by
Paavo Airola, Ph.D., D.D.
A FEW FACTUAL CASES OF SUCCESSFUL FASTING
Here, in a nutshell, are just a few cases of fasts I supervised
in Canada, Mexico and Europe to illustrate the effectiveness, and
the broad range of application, of this the most effective
healing method known to man.
Mr.C.H.72. ARTHRITIS IN KNEES AND SPINE, NEURITIS IN LEGS,
EMPHYSEMA
When Mr.H. arrived at our Spa, he used a cane and could walk only
a few yards with great difficulty. He had had arthritis for 35
years and underwent cortisone treatment 10 years previously. Due
to severe painful neuritis in his legs below the knees, his
nights were often sleepless. Only heavy doses of a
codeine-containing drug made sleep possible. Even the slightest
exertion caused shortness of breath due to his emphysema. He
could not benefit from our thermal mineral baths and sauna
because they were located 400 yards down a steep hill.
The day we began the biological program with a two week fast, Mr.
H. asked me:
"I sure wish I could get down to the hot river and the baths. Do
you think I will ever be able to do that?"
"In a month or so you'll be hopping like a goat around here, even
down to the river," I promised him optimistically, concealing as
well as I could my own doubts that such improvement could come so
quickly, seeing how incapacitated he was.
In less than three weeks Mr.H. was walking without his cane and
one day he reported to me triumphantly that he had walked to the
baths and up the hill all by himself - without his cane! After
two two-week fasts on juices, herb teas and vegetable broth, with
an intermediate special arthritic diet including vitamin and
mineral supplements, plus special packs, hot and cold showers,
dry brush massage and a series of special exercises, Mr.H. told
me one day that he walked over two miles up and down the steep
hills and along the river and "without any pain in his knees or
shortness of breath!"
"It's great! I can't believe it," said Mr.H. gratefully.
MR.W.K.,58, ANGINA, CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN, HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
Atypical American business executive, Mr.K., took two weeks off
his busy schedule to come to our Spa demonstrating that he was,
after all, not really "typical." The typical American businessman
works himself up to his heart attack and premature death trying
to make his first million, never permitting himself time for a
holiday or a trip to a health Spa.
Mr. K. had blood pressure of 160/90, severe angina pains in the
chest and a shortness of breath. He also had an arthritic
condition in the lumbar region of his spine and several large
fatty tumors in his body, one of the size of an egg on his right
forearm.
After ten days of fasting on juices and vegetable broths and 4
days of breaking the fast on a raw vegetable and fruit diet, his
blood pressure went down to 115/70; arthritic pain in the lower
back almost completely disappeared ("90% better," he told me); he
could walk for miles each day without chest pain or breathing
difficulties; and his fatty tumor on the right arm was reduced to
the size of an almond. It would probably have disappeared
completely if Mr.K. had had the opportunity to stay a couple of
more weeks.
MRS.A.J.,64, HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, IRREGULAR HEART BEAT, CHRONIC
HEADACHES
After seven days of juice fasting, Mrs.J.'s blood pressure went
from 160/100 to 135/80. Headaches disappeared as if by a miracle.
She continued on a special salt-free diet of raw foods with lots
of garlic, comfrey, and special vitamin supplements of E, C, and
B-complex, with B15. Her heart functioning improved considerably,
and the blood pressure remained normal when checked three weeks
later.
MISS C.F.,28, ASTHMA
Miss F. suffered from one of the most severe cases of asthma I
have seen. She had been totally dependent on a heavy dosage of
drugs for over 10 years.
I suggested a fast on diluted juices for a week, to be followed
by a strictly raw food diet, with a teaspoonful of plain lemon
juice before each meal, several comfrey leaves chewed raw, and
several cloves of garlic each day.
After one week of fasting, Miss F. felt so much better that she
actually begged me to let her continue another week. At the end
of the second week she still didn't have any desire to quit
fasting.
"I feel so good, with much less frequent attacks, that I want to
continue fasting for one more week," she said.
After 3 weeks of fasting she finally broke the fast and started
with a special diet and vitamin supplements. She took 1,200 I.U.
of E each day, 3,000 mg. of vitamin C, and 50 mg of B15... She
also took special breathing exercises, dry brush massage, and hot
and cold showers in the morning.
She left the Spa so much improved that her medication was reduced
by two thirds after 10 years of constant use. Her breathing was
dramatically improved and her vitality and strength greatly
increased. She could now walk long distances without any
discomfort or shortness of breath.
MRS.L.K.,54, CHRONIC BRONCHITIS, CHRONIC TONSILLITIS, HIGH BLOOD
PRESSURE
Mrs.K. had blood pressure of 150/90. She was overweight and
troubled by chronic colds and chronic bronchial catarrh for over
10 years, with cough and a voluminous discharge of mucus.
