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The Conversation USA

Fasting may have become a health fad, but religious communities have been doing it for millennia

  • Written by Iqbal Akhtar, Associate Professor, Florida International University
imageFasting is one of the five pillars of Islam.Prakash Mathema/AFP via Getty Images

The practice of fasting has entered popular culture in recent years as a way to lose extra pounds. Featured in the bestselling book “The Fast Diet,” it advocates eating normally on select days of the week while drastically reducing calories on the remaining...

Read more: Fasting may have become a health fad, but religious communities have been doing it for millennia

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