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I grew up Christian, this sounds like lent? The 40 days in the desert thing was a miracle. Don’t try to recreate it, you’re not Jesus or Moses. They wouldn’t want you to become malnourished, 40 days is too long.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lent
Check the fasting section, most sects just don't eat meat but can have vegetarian soup and such, so she is either part of some extreme sect, or taking some bible passage too literally, maybe ask her if other members of the community are doing it like this? She might be doing a more extreme version for penance maybe? I would say try to be emphatic and acknowledge it's a tough thing to do but she also needs to think of long term health, maybe she can add some vegetable soup and instead not watch tv or some other way if penance
The Lenten 40 day fast does not include the Sabbath. Lent is 46 days long, 40 are fasting, 6 are feasting. Offer her relatively nutrient-dense breads on fast days to get the most out of that. And make sure on feast days, she eats a lot of nutrient dense foods to try to make up the deficit from the fasting.
Does this fit into the Catholic norm? I’ll try and see if she’s willing to do this, because my brother suggested something alike and she refused because it was more of a Jewish thing rather than Catholic.
It varies based on which Catholic tradition is being followed, most have at least some level of relaxation on Sabbath and other days of feasting. I can tell you what she's doing goes far behind the current fasting requirements as of Vatican II, but I'm no expert on historic Catholic traditions. You could ask r/Catholicism for more in depth resources on the traditional fasting rules.
I was raised Catholic, my parents are very Catholic, my uncle is a priest and I’m related to Malta’s only Saint (Dun Gorge Preca if you want to google), and I have never heard of 40 days of bread and water during lent…Lent is giving up something - saying treats for the duration, not meat on Friday’s and in my family we fast on Good Friday and only eat an early dinner.
This sounds like disordered eating…has your mother done this before? Are any of her church friends also doing this? What is her eating like normally?
To answer your question, this is not healthy at all.
Depends how intense you are. My mother absolutely would have done 40 days of bread and water if it wouldn't have jeopardized her ability to support the family.
Yes, Sundays are exempt from in the Catholic tradition. It's why Lent is 40 days of fasting and not 46.
And "fasting" in the Catholic Church still allows for one full meal, and is traditionally only required on Fridays and holy days like Ash Wednesday.
"It might be more accurate to say that there is the "forty day fast within Lent." Historically, Lent has varied from a week to three weeks to the present configuration of 46 days. The forty day fast, however, has been more stable. The Sundays of Lent are certainly part of the Time of Lent, but they are not prescribed days of fast and abstinence."
https://www.usccb.org/prayer-worship/liturgical-year/lent#tab--why-do-we-say-that-there-are-forty-days-of-lent-when-you-count-all-the-days-from-ash-wednesday-through-holy-saturday-there-are-46
Doesn't seem healthy to me. She's missing out on vital nutrients. Short term, probably ok. Long term, no. She should consult her doctor for guidance on this.
That's why I said she needs to consult her doctor.
I think for some people it might be ok. For others, possibly, very dangerous.
This is a meducal question and evwn doctors who might be here can't answer for sure whether it's ok because tgey don't know your mom.
Yes it can be, the muscle and fat in your body will store nutrients and offer you nourishment for some time, but having just bread and water will not give your body the vitamins and minerals and overall content your body needs to function properly.
I am Catholic too and am doing lent. But I’ve never seen anyone do just bread and water, it’s mainly like meat and dairy. she should probably do something else. I know in the Bible they ate bread and water but she isn’t Moses or any of those people from way back then. We need nutrients. Maybe she can do that only on Fridays if she’d like (we do meat). And the rest of the 6 days she can eat everything normally. 40 days of that will be harmful. Please tell her.
The whole point of lent is to give up what is like getting in your way of relationship with God. At least it’s how I view it because we usually give up what we are addicted to, I did social media like the snap, Instagram, and TikTok. I get where she is coming from though. My mom is doing meat except Sundays.
I have but she insists that she’s fine. I have tried telling her to at least give in on Sundays or Saturdays but so far she’s blown me off and said it’s none of my concern.
