This is deliberately abstaining from food, drink, or both for a period of time. It may be total or partial, as in the case of the young Saudis. Some people include sexual activity as one of the things they abstain from when they are fasting. It didn't begin with the Muslim religion; it has been around as long as we have a record of human behavior. Actually, many religions include fasting in their religious observances. It is even recommended by some physicians for therapeutic purposes although it's not in very common use nowadays. Christianity even has some fasting days that are practiced in some denominations. And then there are hunger strikes, usually by an individual who is trying to apply pressure to achieve a goal, typically a political one.

A research study conducted on rats and reported by Ruiqian Wan, Simonetta Camandola, and Mark P. Mattson under the title, “Intermittent Food Deprivation Improves Cardiovascular and Neuroendocrine Responses to Stress in Rats” in The Journal of Nutrition for June 2003 found that fasting had the overall effect of lowering blood pressure. We are certainly aware that food and diet can affect blood pressure. Fasting Center International, Inc., has a number of physicians from various specialties who participate in the organization's fasting programs and testify to the positive results. However, they also recommend that anyone who is fasting for any length of time be under medical supervision.

In addition to the religious reasons mentioned above, there are many other very good ones for going on a fast, such as removing the waste in one's body and cleansing it. Some people fast to regain the energy they have previously enjoyed. Another reason claimed by some fasters is elevating oneself out of the clutter in their minds and improving mental clarity as well as sharpening all their senses. Yet others say it gives them the chance to reset their “odometers” and enhance their quality of life. For more information, go to http://www.fasting.com/. It's clear that, according to all evidence available, fasting can be a beneficial experience. If you want to try fasting when you are taking a trip, the more you know about its effects on your body, the better prepared you will be to make it a positive experience.

Mono dieting included a variety of techniques. It is the consumption of one type of fruit or vegetable for one meal, one day or for a couple of days to cleanse your body but it isn't only that it can include more variety as well. It's a simple diet and would certainly make traveling for the raw-foodist easier. Here's what you do: you eat only one type of food at each meal, three times a day. The food groups are high protein, high carb, and starches. High protein foods are nuts and other legumes; high carbs are vegetables and fruits. For example, for breakfast you could have two bananas and an apple; for lunch, a variety of nuts and legumes and for diner you could have a large salade.

Let's face it–most of us who choose to be on raw-food diets are homebodies. A part of our switch to raw foods had to do with cycling down and avoiding the stress and bustle of life in the mainstream. However, we can't always achieve that, and some of us may have to do quite a bit of traveling. For that reason, working out ways of dealing with it are a necessity. If your trip is not going to last very long, a juice-fast might be a very positive thing to do. It will help to adjust your sense of reality about living in a food-obsessed world, and it will certainly have a cleansing effect on your body. On the other hand, if you know that certain foods are available in abundance where you’re going, the mono diet might work very well for you. If neither is attractive, go to “Ten Best Foods for the Raw Food Traveler” and work out a method that will make traveling enjoyable for you.

By TTS Health Consultant Gabrielle Gingras