Fasting, defined as deliberate refraining from food for a certain amount of time, has been among human customs since the dawn of civilization.
In the ancient medical texts from Egypt, Babylon, Judea, India, Persia, Scandinavia, China, Tibet, Greece, and Rome fasting is recommended as an effective form of therapy able to help practically any internal ailment.
The names of Avicenna, Paracelsus, and Hippocrates are well known by anyone who has studied the history of medicine. The work of these famous physicians has greatly influenced the overall developments of the medical science. They all used fasting as a cornerstone of their medical recommendations. Many other great minds of old times considered fasting the best tool for achieving clarity of mind and good health.
Pythagoras periodically fasted for 40 days and required the same from his students. Greek philosophers Socrates and Plato both fasted for 10 days regularly. Plutarch liked to repeat that one day of fasting is better than any drug.
In nearly all major religions fasting is stipulated as a mean of purifying the body and mind.
Fasting is an integral part of yoga and Ayurvedic medicine. Ayurveda now is gaining more and more popularity in the west. This medical system, which is thousands of years old, helps to maintain health by keeping the individual’s body, mind and spirit in a perfect equilibrium with nature. Ayurvedic practitioners consider regular cleansing of toxic materials a must and use fasting as one of the tools to achieve it.
Modern health clinics in many countries use therapeutic fasting for their patients with great results. Different fasting terms – from as short as one day to as long as 30-40 days – have been utilized successfully in treating various health problems.
It is not surprising to see so much attention and praise given to fasting. By fasting, the digestive organs rest and all body mechanisms are cleansed and corrected. This in turn makes the body better equipped to deal with any health challenges it can experience.
Though fasting initially meant refraining from any food, lately this term has been used more loosely. It is often applied to practices where the body is supported by a limited amount of nutrients. This further promotes cleansing effects in the body. Examples of such practices are juice fasting or fasting on herbal extracts. These modifications of fasting are intended to facilitate the removal of toxic deposits from the body and sometimes achieve more in a shorter time frame.
Despite the fact that fasting produces consistent improvement in patients with serious health issues, it should not be viewed as a cure for specific problems. It would be more correct to see fasting as a powerful non-specific method which cleanses and strengthens the body often activating the body’s own disease-fighting abilities.
At CleanseMasters we believe that long term fasting as well as fasting with the goal of improving serious medical conditions should be done only under direct medical supervision. Short term fasting though can be comfortably done by practically everybody. Incorporating regular cleansing fasts into your lifestyle will provide significant health benefits as well as protection from various negative factors in your environment.
