Upavasa or Fasting (उपवासः)

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Upavasa is the samskrt term which means fasting. In Ayurveda The term upavasa and langhana are used synonymously at some places. Langhana is the treatment type that generates lightness in the body. Upavasa is one of the 6 different types of langhana used in Ayurveda. Simply put, Ayurveda considers fasting as treatment for multiple disease conditions. This is the unique approach of Ayurveda of managing certain conditions. In Sanatana dharma, fasting is observed in many religious functions as well as on particular days like Ekadashi or on some months in a year like chaturmasa and it is popularly known as Upavasa. The medical significance of fasting was deeply studied by Ayurveda scholars thousands of years ago and was implemented in Ayurveda treatments effectively.

Etymology

उपवासः, पुं, (उप + वस + घञ् ।) अग्न्याधानम् ।

इति मलमासतत्त्वम् । अहोरात्रभोजनाभावः । (Shabdakalpadruma pg 1/260)

Abstaining from food throughout a day and night is called as Upavasa.

Synonyms

Various words used synonymously with Upavasa in Samskrt are given below,

तत्पर्य्यायः । उपवस्तम् २ । इत्यमरः ॥ उपोषितम् ३ उपोषणम् ४ औपवस्तम् ५ । इति तट्टीका ॥

The commonly used words include Uposhana, uposhita, upawasta etcIn Ayurveda, the term upavasa is used synonymously with the term LAnghana

लङ्घनं-उपवासाख्यं,… (Asht. Hrud. Su 8.21)

Langhana is also known as Upavasa. Langhana is the term that indicates a method by which lightness is generated in the body. Upavasa where the food intake is restricted performs the same functions thus the words are used interchangeably at many instances.

Definition

1)     Ayurveda acharyas have stated that Upavasa (the popular term used in reference to fasting for particular religious or spiritual cause) is similar to langhana.

लङ्घनं-उपवासाख्यं,… (Asht. Hrud. Su 8.21)

Langhana is also known as Upavasa.

Langhana, the technical term used for fasting in Ayurveda is defined as follows,

यत् किञ्चिल्लाघवकरं देहे तल्लङ्घनं स्मृतम्||९|| (Char. Samh. Su 22.9)

Meaning: Anything that generates lightness in the body is called as langhana.

Anything used as a treatment in Ayurveda is defined and explained in terms of its effect on body, mind or life as a whole. In this reference, fasting that limits food intake in body naturally lowers the load on body systems and generates the feeling of lightness

2)     Going further, Commentator chakrapani of Charaka Samhita has given definition of upavasa specifically observed for some religious purpose as follows,

उपवासः क्रोधादिपरित्यागः सत्याद्युपादानं च, वचनं हि- “उपावृत्तस्य पापेभ्यः सहवासो गुणे हि यः| उपवासः स विज्ञेयो न शरीरस्य शोषणम्” इति (Chakrapani commentary on Char. Samh. Su 1.6)

OR

3)     उपावृत्तस्य पापेम्यो यस्तु वासो गुणैः सह । उपवासः स विज्ञेयः सर्व्वभोगविवर्ज्जितः” ॥ (Shabdakalpadruma  Pg 1/263)

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अस्यार्थः । उपावृत्तस्य निवृत्तस्य । पापेभ्यः पापकर्म्मभ्यः । गुणाः । सर्व्वभूतेषु दया क्षान्तिः अनसूया शौचं अनायासः मङ्गलं अकार्पण्यं अस्पृहाच । सर्व्वभोगविवर्ज्जितः शास्त्राननुमतनृत्यगीतादिसुखरहितः ।

Upavasa is related to not just physical but also the psychological and spiritual aspects of one’s life. The deeper understanding of the term upavasa along with and even beyond its physical dimension has been described by Acharya Chakrapani as follows,

Upavasa denotes giving away the shadripus (negative emotions) like anger, lust, jealousy etc and following the path of truth, purity, japa (prayers), puja (worshipping), danam (offering), sewa (volunteering, giving service), brahamcharyam, dhyanam etc. Moreover, the one who refrains from these sins or the act of refraining from these sins by living in vicinity with the divine (and following the right path of truth etc) is known as Upavasa and it is not merely parching your body which is commonly misunderstood otherwise.

