A question about fasting

[JennyG]

I don't get on very well if I try cutting out (even one) meal altogether. Maybe my health just isn't good enough, and I find I can't get through my daily tasks.
If instead I keep to bread, say, or oatmeal, and drink water, ie consulting health but not the palate, is that still fasting?

 

[Skyler]

I was thinking about this last week. Here's what I came up with in regards to milk at least:

If you're under 180 lbs, you can drink up to 2 cups of milk. If you're over 180 lbs, you can't drink milk, unless you can bench press 300 or more lbs, in which case you can drink up to 3 cups of milk unless you're over 280 lbs.

Oh, and the milk has to be either skim or 1%, no 2% or whole, unless you're under 150 lbs.

 

[bouletheou]

Jenny,

Yes. It's a kind of fasting.

Unless you are a diabetic or have some other sort of health problem, fasting for a day shouldn't be a problem. You say you "don't get on very well." What sorts of problems are you experiencing?

My guess is that you are having troubles with your blood sugar levels. It's a very common problem with our modern diet. If you learn to keep your blood sugar constant, you do not get that hungry/shaky/sick/weak feeling.

Our appetite mechanism is triggered when our blood sugar falls below a certain level. When you eat carbohydrates, and especially highly processed carbohydrates, your blood sugar soon spikes. It then crashes well below its normal level. When blood sugar gets low, you start to feel very sleepy (the "carb coma"), then you get "the shakies" and feel sick. Your body will begin craving something high in carbohydrates in order to get your sugar level up quickly. You eat again and spike your blood sugar again and the process starts all over. It's called glycemic stress.

If this is your problem, your preference for oatmeal and bread on a fast is about the worst thing you could eat. You need to avoid carbohydrates (and especially highly processed carbohydrates) and stick to a low glycemic diet for a few days before you begin your fast. Fresh vegetables lightly cooked are my preference, especially dishes with lots of cabbage and onion and carrot in them. Or salads with a non-vinegar based dressing. An egg or a bit of cheese will help, too. Also, avoid diet fizzy drinks. I have found that most of the new artificial sweeteners will trigger a blood sugar reaction, at least in me. Ditto for alcoholic beverages, esp beer and wine. Avoiding coffee also helps, because caffeine exacerbates the blood sugar swings. Tea is much easier, but no sugar in it.

I respectfully disagree with my brother above about milk. Since the fat has been removed from skim milk, the naturally occurring milk sugars are more concentrated. You get much more sugar in a glass of skim milk than you do in a glass of whole milk.

If you learn how to manipulate your blood sugar and keep it to a healthy, constant level, it will make fasting much easier. I rarely feel bad or hungry when I fast. Even on an extended fast I rarely feel hunger after the third day.

Learning to keep your blood sugar constant will also help control weight and appetite at other times, and make you much less prone to diabetes. As a general rule I've found that when I eat carbohydrates, I have to eat the unrefined ones. Pinhead oats don't give me many problems. The quick cook oats do. Asian rice which is unrefined and takes 30 min to cook doesn't bother me much. Instant rice is terrible. Russet potatoes cause me problems. Red potatoes cause fewer problems. What you call "chips" and we call "fries" have the same glycemic index count as a candy bar!

Blessings,

 

[SemperEruditio]

Depends on what you define as fasting and why you are fasting.

 

[reformedminister]

I believe fasting is hard for everyone. I absolutely hate it! Here are some suggestions that may be helpful. I too get weak during the day and have found it easier to eat a meal in the morning and not eat again until the next morning. I drink only water. You will get through the day but be hurting in the evening. When I did this fast a lot, I was single and did not have a family that had to put up with me at the end of the day. Another suggestion might be a juice fast. Have some juice at breakfast and around lunch time, maybe even some in the afternoon. I usually prefer orange juice and grape juice. By noon you will probably be a little weak but you will have more energy than a "food" fast. A "complete" fast is from both food and drink. I do not suggest this, especially if you are going to be outside and sweating. I have only done this fast a couple of times in my "youth" (mid twenties) and I felt like I was going to die. I never attempted to do this fast more than twenty-four hours and do not suggest to anyone to ever go more than that. I once did a three day fruit and vegetable fast (no breads, starches, or meats of any kind) which consisted of all the fruits and vegetables I wanted. I felt really weak into the second day. I have only done this kind of fast once. My favorites (not the word I want to use) are the twenty-four hour food fast or juice fast.

