Fasting in 2025

  Spiritual Benefits Biblical Fasting is refraining from food for a spiritual purpose. It helps us better connect with God and align ourselves with God and what He wants to do in our lives, Stovall Weems says: “It is time to get your fight back, hit the reset button, and experience God in an incredibly fresh, new way. Hold on and get ready for an awakening.”    “This is the kind of fast day I’m after: to break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed, cancel debts. What I’m interested in seeing you do is: sharing your food with the hungry, inviting the homeless poor into your homes, putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad, being available to your own families. Do this and the lights will turn on, and your lives will turn around at once. Your righteousness will pave your way. The God of glory will secure your passage. Then when you pray, God will answer. You’ll call out for help and I’ll say, ‘Here I am.’ (Isaiah 58:6-9 MSG)   Throughout the Bible we see times of Fasting. Ezra, Daniel, Elijah, Esther, the Disciples and yes, even Jesus fasted.    Spiritual Discipline of Fasting Fasting is a spiritual discipline: it helps us grow in our faith. Fasting is a tangible way to deny ourselves—to declare before God that we know it's all about Him, not about us.    Daniel Fast - 21 days: 'So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and fasting. I also wore rough burlap and sprinkled myself with ashes. '  Daniel 9:3   Daniel, abstained from sweets and meats, and the only liquid he drank was water   Jesus fasted 40 days (cold turkey) 'He was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry. '  Luke 4:2   Physical / Health Benefits of fasting:  Promotes blood sugar control by reducing insulin resistance Decrease inflammation  May enhance heart health by improving blood pressure, triglycerides, and cholesterol levels May boost brain function and prevent neurodegenerative disorders Aids weight loss by limiting calorie intake and boosting metabolism Increases growth hormone secretion, which is vital for growth, metabolism, weight loss, and muscle strength Could extend longevity May aid in cancer prevention and increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy IF - Alternate-day fasting. Eat a normal diet one day and either completely fast or have one small meal (less than 500 calories) the next day. 5:2 fasting. Eat a normal diet five days a week and fast two days a week. Daily time-restricted fasting. 16/8; 12/12; 8/16.   Autophagy -  is a natural process by which a cell recycles old or damaged components to create new ones and provide energy.  Autophagy is important as these "junk" components take up a lot of room in a cell and can prevent it from working properly.    Autophagy also destroys disease-causing pathogens, like bacteria and viruses, that can harm cells.1    It is triggered by starvation, exercise, fasting, or keto diet, Fasting: Depriving the body of nutrition forces cells to repurpose cell components into ATP for fuel.6 Exercise: Exercise quickly burns glucose (the body's main source of energy), triggering autophagy to keep cells functioning.7 Restricting calories: Autophagy compensates for the loss of nutrients due to consuming too few calories.8 Switching to a keto diet: Embarking on a high-fat, low-carb triggers autophagy when your body burns fat instead of glucose. Sleep - cortisol   GREAT ARTICLE ON FASTING -  For more information about the hosts, please visit their websites and follow them on social media: Dr. Glenda Shepard - Doctor of Nursing Practice/Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner/Certified Nutrition Coach/Certified Personal Trainer/Certified Intrinsic Coach https://www.triumphantwomancoaching.com/ FB - https://www.facebook.com/glenda.shepard1   Robin McCoy - Certified McIntyre Seal Team Six Coach and John Maxwell Team Trainer/Speaker/Coach https://www.thewellnessfactor.coach/ IG - https://www.instagram.com/RobinRMcCoy FB - https://www.facebook.com/robin.mccoy1   Produced by KB Podcasts Music from https://app.soundstripe.com/