Therefore, the term Upavasa encompasses 2 main aspects of a particular way of living life. This includes refraining from the regular food, excess food and unwholesome food along with being in the presence of the divine by observing specific code of conduct.

Upavasa as a type of Langhana

Ayurveda has described different types of langhana. These are the activities or processes that work as langhana. Since langana generates certain qualities in body, processes or activities that generate similar qualities are grouped under the chief heading of langhana and utilized wherever appropriate. These types are as follows,

चतुष्प्रकारा संशुद्धिः पिपासा मारुतातपौ|

पाचनान्युपवासश्च व्यायामश्चेति लङ्घनम्||१८||

For how long the food should not be taken in Upavasa?

Reference from Mahabharata

वैधोपवासे भोजनचतुष्टयनिवृत्तिमाह महाभारते ।

“सायमाद्यन्तयोरह्नोः सायं प्रातश्च मध्यमे ।

उपवासफलं प्रेप्सोर्वर्ज्यं भक्तचतुष्टयम्” ॥

https://sa.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E0%A4%89%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B8

Mahabharata, Shanti Parva, Adhyaya 221

What to be taken and what should not be taken during Upavasa

उपवासदिने वर्ज्जनीयानि ।

अञ्जनम् ।

रोचनम् ।

गन्धः । पुष्पम् । माल्यम् । अलङ्कारः ।

दन्तधावनम् । गात्राभ्यङ्गः । शिरोभ्यङ्गः । ताम्बूलम् । यच्चान्यत् बलरागकृत् ।

दिवास्वापः ।

अक्षक्रीडा ।

मैथुनम् । स्तीणां सरागसम्प्रेक्षणस्पर्शौ । व्रतादिषु

पुत्त्रोत्पत्तिपर्य्यन्तं ऋतौ सकृत् स्त्रीगमने न दोषः ॥

तत्पूर्ब्बापरदिने वर्ज्जनीयानि ।

कांस्यपात्रे भोजनम् ।

मांसभोजनम् ।

सुरापानम् ।

मधुपानम् ।

लोभः ।

वितथमाषणम् ।

व्यायामः ।

व्यवायः

दिवास्वापः ।

अञ्जनम् ।

शिलापिष्टभक्षणम् ।

मसूरभक्षणम् ।

पुनर्भोजनम् ।

अध्वगमनम् । यानम् ।आयासः ।

द्यूतक्रीडा ।

अभ्यङ्गः ।

परान्नम् । तैलम् ।चणकम् । कोरदूषकम् । शाकम् । अधिकधृतम् ।अत्यम्बुपानम् । इति एकादशीतत्त्वम् ॥

Alternatives to compensate the inability to do upavasa

उपवासा-

सामर्थ्ये प्रतिनिधिः । स्कन्दपुराणम् ॥

“पुत्त्रं वा विनयोपेतं भगिनीं भ्रातरं तथा ।

एषामभाव एवान्यं ब्राह्मणं विनियोजयेत्” । इति ।

“भार्य्या भर्तृव्रतं कुर्य्यात् भार्य्यायाश्च पतिस्तथा ।

असामर्थ्ये द्वयोस्ताभ्यां व्रतभङ्गो न जायते” ॥

इति गरुडपुराणम् ॥ तदनुकल्पः ।

“नक्तं हविष्यान्नमनोदनञ्च

फलं तिलाः क्षीरमथाम्बु चाज्यम् ।

यत्पञ्चगव्यं यदि वाथ वायुः

प्रशस्तमत्रोत्तरमुत्तरञ्च” ॥

इति वायुपुराणम् ॥

“उपवासासमर्थश्चेदेकं विप्रन्तु भोजयेत् ।

तावद्धनानि वा दद्याद्यद्भक्ताद्द्विगुणं भवेत् ॥

सहस्रसम्मितां देवीं जपेद्वा प्राणसंयमान् ।

कुर्य्याद्द्वादशसंख्याकान् यथाशक्ति व्रते नरः” ॥

इति ब्रह्मवैवर्त्तपुराणम् ॥

What is acceptable in Upavasa

“अष्टौ तान्यव्रतघ्नानि आपो मूलं फलं पयः ।

हविर्ब्राह्मणकाम्या च गुरोर्वचनमौषधम्” ॥

इति बौधायनः ॥

Popular Legend about Health

Once upon a time, there was a debate going on about Health.

