ACK 4j: Try an occasional fast

It may seem unusual for a cookbook to recommend fasting, but according to the Ayur-veda, fasting strengthens both will power and bodily health. An occasional fast gives the digestive system a rest and refreshes the senses, mind, and consciousness.

In most cases, the Ayur-veda recommends a water fast. Juice fasting is popular in the West because Western methods encourage long fasts. In Ayur-vedic treatment, however, most fasts are short-one to three days. While fasting, one should not drink more water than needed to quench one's thirst. Jatharagni, the fire of digestion, being freed from the task of digesting food, is busy incinerating the accumulated wastes in the body, and too much water inhibits the process.

Devotees of Krsna observe another kind of fast on Ekadasi, the eleventh day after the full moon and the eleventh day after the new moon, by abstaining from grains, peas, and beans. The Brahma-vaivarta scripture says, "One who observes Ekadasi is freed from all kinds of reactions to sinful activities, and thereby advances in pious life."