Paper short abstract:

Modes for healthy diets appeared at the time of XIX century together with the development of medical science. They became an everyday practice since XX century. Healing fasts are part of them. A hunger "sacralization" is a common denominator of their motivation.

Paper long abstract:

Healthy diets have became an everyday practice since XX century entering to the public and scientific discourse. Human communities remain with them in a lively both carnal and spiritual interaction. Healing posts are special diets in which a hunger "sacralization" is a common denominator of their motivations. So called Daniel's Fast is the most popular diet based on fast in Poland. It has been compiled by doctor Ewa Dąbrowska. It combines with a religious attitude the restriction of food to a strict vegetable diet. This double effect has been described by its participants in many public forums which I' am studying for few years. Dr. Dąbrowska appears to be a follower of the Catholic approach to fasting as a form of carnal and spiritual purification. Moreover, despite the Polish Church's critical relation to many fashionable diets, Daniel's Fast seems to be supported by the Church. However, the Catholic approach has its predecessors, too. Ethnographers show that the concept of a sacralizing food taboo is much older. We can view it as one of the long-standing structures rooted in human culture. In this paper I want to describe wide historical and ethnographic context of Daniel's Post in contemporary Poland as an example of an approach to the problem of healthy nutrition.