TrueNorthHEALTH

Although the notion of electing to go without food for prolonged periods of time to improve one's health has not been something commonly considered in recent times, fasting has a long and important history. In fact, fasting played a vitally large part in early human survival. Fortunately, this ancient knowledge is making a dramatic comeback and is beginning to transform the way modern healthcare providers view their responsibilities to patients.

Human beings have the capability to survive extended periods of fasting.  This was certainly known in our hunter-gatherer days, since many humans were forced to live through periods when little or no food was available to them.  However, since the advent of agriculture and increasing technological advancement, modern humans have largely lost their awareness of this powerful, innate capability.

For example, the 1937 edition of The New Standard Encyclopedia stated that for humans,  “Generally death occurs after eight days of deprivation of food.”  By 1956, this grim pronouncement inched somewhat closer to reality.  That year’s edition of the American Peoples Encyclopedia stated that survival time in men during water-only fasting ranged from 17 to 76 days.

In actuality, the “authorities” writing in these encyclopedias had no idea what they were talking about—but their conclusions are consistent with what most people might think.  However, if we go back in time to earlier writings, we see that more “primitive” cultures were often more aware of the extent of our fasting capability.  In the Bible, for example, Moses, David, Jesus, and Elijah were said to have fasted for up to 40 days.

Physiological Benefits of Fasting

Fasting can be thought of as a period of profound rest, during which time your body is free to rapidly undertake a wide variety of beneficial physiological activities, some of which are described below.

1. Neuroadaptation

Fasting helps your taste sensors adapt to a low salt intake.  By allowing your body to “neuroadapt” to low salt food, fasting rapidly facilitates the adoption of a health- promoting diet.  This process of neuroadaptation appears to take place more rapidly during fasting than merely eating a low salt diet.

2. Enzymatic Recalibration

During fasting your body induces enzymatic changes that can affect numerous systems ranging from detoxification of endogenous and exogenous substances to the mobilization of fat, glycogen and protein reserves.  These changes seem to persist after the fasting process, which may explain some of the dramatic clinical changes seen in patients after fasting.

3. Weight Loss

Although fasting is not generally recommended as a primary weight loss strategy, weight loss is a predictable consequence of fasting. Most people average a loss of approximately one pound per day over the course of a fast.  (When weight loss is your primary concern, a health- promoting diet coupled with exercise is usually your best approach.)

4. Detoxification

Fasting is generally thought of as a tool to facilitate detoxification, promoting the mobilization and elimination of endogenous substances such as cholesterol and uric acid and exogenous substances such as dioxin, PCBs, and other toxic chemical residue.

5. Insulin Resistance

Fasting appears to have a profound effect on insulin resistance, which is thought to be intimately involved with diabetes and high blood pressure.  When your body produces adequate insulin, but it is ineffective due to resistance at the cells in the liver and elsewhere, your blood sugar levels rise.  This can lead to serious clinical consequences.  Fortunately, after a period of fasting, this problem is often dramatically improved.

6.  Natriuresis

Water-only fasting induces a powerful natriuretic effect, which allows the body to eliminate excess sodium and water from your body.  This process allows for the resolution of chronic problems with edema and helps reduce the increased blood volume associated with high blood pressure.

7. Reducing Gut Leakage

When chronic inflammation involves the intestinal mucosa, a condition arises whereby small particles of incompletely digested foods can be absorbed into the blood stream.  This introduction of foreign peptide molecules to the blood stream may stimulate an immunological cascade of effects collectively known as gut leakage.  In genetically vulnerable individuals, gut leakage may be associated with the aggravation of numerous clinical entities including arthritis, colitis, asthma, allergies, and fatigue.

8. Sympathictonia

Hypersympathictonia (increased tone of the sympathetic nervous system) is thought to be associated with many problems ranging from digestive disturbances to anxiety disorders.  Fasting appears to have a profound normalizing effect on the overall tone of the autonomic nervous system.

In all there are many mechanisms through which fasting may be having its profound effect.  Further research into these and other areas should prove illuminating.

A Serendipitous Survival

In light of the clear misunderstanding of fasting by the medical profession, the unexpected, successful fasting experience of Henry Tanner, M.D., is truly remarkable. In 1877, Dr. Tanner was a respected, middle-aged physician living in Duluth, Minnesota.  He had suffered for years with rheumatism and had consulted with seven fellow physicians, all of whom considered his case to be “hopeless.”  He also suffered from asthma, which chronically disrupted his sleep.  He spent his waking hours in constant pain.

Tanner had been taught in medical school that humans could live only ten days without food and in this knowledge he found solace.  Not believing in suicide, he determined that he would simply starve himself to death.  As he stated later, “Life to me under the circumstances was not worth living... and I had made up my mind to rest from physical suffering in the arms of death.”  But fate had an agreeable surprise for Dr. Tanner.  By unwittingly invoking a constellation of health-promoting responses associated with water-only fasting, he rapidly recovered.