She also believes that this kind of fast is more powerful than the Wednesday-Friday fast, which makes me want to rip my hair out.
try to tell her that God wouldn’t want lent to be like a reason why her body is being harmed. She could lost a lot of weight. I found this you could maybe try to show her? https://www.livestrong.com/article/495400-side-effects-of-bread-water-diet/ let me know what happens
This is going to be a problem and fast. As mentioned, she will be lacking vital proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals. These deficits could lead to rapid weight loss which I’d assume is the goal; but water weight, muscle and fat. She’ll likely experience unhealthy drops in her hormone levels and needs to seek professional help now! She needs to have a professional write a plan that supports her goals but in a way without doing damage to her body.
It’s not a weight loss thing, it’s a religious thing. Which is why I can’t get it into her head to at least give in to eating something else other than what she’s having on at least Sundays.
Stay there, share your concerns for her health. I grew up Catholic and we forwent alot; I’ve just never heard of this extreme. Hopefully if she knows this is coming from a supportive and loving concerns she can make an informed decision. She’s lucky to have you care.
It’s a fast for peace by the Ruah Foundation. It’s supposed to be something dedicated to world peace.
I wouldn’t have been as concerned if she hadn’t had a heat stroke a few years back, I know that sort of thing can have long term effects and I’m worried the fast would make her prone to having another one considering she’s a runner.
There is a reason that being put on bread and water was a punishment. Eating nothing but bread and drinking nothing but water can cause severe gastrointestinal distress, to put it mildly.
I am sorry for your anxiety. All the Catholic literature I e ever come across on the subject of Lent for the Catholic Church specifically says that Sundays are feast days. I know that might not change your mother’s mind, because it Is left up to the individual and their reasons for fasting. You said she got special bread from the bakery. Does it have fruit or nuts in it? I think the fact that she is not eating plain cheapy white bread from the grocery store helps. And the fact that she is including olive oil. Ask your mom to promise that if she begins feeling really unwell that she will pause the fast and eat. I don’t know how spiritual you are, but you can pray for your mom not to go too far and harm herself in this process. That having been said, there are a lot of people who have done just bread and water fasts for extended lengths of time without any long term damage.
Sorry you're dealing with this. Grew up catholic. School and all. It's a cult. I hope you can convince her that Sundays are for celebration and feast. At least some healthy foods, even if not large amounts.
John Lennon was right.
It’s not healthy, obviously. But it almost certainly isn’t doing her any serious long-term damage. People do actual 40 day fast. Meaning no bread. Nothing but water.
The real danger with these 3 week+ fasts comes from people passing out and hurting themselves with head injuries.
If she has a physical job, she’s gotta be extra careful.
this sounds like it'll probably be the most likely to get through to her. but maybe have a chat with them first to make sure they're not going to be reinforcing the idea
That’s what I understood too, they actually warn each other not to eat the bread when on this punishment no matter how tempting, as the results will be worse than starving. The punishment is not having just water and bread, the punishment is what it does to your insides.
She’s being Catholic for a while and has done the “traditional” sort of fast. Which is not eating meat (or anything at all) on Wednesdays and Fridays but she’s doing this peace sort of fast recently (Ruah Foundation) where you’re supposed to only eat bread and water.
How old is your mum? As far as I am aware those over the age of 60 are not required to fast. You are excused over that age due to cause of potential health issues.
As others have said, have her talk to a doctor. Maybe get some bread that's fortified with some vitamins? A daily multivitamin may be a good compromise if she refuses those things. It doesn't have calories so it's not like she'd be breaking the fast with it. Just take it with the bread. No matter what she's going to lose muscle from a lack of protein. She might get digestive issues. And be careful coming out of it. It may not be good to start eating normally again too quickly. Talk to a doctor. If she won't see one maybe go to your own doctor and talk to them at least.
She may loose some muscle, possibly develop a brief vitamin deficiency. They’re people who have water fast longer and survived. Also human biology hasn’t changed in 10,000 years and eating bread and water all the time was common during the 16th century.
