Beer Fast

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Sun Apr 03, 2011 2:48 pm

So, 300 years or so ago in Germany a group of monks hit on the idea of giving up food for Lent, subsisting entirely on beer and water. A modern man has decided to try the same thing. Unlike most crazy diets, this one seems fairly workable over the short term - beer has lots of calories and is basically liquid bread in some concoctions. I wouldn't think it would work over very long periods of time, and when he comes off it he'll probably have epic beer shits, but I enjoy the fact that someone out there has decided to do this.

Raygun · Post by **Raygun** » Sun Apr 03, 2011 6:37 pm

Not sure I could do this at all, but definitely not with only one kind of beer. That's his major problem, if you ask me. There are plenty of heavy type beers up for this kind of task. Doing nothing but the dark roasted malt thing is going to get old fast. After this, it'll probably take him years to drink another doppelbock.

DV8 · Post by **DV8** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 7:38 am

Wait, so the dude is just going to be drunk for a couple of weeks?

Jeff Hauze · Post by **Jeff Hauze** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 9:42 am

That sounds like a really awful plan. Then again, I tend to think any Lent fasting is a really awful and silly plan.

DV8 · Post by **DV8** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 11:53 am

I don't think vasting is silly at all. It's easy to get lost in gluttony so a change to sobriety every once in a while is a pretty good thing.

AtemHutlrt · Post by **AtemHutlrt** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 5:32 pm

DV8 wrote:Wait, so the dude is just going to be drunk for a couple of weeks?

The goal is actually to never become drunk while on the fast, though, as he admits, a bit of tipsiness here and there is impossible to avoid.

3278 · Post by **3278** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 6:31 pm

Besides, he's only drinking four 12 oz beers a day [five on weekends]. I could drink four 12-oz beers in an hour and not be drunk, and I drink about twice a year; presumably, his tolerance is greater than my own.

Jeff Hauze · Post by **Jeff Hauze** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 6:36 pm

DV8 wrote:I don't think vasting is silly at all. It's easy to get lost in gluttony so a change to sobriety every once in a while is a pretty good thing.

Not sure how gluttony and sobriety relate. Or why my thinking fasting is silly implies that I'm suddenly supporting gluttony.

AtemHutlrt · Post by **AtemHutlrt** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 7:42 pm

And I appreciate this guy's demeanor, especially compared to that drama queen, Morgan Spurlock, who made it seem like eating a diverse, if somewhat unhealthy, diet for a month was somehow almost indescribably horrific. This guy's like, "Yeah, it's actually not so bad." And of course it isn't. He's consuming enough calories, and that beer is actually pretty nutrient-rich.

DV8 · Post by **DV8** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 7:46 pm

Jeff Hauze wrote:
DV8 wrote:I don't think vasting is silly at all. It's easy to get lost in gluttony so a change to sobriety every once in a while is a pretty good thing.
Not sure how gluttony and sobriety relate. Or why my thinking fasting is silly implies that I'm suddenly supporting gluttony.

Two ends of a spectrum, I acknowledge that there is a middle. I didn't say that if you're not sober you're gluttonous, but that it's easy to get lost in gluttony, meaning that it's easy to slide in the direction of gluttony and not really notice it and that a conscious effort to be sober is, well, sobering.

Jeff Hauze · Post by **Jeff Hauze** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 8:27 pm

DV8 wrote:Two ends of a spectrum, I acknowledge that there is a middle. I didn't say that if you're not sober you're gluttonous, but that it's easy to get lost in gluttony, meaning that it's easy to slide in the direction of gluttony and not really notice it and that a conscious effort to be sober is, well, sobering.

Except sobriety isn't on the other end of that spectrum. On the other end of that spectrum from gluttony is starving yourself. That's not any better. Sobriety falls somewhere more in the middle. Being a holy roller teetolar is the other end of the spectrum from being a drunkard.

Raygun · Post by **Raygun** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 2:03 am

I'm not even sure how sobriety is supposed to fit anywhere in between gluttony and starvation, but it makes sense in that getting shitfaced is something to avoid if you're following the idea behind Lent, which is to resist temptation. This guy's plan isn't to spend Lent wasted, it's to use beer as the means of sustenance in the same way that Christian monks have done for centuries, in order to feel more Jesus-like (which lots of beer can probably do for people who are obsessed with Jesus). Hell, I'm sure Trappists still do it that way. They certainly still make awesome beer. As such, this silly bastard might want to invest in some Chimay, because those dudes have been playing this game for a long time.

I also agree with Jeff that Lent is dumb. Fasting for 40-odd days a year is kind of silly if you're just gonna spend the other 325ish at Taco Bell, beating up prostitutes and shooting smack into your balls. I think the right idea here is moderation. Not starving yourself, not only drinking beer. Just being cool and trying not to overdo things. Pretty much anything. And you can do that all year round, really.

