evidenceA lot of my Christian friends are giving up Facebook/alcohol/certain foods, etc., for Lent, which begins today. In the context of dieting I have seen studies done that show that abstaining from food for a period of time has little effect on weight - it may come off while you stop eating but your body will pile it on again once you start again.
Is there any evidence of the effects of abstinence in relation to alcohol etc., or in general? (I haven’t had much luck finding anything as US sex-ed policy tends to dominate any search.)
Are you asking if there's any historical/tribal or physiological basis for ritual fasting the precedes Abrahamic fasting?
Much of human history is associated with a nomadic lifestyle, and the earliest versions of that lifestyle were resource driven. Tribes often used up all of the local fauna and had to move or starve. It's thought that this nomadism is associated with reduced caloric intake for extended periods or outright fasting. It's also postulated by some that the human body is attuned to these periods of fasting and that it benefits from it. Here's a quickly available link: caloric restriction
It could simply be that some 'western' religions have inherited a periodic fasting regime from an earlier nomadic period. Or, that could be all crap.
The Christian idea of Lenten abstinence isn’t one of health care, or to get a sexy body. I don’t see a nomadic influence either.
Due to their beliefs, Jesus fasted for 40 days in the dessert.
If you read Hunger from Knut Hamsun, you will find the hero of the story fasting, but due to poorness, and begins having hallucinations. I guess that is where the connection between religious beliefs and real life experience is. People thought it is god or the angels talking, when they heard voices. “I saw the light” - yes, kind of. :) You could have taken LSD.
Maybe we can see big movements towards religion in years of hunger, does somebody know some statistics?
Isn’t the whole esoteric movement grounded on experiences with psychedelic drugs?
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