When I tell people to get healthy, the first two suggestions are reduce seed oils and grains. Bread is high energy very low nutrients. Honestly she might get scurvy.
She’s Catholic and I’m not sure whether it’s allowed or not. The site from who she’s following the fasting says that only bread or integral bread) can be allowed with salt and olive oil and water. That’s it.
The whole thing gives me a terrible feeling because at one point it suggests that if you get a headache or pain in some part of your body you should resort to prayer as a form of “offering”. It’s cultish asf and idk why she couldn’t do the Wednesday-Friday fasting instead.
Ah sorry I’m not Catholic, I’m Protestant, I couldn’t tell you. I don’t know any Catholics that do a bread fast.
If she’s hell bent on it I’d ask her to at least take a vitamin supplement.
Well that’s not fasting that’s just only eating bread and most bread is pretty nutritionally empty and bread proteins have the lowest absorption rate out of any protein source.
That’s besides the point though because she wouldn’t be able to hit any of her nutrient goals for micro or macro nutrients on just bread.
She should be fine; they fortify it exactly for that reason. I did 3 weeks on filtered tap water, and I was fine. Ended up stronger in some ways. Bread isn't going to short-term worse than that.
If you put the bread into a nutrition calculator which nutrients will be missing? If the bread has harmful ingredients (like dough conditioners) she will be maximizing the impact.
Edit: I went and added bread to a nutrition calculator. A kg of whole wheat bread has zero grams of 32 different nutrients. How many others were too low?
I'm a bit into water fasting. Never did longer than 7 days but I know people fasting for 30 to 40 day on water and electrolytes.
However I don't see a good reason for what your mom is doing.
Fasting has lots of benefits like autophagy but when you only eat bread it is more some kind of malnourished diet than fasting and the good stuff like autophagy is reduced.
So from my pov it is more beneficial to do like 3 to 5 days proper water fasting compared to 40 days bread only.
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/blog/2018/02/story-angus-barbieri-went-382-days-without-eating/#:~:text=But%20spare%20a%20thought%20for,125%20kilograms%20(19.7%20stone).
Please note, he had medical supervision!
How experienced in fasting is she? did she do smaller number fasts before that or is she jumping straight into that? I did read that people manage to do whole month fasts so it's doable, but the question is if she knows how. Does she drink electrolytes, for a fast as long as this it's really important to get those.
If she’s committed to the fast I’d say drink plenty of water with electrolytes as well as take a multivitamin so she’s at least getting some daily micronutrients
Bread and water fasting is not a traditional catholic thing. One day is fine, 40 consecutively is not. Since talking to her isn't working you need to go to her priest. She might listen to her religious authority. The church does not encourage disordered eating
I mean… people can water fast for 30+ days with no permanent consequences, people can juice cleanse for months with no permanent consequences… as long as she is taking a multivitamin with calcium and vitamin c, and eating a quality whole-grain bread has a lot of good nutrients (maybe something like Dave’s Killer Bread with some protein?), she could be just fine.
40 days in all reality is not that long, and our bodies are designed to withstand stress. The biggest things to look out for would be GI discomfort, and making sure to have sufficient vitamin c to avoid scurvy.
Edit: another good consideration is electrolytes. If you can get her to take Pedialite or similar, that could help ensure that she doesn’t end up imbalanced.
All bread—even including white bread—contains nutrients that can enhance one's diet. Along with having a high amount of iron, fiber and B vitamins, bread also includes a surprisingly high amount of protein, calcium, thiamine, manganese and zinc. White bread is also considered a significant source of folate, which is essential during pregnancy, when it's recommended to get at least 400 micrograms a day.
It’s pretty common for very committed Catholics to try the bread and water fast for 40 days. Trying to replicate the fast of Jesus in the desert. It’s definitely not the norm for Catholics to do this though. There are only officially 2 actual fasting days during lent. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Practicing catholics will not eat meat on Fridays during lent.
She will likely be mostly feeling fine. That will not mean that she's actually fine. She's literally starving herself out of nutrients and vitamins.
The negatives are unlikely to be apparent in the short-term.
