Are you really fasting during navratris?

Today April,6 2019 marks the beginning of chaitra navratri. People observe fast during this period of 9 days. Some observe for full 9 days and some for less.

Although absolute fasting is normally defined as abstinence from all food and liquid for a defined period.

These 9 days of fasting could provide so much health benefits if observed properly.

But for some religious reasons during fasting in these 9 days we avoid some kind of food and replace it with other options, like normal wheat chapati is replaced with kuttu ke aate ki roti, Snacks are replaced with sabudana papad and much more. All the big restaurants and eating joints have special recipes and thali packages during these 9 days.

Lets look at the calorie count of some of the navratri foods:
1. Sabudana khichdi (1bowl/plate) - 485 calories
2. Kuttu atta roti/puri (lets take 3) - 400 calories
3. Roasted Makhana (50gms ) - 150 calories
4. Singhare Atte Ka halwa ( 2 bowl ) - 400 calories
5. Fried/Cooked Potatoes (1/2 kgs ) - 385 calories

Apart from these main foods sabudana papad or kheer, samak ki kheer, different fruits, ramdana laddoo and much more is consumed as snacks between main course meals.

So in short you are not just avoiding normal wheat chapati, onion and garlic from your meals.

Replacing 1000-1200 calories on a normal days 1600-1700 calories while observing fast..well are you really fasting then??