The Fast
The History, Science, Philosophy, And Promise Of Doing Without
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- £6.49
Publisher Description
A fascinating exploration of the unique history and biology of fasting – a practice resurging in popularity and an essential part of many health approaches, religions and philosophies.
We fast all the time, even when we're not conscious of doing so. A fast manifests the idea of holding back, resisting the primal impulse to charge ahead. Its flip side is similarly everywhere: call it splurging, self-indulgence or a variant of 'self-care'. Based on extensive historical, scientific and cultural research and reporting, The Fast illuminates the many facets of this act of self-deprivation. John Oakes interviews doctors, spiritual leaders, activists and others who guide him through this practice – and embarks on fasts of his own – to provide readers curious about fasting with profound new understanding, appreciation and inspiration.
Fasting has become increasingly popular for a variety of reasons – from health advocates who see fasting as a method to lose weight or to detox, to the faithful who fast in prayer, to seekers pursuing mindfulness, to activists using hunger strikes as an effective means of peaceful protest. Whether for philosophical, political or health-related reasons, fasting marks a departure from daily routine and offers a chance to look at things anew.
Fasting involves doing less but doing less in a radical way, reminding us that a slower, more intentional contemplative life can be more fulfilling. Ultimately, this book shows us that fasting is about much more than food: it is about reconsidering our place in the world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This thought-provoking debut from OR Books cofounder Oakes weaves meditations on fasting into an account of his successful attempt to go a week without food. He reports undertaking the fast as a kind of "personal exorcism," realizing by the end that "I eat out of habit" and "routine can be the enemy of rationality and control." Explaining how the body responds to fasting, he notes that the stomach generates the hormone ghrelin to stimulate hunger, but gives up after three days without food, at which point the body draws on "excess glucose stored in the muscles and liver" to create energy. Oakes presents an impressive cultural and historical survey of fasting, touching on its role as a form of nonviolent resistance to British rule in India and Ireland; its ritual use in the Abrahamic religions, Buddhism, and Hinduism; and its use as a dubious cure-all, originating in a 1558 self-help book by Venetian nobleman Luigi Cornaro. Oakes's nuanced take on fasting also considers its dangers; he suggests that while temporarily abstaining can provide an antidote to capitalism's imperative to consume, the compulsion to permanently eradicate bodily desires can lapse into anorexia, which he describes as a biological disorder "related to but distinct from" fasting. Broad in scope and rich in insight, this provides plenty to ponder. Photos.
