Fasting Facts
Background and Research
Fasting Definition: fasting facts
Voluntary abstinence from all food and drink except water for a prescribed period.
True water fast keeps a zero caloric intake. This means water only, nothing else.
Fasting Background
Fasting can be used for nearly every chronic condition, including allergies, anxiety, arthritis, asthma, depression, diabetes, headaches, heart disease, high cholesterol, low blood sugar, digestive disorders, mental illness, and obesity.
Fasting is an effective and safe weight loss method.
It is frequently prescribed as a detoxification treatment for those with conditions that may be influenced by environmental factors, such as cancer and multiple chemical sensitivity.
Fasting is thought to be beneficial as a preventative measure to increase overall health, vitality, and resistance to disease.
Fasting Facts
When the intake of food is temporarily stopped, many systems of the body are given a break from the hard work of digestion. The extra energy gives the body the chance to heal and restore itself, and burning stored calories gets rid of toxic substances stored in the body. The digestive tract is the part of the body most exposed to environmental threats, including bacteria, viruses, parasites, and toxins. It requires the most immune system support. When food is broken down in the intestines, it travels through the blood to the liver, the largest organ of the body's natural detoxification system.
The liver breaks down and removes the toxic by-products produced by digestion.
During fasting, the liver and immune system are essentially free to detoxify and heal other parts of the body.
Fasting Research
* Medically Supervised Water-Only Fasting in the Treatment of Hypertension.
Goldhamer A, Lisle D, Anderson SV, Campbell TC. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics. 2001; 25 (5): 335-339.
In June of 2001, a 12-year study, completed in conjunction with Cornell University, was published in the scientific, Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics. This paper, entitled Medically Supervised Water-only Fasting in the Treatment of Hypertension, detailed the outstanding results in the treatment of 174 consecutive program participants presenting with high blood pressure.
* Brief Case Reports of Medically Supervised, Water-Only Fasting Associated With Remission of Autoimmune Disease.
Joel Fuhrman, MD, Barbara Sarter, PHD, RN, FNP, and David J. Calabro, DC. Alternative Therapies 2001:8(4):1-3.
Six cases reported in which medically supervised, water-only fasting followed by a vegan diet resulted in reduction in pain and inflammation markers in patients with autoimmune illnesses.
* Medically Supervised Water-Only Fasting in the Treatment of Borderline Hypertension.
Goldhamer AC, Lisle DJ, Sultana P, Anderson SV, Parpia B, Hughes B, Campbell TC. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 2002; 8 (5): 643-650.
* Usefulness of routine periodic fasting to lower risk of coronary artery disease in patients undergoing coronary angiography.
Horne BD, May HT, Anderson JL, Kfoury AG, Bailey BM, McClure BS, Renlund DG, Lappé DL, Carlquist JF, Fisher PW, Pearson RR, Bair TL, Adams TD, Muhlestein JB; Intermountain Heart Collaborative Study.
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