Counseling Sheet

Agatha M. Thrash, M.D.
Preventive Medicine

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Fasting is an excellent way to treat disease. A day or two of fasting each week would do most people more good than any amount of medical advice or treatment. Fasting has several beneficial effects on the body. First, fasting allows the overworked stomach to rest. Even with peptic ulcer disease, fasting is the very best treatment. If a person fasts, the amount of hydrochloric acid that he produces will be reduced, since the production of stomach acid is increased by the eating of protein foods. With peptic ulcer disease, usually pain and bloating and discomfort of all types are greatly reduced. If there is pain with a peptic ulcer during fasting, it can generally be controlled quite readily by laying a hot compress, such as a large towel squeezed from very hot water across the midsection, and alternating with a cold compress about every six minutes.

The liver can be greatly relieved by fasting, since the liver must detoxify and process all chemicals that come into the bloodstream from the gastrointestinal tract. So important is this function of the liver that the anatomical distribution of blood vessels from the stomach is such as to make a highway through the liver where the blood vessels from the gastrointestinal tract break in to millions of tiny capillaries. This blood laden with food chemicals from the intestine is exposed to all the liver cells so that toxic materials can be detoxified, any materials that are urgently needed can be withdrawn from the blood, and any alterations in the pH of the blood can be accomplished.

Fasting is good for the mucus membranes. Many mucus membranes are irritated by substances present in the air, or by toxic materials secreted by the lining cells into the moistening fluid of that particular membrane. Let us take the nose as an example. The secretions of nasal passages and sinuses can often be irritating because of allergic materials that either fix into the cells of the lining membranes, or secrete into the mucoid material, which forms the liquid secretions from those structures. To fast for a day or so allows the liver to remove from the circulation any chemicals to which the mucus membranes are sensitive, or to send out antibodies that can help to neutralize allergenic materials trapped in the secretions of the nasal passages or the sinuses.

Many people who have joint complaints, pains, or stiffness, will report that they feel much better after a day or two of fasting. After a day of fasting, it may be possible to devise a diet containing very simple foods that would allow a person to recognize foods to which he is sensitive, which may cause pain or stiffness in the joints.

Fasting as a rehearsal for appetite control is unexcelled. Not much weight will be lost in the fasting state, since a sort of hibernation occurs during fasting, and the basal metabolic rate goes down. Nevertheless, fasting gives one a better opportunity to get the appetite under control than any other single measure. In preparation for a dietary change, such as starting a special diet such as a salt-free diet, an oil-free diet, a sugar-free diet, etc., fasting is a great help. A strictly abstemious diet over a month or two, beginning with a day or two of fasting, would convince many sufferers that the path of self-denial is the path of health. The taste often becomes perverted by the indulgence of highly seasoned foods, rich cakes, preserves, and the like, and needs to be conditioned by a fast, until a simple diet can be relished. Nourishing food will satisfy genuine hunger. It does not always satisfy appetite, which is likely to be perverted.

Fasting for spiritual and mental reasons is also a very fine custom. If one's zeal and spirituality are down, a day or two of fasting will often clear the mind of perplexities and cause the intelligence to be sharp and the spirits to become enriched. Many times minds are dull and religious aspirations are feeble, because of indulgence of appetite.

Last is a point that many people do not believe, until they give it a trial. Fasting can improve the disposition. While it is a fact that during the fast the individual may not feel as well, it is usually the case that for a few days following a fast a person has a much improved disposition. If you are having a problem having an even temper and a sweet disposition, try a fast of two or three days and it may surprise you.

Small children who have fastidious appetites should be allowed to go without food for 2-3 days, if necessary, until they are hungry enough to enjoy good wholesome food. I would risk their being hungry rather than have them be finicky eaters, unwilling or unable to eat a balanced diet.