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Fasting: Nature’s Best Remedy 1

Albert Mosséri

Fasting is a wonderful practice for anyone seeking a cure for their health problems. This book begins by presenting several real life experiences from people who have fasted. While those who have a reasonable level of health have benefited from this extraordinary experience, others with more severe health problems, such as multiple sclerosis, shingles, arthritis, uterine infections, and depression, have been cured of their condition through fasting. The second part of this book describes, in detail, the proven technique to achieve success. This technique highlights the importance of adequate preparation, as well as possible precautions to take before fasting. Common concerns are as follows:

● What are the road bumps that someone can encounter during a fast?

● How to deal with these road bumps?

● Should those who fast weigh themselves daily?

● What does weight loss, or lack of weight loss, mean?

● Who should not fast? This book will explain everything in detail.

IN SEARCH OF TRUE HEALTH NATURALLY

FANTASTIC ADVENTURES


Albert Mosséri

INDEX

CHAPTER 1: I am No Longer Afraid of Cancer or Illness……………………..03

CHAPTER 2: My Multiple Sclerosis……………………………………………..08

CHAPTER 3: I Had 10 Illnesses……………………………………………........17

CHAPTER 4: Natural Hygiene: A Revolutionary System………………….......26

CHAPTER 5: Preparation for a Fast……………………………………………..29

CHAPTER 6: Some Guidelines for Fasting…………………………………......38

CHAPTER 7: Stimulation and Elimination……………………………………….47

CHAPTER 8: Symptoms and Crises During or After the Fast…………………48

CHAPTER 9: Daily Weighing……………………………………………………...55

CHAPTER 10: Second phase — the Half-Fast and the Colored Tongue…….56

CHAPTER 11: The First Bowel Movement After the Fast……………………..60

CHAPTER 12: Eating After the Fast……………………………………………...61

CHAPTER 13: Way of Life…………………………………………………………68

CHAPTER 14: Who Should Not Fast?.............................................................71

CHAPTER 15: Complicated Cases……………………………………………….72


Albert Mosséri

CHAPTER 1

I am No Longer Afraid of Cancer or Illness I was born in Algeria in 1940, and suffered from malnutrition in my youth. I also had rickets and weak bones from a vitamin D deficiency, which resulted in my ribs compressing on my right side. In addition, my knees were deformed into an “X” shape. Due to these malformations, when my family and I moved to France in 1947, my parents had me examined by a surgeon in Strasbourg. He said that to straighten out my knees, I had to have the bones sawed off at the top of the joint. I underwent the surgery. Since then, I haven’t had any problems. During the leaner years, our food intake was considerably low. I remember that until the age of 12-14, we often ate boiled potatoes with milk for dessert, every evening. There were no health problems in my family. I played sports throughout my childhood. I also did a lot of swimming and cycling, especially during long summer holidays.

Colitis When I was 26 years old, I was employed as an engineer for a construction company. I had numerous problems with this company, and experienced severe stress. I developed stomach pains rather quickly. One medical exam and a bottle of barium later, I was diagnosed with colitis, a colon inflammation. I was then put on several medications.

Alternative Medicine Once I left the company in 1970 to work as a freelancer, my symptoms tapered off a little. However, I still wasn’t cured. So, I tried alternative medicine. At first, I tried homeopathy, and then acupuncture, followed by aromatherapy. I changed my diet to eat whole wheat organic bread, organic pasta, and less meat. At the same time, I continued to consume coffee and wine, and, in moderation, cold cuts and cheese. In spite of all this, my colitis was still as tenacious a problem as ever. I also suffered from neck, shoulder, and back pain. Furthermore, my vision, which was nearsighted, became poorer. This deterioration was apparently normal for someone around 39 years, according to my optometrist. In addition to the colitis, I began having acute kidney pain. This health problem really worried me. I was already aware of many people having dialysis treatments at that


Albert Mosséri

time. I decided to see a doctor friend of mine to see what I could do. However, he couldn’t suggest any new medications; only those that I had already been taking. Finally, I came across a small ad one day. It was titled, “Supervised Fasting." I wrote in about my problems and received a reply from Mosseri. He invited me to come and fast at his home. That was in 1979.

