Fasting varies greatly. For a person brought up in luxury fasting can be one thing, while for a person brought up in simple and rough conditions it is another thing. Therefore for one person it is nothing to use the roughest food and be healthy, or to live without food for a number of days; whereas for another a big change of food can be very noticeable, and even harmful. But for everyone in general fasting is above all temperance and strict moderation in the use of food.
Consequently you should use food in moderation and try especially to bridle the desires of the body, and not satisfy its lusts at all, for they are unnecessary for the preservation of health and the prolongation of life and then your fast will be true.
- St. Innocent of Alaska, Indication of the Way Into the Kingdom of Heaven
