FASTING
Fasting is the oldest therapeutic method known to man. Even before the advent of the healing arts, man instinctively stopped eating when feeling ill and abstained from food until his health was restored. Perhaps he learned this from animals, which always fast when not feeling well
There is much said throughout the entire Bible about fasting. God instituted fasting for both spiritual and physical blessings. Fasting has two purposes - the up building of the body and the spiritual up building of the soul. As fasting improves physical health, it also improves mental health causing the mind to be open to a greater extent to the leading and impressions of the Holy Spirit.
I am thoroughly convinced that a great many people eat too much (over 60% of all Americans are overweight). Many eat food that does not give them proper nourishment; they eat food that is highly refined and unwholesome. This food will gradually, over a period of time, bring upon them sickness and death.
Many scientific studies are now being made around the world, particularly in Europe, to determine the therapeutic effects of fasting. The Karalinska Institute in Stockholm, a world famous medical research institution, has made clinical studies of fasting under Drs. P. Reizenstein and J. Kel berg. These studies demonstrated that fasting has a definite beneficial healing effect.
WATER FAST VS. JUICE FAST VS. FRUIT & VEGETABLE FAST
There are persons who advocate long fasts for health, but I discourage long water fasts as they can be quite harmful to the body. However, a prolonged fresh fruit and vegetable fast I highly recommend. Proper fasting can do a lot in helping with one's health; but improper fasting can be harmful to one's health. A normal person can fast one to three days on only distilled water without any injury and it will be quite beneficial both spiritually and physical y to one's health. If you fast on water only for more than three days, then you are living on the broken down tissues in your body which produces an acid reaction. This thickens the blood; and with a high concentration of poisons in the bloodstream, puts a burden on the heart, arteries, kidneys, liver, lungs, etc.
We can help this cleansing process by eating lots of fresh raw vegetables and fruits as most are alkaline forming and will increase the healing effect of fasting as elimination of uric acid and other inorganic acids will be accelerated. The vitamins, minerals, enzymes and trace elements of raw vegetables and fruits are important in supplying needed elements for the body's own healing.
Fasting in Europe is practiced on a grand scale. There are hundreds of clinics in Germany alone where fasting is a number one method of healing. All of them use juice fasting exclusively. I believe that juice fasting is preferable to water fasting, but that the whole fruit or vegetable fast is preferable to a juice fast. Which is more natural, the orange or orange juice? He would have put a lid on top of the orange. When you use juice instead of the whole food, while you are fasting, you will have problems with elimination as there is no fiber or bulk in juice.
FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES: FAST CLEANSES THE BODY
It is well to know the process your body goes through in the course of a fast. The first three days are usually the most difficult in terms of hunger pains. By the fourth day the hunger pains are beginning to subside, though you will have feelings of weakness and occasional dizziness. During a prolonged fast (after the first three days) your body will live on its own substance. When it is deprived of needed nutrition such as proteins and fats, it will burn and digest its own tissues. But your body will not do it indiscriminately -and here lies the secret of the effectiveness of fasting -your body will first decompose and burn those cells and tissues which are diseased, damaged, aged, or dead.
In fasting, your body feeds itself on the most impure and inferior materials such as tumors, abscesses, fat deposits, etc. Dr. Otto Buchanan, M.D. (one of the greatest fasting authorities in the world) call s fasting -very pertinently - a "refuse disposal", a "burning of rubbish". During fasting, while the old cells and diseased tissues are decomposed and burned, the building of new healthy cells is speeded up. This eliminative process is evidenced by some of the following typical symptoms: offensive breath, dark urine, skin eruptions, excessive perspiration, catarrhal eliminations of mucus, and headaches. Do not be disturbed by those symptoms; rather, be grateful for the increased health and well -
being that will result.
By the ninth or tenth day of a longer fast, the body will normally have eliminated the bulk of toxic poisons and you will start feeling great. Your sense of concentration will be greater, and you will feel as if you could continue fasting indefinitely as you are not hungry. Your fast can last as long as you like (it could go on for weeks as it depends upon how much fresh fruit and vegetables you are eating), but it must end when your hunger pains return. This is the signal that the body has used up all its excess reserves. The fast should be broken at this time.
ADDITIONAL TIPS ON FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLE FAST
Do not drink with meals, and do not mix fruits and vegetables at the same meal. Eat only fresh fruits and vegetables, nothing cooked or dried. Eat no more than twice a day at a regular time each day, and nothing between meals, except water or herb tea. One must drink a minimum of two quarts of distilled water daily; more is better. Bathing once or twice daily is also beneficial, as one third of all body impurities and wastes are eliminated through the skin. Do lots of deep breathing of outside air. Red clover tea is a very good herb to take while one is on a fast. It is an excellent blood purifier and will help your body detoxify. Drink it as often as you like.