The Idea of Fasting The idea of fasting came to me in the following way: I noticed that scratching the scab on a wound prevented it from healing. By this analogy, I deduced that there might be a similar problem with the colon: a wall of digestive blockage that could prevent internal healing. However, at the time, I had no prior knowledge of Natural Hygiene. Then one day, I was passing through Paris where I found several books on fasting in a hipster bookstore, including those of Shelton and Saury. Since the Saury title was less stringent and had pictures, I bought it. As soon as I got home, I immediately dove into the book. I had already scheduled a treatment appointment at Mosseri’s house, and due to certain circumstances I had to start the fast alone at home for one week. I followed the directions in Saury’s book, which specified that you should not be immobile! Being robust in nature, I worked in my garden and took walks in the forest, all during a cold October. The result: in one week I had lost 10 kg (22 lbs). What’s more, I looked unhealthy. This state frightened my wife, as well as my in-laws. The following day, without delay, I went to Mosseri’s home at Rigny-la-Nonneuse. He questioned me, in detail, about my stomach and kidney pain. Then he said: “The colitis isn’t serious, but I can’t give a firm diagnosis about your kidneys.” Indeed, that is what I subsequently discovered. After the first night, I went to the bathroom only to urinate a brown liquid. I then remained in bed on a water diet for 17 days. I had violent intestinal pain and stabbing kidney pain. I ached all over. My tongue turned white and became swollen. I had a bad sour taste in my mouth until the end of the fast. Little by little, my kidney and stomach pain subsided, though it didn’t disappear completely. Before starting my fast, I had a date planned to move. Plus my work didn’t allow me the time off to continue. So I had to break the fast early.


Albert Mosséri

In the beginning, I weighed 82 kg (180 lbs); after the fast at home, I was 72 kg (158 lbs). At Mosseri’s house I lost a further 7 kg (15 lbs) during the two weeks of the fast.

An Incompetent Author In hindsight, I can see that Saury’s book, which was written by an incompetent nutritionist, misled me. In fact, it had encouraged me to waste my energy by staying active, instead of preserving it with rest. (A side note, this author allowed those fasting to smoke. He even welcomed them with champagne! He has just died from bone cancer – naturally. – A.M.) After a week of eating again at Mosseri’s house, I returned home. I stayed in bed for another 10-15 days to fully recover. For a few weeks, I continued to follow the strict diet recommended to me by Mosseri. I stopped eating breakfast and drinking coffee. I ate a lot of salad, as well as cooked vegetables for dinner. I realized then that I had recovered. My eyesight had improved; I no longer needed glasses. Furthermore, the arthritic pains in my spine disappeared; they have never returned. In the meantime, under the peer pressure of my family’s opposition to my diet, old habits have returned – except for breakfast and coffee. I have also thrown myself into my work, as well as taken on numerous activities.

I Healed My Kidneys The kidney problems were over. The colitis did return, but was far less painful, albeit chronic. A friend said to me, “You know, you are 47 years old. These are the years when cancer likes to appear. You should see a homeopath, Dr. X in Strasbourg.” So, I went to see this doctor who confirmed (on what basis, who knows ?) that I was in a precancerous phase. He told me that I must follow a treatment composed of homeopathic remedies, as well as injections of “viscum album” (fermented mistletoe) to counteract the possible formation of cancerous lesions. (This diagnosis has no value, no more so than the treatment. – A.M.) All this talk of cancer scared me. I decided to write to Mosseri before starting anything. I found myself at a fork in the road: either take homeopathic medicines (the uselessness of which I had already confirmed, several times) or go on another fast. My family was hostile to the idea of fasting again, but not to homeopathic medicines. Despite their objections, I opted for the fast. My results from the 1979 fast swayed my decision. I figured that four weeks at Mosseri’s with an additional two weeks’ rest should do it until I returned home.


