It happens that fasting turns out to be difficult or impossible due to health reasons: a person finds himself in a hospital, where he is unable to fast, or strict abstinence from food can lead to harm for health. What should be done in this case?
Issues of relief during fasting periods are resolved in communication with the spiritual father. It would be wrong to refer to bodily weakness and allow yourself relief by your own decision. In any case, fasting should remain fasting. This is the time of labour, but labour can be different.
Fasting involves not only physical abstinence, but also spiritual abstinence. Reading the Holy Scripture and adding more prayers to your usual rule can compensate for the inability to fully observe fasting in the diet.
Accepting illness with humility is also spiritual work. The purpose of fasting is to humble the flesh and curb passions. Illness exactly humbles the flesh and exercises the soul. Accepting an illness with humility can sometimes bring even more benefits than special abstinence in food. However, there are cases when Christians made every effort to observe fasting even in conditions where it seemed completely impossible. They fasted in concentration camps and during hard work in exile. Such a feat is worthy of respect. However, it is obvious that not everyone is able to do this. In difficult cases, the measure of abstinence is determined by everyone himself, in consultation with one’s spiritual father.