By the fifth day of his fast, he was able to begin to sleep more peacefully.  By the eleventh day, he reported feeling “as well as in my youthful days.”  Fully expecting that by this point he should be near death, he asked a fellow physician, Dr. Moyer, to examine him.  Not surprisingly, Dr. Moyer was amazed.

According to Tanner’s recollection, Moyer told him, “You ought to be at death's door, but you certainly look better than I ever saw you before.”  Henry Tanner continued to fast, under Dr. Moyer’s supervision, for an additional 31 days, a total of 42 days in all.

When fellow physicians heard his story, which was sensationalized in the press, they responded with disbelief and intense criticism.  Though widely rebuked as a fraud, Tanner at least had the last laugh.  After his fast, Tanner had no symptoms of asthma, rheumatism, or chronic pain and lived a full life until he died at the age of ninety.

Human Fasting Capabilities

Many fasts of longer than 100 days have been documented in recent scientific literature, the longest of which was 368 days.  At the TrueNorth Health Center in California, we routinely supervise water-only fasts of up to 40 days — and in certain circumstances, even longer.

In our experience, fasting has never been lethal and is often remarkably helpful.  During our 20 years of supervising the care of more than 5,000 patients, fasting has proven to be both safe and effective.  It has provided many patients a new lease on life.

Reawakening to an Ancient Truth

Throughout most of the 20th century, which witnessed a period of remarkable medical innovation in surgical techniques, radiation therapies, and new “miracle” drugs, the self-healing mechanisms that are unleashed during water-only fasting were largely unappreciated. 

However, as the century drew to a close, something extraordinary began to occur.  After decades of collective awe of modern medicine and its purveyors, a strong undercurrent of disillusionment began to appear.  There came the beginnings of a philosophical revolution that would lead health science in a promising new direction.

This new direction centers on the realization that health and healing are best supported when the biological roots of our nature are understood and respected.  This new philosophical approach is based on the awareness that health and healing are natural processes.  As a result, the focus of attention has increasingly shifted away from the traditional medical emphasis on drugs and surgery toward an exploration of the circumstances and requirements necessary to unleash and enhance these natural processes.

Fortunately, unlike health problems in the past—including such phenomena as water-born diseases, nutritional deficiencies, and epidemics of tuberculosis and pneumonia that at one time were confusing puzzles - our present day epidemics of obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer are not nearly so mysterious.  It is becoming increasingly clear that the majority of present day health problems are the result of modern dietary excesses.

Simply put, most of our health problems are the result of our eating too much of the wrong things. We ingest too much fat and protein (especially animal fat and animal protein); too much refined sugar and other refined carbohydrates; and too many drugs, including tobacco, coffee, tea, alcohol, and soda.  It is not surprising that nearly 50% of American teenagers are overweight when you consider that the average teenager consumes 25% of his or her calories from soda pop.

In the face of the current unprecedented epidemics of disease caused by dietary excess, it is understandable that the ancient healing method of water-only fasting is beginning to make intuitive sense to many people.  Going without food for a period of time provides the ultimate opportunity for the reversal of the consequences of dietary excess — a chance to let an overfed and overburdened body take steps to restore health.

Rest assured that the appeal of fasting is not based solely on mere intuition.  With the recent publication of the first-ever large-scale study conducted on the use of water-only fasting with life-threatening illness, what was previously considered intuitive has become scientifically apparent.  Water-only fasting offers extraordinary potential for health and healing, and for some conditions it appears to be the most effective treatment available.

Fasting and High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure (also known as hypertension) is the leading contributing cause of morbidity and mortality in industrialized societies, and is the leading reason for visits to doctors and for the use of prescription medication. It is diagnosed when a patient’s pressures exceed 140/90 mm Hg. The human and financial costs of this condition are staggering.

In 1984, doctors at the TrueNorth Health Center began to investigate the use of fasting in the treatment of this devastating condition.  Our study involved 174 high blood pressure patients, all of whom were admitted to the Center for treatment involving water-only fasting.

The results of the study were astonishing. Every patient experienced blood pressure reductions sufficient to eliminate the need for medication, and over ninety percent of patients achieved completely normal blood pressure.  A stunning reduction of over 60 points in systolic (upper) blood pressure was noted in those patients with highly elevated pressures (known as Stage III Hypertension), where systolic pressures are greater than 180 mm Hg.  These results represent the largest effect size ever shown in lowering blood pressure, and they are estimated to be five times the effect expected from medications alone.

