For most of us the attempt to fast has not been a pleasant experience. Even to go a few hours without food will cause headaches and discomfort. The tongue turns yellow, breath becomes foul, weakness and dizziness set in, which confirms what you already suspected — fasting is unhealthy and dangerous!

Truth is, most North Americans eat in such a way that the body is never allowed to cleanse itself. What many experience in the early stages of fasting isthe cleansing of built-up waste. The result of an unhealthy lifestyle.

Historically, man has lived on a sparse diet, free from pesticides, foodadditives, drugs and toxins. Today, we consume more toxic substances than all generations beforeus. The level of lead built up in our bones is 200 times compared to those excavated from the
period of Christ. Through air, water, food and even mother's milk, we have absorbed thousands of toxins and chemicals that exist in the environment as a resultof modern technology.

During fasting, these toxins are released into the bloodstream which canmake water fasting difficult, even painful. Graciously, God has provided a way tofast, in spite of the abuse to the body. Juice fasting can be used as a launching board for waterfasting.

Human fat is valued at 3,500 calories per pound. Each extra pound of fatwill supply enough calories for one day of hard physical labor. Ten pounds of fat isequal to 35,000 calories! This is equivalent to 35 pounds of fish or 192 pounds of carrots, good value for your fat. We carry around a supermarket of reserves, capable of sustainingus for many
weeks.

All living things have the ability to survive harsh circumstances. Organismsare able to store nutrients in the fat, blood, bone marrow and other tissues. Camelsare capable of storing fat and water in their humps, tadpoles abstain from eating whentheir legs are developing, subsisting on their tails which are no longer needed. The Mexican Gila Monster stores up reserves in its tail when food is plentiful, and can survivefor six weeks when food is scarce. The marine iguana of the Galapagos Islands is named the Vegetarian Dragon because it lives on seaweed. It can abstain from food for over one hundreddays. In the
Western World, food is plentiful and often rich in calories. Unless involvedin exercise, we do not have the opportunity to use up the excessive fat reserves stored conveniently around the expanding waistline.

There is a vast difference between fasting and starving. During the absenceof food, the body will systematically cleanse itself of everything except vital tissue.It continually readjusts to make minimum demands on reserves. Starvation will occur onlywhen the body is forced to use vital tissue to survive.

Humans adapt amazingly well to lack of food. A. J. Carlson, Professor ofPhysiology, University of Chicago, states that a healthy, well-nourished man can livefrom 50 to 75 days without food, provided he is not exposed to harsh elements or emotional stress.

There are numerous examples of water fasts over the 75-day mark. Granted,75-day water fasts are unusual, but it shows that God has wonderfully created the bodyto be able to live for extended periods without food.

Healing Through Fasting
Fasting intensifies healing. Tissues and organs are repaired rapidly. Toheal illness the body must pull all of its resources towards cleansing and repairing. To do so, it attempts to reduce or stop digestion by removing the desire to eat. Wounded animals will fast, emerging to eat only after their wounds or broken bones have healed. Thisis the reason
why there is little desire to eat food when sick—the body wants to focusall of its resources on healing.

Our body goes into a state of fasting while we sleep. With great patience,it waits until we start dosing off, and finally, in the sleep state, it begins its miraculouswork of cleansing. Upon awakening from this short fast, the tongue is coated, breath foul,skin puffy, and the
mind foggy. These are all early symptoms of the body in a state of detoxification,short little holidays taken every night from a life of feasting. Bacon, eggs,a side order of pancakes, and a cup of coffee is a sure way of halting detoxification—ofcourse, you feel instantly better, attributing it to a greasy breakfast. Break-fast is appropriatelynamed, breaking a nightly fast with a morning meal.

One of the blessings you will experience later in a fast is effervescent energy when rising out of bed in the morning. No sleepy dirt or puffy eyes and your hair inperfect place. A breath sweet as the morning mist that flows over hills covered in springflowers. Fasting, followed by a healthy diet, is the way of rediscovering the birth of anew day.

Microscopic Tubes and Membranes
Ingestion of mucus-forming foods clogs the body's microscopic tubes andmembranes. This allows internal waste to build up, increasing the chance of illness. Fasting dissolves this internal mucus, allowing the body’s natural cleansing to occur. Itis common, during
fasting, for the nose and throat to pass sticky mucus, clogging the sinuses.White strands of mucus may be found in the stool after the first meal.

