Health Message (October 18, 2025)

Good Sabbath, Church Family,

Have you ever wondered about the benefits of fasting? Well, I found some interesting ways that it heals and restarts our body. First of all, most of Americans have lost sight of the need to control what they eat.

Twenty-five years ago, the average American consumed about 1,850 calories each day. Since then, our daily diet has grown by 304 calories (roughly the equivalent of two cans of soda). That's theoretically enough to add an extra 31 pounds to each person every year. More than 68 percent of all Americans are considered overweight or obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Ellen White gave this counsel: Intemperate eating often the cause of sickness, and what nature needs is to be relieved of the undue burden that has been placed upon her. In many cases of sickness, the very best remedy is for the patient to fast for a meal or two, so that the overworked organs of digestion may have an opportunity to rest. A fruit diet for a few days has often brought great relief to brain workers. Many times, a short period of entire abstinence from food, followed by simple, moderate eating, has led to recovery through nature's own recuperative effort. An abstemious diet for a month or two would convince many sufferers that the path of self-denial is the path to health. - The Ministry of Healing, 235, 1905

So here we see that fasting can restore our health. Fasting would bring physical debility and so deaden the perceptive organs that sacred and eternal things would not be discerned. Christ knew that the world was given up to gluttony, and that this indulgence would pervert the moral powers. If the indulgence of appetite was so strong upon the race that in order to break its power, the divine Son of God, in behalf of man, was required to fast nearly six weeks, what a work is before the Christian in order that he may overcome even as Christ overcame! The strength of the temptation to indulge perverted appetite can be measured only by the inexpressible anguish of Christin that long fast in the wilderness. - Testimonies for the Church3:486, 1875

For certain things, fasting and prayer are recommended and appropriate. In the hand of God, they are a means for the cleansing the [188] heart and promoting a receptive frame of mind. We obtain answers to our prayers because we humble our souls before God. -Letter 73, 1896303.

May God Bless Your Journey to Good Health,

Your Sister in Christ,

Sandra Torres