With assistance from our colleagues at Cornell University, our study, “Medically Supervised Water-only Fasting in the Treatment of Hypertension” was completed and accepted for publication by the peer-reviewed and indexed Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics. It appeared in the June, 2001 issue of JMPT.

A second study, also conducted at the Center, was recently accepted for publication in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.  In this investigation, we evaluated the effect of water-only fasting on 64 patients admitted with so-called “borderline”  hypertension.  These are individuals who have systolic blood pressures between 120 and 140 mm Hg.

Patients with blood pressures in this range are often led to believe that their blood pressures are “normal.”  For example, a patient with a systolic blood pressure of 138/88 would be considered  “normal”  by conventional medical standards, despite the fact that they are five times more likely to die from a heart attack or stroke than an individual who has a systolic blood pressure of 110 mm Hg.  Sixty-eight percent of all deaths attributed to the effects of high blood pressure occur in individuals whose systolic blood pressure is in this range.  

The patients in our second study had a mean reduction in systolic blood pressure of 20 mm Hg.  The average patient in the study, beginning with a systolic blood pressure of nearly 130 mm Hg, ended his stay with systolic blood pressure of just below 109 mm Hg.  This represents a very substantial improvement in health. As just stated, he is now five times less likely to die from a heart attack or stroke than he was before.

Fasting Studies Draw Attention

As a result of the publication of these studies, the fasting program at TrueNorth Health Center attracted the attention of the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE), a large, national labor union.  In March 2001, the Center’s residential health education program, including the supervision of water-only fasting, became a fully covered medical benefit for all union members and spouses who have high blood pressure or diabetes.
 
In conjunction with this association with IUOE, the doctors at the Center are conducting a third fasting study. It is a prospective study with long-term follow-up to evaluate the use of fasting in the treatment of high blood pressure and diabetes.  We are looking not only at the clinical outcomes of the patients (improved health and reduced morbidity), but also the effect on long-term costs of care for the patients who undergo fasting compared to those who choose conventional medical care.

The initial results are outstanding. Based on data from the first group of subjects with one-year follow-ups, the average cost reduction for fasting patients compared to patients receiving conventional medical care appears to be substantial. Once a large enough number of patients have completed the program and the long-term outcomes are calculated, we expect to publish additional papers documenting what appears to be a tremendously cost effective approach to managing these high risk, high medical cost, high blood pressure and diabetes patients.

Hope for the Future

Hopefully, these results of the TrueNorth Health Center’s studies will be a contributing force in both a philosophical and practical revolution in health care.  With clear and convincing evidence to guide them, and substantial cost savings to motivate them, other unions and insurance companies may decide to encourage and support the use of fasting for those they serve.  In doing so, they could make available to the millions of sick and suffering patients the most profound health rediscovery of our time — the understanding that fasting allows the body to heal itself without the risk and excess cost associated with conventional medical care and drug use.

Throughout history, people have noticed that when they become acutely ill, they lose their appetites.  The early Hygienic physicians reasoned that there must be some physiological reason for this loss of appetite.  Through observation and experimentation, they discovered that fasting ­­­- the complete abstinence from all substances except pure water, in an environment of complete rest ­­- allows the body to make a unique physiological adaptation.

In the fasting state, the duration and intensity of the symptoms of illness, such as inflammation, mucus production, fever, diarrhea, etc., are often dramatically reduced.  Fasting has been found to be the most efficient and powerful means available to facilitate self-healing.

Further experimentation and observation found that fasting is also effective in the resolution of chronic disease.  Chronic disease, including heart disease, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, respiratory illness, autoimmune disease, etc., can be the result of several different factors. These factors include inappropriate diet, such as the consumption of animal products and refined foods, the use of drugs, including tobacco, alcohol, coffee, etc., a lack of adequate sleep or exercise, or exposure to environmental stressors such as pollution, radiation, excess noise, etc., or excess psychological stress and hereditary factors.

Fasting is an important tool in resolving the symptoms of acute illness and chronic disease, but its benefits are not limited to dealing with symptoms.

Making the transition to healthful living

It is difficult to break habits and patterns of behavior established over many years. The typical Western lifestyle leads to taste buds acclimated to stimulating foods, muscles that are flabby, and a nervous system that depends on stimulatory drugs (such as caffeine) to keep it going despite a lack of sleep. Often, as people attempt to change their diets and lifestyles, they find healthful foods unappetizing, exercise painful, and the symptoms of withdrawal from stimulants unbearable. The slow process of detoxification that accompanies the cessation of bad habits can cause unpleasant symptoms that persist for weeks or months.

