Reflections | The low-carb diet is no recent fad. China’s version dates back over 2,000 years
- ‘Bigu’, or ‘grain avoidance’, is an ancient practice in Taoism that involves abstinence from the ‘five grains’: various cultivars of rice, wheat, soybeans and so on
- An early reference to bigu, in an ancient Chinese text, describes a man who ‘did not eat any of the five grains, but inhaled the wind and drank the dew’
The holy month of Ramadan will begin for Muslims around the world at different times this weekend, depending on their geographical location. The ninth month of the Islamic calendar starts when a crescent moon is sighted in the sky, and ends 29 to 30 days later when the next crescent appears.
The observance of Ramadan is one of the Five Pillars of Islam and barring a few medical and logistical exceptions, all able-bodied, adult Muslims are obliged to fast every day from sunrise to sunset for the duration of that month.
While most people know about the fasting requirement, many are not aware of the spiritual aspects of Ramadan, such as devoting oneself to prayers and recitations of the Qur’an, and not engaging in sinful behaviour.
For most people today, bigu is practised more for health reasons than spiritual ones, However, there are adherents of Taoism who claim that long-term abstinence from food will heighten their spirituality. In the past, some even believed that fasting could eventually result in one’s immortality.
One of the earliest references to grain avoidance was in the ancient Chinese text Zhuangzi, one of the two foundational texts of Taoist philosophy.