Well, you could, but fuck that. 40-odd days is plenty.

Bonefish · Post by **Bonefish** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 2:35 am

I think Jesus might even have said something about moderation...

3278 · Post by **3278** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 2:48 am

AtemHutlrt wrote:And I appreciate this guy's demeanor, especially compared to that drama queen, Morgan Spurlock, who made it seem like eating a diverse, if somewhat unhealthy, diet for a month was somehow almost indescribably horrific. This guy's like, "Yeah, it's actually not so bad." And of course it isn't. He's consuming enough calories, and that beer is actually pretty nutrient-rich.

Yeah, most of us [Americans] could survive Lent without anything but water; providing a daily average of 1234 calories [number for once not made up] is a pretty substantial bonus. While it's not particularly healthy to go without various nutrients for that period, it's unlikely to do permanent harm. I've lived on less for longer, and I'm still sort of a person.

Bonefish · Post by **Bonefish** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 3:07 am

Liar.

DV8 · Post by **DV8** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 7:34 am

Jeff Hauze wrote:Except sobriety isn't on the other end of that spectrum. On the other end of that spectrum from gluttony is starving yourself. That's not any better. Sobriety falls somewhere more in the middle.

Fair point.

Van Der Litreb · Post by **Van Der Litreb** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 11:02 am

The concept of fasting utterly baffles me. Why, oh why, would you subject yourself to something like that?

Have any of you ever fasted? (Not including for medical purposes, of course.)

Iantha · Post by **Iantha** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 12:10 pm

I have had fasting imposed upon me for religious reasons. I learned that devout Catholics are fucking crazy, and that I really love fish.

Oh, and how is fish not meat? Dumbasses.

DV8 · Post by **DV8** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 12:32 pm

Van Der Litreb wrote:Have any of you ever fasted? (Not including for medical purposes, of course.)

No, I don't think so. I've often gone long stretches without alcohol. Does that count?

Tiny Deev · Post by **Tiny Deev** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 12:41 pm

I decided to do Ramadan once. Didn't go very well, seeing as I am a gluttonous bastard, so I don't think it counts. Couple of days without eating during daytime.

Jeff Hauze · Post by **Jeff Hauze** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 12:58 pm

Van Der Litreb wrote:Have any of you ever fasted? (Not including for medical purposes, of course.)

Yes. Both on the sobriety front like Deev mentioned (as I currently fall to about two to three times a year having drinks) and on the normal, wacky not eating front.

Fasting is quite annoying, makes me a really miserable son of a bitch, and beyond the four times I've done it I'll never repeat it. (I was a fairly devout Christian for a short period of time, many moons ago.) It's shows a weakness of resolve to me, not strength, as it's simply another form of extremism and likely something the person was convinced into to doing. Also, I haven't met many folks who don't do it for reasons of feeling (and preaching) their superiority over others. Hence, I don't have a very high opinion of it.

3278 · Post by **3278** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 1:14 pm

I've fasted. I didn't think it was that big a deal, both in terms of its difficulty and in terms of its impact to me as a person. It was just "not eating."

Iantha wrote:Oh, and how is fish not meat? Dumbasses.

My favorite is the exceptions put in to deal with the particular situations encountered when the church started expanding geographically: Capybaras are considered honorary fish, for instance, in terms of being able to eat them on Fridays, presumably under the justification that they're aquatic. It's my understanding that the fish rule is grounded in church subsidy of the Italian fishing industry - although I haven't confirmed that; it was told to me by my history professor - so it's not like it was ever a particularly sanctimonious commandment, anyway.

Jeff Hauze · Post by **Jeff Hauze** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 6:38 pm

<voiceclass=Liniah>Your mom's sanctimonious.</voiceclass>

AtemHutlrt · Post by **AtemHutlrt** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 8:04 pm

Of course, real men fast with whiskey.

Bonefish · Post by **Bonefish** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 9:02 pm

Iantha wrote: Oh, and how is fish not meat? Dumbasses.

The same reason Geese are fish...

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 9:44 pm

3278 wrote:It's my understanding that the fish rule is grounded in church subsidy of the Italian fishing industry - although I haven't confirmed that; it was told to me by my history professor - so it's not like it was ever a particularly sanctimonious commandment, anyway.

I think it started out as a mix of Jewish dietary law and practicality, then became a matter of economics. Without meat, there was little protein in the meal - and during the Middle Ages, fast days could take up to a third of the calendar year (not just Fridays, but Lent and various other holidays and Saint days as well). So fish became an important economic staple...especially salted fish, for those unable to gain access to fresh fish. The Romans, the Gauls, and various successor governments after the Empire fell were often built on salt production of some sort, so the fast days fed into the salt industry too.