Archus, I believe, from posts I've read that you've made, in these last 2 weeks, since I've joined this site, that you are a strict vegetarian, that you tend towards a raw food diet, and one that either excludes or limits grains. While I grant that you may have other ways of characterizing your approach, I trust that I'm not wrong in terms of naming these few proscriptions or prohibitions.

I know that there's very good evidence for such a lifestyle choice, in terms of overall metabolism, as well as any specific biological marketers on which one might care to drill down. I do not question this, even as I do consume some animal flesh, as well as other staples of the typical American diet, including dairy.

However, I also intuit that we come from quite different perspectives (in short, I don't believe anything - I'm a true skeptic - until it's proven; I do come from Missouri, also known as the "Show Me State," so please forgive my approach vs. your endorsement of various protocols, which I suspect are untested (in any kind of double-blind, thoroughly testable kind of format), and, in my opinion, may run contrary to modern Science (which, I do understand, to many people, may not be a sticking point, because they do not trust modern science, feeling it's been corrupted by special interest, despite study design virtues, lack of influence from industry players, etc.), so, I'm not going to expect a scientific level of evidence, but, what can you tell me about where you get the ideas about taste as messing with fasting, as well as nearly-calorie-free-liquids (I do not include in this question the so-called "sugar-free" drinks, so ubiquitously marketed, which I know to be all bad, with little or nothing redeeming about them), such as unadorned/unsweetened/nothing-added tea and coffee?

One post you made (not that I'm trolling you, buddy - I just want to learn) mentioned that digestion begins with the mouth, but, in another way, we could say it begins in the eye. I see food, now, in my 4th fast day, and would certainly enjoy eating it, even though, by and large, I'm not running around hungry, because, as is typical, that feeling has passed. Still, we could say, in a way, that my digestion is in play even as I look at and mildly desire the food I see, such that I don't doubt some digestive juices begin to flow and churn.

Of course, in a more Zen-like (or, to describe more generically, prayerful), I might eschew the thought for eating from my mind and might calm even that internal mechanism, but, beyond such more holistic approach, what do yo say the above, with as much reference as you might be able to muster? Quoting doctors is okay, but, there are always those physicians who will say anything, even those with medical training (as opposed to the "lesser" of D.O.'s, and - those whom I consider often charlatans - "doctors" of chiropractic), so, any lead on why you believe what you say about these questions makes sense would be appreciated.

I'm doubtful, but, my mind is not shut. It is from this perspective that I ask for which I came to this forum.