Amidst the debate, the teacher Guru sprang a question - "Who is a healthy person?"

As the question raised the pitch of the debate, one small bird going by the way tweeted. It sound like - Koruk, Koruk, Koruk.

It was hovering over the roof, for some time - repeating the tweet.

One lad in the group shouted - Hitabhuk, Ritabhuk, Mitabhuk.

Swinging its wings happily, the bird went away looking pleased.

It is said that, the bird was none other than the Seer of Ayurveda - Sage Atri. Koruk means; (Kah, Aruk?) Who is diseaseless?

The reply was -

Hita Bhuk (One who eats the prescribed diet)

Mita Bhuk (One who eats within limits prescribed)

Rita Bhuk (One eats in prescribed manner, maintains time and more importantly the food earned thru right means)

The lad was Charaka (Doyen of Ayurveda, whose compilation Charaka Samhita is the bible for Ayurveda Physicians and Pharmacologists for generations.)

Health Benefit of Upavasa :Intermittent fasting the popular trending diet

Intermittent fasting (IF) is an increasingly popular dietary practice, and its implementation is found throughout human civilisation in various cultural, spiritual and religious traditions. Emerging evidence has shown that the health benefits of IF stretch beyond calorie restriction and weight loss. These benefits include metabolic shifts in energy production, the optimisation of peripheral circadian clocks, and overall improvement in physiological markers of metabolic health. IF has been proposed to reduce systemic inflammation and have a role in the prevention and treatment of chronic disease. For the athlete, IF protocols offer a potential new frontier for maintaining performance in the fasted state. (Mandal S, Simmons N, Awan S, et alIntermittent fasting: eating by the clock for health and exercise performanceBMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine 2022;8:e001206. doi: 10.1136/bmjsem-2021-001206)

Obesity and lifestyle diseases like Diabetes

Obesity and obesity-related diseases, largely resulting from urbanization and behavioral changes, are now of global importance. Energy restriction, though, is associated with health improvements and increased longevity. We review some important mechanisms related to calorie limitation aimed at controlling of metabolic diseases, particularly diabetes. Recent Findings Calorie restriction triggers a complex series of intricate events, including activation of cellular stress response elements, improved autophagy, modification of apoptosis, and alteration in hormonal balance. Intermittent fasting is not only more acceptable to patients, but it also prevents some of the adverse effects of chronic calorie restriction, especially malnutrition. Summary There are many somatic and potentially psychologic benefits of fasting or intermittent calorie restriction. However, some behavioral modifications related to abstinence . (Saeid Golbidi 1 & Andreas Daiber2 & Bato Korac 3 & Huige Li 4 & M. Faadiel Essop5 & Ismail La . Health Benefits of Fasting and Caloric Restriction. Curr Diab Rep (2017) 17:123 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11892-017-0951-7)

Why to eat early at night/ evening- Night fasting

Several lines of evidence support the hypothesis that eating patterns that reduce or eliminate nighttime eating and prolong nightly fasting intervals could result in sustained improvements in human health. While this hypothesis has not been tested in humans, support from animal research is striking and data from human time-restricted feeding studies are suggestive. Prolonged nightly fasting may be a simple, feasible, and potentially effective disease prevention strategy at the population level. (Patterson RE, Laughlin GA, LaCroix AZ, Hartman SJ, Natarajan L, Senger CM, Martínez ME, Villaseñor A, Sears DD, Marinac CR, Gallo LC. Intermittent Fasting and Human Metabolic Health. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2015 Aug;115(8):1203-12. doi: 10.1016/j.jand.2015.02.018. Epub 2015 Apr 6. PMID: 25857868; PMCID: PMC4516560.)

