3 Reasons for Fasting during Navratri

Updated on 16th October, 2020 : I could not write a post for today but did not really want to go without publishing so this is straight #fromthearchives. And, with the navratri starting from tomorrow, may be its time for a little detox. What say? 

I would love to hear your comments down below on how you fast in these 9 days and how you enjoy the festival. The bhog at this time is the yummiest! Though with the pandemic going on, not sure how many of you are venturing out. I would say – Stay Home, Stay Safe!

Are you honoring the tradition of fasting in these days of navratri? It is said that the process of fasting is more scientific than a religious belief, may be a good post in itself. But, today, it is about why you should be fasting during navratri? For me, fasting is always a time when you detox your body. Though, in case of navratri, you could always say we end up eating more oily food comparatively. But, are you aware that there is a reason why we are supposed to eat more oily food in these days? Yes! But, more about that later. Let me start by giving you three really good and healthy reasons why you should fast during navratri.

3 Reasons for Fasting during Navratri

You avoid eating Junk

The idea for this post came to me when I came across this acronym called CRAP (carbonated soda, refined carbohydrates, added sugar and processed foods). In fact, this is trending so much these days.

So, the whole idea of fasting is to avoid eating anything of the above in these nine days. In fact, we also eschew garlic and onion making our diets more sattvik which should be the case according to ayurveda. More sattvik our diet becomes, more is our intake of fresh and seasonal foods which means more ‘life force’ or energy in our body. To summarize, we end up preparing food at home or eating freshly prepared food as opposed to ordering it right away on a food delivery app.

Eating in Moderation

Now, everyone has their own style of fasting. Some people follow only fruits, some go for the hard way of not in taking even water and some are fine with eating in small portions. Personal styles aside, the whole point of the fasting is to eat in moderation where you are not going to extent of starving yourself either but not even gorging up. So, when you eat in moderation for a longer period, it automatically rewires your brain and controls your eating habits. So, fasting is just a way to create a habit instead of making it a one time routine.

You are Gluten-Free

So, interestingly, my friend is on a GM diet. Well, I am not a fan of diets and I strongly recommended her not to follow one. Keeping that aside, she told me that since her body has been gluten free for almost half a week, she can feel the effects of having cramps, not a lot of energy and headaches, not to mention other things.

Interestingly, these effects are not felt when you keep fast during navratri and following the proper diet meant for fasting. That includes eating sago aka sabudana, barnyard millets aka sama ke chawal, buckwheat flour which is an all time favorite and has entered the list of power foods, water chestnut flour and lots and lots of potatoes which keeps your carbohydrate needs in check. These are lighter foods which get digested easily and give a break to our body from the regular routine without compromising on health.

Am I fasting during navratri?

So, did I convince you? I decided to do all nine days this time and it is purely because of my love for buckwheat flour puris and aloo sabzi which tastes like heaven during these days. This used to be a treat for us living in hostel during our engineering. We would get the food meant for fasting only if we keep fast. So, we decided among friends to keep fast alternatively and share the food. It was tough but that was probably half of the fun.

For the last two days, I have been making sabudana khichdi with tari-wale aloo and sama ke chawal ki kheer. I have decided to have one snack around mid day and dinner and a small serving of fruit in the morning. My snack for the first day was roasted makhanas aka fox nuts and yesterday it was boiled and roasted sweet potato with dhaniya chutney. Today, it was lacha aloo and probably the same food.

Unfortunately, I forgot to stock up on buckwheat flour and now it is out of stock which is very inconvenient. But, till now, I have not felt weak or sluggish or even had cramps. So, all good. May be I could do a follow up post after the fast to just give you an update on how it went. So, what about you? Are you fasting during navratri? What eating schedule are you following? Do share in the comments below!

Till then, ciao.