5 benefits of partial fasting

 Partial Liquid fasting was a small practice I took up during this Navratri festival of 2025. 

The plan was to start the day with two fresh, liquid meals and then continue with regular routine.

First drink was chosen to be a Cleanser. Here, I used following (as available at home):

1. A variety of Herbal tea (light 'Kadha') 

2.Wheat grass powder in lukewarm water 

(any herbal cleansing drink e.g. warm water with lemon, honey, ginger, any Ayurvedic herb juice, spice tea or another preparation can be used:-one recipe)

After around an hour, second nutritious drink was taken. This was selected from following:

1. a Fruit juice (like Apple, Pomegranate, Papaya etc.) or 

2. a healthy shake (for example: Banana, Dates, Cashew nuts smoothie) 

(any nourishing drink milk/curd/fruit/vegetable juice or water based etc. can be used - this post has milk based recipes)

These replaced my breakfast for all 9 days. 

5 benefits of this little practice, as observed, are listed below:

1. As the breakfast was reduced and simplified with this plan, lunch got preponed to before noon. Hence, the entire schedule got more aligned with nature. Dinner was also done by evening 6 pm and it was possible to sleep early, then.  This resulted in automatically getting-up earlier, on next day, as well.

2. This practice added 2 liquid diet to routine and hence hydration requirement was taken care of.  It seemed much-needed as issues related to dryness were found to be reducing.

3. Any fasting or replacing a meal with lighter food helps to clean & nourish the system, in a small way. Here too, little change was observed. The energy for doing work seemed slightly more 😄. Sometimes feeling light and active was also observed. 

Hunger was noticeable during the day, which showed better readiness of digestive system and that's great, usually.

4. Mental calm was noticed at times- an enhanced ability to remain fresh, positive and accomplish a little more, seemed possible, on most days. 

Reduced diet brings peace of mind and improves concentration, too. It therefore enables better quality of life and productivity. This makes fasting, a precious gift to give oneself. 

5. This simplified, small practice enabled to start & complete a 9-day journey of partial cleansing & nourishing. This had been on the mind, for multiple months , by now. 

As the fast was only a micro change in diet and finished right in the morning, itself, it became super easy to carry it out, along with running daily chores & business as usual. 

There was no restriction on eating festival dishes, which could be also enjoyed, during later part of the day. 

The habit of taking a fresh drink with meals also works good, generally. Ingesting healthy or an unwanted food might become easier with a 'satvic' / pure, fresh drink to go along with. 

2 Learnings chosen to carry forward, for longer time:  

1. Keep breakfast light.

2. Add fresh & healthy drinks to regular diet.

Self-care practices are quite helpful in enabling one to manage their system and stay naturally healthy, for years to come. Simple health care therapies are great to avoid accumulation of toxins and provide missing nourishment for body & mind. These work as preventive against disease formation.  

It's generally wise to adapt suitable home remedies, from time to time, in consultation with your medical advisor, 

Take Charge of your Diet👍👍

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