Cancer and other Metabolic benefits

Evidence is accumulating that eating in a 6-hour period and fasting for 18 hours can trigger a metabolic switch from glucose-based to ketone-based energy, with increased stress resistance, increased longevity, and a decreased incidence of diseases, including cancer and obesity. Preclinical studies consistently show the robust disease-modifying efficacy of intermittent fasting in animal models on a wide range of chronic disorders, including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancers, and neurodegenerative brain diseases. Many studies have indicated that several of the benefits of intermittent fasting are dissociated from its effects on weight loss. These benefits include improvements in glucose regulation, blood pressure, and heart rate; the efficacy of endurance training26,27; and abdominal fat loss27 The research reviewed here, and discussed in more detail elsewhere,11,12 shows that most if not all organ systems respond to intermittent fasting in ways that enable the organism to tolerate or overcome the challenge and then restore homeostasis. Repeated exposure to fasting periods results in lasting adaptive responses that confer resistance to subsequent challenges Cells respond to intermittent fasting by engaging in a coordinated adaptive stress response that leads to increased expression of antioxidant defenses, DNA repair, protein quality control, mitochondrial biogenesis and autophagy, and down-regulation of inflammation (Fig. 3). These adaptive responses to fasting and feeding are conserved across taxa.10 Cells throughout the bodies and brains of animals maintained on intermittentfasting regimens show improved function and robust resistance to a broad range of potentially damaging insults, including those involving metabolic, oxidative, ionic, traumatic, and proteotoxic stress.12 Intermittent fasting stimulates autophagy and mitophagy while inhibiting the mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) protein-synthesis pathway. These responses enable cells to remove oxidatively damaged proteins and mitochondria and recycle undamaged molecular constituents while temporarily reducing global protein synthesis to conserve energy and molecular resources (Fig. 3). These pathways are untapped or suppressed in persons who overeat and are sedentary.12

Ageing and life span

After nearly a century of research on caloric restriction in animals, the overall conclusion was that reduced food intake robustly increases the life span

In humans, intermittent-fasting interventions ameliorate obesity, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and inflammation.33 Intermittent fasting seems to confer health benefits to a greater extent than can be attributed just to a reduction in caloric intake

Memory and neurodegeneration

In a clinical trial, older adults on a short-term regimen of caloric restriction had improved verbal memory.38 In a study involving overweight adults with mild cognitive impairment, 12 months of caloric restriction led to improvements in verbal memory, executive function, and global cognition.39 More recently, a large, multicenter, randomized clinical trial showed that 2 years of daily caloric restriction led to a significant improvement in working memory.40 There is certainly a need to undertake further studies of intermittent fasting and cognition in older people, particularly given the absence of any pharmacologic therapies that influence brain aging and progression of neurodegenerative diseases.

Inflammation and autoimmune diseases

Two recent pilot studies showed that patients with multiple sclerosis who adhere to intermittent fasting regimens have reduced symptoms in as short a period as 2 months.73,75 Because it reduces inflammation,17 intermittent fasting would also be expected to be beneficial in rheumatoid arthritis, and indeed, there is evidence supporting its use in patients with arthritis.76

Intermittent-fasting regimens reduce tissue damage and improve functional outcomes of traumatic and ischemic tissue injury in animal models. Preoperative fasting reduces tissue damage and inflammation and improves the outcomes of surgical procedures.

Western science slowly taking a step to reach upto Ayurveda wisdom

Searching or coming towards langhana-dipana, pachana- Although we do not fully understand the specific mechanisms, the beneficial effects of intermittent fasting involve metabolic switching and cellular stress resistance. However, some people are unable or unwilling to adhere to an intermittent-fasting regimen. By further understanding the processes that link intermittent fasting with broad health benefits, we may be able to develop targeted pharmacologic therapies that mimic the effects of intermittent fasting without the need to substantially alter feeding habits

(De Cabo, R., & Mattson, M. P. (2019). Effects of Intermittent Fasting on Health, Aging, and Disease. New England Journal of Medicine, 381(26), 2541–2551. doi:10.1056/nejmra1905136 )