Fasting is not for God; rather, it is for:

• On days associated with a deity or on important days, fasting reduces the burden on the digestive system, helps improve brain function and strength, and thereby helps the body gain more energy.
• It also gives us more time for worship, chanting God’s name, and meditation, while reducing the amount of cooking needed.
• The truth about fasting 👇🏻
• On a fasting day, one should eat light and simple food, preferably food that is not fried.
• Shiva fast: Milk, kheer, cooked sweet potatoes, fruits, cooked sabudana dishes, and bhagar (barnyard millet) are good options.
• Vitthal fast: The above foods, plus sabudana khichdi and peanut curry.
• Vishnu/Krishna fast: Fruits, cucumber, onion, tomato, rajgira (amaranth), panchamrit, and kheer.
• Goddess (Devi) fast: Only fruits, cucumber, carrots, dry fruits, and juice are allowed.
• Ganesha fast: Sabudana dishes, bhagar, and sweets.
• Rama/Hanuman fast: Bhagar, sabudana, and peanut-potato dishes.
• Sabudana vada and fried chips are generally best avoided during a fast.
• Fast for one's brother (before Nag Panchami / on Bhaubeej): Milk, bananas, custard apples, ramphal (sugar apple), pomelo, and papaya.
• Fast for one's wife or husband: Only water from sunrise to sunset, or until moonrise/moon sighting.
• Fast for children: In some places, spices, peanuts, and coconut are avoided during the fast.
• In truth, God does not give us something simply because we fast. What is desired is prayer, chanting God’s name, meditation, and charity. If we give God our hardship, effort, or money, then money increases while other things decrease.
• Therefore, places of pilgrimage are often far away. Similarly, Sai Baba is believed to be particularly revered by people from Andhra and Kerala, while people from Maharashtra and Gujarat are drawn to Tirupati (based on news reports and local connections/traditions).
• Why is there no special importance given to Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sankashti? Some people perform proper fasting and religious practices on those days—Monday for Shiva, Tuesday for Maruti (Hanuman), Thursday for Guru, Friday for the Goddess, Saturday for Maruti/Shani, and Sankashti for Ganesha. Does that mean these deities disappear on the other days?
• Fasting/going without food can be okay as a way of giving the stomach a rest.