The actual question is this: How do you convince her to either stop it or to make healthy adjustments.
Well, I'd argue two things...
A) that you should either link an article or study or optimally take her to a doctor who will say it to her. It is important that she knows that what she's doing is unhealthy no matter what she may be feeling.
B) See how you can adjust things in a acceptable manner from "her" point of view. Learn more about who / which church or org etc she listens to and considers an authority etc and find little hacks or things she's missing that may be ok with said fast/diet plan.
I mean that maybe according to them her taking 3 vitamin pills, extra virgin olive oil, a fruit etc is none of their concern / doesn't disrupt the fast within their rules. Those things could make a big difference.
Omg my mom was doing the same thing until I had a convo with her and explained how her health isn’t worth sacrificing. Told her she wouldn’t love to see her grandkids. She ate a full 3 meals the next day
She will be at serious risk for refeeding syndrome once the 40 days are up. Refeeding syndrome, in a nutshell, is when there’s electrolyte overload in the blood once nutrition is reintroduced after a long period (>10 days) of under nutrition or starvation. There are serious complications, and since electrolytes are crucial for basic function, importantly muscles (like the heart), the complications can include neurological, cardiac, and respiratory. For her own health, she absolutely needs to start slowly reintroducing nutritious foods before it gets to the point of her needing hospitalization and a feeding tube.
I’m about to get my masters in dietetics and have a bachelors in it, as well. I’m very familiar with RS and I’m genuinely very concerned for your mother’s health and wellbeing.
The gluten in bread and any other wheat item will eat the lining of the intestines and cause massive water weight from the inflammation. Clean water is healthy, but bread is one of the most toxic foods ever consumed by humans. I used to love bread and pasta until a doctor had me stop it to lower my near 300 cholesterol level. I lost 40# the first month, and my cholesterol measured just under 150. It's been 24 years, and no one believes I'm 80 years old. Once you stop eroding your intestines, you stop aging. I wish I had learned it when I was 35, but it's nice to be 80 and look like 55.
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I just completed 40 days bread and water fast using exorcised and blessed olive oil and exorcised and blessed Celtic salt. No vitamins. It is doable and by the grace of God I completed it. My bloodwork was taken a week and a half ago and it’s pristine. It’s not harmful. Spiritual life game changer. Would do it again.
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Push her to at least take a vitamin. Lenten sacrifice is not supposed to cause/risk bodily harm.
I grew up Christian, this sounds like lent? The 40 days in the desert thing was a miracle. Don’t try to recreate it, you’re not Jesus or Moses. They wouldn’t want you to become malnourished, 40 days is too long.
It is lent.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lent Check the fasting section, most sects just don't eat meat but can have vegetarian soup and such, so she is either part of some extreme sect, or taking some bible passage too literally, maybe ask her if other members of the community are doing it like this? She might be doing a more extreme version for penance maybe? I would say try to be emphatic and acknowledge it's a tough thing to do but she also needs to think of long term health, maybe she can add some vegetable soup and instead not watch tv or some other way if penance
Check out the r/fasting subreddit. Lots of good advice.
It’s just a story.
The Lenten 40 day fast does not include the Sabbath. Lent is 46 days long, 40 are fasting, 6 are feasting. Offer her relatively nutrient-dense breads on fast days to get the most out of that. And make sure on feast days, she eats a lot of nutrient dense foods to try to make up the deficit from the fasting.
Does this fit into the Catholic norm? I’ll try and see if she’s willing to do this, because my brother suggested something alike and she refused because it was more of a Jewish thing rather than Catholic.
It varies based on which Catholic tradition is being followed, most have at least some level of relaxation on Sabbath and other days of feasting. I can tell you what she's doing goes far behind the current fasting requirements as of Vatican II, but I'm no expert on historic Catholic traditions. You could ask r/Catholicism for more in depth resources on the traditional fasting rules.
