Fasting and Eating for Health by Joel Fuhrman; Neal D. Barnard Page B
Authors: Joel Fuhrman; Neal D. Barnard
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function associated with aging.
In nonobese humans the immunological response to caloric restriction and weight loss has been studied under conditions of malnutrition, anorexia 59
nervosa, and voluntary fasting. The effect on immune function is marked.
Severe chronic malnutrition results in suppression of immune function and increased infections. Anorexia nervosa patients, if consuming very few calories, develop significant reductions in cellular immunity.16,17 However, no impairment of immunity is seen until the patients become severely emaciated.18,19
In Dr. Anton Keys's classic study of the biology of human starvation, healthy volunteers who fasted repeatedly had a decreased incidence of infection.20 More recently researchers evaluated the immune competence of patients before and after a 14-day fast and noted enhancement in serum immunoglobulin levels, skin testing response, and the bacteriocidal capacity of monocytes and natural killer T cell activity. These researchers draw a parallel between their findings and the enhanced immune responses seen in experimental animals following fasting.21
Fasting is very different from chronic malnutrition. Deficiency disease does not occur as a result of the fast. Rather than suppressing immunity, which is what happens in cases of long-term malnutrition and anorexia, fasting actually does the opposite; it normalizes and enhances immune function.
Our Bodies Follow the Law of Cause and Effect The body has certain needs. It operates according to strict law and order, not at random. If the laws that govern the body are broken, the body will naturally begin to malfunction and break down. This is really another way of describing what we call disease.
The opposite is health. If you provide the causes of outstanding health, you get outstanding health. If you provide the causes of disease, you get disease.
Every level of health, which extends on a spectrum from optimal health and vitality to the disease states of chronic illness, is directly related to and governed by the law of cause and effect.
The general population is bombarded by health information generated by the health profession, drug companies, and food manufacturers, whose intention is to maintain the status quo. Unfortunately, the average consumer can become more confused than ever. The holistic practitioners, the alternative and complementary physician groups, and the suppliers of vitamins and other natural remedies and treatments add to the giant net of confusion. Everyone claims to have the magic cure. But the sobering facts are undeniable: cure doesn't really exist, so long as the cause is permitted to continue unchecked.
In reality, cure occurs only when the body has rid itself of disease-causing factors and has had a chance to recuperate from their ill effects. What we commonly refer to as being cured is usually the diminishing of symptoms through pharmacology or the removal of diseased tissue through surgery. This is always a short-term solution, does not leave the body in better shape, and sets the body up for a reoccurrence of the same set of symptoms or, in the case of surgery, affliction at a future date elsewhere in the body. The cause, not identified and removed, does not allow the body the chance to heal itself.
60
Healing by means that do not require changing personal habits and taking more responsibility, though always appealing, will commonly fail. Daily, I witness the failure of this approach, representative of the failure of modem medicine.
True recovery that does not increase one's later risk of serious illness can result only from positive steps that remove stress from the body. This requires significant personal responsibility and dedication to achieving wellness.
Sometimes people really must undertake a fast to recover. Through fasting, individuals are allowed to catch up on elimination of retained waste, thus raising themselves to new levels of superior health. Though most people would rather
In nonobese humans the immunological response to caloric restriction and weight loss has been studied under conditions of malnutrition, anorexia 59
nervosa, and voluntary fasting. The effect on immune function is marked.
Severe chronic malnutrition results in suppression of immune function and increased infections. Anorexia nervosa patients, if consuming very few calories, develop significant reductions in cellular immunity.16,17 However, no impairment of immunity is seen until the patients become severely emaciated.18,19
In Dr. Anton Keys's classic study of the biology of human starvation, healthy volunteers who fasted repeatedly had a decreased incidence of infection.20 More recently researchers evaluated the immune competence of patients before and after a 14-day fast and noted enhancement in serum immunoglobulin levels, skin testing response, and the bacteriocidal capacity of monocytes and natural killer T cell activity. These researchers draw a parallel between their findings and the enhanced immune responses seen in experimental animals following fasting.21
Fasting is very different from chronic malnutrition. Deficiency disease does not occur as a result of the fast. Rather than suppressing immunity, which is what happens in cases of long-term malnutrition and anorexia, fasting actually does the opposite; it normalizes and enhances immune function.
Our Bodies Follow the Law of Cause and Effect The body has certain needs. It operates according to strict law and order, not at random. If the laws that govern the body are broken, the body will naturally begin to malfunction and break down. This is really another way of describing what we call disease.
The opposite is health. If you provide the causes of outstanding health, you get outstanding health. If you provide the causes of disease, you get disease.
Every level of health, which extends on a spectrum from optimal health and vitality to the disease states of chronic illness, is directly related to and governed by the law of cause and effect.
The general population is bombarded by health information generated by the health profession, drug companies, and food manufacturers, whose intention is to maintain the status quo. Unfortunately, the average consumer can become more confused than ever. The holistic practitioners, the alternative and complementary physician groups, and the suppliers of vitamins and other natural remedies and treatments add to the giant net of confusion. Everyone claims to have the magic cure. But the sobering facts are undeniable: cure doesn't really exist, so long as the cause is permitted to continue unchecked.
In reality, cure occurs only when the body has rid itself of disease-causing factors and has had a chance to recuperate from their ill effects. What we commonly refer to as being cured is usually the diminishing of symptoms through pharmacology or the removal of diseased tissue through surgery. This is always a short-term solution, does not leave the body in better shape, and sets the body up for a reoccurrence of the same set of symptoms or, in the case of surgery, affliction at a future date elsewhere in the body. The cause, not identified and removed, does not allow the body the chance to heal itself.
60
Healing by means that do not require changing personal habits and taking more responsibility, though always appealing, will commonly fail. Daily, I witness the failure of this approach, representative of the failure of modem medicine.
True recovery that does not increase one's later risk of serious illness can result only from positive steps that remove stress from the body. This requires significant personal responsibility and dedication to achieving wellness.
Sometimes people really must undertake a fast to recover. Through fasting, individuals are allowed to catch up on elimination of retained waste, thus raising themselves to new levels of superior health. Though most people would rather
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