Therapeutic Fasting

The human body is designed with the capacity to fast.  Although fasting is safe as well as effective, it is advisable to be under medical supervision when on any extended fast. "Man lives on one quarter of what he eats.  On the other three quarters lives his doctor."
- Inscription on Egyptian pyramid, 3800 BC.

Fasting is very different to malnutrition.  A poor quality diet consumed for a month results in a lowered state of health.  Fasting, on the other hand, gives the body the opportunity to cleanse and heal itself.  When free from the responsibilities of digestion, the capacity for self-restoration is enhanced.

• Fasting leads to detoxification and improvement in organ function simultaneously.
• Fasting often achieves results where other methods have failed.
• Therapeutic fasting accelerates the healing process and allows the body to recover from serious disease in a dramatically short period of time.
• Fasting is inexpensive and universally available

Sometimes when people try to make major dietary changes without the benefit of fasting they become frustrated.  Beneficial changes that can take months or years with careful eating happen quickly if a fast is utilized.  Once a person begins to realize the health potential and can see the results, he or she is more likely to become committed to a lifetime of healthful living.

Nature tells us to fast.  When we have no appetite during an acute illness, fasting is nature's way to accelerate recovery.  Feeding the sick individual when his digestive powers are diminished only serves to further complicate the illness.

Function; Why it is Recommended

During an acute viral illness, fasting activates white blood cells and causes more interferon to be produced.

Conditions responding to fasting include: Headaches, hypoglycemia, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, acne and eczema, tinnitus, vertigo, fibromyalgia, glaucoma, cervical dysplasia, chronic neck and back pain, polymyalgia rheumatica, and many others.

Physicians who have used this approach have recorded improvement or recovery from conditions of every description that patients had been needlessly suffering with for years.  Besides the diseases already mentioned, one should assume that in the vast majority of chronic medical conditions this approach may give the disease sufferer the best chance to achieve a complete recovery and avoid a lifetime of suffering or medical treatments.

The withdrawal symptoms of addiction to such drugs as alcohol, cocaine, nicotine and caffeine are resolved quickly while fasting.  Most people are amazed at how easy it is to quit smoking while fasting.  Those who have fasted begin to respect their body in a new way that enables them to take better care of themselves in the future.

Instructions

When non-human animals feel sick, they do not eat.  Listen to your body when you are sick and have no appetite.  Fast for a few days, then proceed to a light diet of fruit and salad vegetables for a few days and you will quickly recover your health.

Counter-Indicators and Warnings

Conditions for which fasting is not recommended include extreme weakness or debilitation, severe anemia, nutritional deficiencies, porphyria, evidence of weakened kidney or liver function, and pregnancy.  Malnourished patients with cancer or AIDS should not fast.  Medications should be tapered and discontinued prior to fasting whenever possible.

References & Further Information

A very useful book is Fasting and Eating for Health, A Medical Doctor's Program For Conquering Disease. by Joel Fuhrman, MD.  1995.