Medical Conditions and Fasting

Fasting and Research

Medical Conditions and Fasting

By Randi Fredricks

Fasting is one of the oldest known therapies, dating back to the Stone Age (Goscienski, 2005). According to Joel Fuhrman (1995), author of Fasting and eating for health: A medical doctor's program for conquering disease:

For more than ten thousand years fasting has

been utilized to heal the sick. Hippocrates

regularly prescribed fasting for numerous

conditions. The famous Hippocratic Oath,

familiar to every physician, admonishes us to

"First do no harm," recognizing that the most

important foundation of healing the sick,

even today, is he remarkable recuperative

power inherent in the human body. This power of self-repair is

beautifully witnessed during the fast. (p. 17)

Medical doctors in the United States began prescribing fasting in the early 1800s. One of the first doctors to recommend fasting in the U.S. was Isaac Jennings (Slloum, 1999, p. 401). Jennings was largely influenced by Sylvester Graham, a Presbyterian preacher who advocated fasting.

Research into fasting began around 1880. Medical journals began publishing articles bout fasting in 1880 and since then fasting has been found to help in the treatment of the following disorders:

Diabetes (Allen, 1915, Guelpa, 1910).
Hypertension (Beleslin, et al., 2007, Goldhamer et al., 2002, Krotkiewski et al., 1967, Murav'ev et al., 2003).
Obesity (Bloom, 1959, Bloom, 1968, Cavagnini et al., 1971, Dinning, 1963, Duncan et al., 1963, Duncan, 1963, Drenek et al., 1964, Folin & Denis, 1915, Runcie & Thomson, 1970, Runcie, 1973, Spencer, 1968, Stewart & Fleming, 1973, Tewfik, 1968, Tewfik & Jain, 1967, Thomson et al., 1966, Wechsler et al., 1984).
Cardiovascular disease (Muliar et al., 1984, Muhlestein et al., 2003, Waqas et al, 2001).
Gastrointestinal disease (Kanazawa & Fukudo, 2006, Savendahl et al., 1997).

Scientists discovered some of the biological mechanisms that may explain how fasting alleviates the symptoms of certain mental illnesses, such as depression. For example, fasting has been shown to attenuate hypertension (Goldhamer et al., 2002) and improve arterial and heart health (Muhlestein et al., 2003),

Fasting and Obesity

Fasting, as a medical therapy for obesity, was first advocated by doctors in 1915. In 1959, doctors began using fasting as a regular treatment for obesity.60 Since then, doctors have placed obese patients on fasts for up to 117 days. The longest fast appears to have been that of a man who fasted intermittently for 382 days and lost a total of 276 pounds. After that fasts up to 249 days were accomplished with relatively little harm. In 1968, the death of a morbidity obese patient while fasting sparked a debate over the safety of therapeutic fasting for obesity. However, the patient’s heart was already failing when the fast began. Older people with long term obesity tend to have cardiovascular problems due to strain of carrying so much weight for so long.

It seems incongruous that a single death associated with fasting was so alarming in light of the high mortality rate that currently exists for gastric bypass surgery. While science is discovering that gastric bypass carries significant risks, surgeons continue to routinely perform the surgery.

An evaluation of therapeutic fasting and bariatric surgery for obesity determined, “Bariatric surgery is associated with disproportionately high mortality rates in both the perioperative and postoperative periods.” According to research, people who have gastric bypass surgery spend on average twice as much time in the hospital during the three years following surgery than during the three years prior to surgery, with most rehospitalizations being procedure related. Still, obese people are flocking to gastric bypass, probably because it seems easier than diet and exercise, or the abstinence required by a medically supervised fast.

Historically and scientifically, fasting has been a safer and more practical alternative. From the late 1950s to present, hundreds of doctors and researchers have safely and successfully used fasting for weight loss among the obese.

Fasting can be difficult and is not practical for everyone. In addition to medical supervision, candidates should be screened psychologically. As previously mentioned, fasting would be inappropriate for someone with a history of anorexia nervosa. Other psychological disorders related to histamine imbalances, such as schizophrenia, should be evaluated by a mental health professional prior to fasting.

Because obesity is closely associated with eating disorders, psychotherapy is imperative for obese people considering fasting. Research has indicated that psychotherapy can improve outcomes for those fasting for weight reduction. In 1984, four University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) professors evaluated the effects of individual and group crisis-oriented psychotherapy as an adjunct to medically supervised fasting in 72 obese patients. Individual crisis-oriented psychotherapy related significantly to successful completion of the program, to a higher percentage of excess weight lost, and to a higher percentage of patients approaching their ideal weight.

Although fasting can be a successful way to drop a substantial amount of weight, the results don’t last if the person doesn’t modify their diet and receive counseling to prevent transfer of addiction. Fuhrman puts it best when he says, "Fasting to lose weight without changing your diet is pointless."

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Randi Fredricks is a Naturopathic Psychotherapist with a Doctorate in Naturopathy and a Masters in Psychology. She sees clients at her office in San Jose, California. She can be reached at 800-957-5655 or you can contact her online. This article is an excerpt from Randi Fredricks' book Fasting: An Exceptional Human Experience. Copyright © 2009. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems.

Fasting and natural diet, though essentially unknown as a therapy, should be the first treatment when someone discovers that she or he has a medical problem. It should not be applied only to the most advanced cases, as is present practice. Whether the patient has a cardiac condition, hypertension, autoimmune disease, fibroids, or asthma, he or she must be informed that fasting and natural, plant-based diets are a viable alternative to conventional therapy, and an effective one.
~ Joel Fuhrman, M.D., Fasting and Eating
for Health

Fasting can help reverse the aging process, and if we use it correctly, we will live longer, happier lives.
~ James Balch, M.D., Prescription for
Natural Healing

Fasting is the single greatest natural healing therapy.
~ Elson Haas, M.D., Staying Healthy
With Nutrition

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