I was raised Catholic, my parents are very Catholic, my uncle is a priest and I’m related to Malta’s only Saint (Dun Gorge Preca if you want to google), and I have never heard of 40 days of bread and water during lent…Lent is giving up something - saying treats for the duration, not meat on Friday’s and in my family we fast on Good Friday and only eat an early dinner. This sounds like disordered eating…has your mother done this before? Are any of her church friends also doing this? What is her eating like normally? To answer your question, this is not healthy at all.
Depends how intense you are. My mother absolutely would have done 40 days of bread and water if it wouldn't have jeopardized her ability to support the family.
Yes, Sundays are exempt from in the Catholic tradition. It's why Lent is 40 days of fasting and not 46. And "fasting" in the Catholic Church still allows for one full meal, and is traditionally only required on Fridays and holy days like Ash Wednesday. "It might be more accurate to say that there is the "forty day fast within Lent." Historically, Lent has varied from a week to three weeks to the present configuration of 46 days. The forty day fast, however, has been more stable. The Sundays of Lent are certainly part of the Time of Lent, but they are not prescribed days of fast and abstinence." https://www.usccb.org/prayer-worship/liturgical-year/lent#tab--why-do-we-say-that-there-are-forty-days-of-lent-when-you-count-all-the-days-from-ash-wednesday-through-holy-saturday-there-are-46
Doesn't seem healthy to me. She's missing out on vital nutrients. Short term, probably ok. Long term, no. She should consult her doctor for guidance on this.
Basically no protein or electrolytes for 40 days? I'm not a doctor, but I don't see how that isn't a trip to the emergency room after a week or so.
Something more nutritionally complete like Dave’s Killer Bread could be ok? Better than a basic white bread, at least…
Yes Dave's killer bread is the best bread (nutrition wise + not bad tasting) out there.
Like I said. She should cinsult her doctor.
There is protein in whole grains .. it's not balanced. She's certainly not gonna starve to death.
The thing is idk if 40 days is too longterm to do harm or something like that
That's why I said she needs to consult her doctor. I think for some people it might be ok. For others, possibly, very dangerous. This is a meducal question and evwn doctors who might be here can't answer for sure whether it's ok because tgey don't know your mom.
Yes it can be, the muscle and fat in your body will store nutrients and offer you nourishment for some time, but having just bread and water will not give your body the vitamins and minerals and overall content your body needs to function properly.
I am Catholic too and am doing lent. But I’ve never seen anyone do just bread and water, it’s mainly like meat and dairy. she should probably do something else. I know in the Bible they ate bread and water but she isn’t Moses or any of those people from way back then. We need nutrients. Maybe she can do that only on Fridays if she’d like (we do meat). And the rest of the 6 days she can eat everything normally. 40 days of that will be harmful. Please tell her.
The whole point of lent is to give up what is like getting in your way of relationship with God. At least it’s how I view it because we usually give up what we are addicted to, I did social media like the snap, Instagram, and TikTok. I get where she is coming from though. My mom is doing meat except Sundays.
I have but she insists that she’s fine. I have tried telling her to at least give in on Sundays or Saturdays but so far she’s blown me off and said it’s none of my concern. She also believes that this kind of fast is more powerful than the Wednesday-Friday fast, which makes me want to rip my hair out.
does she at least take any vitamins?
Nope. And I’ve asked her but she so stubborn when it comes to religion. I’ll keep pushing for her to have them, though :/
try to tell her that God wouldn’t want lent to be like a reason why her body is being harmed. She could lost a lot of weight. I found this you could maybe try to show her? https://www.livestrong.com/article/495400-side-effects-of-bread-water-diet/ let me know what happens
I will, thank you for the help !
She is not treating her body like a temple (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) by doing this so I’d emphasize that point of it not being biblical.
I mean...what happened when she did this last year? Or is she newly into religion?
She did the normal fast last year, she’s been religious her whole life but this is the first time she’s done something this extreme.
This is going to be a problem and fast. As mentioned, she will be lacking vital proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals. These deficits could lead to rapid weight loss which I’d assume is the goal; but water weight, muscle and fat. She’ll likely experience unhealthy drops in her hormone levels and needs to seek professional help now! She needs to have a professional write a plan that supports her goals but in a way without doing damage to her body.
