I'm well aware of the Ramadan tradition. I work in a state prison where many Muslims are incarcerated (how "good" they are at being Muslims is up for debate, but several practice the fast, at least).

I recall an inmate who would spend all day (literally sunup to sundown) cooking in order to have enough ready when it was time to eat. This was a man who already weighed 350+ pounds. He was the only person I've ever seen who gained weight by fasting.

When I've fasted I've always gotten a really severe headache. I get hypoglycemic. God I hate when atheists talk out of their asses.

Self-flagellation.
Or being in a Monty Python film...

That's a bad analogy...we are evolved enough to plan and control our diets and the food we eat just as we don't go fucking anyone of the opposite sex because of animal urges...lol..fasting is a natural state and is common among animals as well as our forebearers...

@thinktwice I googled it. Apparently animals only fast when they are injured or sick. They do it instinctively, not as a result of a conscious decision. Humans also do it by choice (a stupid choice typically related to religion). The survival instinct drives us to eat when we're hungry. As for fucking, there are sexual addicts who DO fuck every chance they get. Dogs probably do too. If my dog goes into heat, males will come around but they don't know what pheromones are. They can't help it. They are controlled by the chemistry.

@Stilltrying1964 just goes to show you can't believe everything on the net...animals fast a lot of times...mating, hibernation, migration, during famine, etc...and they process fat just as human do when they fast...much as our ancestors did...modern eating habits have changed that and the result is very evident...we are fatter...humans do it for a lot of reasons, health being one of them...in most cultures, fasting is a regular thing...in the USA, most people do not know enough about it or don't have the discipline to do so...unless someone is very underweight, there is no need for the survival mechanism to become engaged...most "hunger" felt by modern people is not driven by instinct..I am just saying that comparing food habits of human to animals is incorrect...we are able to control both our eating and sexual habits...we are more highly evolved...

He is only going to fast through the 30 days of ramadan...will his body adapt that quickly? I am sure the meals prepared by his family to breakfast will be high in carbs...at least it was when I lived in Turkey...

@thinktwice There is an adaptation period, the time depends on how carb-dependent one is and is their metabolism damaged. If he ate in say a 6 hour or less window, even with relatively high carb consumption his body would adjust.

@Mitch07102 It is probably the social pressure and the type of familiar and traditional meals that will keep that from happening for him and most people...it seems easy and practical enough, but obviously, if it were, someone out there would be making millions in profit when people got healthy and trim...

In reality, most people have no idea what hunger pangs or most other pain is...we are mostly wimps in first world countries and our tolerance to pain is almost non-existent...seeing a child with bones practically showing through skin would make anyone realize that all of this religious crap could go to better things

If this was true I'd be totally enlightened after 40 years of pain !