Albert Mosséri

I followed a complete fast, with water, for two weeks. In the beginning, I weighed 77 kg (169 lbs) and was 1.83 m tall (6 ft). My weight stabilized at 70 kg (154 lbs) two weeks later, for three consecutive days. It was the sign that the elimination process had slowed down. I could then start the half-fast. My average weight loss, per day, was around 500 g (1.10 lbs). My first experience, unsupervised for a week, had me losing 1.42 kg (3.13 lbs) a day. This loss of 1.10 lbs per day was almost three times less than that of the first fast! This is why it is imperative that you are supervised by someone competent, with substantial experience, like Mosseri. On that note, it pays not to be fooled by misleading books that can be extremely dangerous for your wellbeing. During this fast, I experienced body aches, but they were quite tolerable; they came and went in different places – they were present in my eyes and my right hip (I had suffered hip pain on several occasions beforehand. After two X-rays, my doctor concluded that everything was normal in my knees, my lungs, my intestines, and even my kidneys.

My Tongue Went from White to Yellow During the fast, my tongue became white again. I also had that sour taste in my mouth, but not as much as in 1979. Then, as soon as I had begun the half-fast following the complete fast, my tongue turned an orangey-yellow color. (A half-fast consists of a pound of fruit in the afternoon, and a pound of raw vegetables in the evening). This change in color was a milestone in the treatment, signifying that the flushing process had begun again. Eleven days after starting the half-fast, my tongue remained yellow. I have to return home soon, but I am going to continue the half-fast until my tongue has recovered its normal pink color. As for the rest of my body, the flushing manifested itself in body aches, namely in the kidneys and colon. Above all, though, I felt an intense burning on my inner thighs– a little like a sunburn. On top of this burning effect, my muscles and skin stung. It was if pins were pricking me in every which way under my skin. This discomfort often happens when I stay in bed and don’t move – any movement temporarily stops the burning. I haven’t yet finished this half-fast, so, I don’t know if I’ll feel other side effects of the flushing process. It is possible that there are more to come. I have noticed that I sometimes feel numb, especially in my right ankle, where I have slight varicose veins.


Albert Mosséri

There is “Fasting” and “Fasting According to the Natural Hygiene Method” In hindsight, when comparing my two stays at Mosseri’s house, I can say that there are a few key components to successful treatment:

1. It is necessary to get supervision by a competent natural hygienist, such as Mr. Mosseri.

2. It is important to have complete bed rest during the fast; listen to the radio,

watch TV, read a book or play games on your computer during the periods of insomnia.

3. You must understand the extraordinary nature of Mr. Mosseri’s discovery; it

makes fasting safer than it was before.

4. The degree of personal comfort provided by the half-fast, prolonging the elimination process, diminishes uncomfortable side effects.

No Point in Stuffing the Chimney After eleven days of the half-fast, my weight was 68.5 kg (151 lbs), a small loss of 1.5 kg (3.30 lbs). However, I could already feel a renewed vigor in my body, despite having consumed so little food. It was a sign that the body could absorb food better than before. This observation confirms, to me, what Mosseri said: “There is no point in eating a lot to obtain energy. It is much more important – vital even – to properly assimilate what is consumed.” “Metaphorically, I would say that stuffing a faulty chimney is done so in vain. It is preferable to have the pipes swept (detoxified) beforehand.” – Edward J., Engineer at Sarrebourg.


Albert Mosséri

CHAPTER 2

My Multiple Sclerosis

Here is the story of a patient suffering from multiple sclerosis. The destruction of his intestinal flora over several years was evidently caused by of the slow and insidious evolution of this terrible paralysis.

While in the hospital, he was given an immune system suppressant. A curious way of treating illness – attack the body’s natural defenses so it can’t show any symptoms! But why not just destroy the disease to eliminate the symptoms?

When the doctors told him to lead a normal life, he found it impossible.

I was born in 1956, near Toulouse. From the age of five years, as soon as I had a slight fever, my parents called the doctor, who always prescribed antibiotics to stop it. Everybody was satisfied.

Around the age of eight, my thighs and forearms began to have a burning feeling. It would last two to three days and was like shingles.

At about twelve, I had a series of episodes of chronic bronchitis. They happened about 4 to 5 times each winter. Each time, we called our highly esteemed family doctor. He would prescribe a shot of antibiotics. He had the bad habit of prescribing too many drugs, and he seemed to be conscious of this. At the same time, he prescribed probiotics to renew the intestinal flora that were destroyed by the antibiotics.