 

[Scott1]

You always need to take into account medical conditions, so do so advisedly.

Most people can get by drinking plenty of water, maybe clear liquid beverages, in some sense that satiates hunger desire.

The focus is not on what one can and cannot eat, but rather on eliminating the distraction of eating, thinking about it, and suppressing the body dictating demand for punctual eating. It's a way of subduing fleshly impulses in order to focus on spiritual matters.

One way to try is a baby step. Skip breakfast. Have specific prayer requests/situations to pray about. Use the time to focus on praying, reading God's Word and doing minor non distracting tasks. Yes, you might feel a bit weak, but drink plenty of fluids then have a normal lunch.

Next time, skip two meals, if you can. Most everyone can sustain a one day fast (e.g. water only from arise to say 5pm), then have a meal, but again do so advisedly.

 

[JennyG]

Thank you for all that advice, much appreciated - I guess I haven't gone about it carefully enough up to now. I have one particular very serious cause for prayer at the moment which I felt I should also fast for. I will look carefully at all the suggestions.
I don't think I've got any particular diabetic tendency, but I do have a very low blood count at the moment. I've been told to keep off the iron pills though, because at the same time my ferritin levels are much too high (I had never even heard of ferritin until I got that news). Anyway, I thought all that might have something to do with easily feeling weak, and that it might be a bad idea to cut out all my potential iron sources - they say wholemeal bread is a good one. Also I was thinking of George Herbert's poem on the subject, and the line "...Starve thy sin, not bin"
On the other hand the literal fast from food is plainly Biblical, hence the OP question.
I only ever once tried a complete 24-hour fast. I was younger and presumably stronger, but then my children were younger too, and I was doing a lot more teaching then. When I was running a bath the next morning I very nearly passed out and fell into it

---------- Post added at 02:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:17 PM ----------

I was thinking about this last week. Here's what I came up with in regards to milk at least:

If you're under 180 lbs, you can drink up to 2 cups of milk. If you're over 180 lbs, you can't drink milk, unless you can bench press 300 or more lbs, in which case you can drink up to 3 cups of milk unless you're over 280 lbs.
Sounds complicated! I had to do some sums. Over here we think in stones, rather than just pounds. I'm 5' 7 and about 150lbs, though not as much of it is muscle as might be good

Oh, and the milk has to be either skim or 1%, no 2% or whole, unless you're under 150 lbs.

Sounds complicated! I had to do some sums. I'm 5'7 and about 150lbs, though not as much of it is muscle as might be good

 

[bouletheou]

Fasting need not be something we hate. Nor does it need to be an occasion for suffering. The human body can go just fine for days without food, so long as it is properly prepared. Physically it's all a matter of preparation and body chemistry. When one does away with the really bothersome physical side effects of the modern diet, then one is truly free to focus on the spiritual.

This is sort of uncomfortable for me to talk about, because I don't want to blow my own horn, but I've done several extended fasts. The longest was 38 days, and I've done several others in the 25-30 day range. I drank no caloric beveages, except a splash of cream in my morning coffee. During the 38 day one I walked two to three miles each day and even helped a friend move.

The spiritual effects are amazing, and truly staggering answers to prayer are won in fasting.

 

[au5t1n]

One thing I wish someone would have told me about fasting - Don't break it with a huge meal! On the day after your fast ends, start reintroducing yourself to food gradually.

