In an Indian household, fasting is considered to be a ritual for several occasions. Hindus perform fasting during Shiva Ratri or Ekadashi etc, few do perform according to their preference, like every Thursday/Saturday in a week. Muslims perform intermittent fasting for approximately a month during Ramzan. Most women do fast for their husbands to have a long life and unmarried women do so to get a good husband. But what is the scientific reasoning behind fasting? Does fasting help us or harm us? When to and How to do fasting?

Today was a precious day in Hindu culture, i.e, Tholi Ekadashi, on this day our fasting starts right from the sunrise and ends after sunsets, even after breaking the fast we are allowed to eat only fruits and have to be awake till midnight by chanting mantras, which is known as Jagaram. Even the next day we have to wake before sunrise and do pooja. Restrictions mentioned on the day of fasting are - we are not allowed to sleep or even sit on the bed, not allowed to think about food, only fruits even after breaking the fast.

Such rituals are present even now due to the strong beliefs of people. Science is limitless and we are yet to invent more and more in the future. It doesn't mean the things we don't acknowledge don't exist. More than these strong beliefs, there are several uses of fasting. They are:

• DETOXIFICATION: Our liver is the prime organ for detoxification procedures. Fasting enhances the detoxification processes very effectively. The liver gets its time to purify everything by having an empty stomach.

I don't know how men's life is extended when women fasts. But I'm pretty sure that women's health enhances by performing this occasionally.

CONTRAINDICATIONS:

• Repeated fastings may deteriorate the health and lead to malnutrition. Thus already deficient people are not suggested to fast.
• Pregnant women are not allowed to fast as they need more food intake for the foetus to grow into a healthy baby.
• Health conditions -  people with already existing health issues like Diabetes, Hypertension, Thyroid etc, are not allowed to fast.
• The convalescence period - is a crucial period for the patients to recover as soon as possible, thus proper food intake is a must and fasting is not allowed unless it is regarding a disease.
• Old age people and Children - fasting worsens the health of children as it is their growing age and body starves for more and more nutrients. In old people, fasting weakens their bodies.

So my dear readers, please do remember the contra-indications and perform fasting to enhance your health. Keep smiling and spread kindness :)