The Lenten season has begun and that means millions of Christians will be giving up something as part of the 40-day pilgrimage to Holy Week and Easter. It also means that millions will also be fasting, doing without food, as part of a Spiritual sacrifice. But according to Dr. Jay Richards, author of "Eat, Fast, Feast: Heal Your Body While Feeding Your Soul," there are tremendous health benefits to fasting that ancient philosophers and Holy people have known for centuries, and that modern medicine is starting to discover. In this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Richards builds on, and reinforces, a recent  New York Times article that said animal studies showed the benefit of intermittent fasting on “a wide range of chronic disorders, including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancers and neurodegenerative brain diseases.” And that "human studies of intermittent fasting found that it improved such disease indicators as insulin resistance, blood fat abnormalities, high blood pressure and inflammation, even independently of weight loss." All the major religions require fasting as part of their faith journey. Richards says it makes perfect sense that there would be a duel benefit of fasting, "because God designed humans to be this unique hybrid of both physical and spiritual." We should have faith that there would be a health benefit to the spiritual requirement of fasting.
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