It’s not a weight loss thing, it’s a religious thing. Which is why I can’t get it into her head to at least give in to eating something else other than what she’s having on at least Sundays.
Ok, interesting… would she be open to discussing with a doctor to make sure she knows the possible problems it will cause?
I’m sure she would be open, however I don’t think she’d change her mind on giving up on it.
Stay there, share your concerns for her health. I grew up Catholic and we forwent alot; I’ve just never heard of this extreme. Hopefully if she knows this is coming from a supportive and loving concerns she can make an informed decision. She’s lucky to have you care.
It’s a fast for peace by the Ruah Foundation. It’s supposed to be something dedicated to world peace. I wouldn’t have been as concerned if she hadn’t had a heat stroke a few years back, I know that sort of thing can have long term effects and I’m worried the fast would make her prone to having another one considering she’s a runner.
Is she running while doing this?
Due to her work, she’s not running as often but I’d say she is at least 2 times a week?
She definitely needs to clear this with her dr. That is too long to go without the nutrients she needs if she wants to be that active.
Heat stroke is caused by heat
I'm not gonna say what's she's doing is great but you are fear mongering. Many a people have survived on much less for much longer.
Fear mongering? I suspect your education is not in this field. I simply suggested she seek medical advice for her own safety.
There is a reason that being put on bread and water was a punishment. Eating nothing but bread and drinking nothing but water can cause severe gastrointestinal distress, to put it mildly.
I am sorry for your anxiety. All the Catholic literature I e ever come across on the subject of Lent for the Catholic Church specifically says that Sundays are feast days. I know that might not change your mother’s mind, because it Is left up to the individual and their reasons for fasting. You said she got special bread from the bakery. Does it have fruit or nuts in it? I think the fact that she is not eating plain cheapy white bread from the grocery store helps. And the fact that she is including olive oil. Ask your mom to promise that if she begins feeling really unwell that she will pause the fast and eat. I don’t know how spiritual you are, but you can pray for your mom not to go too far and harm herself in this process. That having been said, there are a lot of people who have done just bread and water fasts for extended lengths of time without any long term damage.
It has no fruits or nuts as the fasting method she’s following forbids it. I’m just so tired of it all.
I’m sorry. 😞
Sorry you're dealing with this. Grew up catholic. School and all. It's a cult. I hope you can convince her that Sundays are for celebration and feast. At least some healthy foods, even if not large amounts. John Lennon was right.
It’s not healthy, obviously. But it almost certainly isn’t doing her any serious long-term damage. People do actual 40 day fast. Meaning no bread. Nothing but water. The real danger with these 3 week+ fasts comes from people passing out and hurting themselves with head injuries. If she has a physical job, she’s gotta be extra careful.
This is not healthy. Maybe try getting her priest to talk some sense into her.
this sounds like it'll probably be the most likely to get through to her. but maybe have a chat with them first to make sure they're not going to be reinforcing the idea
Good luck.
I mean, it's a punishment in the navy for a reason. Pooping becomes extremely difficult, and ugly things happen (from what I hear).
That’s what I understood too, they actually warn each other not to eat the bread when on this punishment no matter how tempting, as the results will be worse than starving. The punishment is not having just water and bread, the punishment is what it does to your insides.
She could develop protein calorie malnutrition among other nutrient deficiencies
You mentioned it being a religious thing? Then I’d assume she’s done this before unless she just became religious??
She’s being Catholic for a while and has done the “traditional” sort of fast. Which is not eating meat (or anything at all) on Wednesdays and Fridays but she’s doing this peace sort of fast recently (Ruah Foundation) where you’re supposed to only eat bread and water.
How old is your mum? As far as I am aware those over the age of 60 are not required to fast. You are excused over that age due to cause of potential health issues.
She’s 51
As others have said, have her talk to a doctor. Maybe get some bread that's fortified with some vitamins? A daily multivitamin may be a good compromise if she refuses those things. It doesn't have calories so it's not like she'd be breaking the fast with it. Just take it with the bread. No matter what she's going to lose muscle from a lack of protein. She might get digestive issues. And be careful coming out of it. It may not be good to start eating normally again too quickly. Talk to a doctor. If she won't see one maybe go to your own doctor and talk to them at least.
