Is Fasting Good For You? A Review of the Evidence
Fasting – the Perfect Heart-Rester
If you are vitally interested in having a strong heart, you must skip 1 or 2 meals a week or even better, fast for one whole day out of 7. What a wonderful rest the hardworking heart receives when you take a day or 2 of total abstinence from all food! Just drink 8 to 10 glasses of cool distilled water daily. If you need something warm, have a cup of herb tea such as mint, alfalfa or anise seed. You may add 2 tsp of honey to your tea if desired. During water fast partake of no juices or food.
A Story of Successful Fasting
We have thousands of letters in our files from health students all over the world, who had remarkable recoveries with fasting. One of these students had a serious heart attack at 55 years of age. She was flat on her back in bed for 8 weeks. When she finally got up she was a pitiful sight – pale, haggard and weak. She was thoroughly discouraged since she had been told that she did not have long to live. Then started to fast 1 day each week. After a few months she fasted for 3 or 4 days each month. Then she went on a 7 day fast. Great cleansing and healing took place in her body because of her fasting and living The Healthy Lifestyle. NOTE: The Miracle of Fasting is a complete and instructive program on the Science of Fasting
Banish All of Your Fears About Fasting!
The average person has a preconceived notion that if they skip a few meals or fast for a few days, dangerous things will happen to their body. Nothing is farther from the truth! My father and I have fasted for as many as 30 days straight – and felt stronger on the 30th day than when the fast started! Caution! We don’t advise our students to go on long fasts unless needed and supervised by a health professional. Inquire for good contacts at health stores, health clubs, etc. or check www.spafinder.com
Nothing will give the body more energy and vitality than fasting. Fasting also strengthens the body’s digestive system and heart. Forget your fears! Fasting cleanses the internal body. Try a short fast to demonstrate to yourself the miracles fasting can accomplish in your life!
Here’s our personal fasting program for you: We fast on Mondays. During this time we drink 8 to 10 glasses of distilled water. This gives our digestive and elimination systems a complete rest. We then eat on Tuesday. This respite from food takes a great load off of the hard-working heart and digestive system and helps keep the body cleaner.
Several times yearly we take a longer super fast. We usually prefer a distilled water fast for 7 to 10 days. This works wonders in keeping us fit, trim and healthy! The Hollywood Stars love juice fasting to detox
Cleansing the Heart Pump and Pipes
If our pipes and great pump are clogged and corroded with debris and toxic poison we cannot be physically fit! Therefore, it is necessary from time to time to give the pipes and the pump of the body a thorough cleansing. This should be done by fasting once every week – for this 1 day will have beneficial effects. It will shake the toxins loose from the tissues, stimulate circulation and get rid of foreign matter that has become encrusted in the heart and blood vessels.
You should follow this cleansing program at least 1 day a week. Then in time you will have enough fortitude to fast for 3 days straight – you will be amazed at the results! If you have any reactions during this cleansing program – such as headaches, excessive gas or feeling of weakness – just remember that this is what we call a healing crisis. These symptoms will fade away as the toxins pass through your elimination system. Fasting is the greatest remedy – the physician within!
– Paracelsus, 15th century physician He established the role of chemistry in medicine.
Flushing Poisons from your Body’s “Pipes”
While on this Cleansing Program, drink at least a half a gallon of distilled (purified) water daily – that is free of toxic chemicals. The night before you start this regime take 1 to 2 quarts of distilled water and add to it 2 whole carrots cut into pieces, 3 diced stalks of celery (leaves and all), 1 handful of chopped parsley and 1 beet cut up fine. Soak this mixture overnight. After it has soaked 10 hours or more, strain the vegetable-distilled water and discard the vegetables (great for compost). Use this water, in which the vegetables have been soaked, as part of your drinking water during first day for cleansing.
On arising eat an apple and a few dried figs or dates, 1 glass of prune juice (add 1 tsp mixed oat bran and psyllium).
At 10 a.m. eat some fresh fruit (oranges, grapefruit, green tea or greens drink of choice or vegetable broth. If you customarily take supplements, do so at this time.
At 12 noon have a luncheon of a tossed green salad of sliced cabbage with grated carrots and beets, chopped green onion, celery, sweet bell pepper, parsley, raw spinach, watercress, tomato and a clove of finely chopped garlic. Eat this salad with a dressing made of 1 teaspoon each of Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Organic Apple Cider Vinegar. You may also have a lightly cooked vegetable (low in natural sugar) such as string beans, squash or any of the green leafy vegetables. At 3 p.m. eat fresh fruit, such as apples, grapes, pears, bananas or a few dried fruits as dates, figs, prunes, etc. and a cup of hot distilled water with 1 tsp of Bragg Aminos.
Have a supper of a tossed vegetable/green salad similar as lunch and a dish of lightly steamed greens (kale, mustard or turnip greens, beet tops, spinach, etc.) cooked with chopped onions, 2 cloves of garlic and 1-2 tablespoons of Organic Olive Oil. After the meal you may take your evening supplements.Bananas, apples, pears, grapes) and drink a cup of herbal tea.
