fasting

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Pastor Dies Trying to Recreate Jesus' 40-Day Fast

Francisco Barajah was 39

(Newser) - A pastor in Mozambique died during a fast that he intended to last for 40 days—the length of time Jesus is said to have fasted after his baptism. Francisco Barajah reportedly consumed neither food nor water during that period, though the Daily Beast sees the water part as unlikely,...

Bishops Just Gave Catholics a Big Lenten Dispensation

Some dioceses are letting followers eat meat on Fridays (but not Good Friday) due to coronavirus

(Newser) - Catholics who don't eat meat on Fridays during Lent, as well as give up other things during the 40 or so days of the religious observance before Easter, probably didn't anticipate this year also sacrificing hanging out with friends, heading out to restaurants and bars, and attending most...

Twitter CEO: I Skip Breakfast, Lunch Every Day

Jack Dorsey talks more on his intermittent fasting habits, disputes rumor on his sauna/ice bath habit

(Newser) - People have a lot of questions about Twitter, and about CEO Jack Dorsey in particular, and on Tuesday, the 43-year-old social media leader tried to answer some of them. Wired has the video interview , and one of the questions that came in via the platform he oversees wanted to know...

We May Be at 'Transition Point' on Fasting Diets
We May Be at 'Transition
Point' on Fasting Diets
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

We May Be at 'Transition Point' on Fasting Diets

Study sees benefits, though hurdles of adopting the practice are high

(Newser) - The idea of intermittent fasting is gaining popularity, and newly published research will please advocates. A review of existing studies in the New England Journal of Medicine finds evidence that fasting can lead to a range of health benefits, from decreased stress to lower blood pressure to improved cognition and...

Penn Jillette Talks 'Hard-Core' Magic He Uses to Stay Slim

Magician says he fasts 23 hours each day to maintain 100-pound weight loss

(Newser) - "I don't respect moderation." That's the reasoning magician Penn Jillette gives the Los Angeles Times for both the diet that helped him lose over 100 pounds in just a few months in 2015, and now for the "hard-core" way he maintains that weight loss. In...

Tunisia's Goalkeeper Keeps Getting 'Injured' at Sundown

It might have something to do with allowing his teammates to get some snacks

(Newser) - The goalie for Tunisia's World Cup soccer team has fallen to the turf claiming to be injured in each of the last two games, almost precisely at sunset each time. Bizarre coincidence? Possibly. Goalie Mouez Hassen, however, has slyly acknowledged that something else is going on—and it involves...

Want to Burn More Fat? Fast 18 Hours a Day

Preliminary study suggests it could work

(Newser) - A new preliminary study reveals a way to burn more fat—but you have to be willing to restrict all your daily eating to a 6-hour window. Researchers found that participants who took in all their daily calories between 8am and 2pm burned 6% more fat than those who spread...

Teen Dies After 68-Day Fast, Family Faces Homicide Charges

13-year-old Aradhana Samdariya was taking part in ancient religious ritual

(Newser) - For more than two months, a 13-year-old in India took part in an extreme religious fast, reports the BBC . Early this month she called off that fast, but she fell into a coma two days later and died of cardiac arrest on Oct. 4—and now her parents, well-off jewelers...

White House to Host Dinner for Fasting Leader

India PM Narendra Modi won't eat during 5-day US trip

(Newser) - A state dinner with a difference: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi begins a visit to the US today, but although he'll be having a private dinner with President Obama, the White House chefs might as well take the night off because Modi is visiting in the middle of a...

How Do Soccer Players Survive Ramadan Fasting?

Better than you think they might

(Newser) - Some players find it impossible to get through 90 minutes of World Cup soccer without having a little on-field snack , but what about those who are fasting from sun-up til sundown? Soccer's biggest tourney intersects with Ramadan for the first time since 1986, and Vox takes a look...

To Regenerate Immune System: Fast for 3 Days?

Body makes new white blood cells: researchers

(Newser) - Scientists in California believe they have a tip for those with weakened immune systems: Fast for three days. The brief period "flips a regenerative switch" in the body, the University of Southern California researchers say, via the Telegraph : "It gives the 'OK' for stem cells to go...

Guy Replaces Food With Beer for Lent

Canadian Chris Schryer is surviving on a special brew

(Newser) - It's 40 days and 40 nights of ... beer? A Canadian man is giving it a shot for Lent, reports the National Post . Chris Schryer, 33, has sworn off solid food in favor of a calorie-laden brew called dopplebock. Time notes that he is supplementing a bit with water, juice,...

Joe Kennedy to Fast for Immigration Reform

He'll join protest, abstain from food for 24 hours

(Newser) - Joe Kennedy is hungry to see John Boehner take up the Senate's immigration reform bill —and pretty soon, he'll be hungry in a literal sense as well. The rep from Massachusetts has announced that he will join a protest fast to push for reform. A group of...

Emotional Francis on Syria: 'War Brings on War!

Says he's 'deeply wounded,' calls for day of fasting

(Newser) - Pope Francis abandoned his normal Sunday themes today, and instead spoke emotionally and at length about Syria, calling for a day of fasting and prayer for peace. "My heart is deeply wounded by what is happening in Syria and anguished by the dramatic developments," he said, as per...

Hot New Diet: Eat for 5 Days, Fast for 2

Idea of intermittent fasting arrives in US after sweeping Britain

(Newser) - The next Atkins? The New York Times says the Fast Diet has the potential to be a blockbuster in the US after becoming a best-seller in Britain. The premise is simple: Eat whatever you want for five days, then fast for two. Well, almost fast: The authors recommend two light...

Hot Trend in the House: Fasting Lawmakers

Steve King, Barbara Lee go without for different reasons

(Newser) - The Hill picks up on a House trend that seems to span the political spectrum—fasting. On the left is Rep. Barbara Lee, who's organizing an effort in which about two dozen lawmakers will take turns going 24 hours with no food, only water, until Easter. The idea is...

Why I Joined the Budget Protest Fast
 Why I Joined the 
 Budget Protest Fast 
MARK BITTMAN

Why I Joined the Budget Protest Fast

The GOP budget will directly cause people to go hungry

(Newser) - More than 4,000 people are fasting in protest of the GOP’s proposed budget cuts—and food writer Mark Bittman is one of them. That may seem surprising—“after all, I eat food for a living”—but once he took a good look at the proposed cuts,...

Survivor: Days of Fasting Before Sweat Lodge Disaster

Self-help guru James Arthur Ray ignored pleas to help those collapsing

(Newser) - Participants in the fatal Oct. 8 sweat-lodge ceremony had already been through five days of fasting and sleep deprivation, a survivor says—and the self-help guru leading the proceedings saw their gasping, vomiting and fainting as signs of weakness and urged them to push on through it. No charges have...

Blaine Offers Farrow Hunger Strike Tips

Illusionist's starvation tips help Farrow endure fast for Darfur

(Newser) - Mia Farrow took advice from a pro before going on a hunger strike for Darfur, the New York Daily News reports. Farrow says illusionist David Blaine—who once spent 44 seemingly food-free days sealed inside a Plexiglass case—told her the hunger pangs would stop six days in, and to...

Farrow Will Fast for Darfur

Actress wants world leaders to turn attention to Sudan's plight after aid groups expelled

(Newser) - Mia Farrow will start a hunger strike on Monday to draw attention to the living conditions of Darfur's millions of refugees, the BBC reports. The actress wants to show solidarity with those whose suffering has increased since the Sudanese government banned aid groups. The actress is asking "human rights...

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