What is fasting and how do you do it properly?

Question

what is the pupose of fasting?how often should you fast?

What pupose does have to not eat?

Answer 1

fasting as a christian displine is very important. i call it a discipline ,bcause like tithing is is sacrificial.personaly it has helped me to be set free from entangling sins
We fast because Jesus told us to. in the sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, "if you fast ,do not be like the pharisees who want everyone to know they are fasting....".it is important He says if and not when, this means it is not optional. he talks about prayer , and giving along the same lines.
it is important that we do it in secret. it is not a means to impress, or to earn points before God. it is a way to humble ourselves before God, so that we might become submissive to His will, contrary to the desireres of our flesh, mind, and emotions.
it sptrenthens the spirit, in its fight against the flesh.
read Isaiah 58,During forty days » Jesus (Matthew 4:1,2; Mark 1:12,13; Luke 4:1,2)
Habitual » By John's disciples (Matthew 9:14)
Habitual » By Anna (Luke 2:37)
Habitual » By Pharisees (Matthew 9:14; Mark 2:18; Luke 18:12)
Habitual » By Cornelius (Acts 10:30)
Habitual » By Paul (2 Corinthians 6:5;11:27)

Answer 2

You can also choice to eat less instead of total fasting and gain some of the benefits without having to starv your body. I eat a small breakfast and a "good" lunch then for supper I have a drink of V8 and sometimes bread. I believe it helps to keep my motabalizim in check I dont do any extra exersize and have retained my normal muscle mass for years and I feel better then I ever did before when I ate 3 "good" meals a day. I have fasted for 5 days before and I felt supper good while doing it but getting back "on" food was a pain.

Answer 3

If you are a Christian and doing it for spiritual reasons, read Isaiah 58:5-12, also Daniel has a good fasting practice.
Again, if you're a Christian, the purpose is to take your focus off something so you can focus more on God. Some people fast from watching TV or only certain foods. Most people are more concerned about the natural food they eat then the spiritual food, fasting gets you to focus totally on God. Read Isaiah 58:5-12 for more info.

Answer 4

Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset for 30 days. In between these hours we don't eat or drink anything at all. We don't kiss or have intercourse we don't smoke (for those who do. Yes some Muslims do. I don't and don't agree with it either) we don't chew gum anything which would mean breaking fast. We do it for health and for strength and for spirituality. This is how Muslims do it. How other people do it any why? sorry im no help there.

Answer 5

Fasting means not eating anything at all for a set period of time, drinking only water, and walking around for a large part of the day.
The purpose is to cleanse the body and digestive system of toxis, and you could do it annually or even bi-annually. Some people kind of live that way. If you really make sure you do it right, there's no harm in that.

Answer 6

not eating- drinking only water for 24 hours at least

its healthy for your colon and other organs

do it 1x a month

religious fasting-
Muslims fast in the day time for a month during Ramadan- but they eat at night.
Jews fast for a bit more than a day- but they dont eat or drink anything at all.

Answer 7

The physiological effect of fasting includes lowering of blood sugar, lowering of cholesterol and lowering of the systolic blood pressure. In fact, Ramadan fasting would be an ideal recommendation for the treatment of mild to moderate, stable, non-insulin diabetes, obesity, and essential hypertension.

In 1994 the first International Congress on "Health and Ramadan", held in Casablanca, entered 50 extensive studies on the medical ethics of fasting. While improvement in many medical conditions was noted; however, in no way did fasting worsen any patients' health or their baseline medical condition. On the other hand, patients who are suffering from severe diseases, whether type I diabetes or coronary artery disease, kidney stones, etc., are exempt from fasting and should not be allowed to fast.

There are psychological effects of fasting as well. There is a peace and tranquility for those who fast during the month of Ramadan. Personal hostility is at a minimum, and the crime rate decreases. Muslims take advice from the Prophet who said, "If one slanders you or aggresses against you, say I am fasting." This psychological improvement could be related to better stabilization of blood glucose during fasting as hypoglycemia after eating, aggravates behavior changes. There is a beneficial effect of extra prayer at night. This not only helps with better utilization of food but also helps in energy output. There are 10 extra calories output for each unit of the prayer. Again, we do not do prayers for exercise, but a mild movement of the joints with extra calorie utilization is a better form of exercise. Similarly, recitation of the Quran not only produces a tranquility of heart and mind, but improves the memory.

It is our experience that temptations and ways of the world tend to spoil our purity and austerity. Thus we indulge in food all of the time, snacking and nibbling the whole day, heading to obesity. We drink too much coffee, or tea, or carbonated drinks. Some sexaholics can not stay away from sex unless they do it at least once or more a day. When we argue, we leave our decency aside and resort to vulgar talk and even physical fighting.

Now when one is fasting, he or she cannot do all of that. When he looks at the mouth watering food, he cannot even taste it and he has to give up snacking and nibbling as well as smoking cigarettes if he does. No constant coffee, tea or Coke drinking either. Sexual passions have to be curtailed and when he is provoked to fight, he says " I am fasting that I cannot respond to your provocation". To achieve God consciousness or God nearness, a better word, we are advised to do additional prayer and read the Quran.

Medical Benefits of Ramadan
Muslims do not fast because of medical benefits which are of a secondary nature. Fasting has been used by patients for weight management, to rest the digestive tract and for lowering lipids. There are many adverse effects of total fasting as well as of crash diets. Islamic fasting is different from such diet plans because in Ramadan fasting, there is no malnutrition or inadequate calorie intake. The calorie intake of Muslims during Ramadan is at or slightly below the nutritional requirement guidelines. In addition, the fasting in Ramadan is voluntarily taken and is not a prescribed imposition from the physician.

Answer 8

One purpose of fasting is to give your digestive system a rest by emptying it. Stop eating and drink a lot of water.

Answer 9

eating bread and water only.

the purpose is to cleans your body and esentially starve it. I've been asking myself lately as to wether or not it gives you a more evolved body for spirit growth or regresses your body to excite and activate a more forgotten group of gifts that we today do not have necessity to use.

fast for 20 to 30 days ..no more

Answer 10

theres fasting in all religions pretty much, means dont eat food for a day or two but you can drink water i believe