Many who earnestly want to improve their health are convinced that their diets
are lacking in some vital nutrient or other substance that they can buy to
recover their health. Though it may be true that some individuals, especially the
elderly, may be borderline deficient in certain nutrients, the reality is that most
of the chronic diseases people suffer from are not primarily the result of
nutrient deficiencies. Therefore, supplying additional nutrients does not result in
recovery. After a while, those with chronic medical conditions, including
cardiovascular disease, migraines, colitis, arthritis, psoriasis, asthma, and
sinusitis, realize that they still have not achieved a recovery and that they
cannot purchase optimal health at the health food store or pharmacy.
The diets that I prescribe for my patients are abundant in appropriate
nutrients, yet contain no excess of sugar, protein, fat, or cholesterol. Generally,
by following an optimal diet and lifestyle, which will be described in the next
chapter, chronically sick people get well. The rate of recovery from the diseases
that have been mentioned, as well as from many other autoimmune and dietrelated
illnesses, is astonishing. While dietary modifications alone may be
enough for recovery from disease in some cases, to obtain a complete recovery
a physician-supervised fast often becomes the only solution to enable the
individual to achieve the desired healing in a reasonable time frame. A properly
conducted fast is a safe and expedient way to remove excesses from the body
— excesses that are preventing the body from achieving a full recovery.
Medications cannot do this.
Some persons who are suffering from serious chronic ailments can make
great strides in their health while continuing to eat. It is important that these
individuals strive to remove all the possible causes of ill health. This must
include reducing all the stressors on the body, and calls for careful
management of the diet (adapting it to their individual digestive and nutrient
needs), less food, less work, and more rest. This method can frequently take
too long and require infinite diligence and patience. A successful outcome is not
so certain as when a prolonged fast is undertaken.
Sometimes people are not careful enough with the changes in their diet or
are unwilling to make the changes that are sufficient to bring about a complete
recovery from their condition. Then, when their health is restored with a fast
and they see the health potential that is available to them through natural
methods, they develop a heightened ability to conform to a healthy way of life
to maintain their long-sought-after good health.
For those who are not in need of a fast, the very principles behind the fast
are the basis for dietary changes that will lead to recovery and the subsequent
control of health. Throughout this book the concepts of health recovery and
disease causation that apply to both the fasting and the eating state will be
explained. Readers will gain a clear comprehension of the causes of disease
and how to maintain and achieve optimal health, even if they never fast.
The medical profession's primary method, over the last century, for
combating the effects of improper diet and life-style has been to offer
medication and surgery. This approach has not been effective. Almost every
medical treatment offered for the chronic disease sufferer today attempts only
to control symptoms. There are no ―cures.‖ The current medical treatments not
only have risks, but also represent a Band-Aid type of approach. They can offer
relief from symptoms, but they cannot cure because they do not address the
cause of the disease. Under ―modern‖ medicine, the incidence of most chronic
diseases has increased and the vast majority of people are still dying from what
are preventable, diet-and life-style-induced illnesses.
Obviously, traditional medical treatments can be lifesaving in an emergency
situation and on some other occasions can be appropriate and extremely
beneficial. We certainly have today the best emergency medical care ever
available. But, overall, modern medicine has continued to fail. People are still
suffering needlessly and dying prematurely. This is because treatments don't
eliminate the primary cause: a rich diet that stresses the system and overloads
the body with excesses and toxins.
Imagine if every day I smashed my hand with a hammer. Could I expect a
pain medication or anti-inflammatory drug to heal the wound? Obviously, I
would not recover unless I stopped the daily pounding. Every day our nation's
people are pounding themselves with a rich diet, ill-adapted to the needs of our
species. This inevitably results in the eventual breakdown of our internal
systems and the development of chronic disease.
Fasting, as opposed to the usual medical treatments, helps to remove the
cause of the disease. For example, with atherosclerosis (the buildup of plaque
in the arteries), fasting allows the body to work to actually remove the plaque
from within the blood vessels. In diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, fasting
clears out the waste deposits that are stimulating the immune system and
inflaming the joints. This allows the body to heal itself.
In addition to the consistently positive results of fasting on disease, fasting
enables the disease sufferer to drop weight rapidly to a safer level. Excess
weight in those suffering from diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol
levels, or angina can contribute to their premature death from a heart attack or
stroke. While diets of every description flood the media, nothing will remove
these risk factors more effectively, more quickly, or more predictably than
fasting.
A natural foods dietary approach, utilizing superior nutrition, combined with
therapeutic fasting, when appropriate, is the only way our society will be able
to free itself from the hordes of ill people still chronically suffering and taking
multiple drugs as the only option to lessen their symptoms.
The practice and methods described here offer a rational approach that is
not only effective but also consistent with the Hippocratic admonition to ―do no
harm.‖ The results described are consistent with natural laws and logic that
would assume that health will result from healthful living and from removal of
the causes of disease. Likewise, abuses done to our bodies, whether recognized
or not, can result in ill health. Rather than merely reduce the signs of disease,
such as lowering blood pressure with medication, this approach enables the
faster to remove the disease itself and significantly extend longevity.
Doctors leave medical school with the hope and intent of gaining selfsatisfaction
through helping others in need. Doctors and patients both,
however, become resigned and frustrated due to the inherent weaknesses in
today's approach that calls for powerful diagnostic tests, and then leaves the
patient with little option but to take potentially harmful drugs to attempt to
control the signs and symptoms of disease. Rather than hoping for the
discovery of some wonder drug, we are discovering the true wonder of the
healing properties inherent in the human body that can be unleashed by
removing impediments to normal function.
Once you are exposed to the powerful effects the methods described within
this book will afford you, there is no turning back. As a result of reading this
book, you will come to view your own body in a completely different way and
will inevitably take better care of yourself in the future. The clear
comprehension of the causes of disease and how to maintain and achieve
optimal wellness will crystallize in your mind, giving you a powerful tool to
regain control of your own health even if you never undergo a fast.
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