Study: Monthly fasting may help heart - Yahoo! News

The research was done with Mormons, who practice fasting one day each month. Apparently fasting is potentially good for your heart. A study in Utah, where the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is based, found that people who skipped meals once a month were about 40 percent less likely to be diagnosed with clogged arteries than those who did not regularly fast. People did not have to "get religion" to benefit: non-Mormons who regularly took breaks from food also were less likely to have clogged arteries, scientists found. They concede that their study is far from proof that periodic fasting is good for anyone, but said the benefit they observed poses a theory that deserves further testing. No doubt: Mormons have traditionally been poor historians and even worse theologians. But I admire their piety and enjoy them as people.