The Benefits of Fasting

This summer at our office, we are encouraging a one day liquid fast per week.

So why a fast?

· Fasting is standard in almost all religions. Stated simply, fasting as a religious practice is refraining from food for a spiritual purpose. Ideally the time you would spend cooking, preparing and eating your meal is dedicated to more spiritual time and self-reflection.

· Fasting gives your gastrointestinal track a MUCH needed break. We eat so very, very much in this country. A restaurant meal can easily be over 2000 calories. The amount of artificial flavors, preservatives, trans fats, sugar etc that we consume each year is overwhelming to our systems. Giving your body a break from food, can be a great thing.

· Fasting will make you feel hunger. The World Health Organization estimates that one-third of the world is well-fed, one-third is under-fed and one-third is starving. Since reading this at least 200 people have died of starvation. Over 4 million will die this year. Fasting will give us an extremely small sense of what 2/3 of our world feels each night as they lay down their head to sleep.

· Fasting will shrink your stomach size. The smaller your stomach, the less you will eat (that is, of course, if you eat slowly enough for the brain to register that it’s full).

· Fasting reminds us to not allow our stomach to rule our lives. Eating is a form of entertainment in our country and that type of entertainment has gotten us obese, sick, and dying prematurely. When you feel a hungry pang during your fasting day, so "hello stomach, I hear you, but I’m not giving in" just as you would to a 3 year old throwing a temper tantrum.

· Fasting will allow ‘mind over matter’ to prevail and will really make you feel like a winner.