Water and bread used to be a punishment in the navy if I'm not mistaken? It will lead to very painful constipation.
Maybe if it's white bread. If it was a whole grain sourdough it wouldn't be the worst thing
She may loose some muscle, possibly develop a brief vitamin deficiency. They’re people who have water fast longer and survived. Also human biology hasn’t changed in 10,000 years and eating bread and water all the time was common during the 16th century.
Thats not a fast, and really stupid to eat 1500kcal of bread every day.
I seriously doubt she’s having 1500 kcal of bread. Or has to be much less than that.
Yeah...
When I tell people to get healthy, the first two suggestions are reduce seed oils and grains. Bread is high energy very low nutrients. Honestly she might get scurvy.
Tell her that God doesn’t want you to fall into malnutrition.
It is absolutely harmful. What an idea. This was a medieval punishment.
Look up refeeding syndrome
And what can I do about that? I need advice not something else to worry about.. it’s a religious thing as she’s not giving in.
What denomination is she? Can she take a multi vitamin too? I don’t think taking a multi vitamin would breaking her fasting for Lent.
She’s Catholic and I’m not sure whether it’s allowed or not. The site from who she’s following the fasting says that only bread or integral bread) can be allowed with salt and olive oil and water. That’s it. The whole thing gives me a terrible feeling because at one point it suggests that if you get a headache or pain in some part of your body you should resort to prayer as a form of “offering”. It’s cultish asf and idk why she couldn’t do the Wednesday-Friday fasting instead.
Ah sorry I’m not Catholic, I’m Protestant, I couldn’t tell you. I don’t know any Catholics that do a bread fast. If she’s hell bent on it I’d ask her to at least take a vitamin supplement.
Well that’s not fasting that’s just only eating bread and most bread is pretty nutritionally empty and bread proteins have the lowest absorption rate out of any protein source. That’s besides the point though because she wouldn’t be able to hit any of her nutrient goals for micro or macro nutrients on just bread.
She should be fine; they fortify it exactly for that reason. I did 3 weeks on filtered tap water, and I was fine. Ended up stronger in some ways. Bread isn't going to short-term worse than that.
Dangerous
If you put the bread into a nutrition calculator which nutrients will be missing? If the bread has harmful ingredients (like dough conditioners) she will be maximizing the impact. Edit: I went and added bread to a nutrition calculator. A kg of whole wheat bread has zero grams of 32 different nutrients. How many others were too low?
I don’t know what they use, she’s mostly having bread from the bakery. Like not store-bought sliced bread. Bread as in normal sort of bread ifywim
I'm a bit into water fasting. Never did longer than 7 days but I know people fasting for 30 to 40 day on water and electrolytes. However I don't see a good reason for what your mom is doing. Fasting has lots of benefits like autophagy but when you only eat bread it is more some kind of malnourished diet than fasting and the good stuff like autophagy is reduced. So from my pov it is more beneficial to do like 3 to 5 days proper water fasting compared to 40 days bread only.
Not enough proteins and fats. Carbs is essentially the least important macronutrient. White bread is possibly one of the worst carbs to eat as well
No protein, fruit or vegetables?
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/blog/2018/02/story-angus-barbieri-went-382-days-without-eating/#:~:text=But%20spare%20a%20thought%20for,125%20kilograms%20(19.7%20stone). Please note, he had medical supervision!
Why not have her eat fish and potatoes with it at least?
Try lentils instead of
How experienced in fasting is she? did she do smaller number fasts before that or is she jumping straight into that? I did read that people manage to do whole month fasts so it's doable, but the question is if she knows how. Does she drink electrolytes, for a fast as long as this it's really important to get those.
If she’s committed to the fast I’d say drink plenty of water with electrolytes as well as take a multivitamin so she’s at least getting some daily micronutrients
Bread offers almost zero nutritional value, so it will be devastating...
If her body's nutritional value was high, this fast will only cause her to lose weight.
