Fasting for natural healing

Fasting for natural healing

by Sanjay B

Fasting is merely the process of purification and an effective and quick method of cure. It assists nature in her continuous effort to expel foreign matter and disease-producing waste from the body thereby correcting the faults of improper diet and wrong living.Fasting refers to complete abstinence from food for a shorter or longer period for a specific purpose. The word is derived from the old English, ‘feastan’, which means ‘to fast/observe/be strict’.

Fasting is nature’s oldest, most effective and yet least expensive method of treating disease. It is recognised as the cornerstone of natural healing. Dr. Arnold Eheret, the originator of the mucus-less diet healing system describes it as “nature’s only universal and omnipotent remedy for healing” and “nature’s only fundamental law of healing and curing”.

The common cause of all diseases is the accumulation of waste and poisonous matter in the body which results from overeating. The large quantity of food overburdens the digestive and assimilative organs and clogs up the system with impurities or poisons. Digestion and elimination becomes slow and the functional activity of the whole system gets deranged. The onset of the disease is merely the process of ridding the system of these impurities. Every disease can be healed by only one remedy by doing just the opposite of what causes it, that is, by reducing the food intake or by fasting.

By depriving the body of food for a time, the organs of elimination, such as the bowels, kidneys, skin and lungs, are given opportunity to expel, unhampered, the overload of accumulated waste from the system. Thus, fasting is merely the process of purification and an effective and quick method of cure. It assists nature in her continuous effort to expel foreign matter and disease-producing waste from the body, thereby correcting the faults of improper diet and wrong living. It also leads to regeneration of the blood, as well as, the repair and regeneration of various tissues of the body.

Duration:
The duration of the fast is important, because long periods of fasting can be dangerous if undertaken without competent professional guidance. It is, therefore, advisable to undertake a series of short fasts of two or three days and gradually increase the duration of each succeeding fast by a day or so. The period, however, should not exceed a week of total fasting at a time when it is practiced without expert guidance.

Methods:
The best, safest and most effective method of fasting is juice fasting. Although the old classic form of fasting was pure water fast, most of the leading authorities on fasting today agree that juice fasting is far superior to water fast. According to Ranger Berg, the world-famous authority on nutrition, ‘during fasting the body burns up and excretes huge amounts of accumulated wastes.

We can help this cleansing process by drinking alkaline juice instead of water while fasting. Elimination of uric acid and other inorganic acids will be accelerated and sugars in juices will strengthen the heart. Juice fasting is, therefore, the best form of fasting’.

Vitamins, minerals, enzymes and trace elements in fresh, raw vegetables and fruit juices are extremely beneficial in normalising all the body processes.

They supply essential elements for the body’s own healing activity and cell regeneration and thus speeding the recovery. All juices should be made fresh immediately before drinking. Canned or frozen juices should not be used.

Precautionary Measures:
A precautionary measure that must be observed in all cases of fasting is the complete emptying of the bowels at the beginning of the fast by enema so that the patient is not bothered by gas or decomposing matter formed from the excrements remaining in the body. Enema should be administered at least every alternate day during the fasting period.

The patient should get as much fresh air as possible and should drink plain lukewarm water when thirsty. Fresh juices may be diluted with pure water. The total liquid intake should be approximately six to eight glasses. A lot of energy is spent during the fast in the process of eliminating accumulated poisons and toxic waste materials. It is, therefore, of utmost importance that the patients get as much as physical rest and mental relaxation as possible during the fast.

Benefits of Fasting:

There are several benefits of fasting. During long fasting, the body feeds upon its reserves. Being deprived of needed nutrients, particularly of protein and fats, it will burn and digest its own tissues by the process of autolysis or self-digestion. But it will not do so indiscriminately. The body will first decompose and burn those cells and tissues, which are diseased, damaged, aged, or dead. The essential tissues and vital organs, the glands, the nervous system and the brain are not damaged or digested in fasting. Here lies the secret of the effectiveness of fasting as a curative and rejuvenative method. During fasting, building of new and healthy cells is speeded up by the amino acids released from the diseased cells. The capacity of the eliminative organs, that is, lungs, liver, kidneys and skin is greatly increased, as they are relieved of the usual burden of digesting food and eliminating the resultant waste.

Breaking of Fast:
The success of the fast depends largely on how it is broken. This is the most significant phase. The main rules for breaking the fast are: do not overeat, eat slowly, chew your food thoroughly and take several days for the gradual change to the normal diet. If the translation to eating solid foods is carefully planned, there will be no discomfort or damage. The patient should also continue to take rest during the transition period. The right food after a fast is as important and decisive for proper results as the fast itself.

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