Effects of Fasting in the Bahá'í Faith

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Total Enrollment

145 participants

Study Classification

OBSERVATIONAL

Study Start Date

2018-02-19

Study Completion Date

2019-07-31

Brief Summary

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The aim of the study is to find out the effects a specific religious fast (i.e. Bahá'í fast) has on certain metabolic parameters, hydration, psyche and circadian clock. In a follow-up questionnaire series in 2019 we want to additionally validate a specific questionnaire for Bahai fasting, which was developed in 2018.

Detailed Description

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Followers of the Bahá'í Faith worldwide follow a yearly fasting tradition, where they fast intermittently for nineteen days. The intermittent fast is defined as abstinence from any food, drink and smoking from sunrise until sunset. These nineteen days are always in March and so do not coincide with climatic extremes in any country worldwide. This makes this kind of fasting a good model to study the psychological and medical effects of intermittent fasting in humans.

Conditions

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Health Behavior Healthy

Keywords

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Intermittent Fasting Religious Fast Bahá'í Hydration Calorimetry Microdialysis circadian clock circadian rhythm spirituality self-efficacy

Study Design

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Observational Model Type

COHORT

Study Time Perspective

PROSPECTIVE

Interventions

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Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent Fasting with abstinence from food and drink daily from sunrise to sunset for nineteen consecutive days in March 2018

Intervention Type OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* member of the Bahá'í religious community, Age between 18-69 years, the study participant must be able to understand the instructions given to him by the study personnel, the performance of the religious fast is planned in 2018 (and for the validation of the questionnaire also in 2019)

Exclusion Criteria

* An interruption of the religious fast is planned for more than five days, pregnant and nursing women, severe internistic condition, eating disorders (anorexia nervosa, bulimia), terminal or severe disease with marked impairments in mobility and vitality, non-existence of email address and Internet Access (because of online questionnaires), severe psychiatric disorder, simultaneous participation in another Trial

* Body Mass Index \<18,0 und \>30,9 kg/m2, claustrophobia, clinically relevant haemostaseological conditions or medication, vegan diet, special diet out of medical reasons, current dieting for weight loss, weight loss of more than 2 kg in the month before the study commenced, postsurgical conditions, acute and chronic infections, known drug or alcohol abuse

Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

69 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Responsible Party

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Andreas Michalsen

Clinical professor

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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Andreas Michalsen, Prof. Dr.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Charité University Medicine

Locations

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Charité

Berlin, , Germany

Site Status

Countries

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Germany

References

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Koppold-Liebscher DA, Klatte C, Demmrich S, Schwarz J, Kandil FI, Steckhan N, Ring R, Kessler CS, Jeitler M, Koller B, Ananthasubramaniam B, Eisenmann C, Mahler A, Boschmann M, Kramer A, Michalsen A. Effects of Daytime Dry Fasting on Hydration, Glucose Metabolism and Circadian Phase: A Prospective Exploratory Cohort Study in Baha'i Volunteers. Front Nutr. 2021 Jul 29;8:662310. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2021.662310. eCollection 2021.

Reference Type RESULT

PMID: 34395487 (View on PubMed)

Mahler A, Jahn C, Klug L, Klatte C, Michalsen A, Koppold-Liebscher D, Boschmann M. Metabolic Response to Daytime Dry Fasting in Baha'i Volunteers-Results of a Preliminary Study. Nutrients. 2021 Dec 29;14(1):148. doi: 10.3390/nu14010148.

Reference Type RESULT

PMID: 35011024 (View on PubMed)

Steckhan N, Ring R, Borchert F, Koppold DA. Triangulation of Questionnaires, Qualitative Data and Natural Language Processing: A Differential Approach to Religious Baha'i Fasting in Germany. J Relig Health. 2024 Oct;63(5):3360-3373. doi: 10.1007/s10943-023-01929-x. Epub 2023 Oct 25.

Reference Type DERIVED

PMID: 37878201 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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Bahá'í fast

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id