Eat, Fast, Feast: Heal Your Body While Feeding Your Soul - A Christian Guide to Fasting

by Jay W. Richards

Overview

The New York Times bestselling author and senior fellow at the Discovery Institute blends science and religion in this thoughtful guide that teaches modern believers how to use the leading wellness trend today—intermittent fasting—as a means of spiritual awakening, adopting the traditions our Christians ancestors practiced for centuries into daily life.

Wellness minded people today are increasingly turning to intermittent fasting to bolster their health. But we aren’t the first people to abstain from eating for a purpose. This routine was a common part of our spiritual ancestors’ lives for 1,500 years.

Jay Richards argues that Christians should recover the fasting lifestyle, not only to improve our bodies, but to bolster our spiritual health as well. In Eat, Fast, Feast, he combines forgotten spiritual wisdom on fasting and feasting with the burgeoning literature on ketogenic diets and fasting for improved physical and mental health. Based on his popular series “Fasting, Body and Soul” in The Stream, Eat, Fast, Feast explores what it means to substitute our hunger for God for our hunger for food, and what both modern science and the ancient monastics can teach us about this practice.

Richards argues that our modern diet—heavy in sugar and refined carbohydrates—locks us into a metabolic trap that makes fasting unfruitful and our feasts devoid of meaning. The good news, he reveals, is that we are beginning to resist the tyranny of processed foods, with millions of people pursuing low carb, ketogenic, paleo, and primal diets. This growing body of experts argue that eating natural fat and fasting is not only safe, but far better than how we eat today.

Richards provides a 40-day plan which combines a long-term “nutritional ketosis” with spiritual disciplines. The plan can be used any time of the year or be adapted to a penitential season on the Christian calendar, such as Advent or Lent.

Synthesizing recent science with ancient wisdom, Eat, Fast, Feast brings together the physical, mental, and spiritual benefits of intermittent fasting to help Christians improve their lives and their health, and bring them closer to God.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062905215
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	01/07/2020
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	257,193
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Jay W. Richards, Ph.D., O.P., is a Research Assistant Professor in the Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America, a Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute, and Executive Editor of The Stream. He is author or editor of more than a dozen books including two New York Times bestsellers. His book Money, Greed, and God was a winner of a 2010 Templeton Enterprise Award.

Table of Contents

Foreword Jason Fung, MD ix

Introduction 1

Clearing the Path

1 How and Why Christians Used to Fast 21

2 Why We Quit Fasting 31

3 Fasting Doesn't Have to Be So Hard 39

4 Why Fasting Isn't Bad for You 49

5 Using Fat for Fuel 59

6 Stumbling into Fasting 70

7 Prepping for Success 84

Week 1

8 Hello Fat, Goodbye Carbs 95

9 Fasting for Discipline, Sacrifice, and Holiness 112

Week 2

10 16/8 Time-Restricted Eating 123

11 Fasting for Better Prayer 129

Week 3

12 Three Days with the 20/4 Routine 137

13 Why Fasting Isn't an Attack on Your Body 139

14 Exercise for the Fasting Lifestyle 149

Week 4

15 Three Days with One Meal a Day (23/1) 159

16 Fasting to Clear Your Mind 165

17 Can We Mimic a Fast and Still Get the Benefits? 175

Week 5

18 The 4/3 Fasting-Mimicking Diet 183

19 Fasting for Spiritual Warfare 187

20 Fasting to Lose Weight and Fight Diabesity 195

21 Fasting to Fight Disease and Live Longer 206

Week 6

22 A Multi-Day Fast 223

23 Fasting Together 226

24 Fasting and the Christian Year 233

25 What About Longer Fasts? 241

26 The Body's Grand Design 249

27 Locking In the Fasting Lifestyle 260

28 How and Why We Should Feast 266

Conclusion: From the Primordial Fast to the Wedding Feast of the Lamb 277

Acknowledgments 287

Appendix 1 Additional Books 289

Appendix 2 The Six-Week Plan at a Glance 291

Appendix 3 How to Prove You're Burning Fat for Fuel 295

Notes 299

Index 319

Editorial Reviews

01/13/2020

Richards (Infiltrated), senior fellow at the Discovery Institute, blends old Christian eating habits with current research on the benefits of fasting in this spirited outing. Richards stumbled into fasting when he eliminated certain foods from his diet in conjunction with medical tests. Instead of feeling the fatigue he expected, Richards noticed moments of lucidity and strength and decided to explore the practice. Christians used to fast as part of their normal routine, he writes, but it has been forgotten over the years except for special occasions, such as Lent. Richards presents a plan that incorporates keto diet principles, which help the body burn fat, and explores the simple “16 hour fast” as well as the relationship between fasting and cultivating discipline, sacrifice, and ultimately holiness. Facts about how the body breaks down carbs and regulates insulin help readers make informed choices about adopting a healthy diet. He also provides ideas for feasts and “mini-feasts” that, following times of fasting, allow for healthy, communal eating experiences. Christians interested in fasting diet trends will find this instructional and convincing. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

Richards helps us to understand why fasting is important, helpful, and spiritually nourishing. Richards is a wise, informed guide into an ancient, life-enhancing practice.  If you interested in fasting and seek a wise path into the discipline, this is the book for you. Highly recommended.” — Christopher Hall, president of Renovaré

“Richards is a polymath you can trust, and Eat, Fast, Feast is trustworthy and true. If you are confused about when to eat and when to abstain from eating, don’t delay, read today. I did, and the results have been transformational.”  — Hank Hanegraaff, host of the Bible Answer Man

“Jay Richards has gained profound insights into how the body works, fasting, and prayer. This is the fruit of that first-hand research.”  — Austin Ruse, author of Littlest Suffering Souls

From the Publisher

Richards helps us to understand why fasting is important, helpful, and spiritually nourishing. Richards is a wise, informed guide into an ancient, life-enhancing practice.  If you interested in fasting and seek a wise path into the discipline, this is the book for you. Highly recommended.

Christopher Hall

Jay Richards has gained profound insights into how the body works, fasting, and prayer. This is the fruit of that first-hand research.” 

Austin Ruse

Richards is a polymath you can trust, and Eat, Fast, Feast is trustworthy and true. If you are confused about when to eat and when to abstain from eating, don’t delay, read today. I did, and the results have been transformational.” 

Hank Hanegraaff