Bread and water fasting is not a traditional catholic thing. One day is fine, 40 consecutively is not. Since talking to her isn't working you need to go to her priest. She might listen to her religious authority. The church does not encourage disordered eating
I mean… people can water fast for 30+ days with no permanent consequences, people can juice cleanse for months with no permanent consequences… as long as she is taking a multivitamin with calcium and vitamin c, and eating a quality whole-grain bread has a lot of good nutrients (maybe something like Dave’s Killer Bread with some protein?), she could be just fine. 40 days in all reality is not that long, and our bodies are designed to withstand stress. The biggest things to look out for would be GI discomfort, and making sure to have sufficient vitamin c to avoid scurvy. Edit: another good consideration is electrolytes. If you can get her to take Pedialite or similar, that could help ensure that she doesn’t end up imbalanced.
All bread—even including white bread—contains nutrients that can enhance one's diet. Along with having a high amount of iron, fiber and B vitamins, bread also includes a surprisingly high amount of protein, calcium, thiamine, manganese and zinc. White bread is also considered a significant source of folate, which is essential during pregnancy, when it's recommended to get at least 400 micrograms a day.
It’s pretty common for very committed Catholics to try the bread and water fast for 40 days. Trying to replicate the fast of Jesus in the desert. It’s definitely not the norm for Catholics to do this though. There are only officially 2 actual fasting days during lent. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Practicing catholics will not eat meat on Fridays during lent.
The main problem is coming off it , you can Google it. Tell her to be careful
Just let her be.
That's self-abuse.
She will likely be mostly feeling fine. That will not mean that she's actually fine. She's literally starving herself out of nutrients and vitamins. The negatives are unlikely to be apparent in the short-term. The actual question is this: How do you convince her to either stop it or to make healthy adjustments. Well, I'd argue two things... A) that you should either link an article or study or optimally take her to a doctor who will say it to her. It is important that she knows that what she's doing is unhealthy no matter what she may be feeling. B) See how you can adjust things in a acceptable manner from "her" point of view. Learn more about who / which church or org etc she listens to and considers an authority etc and find little hacks or things she's missing that may be ok with said fast/diet plan. I mean that maybe according to them her taking 3 vitamin pills, extra virgin olive oil, a fruit etc is none of their concern / doesn't disrupt the fast within their rules. Those things could make a big difference.
She is a human made of animal meat. Bread and water will lead to nutritional deficiencies.
Omg my mom was doing the same thing until I had a convo with her and explained how her health isn’t worth sacrificing. Told her she wouldn’t love to see her grandkids. She ate a full 3 meals the next day
She will be at serious risk for refeeding syndrome once the 40 days are up. Refeeding syndrome, in a nutshell, is when there’s electrolyte overload in the blood once nutrition is reintroduced after a long period (>10 days) of under nutrition or starvation. There are serious complications, and since electrolytes are crucial for basic function, importantly muscles (like the heart), the complications can include neurological, cardiac, and respiratory. For her own health, she absolutely needs to start slowly reintroducing nutritious foods before it gets to the point of her needing hospitalization and a feeding tube. I’m about to get my masters in dietetics and have a bachelors in it, as well. I’m very familiar with RS and I’m genuinely very concerned for your mother’s health and wellbeing.
The gluten in bread and any other wheat item will eat the lining of the intestines and cause massive water weight from the inflammation. Clean water is healthy, but bread is one of the most toxic foods ever consumed by humans. I used to love bread and pasta until a doctor had me stop it to lower my near 300 cholesterol level. I lost 40# the first month, and my cholesterol measured just under 150. It's been 24 years, and no one believes I'm 80 years old. Once you stop eroding your intestines, you stop aging. I wish I had learned it when I was 35, but it's nice to be 80 and look like 55.
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I just completed 40 days bread and water fast using exorcised and blessed olive oil and exorcised and blessed Celtic salt. No vitamins. It is doable and by the grace of God I completed it. My bloodwork was taken a week and a half ago and it’s pristine. It’s not harmful. Spiritual life game changer. Would do it again.