Eliminated during the cleansing process:
• dead, dying or diseased cells
• unwanted fatty tissue
• trans-fatty acids
• hardened coating of mucus on the intestinal wall
• toxic waste matter in the lymph and bloodstream
• toxins in the spleen, liver, and kidneys
• mucus from the lungs and sinuses
• imbedded toxins in the cellular fibers and deeper organ tissues
• deposits in the microscopic tubes responsible for nourishing brain   cells
• excess cholesterol

About 600 billion cells in your body are being replaced daily. Fastinghelps remove old built-up cellular waste. Approximately one-quarter of your cells are eitherdying, old or need to be replaced. Unless the body rids itself of dying cells, it cannot buildnew ones. In the fasting state, the body scours for dead cells, damaged tissues, fatty deposits,tumors, abscesses—all of which are burned for fuel or expelled as waste.

Muscles Maintained During Fasting
Another unwarranted fear of fasting is that strength diminishes from thecatabolism of proteins from muscle fibers. Even during long fasts, the number of musclefibers remains the same. Although the healthy cells may be reduced in size and strengthfor a time, they
remain perfectly sound.

In December, 1903, under the supervision of Mr. Macfadden, eight athletesentered an athletic contest in Madison Square Gardens. Amazingly, all were on theseventh day of a water fast. Joseph H. Waltering, one of the eight, won both the 50-yarddash and the
220-yard run. Another member of the eight, Gilman Low, won first prizein the strength contest. The following day on the eighth day of his fast, in front of 16,000 well-fed spectators munching on popcorn and peanuts, he established nine world records for strength and endurance that would stand for years.

• dead lifting 950 lb. three times in four seconds
• leg lifting 1,800 lb. 18 times in 18 seconds
• back lifting 2,500 lb. five times in ten seconds

After the competition, instead of going home and watching TV, he workedoff some extra energy lifting a ton, 22 times in the presence of physicians, demonstrating that there was no deterioration of strength after a week of fasting. The athletes wereguarded to ensure
authenticity. But even more astonishing, are authenticated reports of parents spending whole days, cleaning house, doing laundry and feeding hungry children,while fasting!

Dr. Ehret who was an avid faster, walked for ten days through the mountains, fasting on water. Bragg, another fasting enthusiast, walked 30 miles, across Death Valley, in July during a fast. It was an invigorating walk for Bragg, but for the ten athletic college students who went with him through the blistering heat, it would be an experiencewhich they would never forget. Enjoying his first stroll so much, he decided to hike another 30 miles the next day. Not bad for a great-grandfather!

Metamorphosis
The butterfly is a magnificent example of catabolism (tearing down) andanabolism (building up). During metamorphosis the butterfly’s muscles and organs dissolve intoa thick yellow solution. All internal structures are torn down and rebuilt into a different animal. It emerges
from the chrysalis, a new creation. The miraculous aspect of metamorphosisis that it occurs while fasting. All the substances needed for rebuilding come from within.

Why does fasting have such a powerful effect in healing the body? Fasting dissolves diseased cells in a systematic manner, leaving healthy tissue. The resultis a thorough cleansing of the tube, membrane and cellular structures. There is a remarkable redistribution of nutrients in the fasting body. It hangs on to preciousminerals and vitamins
while disposing of excess elements and inferior materials.

During a fast, a metamorphosis occurs. The body undergoes a tearing downand rebuilding of damaged materials. For this reason, fasting is famous for its abilityto rejuvenate and give the body a more youthful tone.

During fasting:
• mental clarity is improved
• rapid safe weight loss is achieved without flabbiness
• the nervous system is balanced
• energy level is increased
• organs are revitalized
• cellular biochemistry is harmonized
• the skin becomes silky, soft, and sensitive
• there is greater ease of movement
• breathing becomes fuller, freer and deeper
• the digestive system is given a well-deserved rest

There should be no doubt that fasting is not only healthy, but a physicalblessing. Yet, this healing is just a fringe benefit to the true value of fasting. Fasting can reach down to affect the very core of your relationship with God.

Brain
There is much to be said for the effects of fasting on the brain and senses.The brain is sharper when hungry. When University of Chicago students fasted for sevendays, while attending classes, mental alertness increased and their progress in schoolwork was cited
as remarkable. The universal testimony of fasters is that their thinkingis enhanced.

The mental and physical senses are heightened and often there can be afeeling of euphoria, especially during longer fasts. Some, for the first time, willexperience emotional stability. There can be a number of reasons for this, the first, beingthe elimination of the emotional dependence on food. Secondly, the elimination of stimulatingfoods. This
includes caffeine, processed sugars and trans-fatty acids, which have adevastating effect on the chemical balance which impairs emotions.

