Newsgroups: bit.listserv.catholic
Date:         Tue, 6 Oct 1992 07:57:23 CDT
From:         narom@TELLABS.COM
Subject:      Re: fasting

Fasting is a wonderful spiritual and physical cleansing which
I promise will draw you closer from God following your decision
to withdraw from food for a day or two per week.

I personally have experimented with bread and water fast and
a strict distilled water only fast and I find that the distilled
water fast is much superior.

Please remember that when you are fasting, you are allowing your
body to rest and as it ceases the digestive function for one day,
it can go to work detoxifying your body from poisons such as salt,
sugar, preservatives, etc. that accumulate in the body and because
of the constant influx of food, the body is never given an adequate
amount of energy to devote away from the digestive process and
towards the detoxification process.

Distilled water contains no inorganic matter as do even such wonderful
tasting waters as Evian.  Please try to use it; it puts the required
water into the body to help the kidneys flush the toxic substances from
your body and adds no extra burden of sodium, chlorine, or minerals
present in other water.

I have been fasting regularly for almost 3 years, typically to days
per week for 24 hour periods on Wednesday and Friday as my Mother asked.
I have gained much more than I have given!  Yes, the body will still ask
to be fed and you will experience a passing discomfort--I don't claim it
is easy, but the benefits are tremendous!

I am 30 years old and I have the body of an eighteen year old.  I am
fat free and have the wonderful, lean muscular form that God intended
me to have and which I always wanted.  I require very little sleep and
the fasting has given me a craving for natural foods over processed.

Most importantly, during fasts and after, I have felt drawn closer and
closer to God and my fellow man.

I am not an expert, but through study and personal experience, I have
learned some valuable things about fasting.

Aside from the distilled water during the fast, what you eat to "break"
the fast is essential to gain the benefits of the fast!  If you don't
eat for 24 hours and then suddenly chow down, you are hurting your body!
A fast should be broken with raw veggies eaten slowly and chewed (as all
your food) until it is liquid in your mouth.  Please do not eat protein
or animal products until several hours later or the second meal of the
fast.  Fasting requires discipline.  Also, please do not overeat.  If
you eat smaller meals more often rather than 2 or 3 large meals, you will
become a better faster.  Fasting and bingeing will cause your body to go
from the starvation mode to the fat-saving mode and you can actually get
fat from incorrect fasting.  Breaking the fast with the raw veggies will
restart the body's metabolism.  Breaking the fast with anything other
(except fruit, but roughage is preferable because it restarts the digestive
tract and "sweeps" out the colon) bogs the digestive system, which has been
at rest.

If you are overeating or eating a lot of junk food, examine your soul and
see if you are using food to avoid emotional pain.  Someone with this
pattern will have extreme difficulty  fasting.  I struggled with this
but was cured through disciplined fasting and prayer.  If you fall under
this category, prepare for battle.

If I can answer any questions anyone has, please feel free.

You are all good, because in your own unique ways, like me, you love God
because He first loved you!

Dan
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