by Violeta Stefanova
Vth Language School "John Ekzarch" - Varna, Bulgaria

What is this?
Fast is abstinence from food, or certain kinds of food, for a period of time. The origin of fastening is unknown. But the custom of fasting has played a part in the practices of every major religious group at some time.
Fasting is a very old tradition practiced in many cultures, religions and spiritual traditions.
There are three kinds of fasting: particle, true and absolute. Particle fast means abstinence from some kinds of food (meat, eggs, milk) and taking light and not very fatty food. True fasting means a complete stop of any food intake for a period of time. As food you may consider anything that supplies the body with calories, i.e. with energy. That means that with the exception of pure water just about anything else, food, beverages, milk, soft drinks, juices, any sweetened drinks, like tea or coffee etc. will supply you with some kind of energy.

Reasons for fasting
There are many purposes for fasting. It has often been a way in which people have sought pardon for their misdeeds. In some religions, people fast during times of morning. In others, the people believe that fasting will take their minds away from physical things, and produce a state of spiritual joy and happiness. People also fast because of health reasons.

Religious fasting
There are important fast days in Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Jewish law orders a yearly fast on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Many Christians fast during the Lent, which lasts 40 days from Ash Wednesday until Easter, commemorating the 40 days that Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness. In general, for Christians, fasting seldom means doing without all food for an entire day at s time. In addition, people who are not well can usually receive permission from their religious allowing them not to fast.
Muslims fast from dawn to sunset every day during Ramadan, the ninth month of their year. During these hours, Muslims abstain form food and beverage, even though this month often comes during the hottest season of the year. Buddhists and Hindus also fast.
According to Christianity fasting is mentality, thinking and will. It is not only, as medics say, a way to help and cure your body. You shouldn’t fast only because you are afraid of overloading your body and organism. The fast is way to reach the consummation of your soul and spirit. Fasting is moral height and spiritual clearance. As Vaklush say: “To fast is to be God or gods in God.”

Health reasons
People have also fasted for health reasons. They believe that in nature cure, one of the very important tools for health and disease cure is fasting. Scientists have studied the effects of fasting on the body’s metabolism. After fasting metabolism can become as much as 22 per cent lower than the normal rate. But research has also shown that, after long periods of fasting, the body tends to adjust by lowering the rate of metabolism itself. After fasting, a person should gradually resume eating. Religious groups do not intend fasting to be harmful. They believe it promote self-control and strengthens the will.
Fating as a remedy is fully in harmony with the "nature-cure" philosophy of the cause of disease. Many people are learning the trick of curing their colds, headaches, nervous spells and other troubles by missing a few meals or taking a short fast. It is the simplest and the most efficient way of relieving the overloaded and "food-poisoned" system. Loss of appetite could be indication that the system is overcharged with toxins and nature is trying to correct this by giving a chance to the waste accumulation in the organs to escape from the system.
Take care of your body, it is a vehicle given to your soul to learn important spiritual lessons on this planet, so handle your physical body with care and love while continuously aiming at your spiritual goal until you reached it. The goal of any soul on earth and elsewhere is freedom in God.
Fasten does speed up the detoxification and purification of the physical body and the metaphysical body as well. Obviously any food or drink we take does contain physical energy and metaphysical energy as well. Nowadays most food lacks of natural ingredients and natural preparation. Many fruits and vegetables are grown with artificial fertilizers and are often chemically treated during their growth or after collecting them. This may cause an accumulation of toxins inside your body. The accumulation of toxins over an extended period of time may often cause some very severe illness, as rheumatism and similar diseases that usually start among a large percentage of the population after they reached a certain age.
Remember that everything can be medicine and thus can be healing, but it always depends on the right time, the right dose and the proper dilution of that energy for any particular situation