In two weeks of juice fasting, she reduced 12 pounds, her blood
pressure went down to 128/78, and her chronic bronchitis and
tonsillitis were completely cleared up - no cough, no mucus, no
breathing discomfort.
MISS A.Y,,48, ARTHRITIS, OVERWEIGHT, PSORIASIS
Miss A. undertook a long fast of 28 days. She used vegetable
broth morning and night, diluted vegetable juices at 1:00 and
6:00 P.M. and diluted fruit juices (no citrus) at 10:00 A.M. and
4:00 P.M. She took enemas twice a day, hot and cold showers, and
dry brush massage. She walked and exercised every day.
As her fasting progressed, Miss A. became more and more
enthusiastic about the anticipated results. Instead of becoming
weaker, she felt stronger with each passing day. She started with
short walks, because of arthritis in her knees, but gradually
increased the distance, until she walked about 5 miles each day.
Her arthritis, both swelling and pain, completely disappeared
after the first 2 weeks. Psoriasis patches decreased in size
gradually and after 4 weeks of fasting were completely gone. She
reduced 25 pounds and looked not only healthier, but also at
least 10 years younger.
FASTING, VITALITY AND SEX
Those who have never tried fasting and are not familiar with the
physiology of fasting, usually think that fasting will make
them weak. The amazing fact about juice fasting, which shocks and
pleasantly surprises practically all those who fast for the first
time, is that fasting actually makes them stronger and increases
their vitality.
During the first few days of the fast, the patient feels hungry
and somewhat weak, but after the third day the hunger usually
disappears, and vitality and strength begins to increase with
every fasting day. We advise fasters to continue with their usual
work, if they are fasting at home, or to do lots of exercise and
walking if they are fasting under supervision at a spa. Our
patients usually walk long distances, some as much as 5 to 10
miles a day. Walking in the open is the best and most beneficial
form of exercise for any age or any condition as well as the best
way to prevent disease.
I have made a remarkable observation during many years of
supervising fasts. Many men have reported that they have
experienced a renewed sexual vigor after 7, 10 or more days of
fasting.
One man, age 62, who felt his sexual life had been very
inadequate for a long time, told me that on the 8th day of
fasting he suddenly felt such a sex urge that he was not able to
refrain from sexual intercourse. He was somewhat reluctant
because he certainly didn't expect "this sort of thing" during
the fast. His wife told him, "Darling, you should fast more
often!"
Another striking case was that of Dr. N.D., who was 78 years old
and fasted under my supervision for his arthritis. He told me
after 6 days of fasting:
"A most extraordinary thing happened yesterday! I had a most
wonderful sex affair with my wife. For the last 7 or 8 years, my
sex life was rather sporadic; and in the last 6 months or so I
had nothing but the sweet memories of the past. But yesterday ...
How can you explain that?"
I can explain "that". A life-long sexual virility is every man's
birthright. "Bedroom fatigue" is not caused by old age, but by
neglected, malnourished and atrophied endocrine glands, which are
responsible for deteriorating physical and sexual vitality.
Premature signs of aging, loss of interest in sex, bulging
waistline - all these are signs of insufficiently functioning
endocrine or sex glands and diminished sex hormone production.
Fasting has an energizing, invigorating effect on the activity
and functions of all organs and glands, including the functions
of the endocrine glands. I have heard many reports of the
rejuvenating and revitalizing effect of fasting on sexual vigor
and ability.
Sex urge is motivated by extra, surplus energy. A sick man is a
poor lover. All his energy goes on trying to keep going, fighting
chronic fatigue and pain. The ill man has no surplus energy left
for sex. Fasting restores health, normalizes all the body
functions, wipes out pain and gives a new vitality and energy
surplus. The renewed sexual drive is one of the surest
indications that the health and strength have returned.
IS FASTING SAFE
The examples cited earlier in this chapter show how safe fasting
is. Fasting up to 40 days on water and up to 100 days, or even
longer, on juices, is considered perfectly safe. In the Swedish
hospital experiments, patients fasted 55 days without any
apparent harm. I know of a perfectly healthy young man of 27, who
fasted 143 days; not for any particular disease, but to cleanse,
regenerate and rejuvenate his body and mind. One Scottish woman,
mentioned before, fasted 249 days on juices and not only did she
not harm herself, but she improved her looks and her health
considerably. In European clinics thousands of patients have
fasted up to 40 days. And the Swedish fast marches demonstrated
very dramatically the safety of fasting, even during adverse
conditions of severe stress.
