Fasting During Navratri

Navratri is a Hindu festival of worship and dance, celebrated in different ways throughout India. The word Navaratri literally means nine nights in Sanskrit; nava meaning nine and ratri meaning nights. During these nine nights and ten days, nine forms of Shakti/Devi i.e. female divinity are worshipped. The nine-night festival is observed twice a year, once at the beginning of summer and the other, as winter is about to begin.

Navratras is the time when many people fast to follow a tradition of cleansing, detoxifying and getting their bodies rested. Fasts are a means of internal cleansing, physically and spiritually. They not only purify the gastro-intestinal tract and surrounding organs, but also normalise the metabolic components and give rest to the intestines. Depending upon the person the fast may have several benefits for the people.

People who are vegetarians only for Navratas

The people who are generally non-vegetarian but turn vegetarian during navratras can benefit hugely during the navratras. This is because it is the best opportunity to get all the toxins out of the system and actually get the benefit of the antioxidants into the gastro-intestinal tract. This is important for health because the non-vegetarian diet is cancer promoting, and during this period one can actually get to detoxify the system.

The gastro-intestinal tract needs a lot of alkaline food to keep the pH balanced so that the tumor forming cells are not formed. Adding the following foods during navratras can detoxify the intestinal tract of the toxic meat residue:

• Vegetable juice which is made out of bottle gourd (lauki), tomato, apple and a little bit of ginger (adrak) will provide mega shots of the Vitamin A, Vitamin B and Vitamin C to serve as antioxidants to prevent cancer. Vitamin C is an antioxidant that has been shown to boost the immune system, fight cancer and lower the risk of heart disease.
• Eat lots of fruits to rid the liver of toxic cholesterol accumulation. In fruits you can have apples as they are rich in pectin, a soluble fiber, which is effective in lowering cholesterol levels. If you are taking a low cholesterol diet then avoid consuming too much of dairy as it can push cholesterol up significantly.

People who are vegetarians and fasting

To get the best of the health benefits of the navratras:

• Eat fruits like papaya, apple, pears (nashpati) and pomegranate (anar).
• Eat almonds (badam) soaked overnight and raisins (kishmish) to boost minerals.
• Begin the day by drinking luke warm water with a few drops of lemon to flush and detoxify the system.
• Avoid over-indulging in full cream milk and paneer as this may add to the lethargy.

People who want to lose weight

People who want to lose weight during this fasting period should choose foods wisely. You can choose foods such as bottle gourd (lauki) raita, pumpkin (kaddu) raita, fruits like apple, pears (nashpati) and papaya (papita), cucumber (kheera), some amount of potato, navratra rice (samak ke chawal), phul makhane (puffed lotus seeds). There are some foods that needs to be avoided like sweet potato (shakarkand), paneer, sabudana (sago), kuttu (buckwheat) and whole milk. Drink luke warm water with lemon to aid in cleansing. Also, avoid eating late at night.

Diabetics who need to follow navratras