Tips for Fasting

Tips to help you observe Navratri fast

The golden rule to a healthy life is neither too much nor too less. Whether it is work, play, food or fasting, it should be done in moderation.

You can fast on particular days of a week, or for a set number of days in a month. Here’s how you can plan your fast for the nine days of Navratri:

Follow a fruit diet. You can eat sweet fruits like apple, banana, sapodilla, papaya, watermelon, and sweet grapes. And you can also have Indian gooseberry (amla) juice, bottle gourd (lauki) juice and tender coconut water.

On the next three days, you can have a one-time meal of the traditional Navratri diet (given below) along with fruit juices, buttermilk and milk for the rest of the day.

During the last three days, you can follow a traditional Navratri diet.

In case you have a health condition, it would be best if you consult a doctor before fasting and remember to do only as much as you are comfortable with.

A traditional Navratri diet:

A traditional Navratri diet is one that pacifies our digestive fire. It can be any combination of the below ingredients:

Buckwheat (Kuttu) Roti, Fasting Rice (Shamak Rice), Dosa from Fasting Rice, Dishes made from Sago (Sabudana), Water Chestnut (Singhara) Flour, Rajgira, Yam (Suran), Colocacia (Arbi), Boiled Sweet Potatoes (Shakarkand), etc.
Clarified Butter (Ghee), milk and buttermilk. All these have a cooling effect on our body
Yogurt combined with bottle gourd (lauki) and pumpkin (kaddu)
Lots of fluid – tender coconut water, juices, vegetable soups, etc. Besides providing energy, they prevent dehydration and flush out the toxins released during fasting
Fruit salad made with papaya, pear and apple

When following a traditional Navratri diet, it is also recommended to:

Use rock salt instead of common salt for cooking
Use healthy cooking methods like roasting, boiling, steaming and grilling
Be strictly vegetarian
Avoid grains for the first few days
Avoid any fried and heavy food all together
Avoid onion and garlic
Avoid over-eating

Those who cannot fast can abstain from non-vegetarian food, alcohol, onion, garlic and spices, and use rock salt instead of common salt for cooking.

Breaking your fast

When you break your fast in the evening or at night, avoid taxing your body by having a light meal. Heavy and fried meals at night are not only difficult for the system to digest but also undo the cleansing process and positive effects of fasting. Eat small quantities of easily digestible food.

Observe fast with yoga and meditation

Gentle yoga poses, stretches, twists and bends complements the fasting process. It speeds up the detoxification process and you will feel uplifted and energised.