Author(s): Akansha Bhatnagar

Abstract:
Food has a very important function in the field of spirituality, it is considered as an important offering to the god in some religions, being an important reason for life existence and to pay devotion towards almighty various religions follow ritual of fasting. Fasting is a practice in which a person restrains himself from having food or consumes restricted amount of calories for a specific time frame. Most of the religions encourage some type of fasting like Ramadan fasting in Islam, Navratri fasting in Hinduism, Prayushan in Jainism and Good Friday eve fasting in Christianism, almost all the religions adopted the act of fasting to pay their devotion. Spiritual fasting is based on caloric restriction or food abstinence aiming to provide healing and based on these spiritual fasting modals, concept of intermittent fasting came into existence. Intermittent fasting involves periods of fasting and calorie controlled diets planned with a motive to lose weight and improve upon metabolism however, spiritual fasting has psychological impact along with the metabolic improvements in the body. Apart from the beneficial effects of fasting there are some contraindications which should also be considered along with the pathological condition of the person. These contraindications include conditions such as nausea, headache, nutrient imbalance, weakness etc. along with the impact on circadian clock and hormonal imbalances. This article highlights the changes that take place during fasting in the body.