Health benefits of cultural and religious fasting

When living in a multicultural country such as Australia, you will most likely meet or make friends with people who practice a different faith or culture. It's important to be able to understand and appreciate the religious and cultural attributes of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities, which leads to a more cohesive society. One of these practices is religious fasting observed by many different faiths. In the episode we take a look at how religious fasting affects physical health, and could there be any benefits?

What is religious fasting? Source: Getty Images/lacaosa

Highlights

• Ramadan is a form of intermittent fasting and abstaining from food entirely for limited periods of time brings some key benefits to the body.
• Abstaining from water has not been proven to have many benefits since drinking water would be beneficial to flush out the toxins in the body.
• Some popularised versions of intermittent fasts include the 5:2 diet and  Fasting Mimicking diet.

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Health benefits of cultural and religious fasting

SBS Filipino

14/04/202209:55

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Whether it involves completely abstaining from food and drink or a lighter, lower-calorie form of eating, fasting is practiced in various religions and philosophies, including Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism.   

Diana Abdel-Rahman, OAM [Medal of the Order of Australia recipient], is the President of the Australian Muslim Voice Radio (AMV Radio), an English language program broadcasting 24 hours a day in Canberra during Ramadan.

Ms Abdel-Rahman explains that Ramadan is a time for Muslims to reconnect with God and with their religion.  

"As the sun comes up, that's when we stop eating. We do not eat or drink during the day until the sun goes down, which is the fourth prayer of the day. This happens for 29-30 days in the month of Ramadan every year. Fasting actually benefits the body, mind, and soul. During the month of Ramadan also, you often increase your prayers. It's a chance where everybody gets to reconnect with God. It's a chance where we get to drop everything else that we're doing and completely focus on our faith."