"The Essenes book of Fasting" by Edmond Bordeaux Szekely

 

FASTING is the most ancient therapy of humanity. Even our forefathers observed that after some days of fasting, a recrudescence of vitality and vigor shows itself in the organism. Nature turns it to account for the purpose of accelerating the functions of elimination, while the marvelous economy of the organism profits by the rest afforded to the digestive functions and by the vital machine's slackened activity resulting from the fast to cast off the impurities of the organism by every channel. In sickness, nature seeks to eliminate, then to eliminate more, and again more, until the choked-up ducts which are the vehicles of vitality and energy are made free and good health is re-established. And it is only when elimination is complete and all the embarrassing waste products of the organism have been evacuated, that hunger, exquisite and natural, appears. On several occasions enthusiasts have embarked on a fast without having studied the question sufficiently or without having accurate ideas on the physiology of the body. They have injured the idea of therapy through fasting in the minds of people by incorrect application of an excellent method. There are some kinds of fasts which must be wholly condemned: irrational fasts, fasts without preparation, fasts of long duration without an experienced guide, and fasts which are only inspired by the wish to follow a system momentarily in vogue. The purpose of this book is to give a dialectical guide to all who want to profit by this most ancient therapy of mankind, without making mistakes in its application. SOBRIETY is reduced to two things: quality and quantity. The first consists in avoiding food or drinks, which are found to disagree with the stomach. The second, to avoid taking more than the stomach can easily digest.