolved so much over the years and there are many different ways to do it.  Some of these include, water fasting, intermittent fasting, low calorie intake fasting, and just regular fasting. 

Water Fasting: Only drinking water all day and intaking no other drinks or food. 

Intermittent Fasting: Using a 24 hour time scale, one eats during a specific window and doesn’t eat during the rest of the time.  This window of no eating largely happens when the person is sleeping.

Low Calorie Fasting:  This is only eating the amount of calories you have burned that day. There may also be another name for this type of fasting, but this is what we like to call it. 

Regular fasting: This is mainly done in religious settings take for example during Ramadan, Muslims won’t eat or drink between dawn and sunset. Typically they intake nothing during this time no water, food, not even a breath mint for the entire day until the sun leaves the sky.