Fasting

Fasting in Judaism

Sunday was the 17th of Tammuz – a fast day commemorating the fall of Jerusalem and the beginning of the three weeks of mourning leading up to Tisha B’Av.

Five catastrophic events occurred on the 17th of Tammuz:

Moses broke the first tablets at Mount Sinai when he saw the golden calf.


The daily offering in the First Temple was suspended.


The walls of Jerusalem were breached in the time of the Second Temple.


The Roman general Apostamus burned a Torah scroll.


An idol was placed in the Sanctuary of the Holy Temple.

Judaism has always emphasized the physical as well as the spiritual aspects of life. Through our physical feelings of hunger, we can get closer to the spiritual feelings of loss and vulnerability. Fasting helps us relate to these devastating events and to their deeper meaning and ultimate purpose – self-examination, repentance and improvement of ourselves and the world.


Fasting for Health

Short-term fasting and juice fasts for weight loss seem to be fairly common. I would add them to the list of “quick-fix” diet methods including “fat burning” compounds (usually containing stimulants), appetite suppressants and restrictive detox diets.

If there is a benefit to short-term fasts (as well as juice fasts and other regimes), it’s that they just might help us realize how much junk we normally consume. By taking a break from refined sugars, starches and fats, we may be more likely to eliminate these from our every-day diets.

But here’s why I don’t recommend fasting for weight loss:

You can lose weight quickly – in the form of water loss, but you will most likely regain it when you start eating normally again. In a study of healthy adults drinking only water for three days the weight lost was mostly muscle, not fat.

Fasting slows your metabolic rate and can actually make it harder to lose weight after the fast.

If you are not healthy and not eating a nutritious diet to begin with, fasting is certainly not recommended. If you have liver or kidney problems, a compromised immune system or are taking medication, fasting can actually be dangerous.

My main problem with fasting is that it distracts us from the real message of sensible, long-term weight loss – lowering intake of fat, sugar, and highly processed foods, increasing fruits, vegetables and whole grains, drinking plenty of water and exercising regularly.