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The Food Chain

Factual: Food & Drink

Examining what it takes to put food on your plate

The Food Chain examines the business, science and cultural significance of food, and what it takes to put food on your plate.

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The Food Chain: Fasting and feasting

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Fasting and feasting

21/03/2024 GMT

BBC World Service - The Food Chain, Fasting and feasting

Is fasting for faith good for the mind and body?

Fasting has been a religious and cultural practice for thousands of years, why do people do it? What happens to your body when you fast? The Food Chain speaks to a British family breaking their fast during Ramadan, a woman in India completing a day long fast for Mahashivratri and explores why the practices around Lent have changed over the years. An expert on intermittent fasting talks us through what is happening to our bodies, and why it might have hidden benefits. 

In this programme, Rumella Dasgupta explores the tradition of religious fasting with what to eat and what not to eat in three major faiths. 

If you would like to get in touch with the programme, email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk.   

Presented by Rumella Dasgupta. 

(Image: a family in Manchester breaks their fast together with dishes spread out on a cloth on the floor. Credit: BBC)

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