The following is Dr. Alvenia Fulton response to a reader’s question about dieting published in her Chicago Defender column “Eating for Your Health and Strength.” In her answer she in part discusses fasting which is our focus for this week’s stories. Fulton wrote, “for those who are serious about losing weight, who can practice self-discipline, and who are receptive to re-educating themselves to use new diet regimens,” fasting is also “a method of alleviating, and in many cases of removing a myriad of physical aches and pains to which we seem heirs.” She warns however, that a fast “extended for more than three days should not be attempted by beginners without a clear understanding of what it entails.” Safe fasting calls for including “psychological and physical preparation” for both beginning and ending a fast.