Detoxification
The lymphocytes seek out the dirtiest toxic residues which have accumulatedin the cells as a result of years of unhealthy eating. They burn this toxic filth asfuel. This reaction is a double-edged sword—the body is finally able to rid itself of damaging carcinogenic pollutants which have built up in the system, but at the same time theburning of this unclean fuel results in physical discomfort, you are ridding yourself ofhealth-robbing poisons. As the fast progresses, you will become cleaner and energy will increase, yet changes can happen within hours, passing from a cleansing crisis due totoxin elimination, to an energy peak.

While fasting, the blood sugar level drops below 70 mg/dl. To restore theblood to the normal glucose level, liver glycogen is converted to glucose and releasedinto the blood. This reserve is enough for half a day. The body then reduces the basalmetabolic rate (BMR). The rate of internal chemical activity in resting tissue is loweredto conserve
energy.

Fats, composed of transformed fatty acids, are broken down to release glycerolfrom the gliceride molecules and are converted into glucose. Ketones are formedby the incomplete oxidation of fats. It is suspected that the ketones in the blood depressthe appetite by affecting the food satiety center in hypothalamus. You may feel hungryfor the first few
days of the fast. This effect is temporary. The desire to eat will disappear. The body embraces the fast as the digestive system is able to take a much-needed rest, focusing all of its energies on cleansing and healing.

It is easy to forget that you are fasting, especially during a juice fast.On the latter part of an extended fast you can experience more energy, clear mindedness and healing than you have had since childhood. Appetite returns only when the body has finish edits internal cleansing. Lack of hunger may last 40 to 60 days, depending on whether you are on water
or juice.

An interesting phenomena may occur during an extended fast. Old injuriesmay become irritated and painful. This is a result of the body's increased ability to heal during fasting. If you had broken your arm 10 years ago, there would be scar tissue that has built up around
the break. At the time of the break, the body's ability to heal was directly related to lifestyle. If you lived on a junk food diet, the body's natural healing ability was compromised. A child's broken arm will heal much more quickly than the arm of an 80 year old. This is because the child does not have years of toxic build-up.

During fasting, the body's healing process is at optimum efficiency. Asthe body scours for dead or damaged tissue, the lymphocytes enter the older damaged tissuesurrounding the break, secreting substances to dissolve the damaged cells. These substances irritate the
nerves in the surrounding region and cause a reoccurrence of aches that may have disappeared years earlier, completing the healing process.

No Pain No Gain
During a cleansing crisis, all of the chocolate bars, French fries, andpotato chips enter the bloodstream, not a pleasant experience. But your body is finally able to rid itself of years of accumulated, damaging substances. During water fasting the process of catabolismis
more intense than in juice fasting. Lowering the calorie intake intensifiescleansing. When the toxic residues enter the blood, they affect mind and body functions. Ketones, an intermediary metabolic product, may accumulate in the blood to high levelsand cause ketoacidosis. Combined with high levels of urea, resulting from proteinmetabolism, this state can cause intense discomfort, headaches, back pain, dizziness, weakness and nausea; more commonly known as a cleansing crisis. The greater the quantity of toxins in the blood, the worse you will feel.

Enduring a cleansing crisis is the hardest part of the healing process. Unless called to a water fast, when in a cleansing crisis, sip melon juice, carrot juice, or herbal tea with honey and wait it out. Do not eat during a cleansing crisis. The body is overloaded with the
work of removing toxins. Digestion will make matters worse. Using the enemakit and drinking juice will help. Focusing on the Lord during a cleansing crisiswill give you strength and determination. After the body rids itself of this toxic cargo, youwill experience a wash of health!

When the cleansing crisis is over, the body has been able to eliminate toxins that have accumulated for years. Now comes the reward; boundless energy, clarityof mind, soft supple skin, emotional stability and loss of cravings for unhealthy foods.

The experience is similar to driving an old car that has needed major repairs. The brakes squealing, paint peeling, and engine knocking. You pick the car up after a week in the garage, it shines with fresh paint, new brakes, shampooed interior anda finely-tuned engine. It’s like rediscovering your car all over again.

We should not be surprised at the physical benefits of fasting. Jesus fastedand His short time on earth is a road map to mankind on how to live in freedom and inthe blessings of God. Following in His footsteps will always lead to God’s fullness andjoy. Yet fasting’s benefit to the body is only the beginning of the story. There is a great spiritual authority in fasting. An authority needed now more than any time in our history.

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