Speeding up the process

Fasting is a method of speeding up the detoxification process.  It can be an intense and sometimes unpleasant experience, but it is highly effective. After fasting, healthful foods often taste delicious, and pernicious habits often have much less appeal.  Fasting is the most efficient means available to overcome dependencies of a variety of drugs, including caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, marijuana and others.  Educational programs available at institutions specializing in fasting supervision help people to develop the skills necessary to select and prepare healthful foods, develop a sensible exercise program, and find emotional support.

Overcoming signs of illness

Some individuals appear and feel healthy but still manifest abnormal signs, such as high blood pressure, elevated blood levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, uric acid, or liver enzymes, etc.  Fasting is often extremely effective at allowing the body to eliminate the signs associated with disease.

Prevention

Many individuals have adopted a health-promoting diet and lifestyle to overcome disease. They may be completely free of all signs and symptoms of disease but choose to use fasting as a preventive measure to allow the body to eliminate the metabolic products that can accumulate within the cells of the body despite our best efforts. Fasting may offer its greatest potential in the prevention of disease.  Fasting also can be used as a diagnostic tool in uncovering sub-clinical pathology that may exist.

Doing it right

Whether fasting is used in the transition to a healthful diet and lifestyle, to overcome the signs and symptoms of disease, or as a preventive measure, it is a powerful tool for helping sick people to get well and healthy people to stay healthy.

The most important advice about fasting is: Do it right or don’t do it.  Complete rest, a supportive environment, and professional supervision are required to ensure that fasting will be a safe and effective experience.

Case studies

The following case studies will give some insight into the many ways people can benefit from fasting.

J.W., a 36-year-old female, 5 feet 4 inches tall and 215 pounds, decided that she wanted to quit smoking, lose weight, overcome her “food addictions,” and resolve a 15-year history of chronic constipation.  She also suffered from severe back pain and sciatica.  She had, in her own words, tried “everything,” and in desperation came to the Center for Conservative Therapy’s residential health care program on the advice of a friend who had undertaken a fast there two years earlier.

After her initial examination and two days of preparatory feeding, J.W. underwent a fast of 12 days.  She experienced numerous symptoms during her fast but did not experience any significant craving for cigarettes despite her one-pack-per-day habit of over 20 years duration.  She also did not experience any hunger after the second day of fasting.  She did experience nausea, a foul taste in her mouth, headaches, and low back pain.  After 12 days of fasting, J.W. underwent a 14-day re-feeding program.  By the fourth day of re-feeding, she was having normal bowel movements for the first time in many years.  She lost a total of 31 pounds.  During her re-feeding time, she received chiropractic manipulation and physiotherapy for her joint dysfunction, in conjunction with instruction on stretching and proper body use.  At the time of her release, she was free of sciatica and felt prepared to face the “real” world.

At her six-month follow-up, J.W. had managed to lose an additional 15 pounds, had successfully become an ardent non-smoker, had completely normal bowel function, and had remained free of back pain and sciatica.

M.T., a 46-year-old male, was suffering from macular degeneration [loss of central vision], high blood pressure, joint pain, and fatigue.  Despite his efforts at making dietary changes, his symptoms continued to progress, which was upsetting to him.  Blood pressure medications were only successful at reducing his blood pressure to 180/110, and they seemed to be interfering with his sexual function.

After three weeks of fasting and two weeks of re-feeding, M.T. was a “new” man. His blood pressure normalized without medications at 114/74, and his joint pain completely resolved.  At his follow-up a year later, he reported no return of the visual problems from macular degeneration, and his blood pressure was 120/74.

S.S., a 34-year-old female, had been ill for several years. She had been previously diagnosed as having chronic fatigue immune deficiency syndrome, Epstein-Barr viral infection, and chronic candidiasis.  She reported a history of depression, panic attacks, palpitations, and sleep disruption.  She seemed sensitive to everything she ate, including fruits and vegetables.

S.S. underwent a fast with the hope of reducing her extreme hypersensitivity.  Her fast was quite difficult, and after just 12 days it had to be discontinued due to extreme emotional volatility.  She had a slow recovery, but within four months of her fast she reported substantial improvement.  She was much less fatigued, was sleeping better, and could tolerate a wider variety of whole natural foods. S.S. will undergo another fast soon.

A.S., a 74-year-old female, had been diagnosed as having breast cancer 10 years ago.  She had undergone a lumpectomy, but had refused all other medical treatment.  Since then, she has been totally committed to healthful living and has been absolutely compliant with all the diet and lifestyle recommendations.

Once each year she comes to the Center for “preventive” fasting.  She usually fasts for 10 days without significant symptoms.  On her most recent fast, although she arrived feeling great, by the second day she had a fever of 101 degrees and was in extreme discomfort.  It was not until the eighth day that her fever broke and she felt wonderful again.  I believe that this represented a significant healing crisis, since all her laboratory results were within normal limits.  She has had no recurrences of cancer and continues to do well.