www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Medical analysis of the fast?

In his Lent message, HB Gregory III has written:


I didn`t understand the bold part. It means the periods of fast being distributed aren`t so nocive to health as they would be if they were continued? Physicians I got with do not see any benefit in fasting, but the opposite!

A period of abstaining from meat (which has been scientifically proven to be unhealthy eaten with the frequency modern societies consume it), junk snack food, fast food, sugary food, and eating more legumes, fruits, nuts, olive oil, and shellfish is healthful *if* followed in the proper way.

The church is wise indeed. Less than 30% of Americans are at a healthy weight. Two-thirds of Americans are either overweight or obese (body mass index greater than 30). The obesity epidemic is causing an alarming increase in Type II diabetes, high blood pressure and other cardiovascular diseases, and knee and hip joint problems since these were not designed to carry excessive weight. This raises the overall cost of healthcare. Many of these diseases are preventable. The diet industry is a huge business with Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem, Weight Watchers, South Beach diet, Atkins diet, etc. etc. plus the growing surgical specialty of gastric bypass surgery. Military officials say that obesity is the most common disqualifier for those wanting to enter the service. 30% of children are overweight -- Michelle Obama has started her "Let's Move" campaign to fight childhood obesity. The church's teaching on fasting is aimed at wholistic health of spirit, mind and body. Fasting requires self-discipline, lack of which is one of the main reasons people over-indulge. Other church teachings support good health habits -- like avoiding the 7 deadly sins, in the case of obesity, avoid gluttony & sloth. Nutritionists recommend eating more fish because it is low in fat and calories. Eating fish on Friday is a healthy practice for body and soul. The church teaches us that the body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit. We are to be good stewards of God's gift of health. The commandment 'Thou shalt not kill'...also refers to don't kill yourself by unhealthy living and excesses. The church has superior teachings about health and wellness.

Here is another teaching on fasting for health of body and soul, from St. John Climacus:

"Let us not believe that an external fast from visible food alone can possibly be sufficient for perfection of heart and purity of body, unless with it there has also been united a fast of the soul.

For the soul also has its foods that are harmful.

Slander is its food, and indeed one that is very dear to it. A burst of anger also supplies it with miserable food for an hour and destroys it as well with its deadly savor. Envy is a food of the mind, corrupting it with its poisonous juices and never ceasing to make it wretched and miserable at the prosperity and success of another.

Vanity is its food, which gratifies the mind with a delicious meal for a time, but agterwards strips it clear and bare of all virtue. Then vanity dismisses it barren and void of all spiritual fruit. All lust and shifty wantderings of heart are a sort of food for the soul, nourishing it on harmful meats, but leaving it afterwards without a share of the heavenly bread and of really solid food."

If anyone knows of other scriptural or church teachings related to health of body, mind, and spirit, would you please share them here.

Something that I have been thinking about for a while is what the fast says/ does for those with eating disorders like anorexia.

Sure, it may be medically very good for those who are obese. But how to we deal with the pastoral issue of those who WANT to fast excessively (such as not eating at all in the first and last week of Lent) but who really shouldn't because they are severely underweight due to an "eating disorder" or similar? The devil is not afraid of good works, and fasting is one that can be exploited.

There is quite a body of literature on fasting and the Catholic saint Catherine of Siena, of which the following is one example.

http://www.albany.edu/scj/jcjpc/vol8is1/reda.html

Dear Otsheylnik,

Each person needs to discuss his or her particular problem with their spiritual father or a priest. They will be able to advise them...although we often discuss the fast, we are not a replacement or an authority for such a situation as you have described.

As for the link you provided, I found it disturbing. A Christian has no business analyzing the behaviour of saints of the Church in such a 'scientific' and culturally inappropriate (history cannot be read in the context of the present day) way.

In Christ,
Alice

Sure, history can't be analysed from the point of view of the present. But I have personally encountered the situation where tales of great feats of asceticism are used as a justification for self abuse.

Just as we can't view history from the prism of the present, likewise history can't be presented un-contextualised to people of the present. Hagiography such as the story of Catherine of Siena or Peter Damian or the desert fathers from Climax does have the potential to be harmful to some people, and more broadly, so does even basic following of the fast for some individuals.

Of course you are right when you say these things are matters for an individual to discuss with their spiritual father but spiritual fathers tend to give the best advice when they have thought deeply about matters prior to their being raised. I think that the messages that fasting (its practice and hagiography) may give to youth obsessed with thin-ness is an issue which not many have thought about and one that was worth raising.

I too have seen at least one instance in which someone's life has been put in danger by seeking to emulate the very severe asceticism of saints such as Catherine of Siena. For this reason, I also believe that the matter is one that deserves discussion.

Ryan

My understanding of anorexia nervosa is that it is a mental illness that is difficult to treat. A friend of mine who is a psychologist had a sister with anorexia, hospitalized numerous times. He felt terrible that he couldn't help his own sister.

The person suffering from anorexia has a distorted body image and is dealing with issues of 'control' -- the one thing a person has control over is what they eat...or don't eat. Religiosity is seen in some people with mental illness.

I am certainly not questioning the severe asceticism of some saints. They are saints because of many other things they have done in their lives, not just fasting.

What a spiritual father or priest would say to a person exhibiting traits of anorexia in their fasting practices is beyond my capabilities.

If a painfully thin person came to me, a parish nurse, because they weren't feeling well, I would talk to them and do an assessment, then try to convince them to see their medical doctor (who would take it from there if a mental health referral was indicated).

When I see people taking anything to excess (drugs, alcohol, smoking, fatty food, coffee & colas in large quantities, exercise, work, sleep, spending, etc.) it could be just a bad habit or there could be an underlying problem that they are coping with, by using a poor coping mechanism. These kinds of things eventually take a toll on your health of body, mind, and spirit.

I approach the 'putting your life in danger' extreme fasting from a faith - health perspective: the body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit and we are to be good stewards of God's gift of health. We refer to Christ as the Great Physician, and I believe that He is concerned about our health.