Fasting is without a doubt the oldest form of healing. It is instinctual. The first thing animals do when sick is stop eating.
For thousands of years fasting has been used to reset the body when it was ill. Hippocrates (about 400 BC), the father of modern medicine promoted the practice of fasting, and the consumption of apple cider vinegar. He said, “To eat when you are sick, is to feed your illness.” Plato Aristotle also promoted fasting. Christ fasted for 40 days as did Moses. Back in the early 1900’s Christian ministers promoted fasting, not only for physical healing, but also for spiritual connection and awareness. Jews fast at least one day a year on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Muslims fast during daylight every day of the month of Ramadan. At the age of 74, Ghandi fasted for 21 days.
What specific conditions have been treated with fasting? The doctors at the 2001 Conf on Fasting Therapy in Ulan Ude, Buryatia presented papers on the successful use of fasting for the following diseases:
- obesity
- gout
- high blood pressure
- cardiovascular disease
- ulcers
- arthritis
- nodules in lung, liver, lymph
- dermatitis
- eczema
- psoriasis
- neuroses
- schizophrenia
- bacterial & viral Infections in the:
- lungs
- colon
- stomach
- gall bladder
- intestines
- pancreas