When I was fifteen, I played billiards every Saturday night. Each time, I developed a headache by the end of the evening. These headaches went on for two years; they only ceased when I stopped playing billiards. I think the headaches must have been provoked by the intense concentration needed to play the game.

At eighteen, I had my appendix removed. After a week, I got out of my hospital bed only to find that my limbs were all stiff. Also, I stooped a little when I walked. Once I had returned home, everything returned to normal. So, I soon went back to work.

The chronic bronchitis continued for 2 to 3 years. It often was followed by repeated colds, and I also had a bad case of tonsillitis once. I was about eighteen years old then. I used to suck cough drops all the time to soothe my constant sore throat. But one day, I was sick of cough drops! I stopped using them immediately. As if by magic, my sore throat disappeared!

At age nineteen, like many other teenagers, I left for the military service. And also, like everyone else my age at the time, I drank and smoked a great deal. We even made


Albert Mosséri

bets on who could drink their beer the quickest without passing out. All the same, I noticed a strange feeling in my head: a sort of shiver that went right up to my brain. I suppose it was the first symptoms of multiple sclerosis. This problem was in addition to the ongoing headaches and burning sensations.

At twenty-one, I had my first attack of multiple sclerosis. I was washing my hair when I suddenly collapsed. I had no strength in my legs. I had to hold onto the edge of the bathtub with the little strength that my arms had. That lasted 30 seconds. I got back on my feet but had a bizarre feeling in my head, like feeling sick and dizzy. Once I had recovered some strength, I drank some water with lemon juice before lying down.

When I felt better, I drove off to see my girlfriend who lived 60 kilometers away. The next day, we went for a swim in a lake. At the shore, I was the one person who didn’t go in the water – it disgusted me. I didn’t consult a doctor about these symptoms because I thought that they would just go away.

My Marriage Followed by a Serious Attack

Soon after, I married and was extremely happy. But it didn’t last long, for there was a second attack of multiple sclerosis, stronger than the first. This one happened at work. At the time, I was soldering agricultural machinery, but then the reel broke. As it was at a height of 2.5 meters, I climbed up a ladder to repair it. At that moment, with my head bent over the machine, I immediately had a funny feeling in my skull. I quickly climbed down the ladder when the sensation grew stronger. I thought I was going to be sick. So I went straight to the bathroom, where I vomited.

After getting sick, I had an intense sensation of dizziness coupled with blurred vision. These symptoms didn’t pass. The next day, I went to see a doctor. He did an X-ray of my skull before sending me to see an ear specialist. This doctor gave me some useless treatment; there was absolutely nothing wrong with my ears.

For three weeks I had blurry vision. It took six months for me to regain a sense of normalcy. I knew very well that there was something not right with me, but I was incapable of defining it.

Double Vision

Last year, I had another unusual health experience, but this one was very different from the two preceding ones. I was driving my truck to a fair to set up some equipment. Suddenly, I saw two cars in front of me. The cars were identical, which I found strange. I then thought of closing one eye; I then saw only one car. I understood then that I had double vision.


Albert Mosséri

At the fair, I felt terribly tired. Regardless, I powered through the event. When I woke up the next morning, at first, I didn’t have enough strength to put my feet on the ground. My head felt blocked. Once dressed, I went to work, hunched over like an old man. That lasted for a month, and each day the double vision worsened. I had more and more difficulty getting up. I felt like a ninety-year-old man. After a month, I decided to see a doctor, who sent me for an electroencephalogram (EEG).

When the results came in, I was told I needed to be admitted to the hospital soon for some extensive exams. This was on a Friday. The following Saturday, I went to my mother-in-law’s 5th wedding ceremony. Everyone there noticed that there was something abnormal about my eyes. Indeed, there was -- I was seeing double.

The following Monday, I went to work. Then, on Tuesday, I went to the hospital for exams, as agreed. From that moment on, I was given was a series of tests: a lumbar puncture, an eye test every day, electricity applied to my heels to test their sensitivity, and blood tests. In addition, I was on an intravenous drip for five days straight.

