What's it all about? Fasting

Ivy Susanti, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

This weekend, Muslims around the world mark the start of Ramadhan when they begin a month-long fast. There are many types of fasting for Muslims, which differ according to the differences among creeds, sects, nations and their respective customs.

For Muslims, the objective of fasting varies, but the most significant of them is to cleanse the body and soul of material and nonmaterial venom or pollutants. Among its types is one referred to in the Koran as silence and abstention from any meaningless discourse.

Aside from the religious obligation to fast for Muslims, many fast for health reasons as well.

According to Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, to fast means to abstain from food, to eat sparingly or abstain from some foods.

Dr. Ron Kennedy, in The Doctor's Medical Library website (www.medical-library.net), said the practice of fasting originated in religion, dating back to the beginning of recorded history. The goal of the religious fast is purification of the soul and preparation to receive atonement of sins.

In addition to Muslims, fasting is practiced today among Roman Catholics, Orthodox Catholics, Jews and several Protestant sects, notably Episcopalians and Lutherans. Tibetan Buddhists and American Indians.

During the early Christian church, fasting was associated with penitence and purification, a voluntary method to prepare to receive Holy Communion and baptism. The American Indians used fasting to avert disasters such as earthquakes, floods, drought, war and so on, and as penance for sin.

In ancient times, fasts were traditional at the vernal and autumnal equinoxes and were believed to increase fertility of both the land, through God's grace, and of the human reproductive organs.

Dr. Kennedy said that modern medicine, however, takes the pseudo-scientific point of view to bastardize the fast into the diet, which is a technique for losing weight.

In fact, losing weight and keeping it off was not the purpose of fasting in ancient times.

The doctor said that the close connection between us and the value of fasting is the fear of hunger, which comes from the addiction to quantity of food in our culture.

So the question is: Why should modern people fast? Dr. Kennedy noted that fasting has scientific grounds.

He said the physiology of our body was a dynamic interplay between anabolism (buildup) and catabolism (breakdown). Catabolic processes create waste products, which are mixed into the cell soup, the cytoplasm, of the cell.

To go on with life and to have vital health, the waste products must be transported out of the body. The plasma membrane has the task of allowing these substances (mainly carbon dioxide, urea and uric acid) to leave the cell, so that they can be picked up by the circulatory system and transported to the lungs (in the case of carbon dioxide) and to the skin, kidneys and intestines (in the case of urea and uric acid), where they leave the body.

But the problem is, the plasma membrane of each cell can somehow sense the concentration of toxic waste in the circulatory system. If this concentration is above the legal limit, the plasma membrane denies an exit visa for toxic waste inside the cell until conditions outside the cell improve.

When we overload our bodies with food, even if we can burn it up without gaining weight, we create a chronic condition of low- grade toxemia where each cell becomes a storage unit for unusable, toxic molecules. But this toxemia is not life- threatening.

The result, however, is chronic, intermittent headaches, fatigue, arthritis, irritability of the nervous system or even insomnia. Unfortunately, each pill you take adds to the total load of toxic wastes your cells must bear, and compounds the problem in the long run.

At this stage, we need fasting.

Dr. Kennedy said that fasting creates a condition of low concentration of toxic wastes in the circulatory system. The plasma membrane of each cell will sense it and release its load of toxic wastes.

When this happens suddenly, as it does with fasting, the result can be a sudden case of mild systemic toxemia as the system cleanses itself.

So whenever you fast for this reason, be prepared for a phase of headache, irritability, insomnia and fatigue. This is a natural part of the healing process and should be welcomed.

Everyone has to decide how long he or she will fast. A thorough cleansing will require at least a few days. A week-long fast will get the job done for most people. The fast should not end until the symptomatic phase is finished by at least two days. Any fast should be supervised by a doctor experienced in fasting or practicing nutritional medicine.