The truth is that fasting is one of the safest healing methods
known to medical science. As a matter of fact, you can live
without food for months, but can kill yourself by overeating in
a few weeks. Nobody ever died of a few weeks of intentional
fasting. During involuntary, prolonged starvation, the negative
state of mind and fear for life exert a paralyzing, disruptive
and destructive effect on all the body functions, and will cause
both physical damage and eventual death. Only during intentional
fasting, when you have complete understanding, confidence and
faith in the constructive, beneficial effect of fasting, will
your body initiate its health-restoring and regenerative
processes and receive nothing but a beneficial effect.
Naturally, if you suffer from a serious condition such as cancer,
diabetes, tuberculosis, cardio-vascular disorder, or any other
serious disease, you should be at all times under a doctor's
supervision.
Although juice fasting up to 10 days or two weeks is not a
dangerous measure and could be undertaken at home and without
supervision, my advice is that if you do not have a thorough
understanding and insight into all phases and details of fasting,
you should try to find an experienced practitioner who will
supervise your fast. This will give you peace of mind and
confidence in the treatment, which are imperative for the
successful outcome of any therapeutic measure. The cleansing and
health-restoring activity of fasting will bring about many
physiological changes in your body. These changes may manifest
themselves in certain discomforts, or what is called fasting
crises, such as headache, coated tongue, foul breath, dizziness,
skin eruption, and even temporary worsening of the condition.
When fasting is supervised by an experienced practitioner, he
will assure you that these reactions should give you no cause for
concern, they are common symptoms of fasting, and properly
understood, should not discourage you from continuing with the
fast.
WHAT ABOUT FASTING AND DDT?
It has been suggested by some writers recently that because of
the universal poisoning by DDT, fasting can be dangerous. DDT, to
which we all are exposed these days through insecticide
contaminated foods, is a cumulative poison which is stored in the
fat tissues of the body. During fasting, when the body starts to
feed itself on its own tissues, fat is broken down and digested,
releasing dangerous amounts of DDT into the blood stream. This
can cause symptoms of acute DDT poisoning.
The danger of DDT poisoning during reducing regimes or fasting,
due to the rapid break down of fat tissues, has been known for a
long time. The way fasting is administered in some American
clinics - a total water fast without enema and staying in bed - a
sudden DDT release can be dangerous. When fasting is done
correctly, however, the danger is minimal. If you fast according
to the recommendations of this book on fresh fruit and vegetable
juices and vegetable broth, plenty of exercise and daily enemas -
you are well protected from any real danger in this respect.
First, DDT is released into the blood stream more slowly than in
a total water fast; and, second, DDT and other poisons are better
neutralized and more efficiently and safely excreted from the
body because of the rich mineral and vitamin content of the
juices and broth, particularly the vitamin C, calcium and
potassium. Daily enemas, the extensive program of revitalizing
skin activity, lots of walking and deep breathing, and the
medicinal, protective effect of raw fruits and vegetable juices,
broths, and herb teas - all these help to make your fasting
perfectly safe, even in respect to the release of DDT into the
bloodstream.
It would be advisable, however, that if you are quite overweight,
and want to fast strictly for reducing, you should go on a series
of short fasts (one week or 10 day fasts) instead of one very
long fast. This way the fat tissues will be burned at a slower
rate, and toxins released at intervals and eliminated from your
system more safely. Also, the addition of high doses of certain
vitamins and food supplements, especially vitamin C, to the diet
between fasts will help to protect your body from the harmful
effects of toxic substances.
HOW LONG CAN YOU FAST?
If fasting is undertaken for prophylactic purposes, that is to
cleanse, regenerate and rejuvenate the body, one week or 10 days
of fasting will be sufficient. Such short fasts can be taken once
or twice a year.
(I have done this kind of fasting - juice, raw milk fasting - and
it really does wonders for the mind and the body - Keith Hunt).
The length of the therapeutic fast, or fast undertaken with the
purpose of healing, should be determined by the doctor or
practitioner, who supervises the fast.
The length of therapeutic fasts varies between 7 days and 40
days. The most common length of fasts in European clinics is 14
to 21 days. It would not be advisable to undertake a
do-it-yourself fasting program for longer than one week or ten
days. But if you have a proper mental attitude, confidence and
understanding of the philosophy and physiology of fasting, you
can safely fast on your own up to 10 days. Remember, you are not
the first to try it - millions of people have done it
successfully before you.
I know you will be surprised and amazed both at the safety and
the miraculous health-restoring and rejuvenating effect of
fasting.
..............
TO BE CONTINUED
In the next chapter Airola will explain in detail HOW to liquid
fast and how NOT to fast.
|