After two weeks I started having headaches. I was given pills for them, which suppressed the symptoms nicely. But after three to four days, the pills no longer had any effect. The doctors continued to give them to me all the same, and the headaches persisted.

The Headaches

The headaches were so violent that when I would got up to eat, I could only manage a mouthful of food before going straight back to bed. I was eager to return home; this pushed the hospital to release me after three weeks.

Next, I went to see my family doctor about the headaches. These constant headaches were making me suffer. He prescribed Valium, which made them disappear after two days. Satisfied at this point, I stopped the Valium. Alas, after only a week, the headaches returned, even stronger than before. There was a new additional problem, a “buzzing” sensation in my head.

I then went to see a homeopath. He did a blood test to determine my overall health. He then prescribed some homeopathic remedies. After a week, my headaches had almost been eliminated.

In 1982, my general health left much to be desired. I went into the hospital for the third time. After a series of tests and analyses, I was put on an immunosuppressant, called Imurel, a brand of azathioprine. It was designed to suppress my body’s natural defenses.


Albert Mosséri

According to the great professor, this drug is used to screen for new attacks of multiple sclerosis. I underwent the treatment for three years, with a check-up every six months.

For a long time, the doctors told me that the illness was an inflammation of the spinal cord. But, due to my persistent questioning, they finally acknowledged that it was multiple sclerosis. I also succeeded in getting them to say what the future held for me: paralyzed limbs, a wheelchair, and deteriorated sight.

Continue taking the Imurel and lead a normal life, they told me each time.

But how could I lead a normal life when I saw double, and my limbs were shaky? I had a variety of symptoms which reminded me during every moment of my life that I wasn't well. It was living hell.

No Hope

After I realized that I had no faith in medicine, in desperation, I began doing various exercises like walking to build up my muscle mass. I felt a slight improvement, but I wanted to be 100% better.

It was then that I began to suspect that the cause of my multiple sclerosis could be from drugs, antibiotics, and my diet. I spoke to some of my friends about it. They didn’t necessarily think that I was wrong, but didn’t want to risk agreeing with me.

This line of thinking led me to health food shops. I have always been curious about natural products. I didn’t hesitate in asking questions, to which the nutritionists replied to the best of their ability.

After asking many people about health changes, someone offered me a book called Multiple Sclerosis is Curable by Dr. Kousmine. That was at the end of 1986.

I immediately followed the advice given in this book – that is to say, I stopped taking all drugs, Imurel included. Instead, I followed the diet recommended in the book. I ate less meat, and also less fermented and cooked cheeses. The results: 50% improvement.

I then tried to read all the books I could find which dealt with natural health. I learned that the medical community is only concerned with suppressing symptoms with aggressive drugs. They never tell the truth, and my recovery was the least of their worries. Besides, the doctors never promised a cure.


Albert Mosséri

Useless Examinations

Every six months, I went to hospital T for a check-up with Dr. L. These check-ups were to see if my condition had improved or deteriorated. At first, the exams were very thorough: blood pressure, eye tests, how I walked, etc.

But after two to three years of check-ups, Dr. L only looked how I walked and my eyes.

During my last appointment, I dared to ask Dr. L a few potentially embarrassing questions. Not wanting to appear offensive, I pretended to be an idiot, while at the same time I discreetly noted his reactions. Our conversation follows.

"Doc, how am I doing? Do you think I am getting better?"

"You are the only one who can tell if you are getting better or not."

"I do feel better, yes. But why do I feel better?"

"Imurel."

"You believe that?"

"Yes, it’s the Imurel."

I didn’t dare reveal that I had stopped taking Imurel six months before! Now that I had trapped him, I felt somewhat embarrassed. Then, I pretended to be stupid again. This method worked very well. I asked him:

"Doc, what has caused my multiple sclerosis? There must be a cause."

"Your immune system has turned against your nervous system."

"But Doc, my nerves are protected by the myelin sheath. It just needs to be strengthened with vitamins."

"Imurel, imurel, he continued to repeat."

He was an intelligent man who viewed all his patients as idiots. So, with an air of total innocence, I said:

"Perhaps there is a problem of intestinal flora due to deficiencies in my food? Should I follow a special diet?"


