Fasting

Okay. Fasting.

"Intentional deprivation of something (almost always food) for the purpose of humbling yourself before God, repentance, spending more time with Him, seeking His will, and/or asking Him for something. It is meant to be uncomfortable and to emphasize our ultimate dependance on Him." -Rev. W. Jordan Richmond

Ummm, nope...most certainly didn't read "powerful weight loss and cleansing tool". Physically speaking, fasting is a deliberate abstinence from food. It doesn't magically clean out your system (that's why we poop - technical term), it doesn't rid your body of toxins (that's why God gave us a liver) and it's not a great weight loss tool (although you will lose weight if you don't eat). None of the listed "benefits" of fasting have been proven by medical peer-reviewed research.

Physically/technically speaking (feel free to skip ahead if you don't care much for this explanation):

The body gets its energy primarily from glucose and fat (in the blood) from the carbs and fats you eat. Both your brain and nervous systems use blood glucose for energy and proper functioning. Your body also stores energy in both the muscles and liver in the form of glycogen.

Within hours of starting a fast, when you run out of the glucose you've eaten, your body goes to its glycogen stores (these don't last very long). Your body then goes into an altered metabolic state = starts using protein and some fat (some... very little... okay I've lost most of you... SOME fat and PROTEIN did you miss the PROTEIN part or the SOME part, the protein you're desperately trying to increase with your exercise, the protein that will help BOOST your metabolism and help you look smokin' hot!!!) I digress, where was I... Oh... It uses PROTEIN and SOME fat to make more glucose for the brain and nervous system. Resulting in a considerable breakdown of lean muscle tissue and SOME fat tissue and the production of ketones. Ketosis, that state those of you that tried the Atkins diet strived for (and I do mean tried because none of you stuck with it - bacon-birthday-cake anyone?). This is NOT healthy and in fact over time the brain's consistent use of ketones for energy can be damaging. In the short-term, you may lose weight, but its mostly water loss, dehydration, muscle tissue wasting, hgm hgmmm - muscle tissue waisting, and you will be tired, fatigued and dizzy (downright unpleasant to be around and cranky in every sense of the word).

Your body craves proper nutrition. Ignoring hunger cues, or cutting out any essential food group completely in an effort to lose weight or "cleanse the system" is not a good idea. That aching growl you get when you're starving is not your body eating your love-handles, as much as you'd like to convince yourself of this phenomenon.

Back to the biblical:

There are 3 types of fasting referred to in the bible: ""Normal fast" or total abstinence of food (Luke 4:2), "Absolute fast" or no water and food in which it almost always lasted for only 3 days (Ezra 10:6, Esther 4:16), and the "Partial fast" in which diet was restricted (Daniel 10:3). The purpose of all fasting is to get to know God better--done privately (Matt 6:17-18)." --Rev. Samuel S. Rainer III

Let me repeat that last part - The purpose of all fasting is to get to know God better. An excellent thing. Highly recommended for this purpose. In fact, if you've never done it, DO IT, its powerful. But, not for the purpose of fitting into skinny jeans or "cleansing the system"... please.

Also, beware of the tendency to make biblical fasting a weight loss tool. You'll have to learn to lose weight and be healthy the "hard way" which also may be the slower way - there are no short cuts. Suck it up. Deal with it. Get to work.