Upavasa — fasting is one among all Daivavyapashraya (spiritual) therapies and one among ten Langhana (that which produces lightness of the body) therapies. ‘Upa’ means “near” and ‘Vasa’ means “to stay”. So fasting means “to sit or stay near (the Lord)” to keep the Lord close to your heart and mind.
Fasting is defined as “complete voluntary abstinence from taking any kind of food for a particular time, in order to give rest to the digestive system”. Fasting is a break from ingestion. The main source of energy is glucose.
It is used by various organs for different bodily functions. However, the excess glucose gets stored in the adipose tissues and liver. It is this unused excessive glucose that gives rise to metabolic diseases like diabetes, thyroid and obesity.
When we fast and stop eating, your body wipes up all the glycogen that is in the liver and the muscle and when this excess glucose is used up , your level of glucose will be maintained and therefore, it brings a balance to the functioning of various organs. Fasting is common to just about every major religious tradition. In ancient Greece, Hippocrates believed it helped the body heal itself.
Besides religious practice, there are a number of health reasons. It is an ancient wisdom based approach towards ailments reversal and age reversal. Fasting creates a lot of space and allows your body’s coping mechanism to get unburdened from the day to day food, digestion, absorption, assimilation and el.