At 6 p.m. Flaxseed Cleanse – optional – may take once daily: Before dinner soak 1 tbsp flaxseed in glass of water, apple or pineapple juice. Drink or spoon eats 2 hours after meal.
Juice Fast – Introduction to Water Fast
Fasting has been rediscovered, through juice fasting, as a simple, easy means of cleansing and restoring health and vitality. To fast (abstain from food) comes from the Old English word fasten or to hold firm. It’s a means to commit oneself to the task of finding inner strength through body, mind and soul cleansing. Throughout history the world’s greatest philosophers and sages – including Socrates, Plato, Buddha, Gandhi and our Creator Jesus – practiced fasting and preached its benefits.
Juice bars are springing up everywhere and juice fasting has become in with the theatrical crowd in Hollywood, New York and London. The number of Stars who believe in the power and effectiveness of juice and water fasting is growing. A partial list includes: Steven Spielberg, Barbra Streisand, Kim Basinger, Alec Baldwin, Daryl Hannah, Christie Brinkley, Dolly Parton and Donna Karan. They say fasting helps balance their lives physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally. Although we feel water fast is best, an introductory liquid juice fast can offer people an ideal opportunity to give their intestinal systems a restful, cleansing relief from the high fat, high sugar, high salt and high protein fast foods too many Americans unhealthful exist on.
Organic, raw, live fruit and vegetable juices can be purchased fresh from many Health Food Stores. You can also prepare these healthy juices yourself using a good home juicer. When juice fasting, it’s best to dilute juice with 3 distilled water. The list on the next page gives you many combination ideas. With any vegetable and tomato combinations try adding a dash of Liquid Aminos, herbs or, on non-fast days, even some green powder (barley, chlorella, spirulina, etc.) to create a delicious, nutritious powerful health drink. When using herbs in these drinks, use 1 to 2 fresh leaves or a pinch of dried herbs. A pinch of dulse (seaweed), rich in protein, iodine and iron is delicious with vegetable juices.
Fasting is an effective and safe method of detoxifying the body – a technique used for centuries for healing. Fast regularly one day a week and help the body cleanse and heal it to stay well. When a cold or illness is coming on, or even depression –it’s best to fast! – James Balch, M.D. author of Prescription for Nutritional Healing
Here are Some Powerful Juice Combinations:
1. Beet, celery, alfalfa sprouts
2. Cabbage, celery and apple
3. Cabbage, cucumber, celery, cabbage and sweet basil tomato, spinach and basil
4. Tomato, carrot and mint
5. Carrot, celery, watercress, garlic and wheatgrass
6. Grapefruit, orange and lemon
7. Beet, parsley, celery, carrot,
8. Beet, celery, dulse and carrot
9. Cucumber, carrot and parsley
10. Watercress, cucumber, garlic
11. Asparagus, carrot, and mint
12. Carrot, celery, parsley, onion,
13. Carrot and coconut milk
14. Carrot, broccoli, lemon, cayenne
15. Carrot, cauliflower, rosemary
16. Apple, carrot, radish, ginger
17. Apple, pineapple and mint
18. Apple, papaya and grapes mustard greens, garlic
19. Papaya, cranberries and apple
20. Leafy greens, broccoli, apple
21. Grape, cherry and apple
22. Watermelon (best alone)
Enjoy Healthy Fiber for Super Health
•KEEP BEANS HANDY, probably the best fiber sources. Cook dried beans and freeze in portions. Use canned beans for faster meals.
•EAT BERRIES, surprisingly good sources of fiber.
• INSTEAD OF ICEBERG LETTUCE, choose deep green lettuces, romaine, bib, butter, etc., spinach or cabbage for variety salads.
• LOOK FOR “100% WHOLE WHEAT” or whole grain breads. A dark color isn’t proof; check labels, compare fibers, grains, etc.
•WHOLE GRAIN CEREALS. Hot, also cold granolas with sliced fruit.
• GO FOR BROWN RICE. It’s better for you and so delicious.
• EAT THE SKINS of potatoes and other organic fruits and vegetables.
• LOOK FOR HEALTH CRACKERS with at least 2 grams of fiber per ounce.
• SERVE HUMMUS, made from chickpeas, instead of sour-cream dips.
• USE WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR for baking breads, muffins, pastries, pancakes, waffles and for variety try other whole grain flours.
• ADD OAT BRAN, WHEAT BRAN AND WHEATGERM to baked goods, cookies, etc.; whole grain cereals, casseroles, loafs, etc.
• SNACK ON SUN-DRIED FRUIT, such as apricots, dates, prunes, raisins, etc., which are concentrated sources of nutrients and fiber.
• INSTEAD OF DRINKING JUICE, eat the fruit: orange, grapefruit, etc.; and vegetables: tomato, carrot, etc. – UC Berkeley Wellness Letter
The best reward of a thing well done is to have done it.