 

[reformedminister]

While one can go several days without food, to my understanding the human body cannot usually go more than seven days without water. I once heard an old preacher give some wise advice: NEVER FAST MORE THAN SEVEN DAYS UNLESS GOD IS TELLING YOU TO DO IT! He was talking about a food fast, where only water is drunk, and he was referring to God compelling a person by speaking to the heart (not an audible voice). Honestly though I think it is dangerous to push the human body too much. Spiritual benefits can be derived from fasting done in a moderate and healthy way.

 

[SemperEruditio]

While one can go several days without food, to my understanding the human body cannot usually go more than seven days without water. I once heard an old preacher give some wise advice: NEVER FAST MORE THAN SEVEN DAYS UNLESS GOD IS TELLING YOU TO DO IT! He was talking about a food fast, where only water is drunk, and he was referring to God compelling a person by speaking to the heart (not an audible voice). Honestly though I think it is dangerous to push the human body too much. Spiritual benefits can be derived from fasting done in a moderate and healthy way.

The human body cannot go more than 3 days without water if there is no food being eaten. Here in the US with our rather massive waistlines we are more than able to do a water fast longer than 7 days. If we are healthy there is no reason we cannot fast for long periods. The problem is not with the human body's ability but with how much garbage we feed ourselves. A person who eats primarily sugar, fat, and salty foods or the Standard American Diet (SAD) has a tough time doing a water fast. Just like an alcoholic or drug addict our bodies begin to war against us. I know of men who begin to go through caffeine withdrawal (headaches) if they do not have a cup of coffee every few hours.

Jenny it would be best to check with your doctor and see. If you are able then I would recommend a juice fast. Odwalla juices are probably the better juices to fast with. The morning, noon, and evening protocol has worked well for me in the past. I would just recommend that the time that you would normally spend eating that you spend in prayer and meditation. This should go without saying but I have gotten caught up not eating losing sight of why I was not eating.

 

[jwithnell]

Good time for this topic as I've been struggling because fasting has started to trigger migraines in me!

The main thing, as I understand the scriptures, is to break away from your typical responsibilities and the demands of your body. I treat it as an additional sabbath, generally in preparation for the Lord's table, and as an important time of fellowship with my Father. I'm considering using some kind of simple trail mix (no not the M&M type ) to see if it would control blood sugar and headaches (if that's indeed the cause).

For me, not preparing and eating food is a huge break since I make most things from scratch for my family. I must mention that my husband is very patient with me in this regard since he gets to feed and take care of the young'uns!

 

[Skyler]

Sorry if my post confused anyone. I wasn't being completely serious.

 

[bouletheou]

JWithnell,

I don't know much about migranes, but I found that my headaches were related to the release of toxins and ketones and such as I was going about my business. Lots of water helped.

Not to be gross or anything, but you should keep drinking water until your pee is fairly clear-colored and then try very hard to keep it that way. That may keep them at bay. Caffeine withdrawal can also cause headaches as side effects. My expedient was to keep consuming it. Not very spiritual, perhaps, but much less unpleasant. If its ketones causing your headaches, you can get ketostix from the local pharmacy and monitor your ketone level. You pee on them and they turn colors to tell you how much ketones you have in your system. A moderately purple stick almost always went hand in hand with a headache for me. Once I learned how much I needed to drink to keep my system flushed out, the problem pretty much disappeared.

I also found that it's very helpful to take a multivitamin. And I've found the hard way that all multivitamins are not equal by any stretch. There are all sorts of mild side effects to vitamin deficiency after a few days. I found that a good multivitamin caused them to disappear. A cheap multivitamin did not, and by cheap I mean anything I could buy at Wal Mart, even the name brands. I currently use Nutralite Double X (you can find them on ebay.) They're expensive, but they're worth it. They might make you nauseous. I found that taking them with a non-caloric, acidic drink almost completely eliminated the problem. I recommend Diet 7-Up or diet Squirt.

I also second the above advice about breaking the fast with a large meal. Fresh fruits and veggies are the best way. You've got to wake your system up gently.