Albert Mosséri

"No. Imurel is sufficient, and nothing but Imurel."

"Doctor, for six months I have been following a particular diet and doing weightlifting. I think that might have helped me.

As I continued to ask him embarrassing questions, one after the other, he began to realize that I knew too much for him to ignore or conceal the real answers.

He lowered his head, pretending to look for something on his desk. I snickered, without him noticing. If he had seen me laughing at him, I would not have been able to contain myself. I didn’t want to be unkind; it’s not my nature. In any case, it would have served no purpose. Doctors have been taught to keep their patients ill, and not to cure them; just to pretend to cure them.

In brief, my current symptoms are:

1. Double vision from time to time.

2. Shaky limbs, which persist, despite the fact that I have now stopped taking all drugs, and changed my diet.

I Discover Natural Hygiene

At last, thanks to a neighbor, I discovered Natural Hygiene. He gave me Mosseri’s address. I realized the importance of the intestinal flora and the catastrophic effect that antibiotics can have on a person’s health. I also understood that drugs destroy this precious intestinal flora.

I quickly decided to do a fast, under the competent surveillance of Mosseri. I followed the preparation scrupulously, losing 4 kilos in a week. I then began the fast, having decided to achieve 100% recovery.

After fourteen days, my hunger returned. The symptoms of elimination were very mild throughout the treatment because of the past antibiotics.

I then did a half-fast. After three days, the whole surface of my tongue became yellow. I no longer had double vision, which had bothered me for so long, nor did I have shaky limbs. I think that I have completely ridden myself of multiple sclerosis. Mosseri asked me to confirm this in three months.

My tongue remained yellow-colored for three weeks. My vision is finally clear like I previously said. I have had no further attacks of sclerosis either.

- PATRICK DUROU


Albert Mosséri

COMMENTS by A.M.:

1. The destruction of the intestinal flora over several years was the cause of multiple sclerosis. There was a vitamin deficiency due to this; intestinal flora is what manufactures vitamins. Nerve cells were destroyed by his malnutrition. This was also the cause of the lack of energy.

2. The dizziness, headaches, and vomiting are symptoms of indigestion created by the destruction of the intestinal flora.

The intestinal flora manufactures vitamins and enzymes. It's easy to see how the destruction of this precious flora can provoke malnutrition, affecting the eyes, nerves, and blood.

It is clearly the destruction of the flora which prevented the body from eliminating a lot of waste during the fast.

The doctors had prescribed him an immunosuppressant called Imurel.

Doctors only like discussing medicine with their peers, not with their patients. They often say this to a non-medical professional with any medical opinion:

"You have not studied medicine, so you don’t have a say in the matter, even if you are sick."

A year later this previously paralyzed man came to see me. He was totally cured.


Albert Mosséri

Ch.9

I CURED MY GLAUCOMA IN THREE DAYS !

"Fast, and you will recover." -MOHAMMED. (The Koran) I was seventy and had glaucoma. My eyeballs ached all the time. I consulted my ophthalmologist straight away who prescribed eye drops that I used three times a day. I religiously followed this for three days, in the hope that the pain would disappear. Alas! The pain continued. Then, by chance, I discovered the natural methods of healing. I wanted to try them, just to see. What did I have to lose in trying? So I fasted for several days. Afterwards, I radically changed my eating habits. The results were surprising in all respects: the glaucoma disappeared as if by magic! A few months later, I went to see the same ophthalmologist for an eye test. I confessed that I hadn’t followed his treatment of eye drops. Although I no longer had sensitive eyes, he insisted that if I didn’t use the drops I could become blind! He examined and reexamined my eyes, using all the available tests. Then he said to me: "Madam, you are lucky." In fact, there was no further trace of glaucoma, and my sight, as well as my general health, was much better. COMMENTS BY A.M.: The advantage that doctors have over their patients is their powerful capacity to manipulate the mind of their patients. A patient, even after a complete recovery, will return to the scene of a crime. That is, they will return to see their doctor. They will only feel they have completely recovered if the physician declares them cured! Moreover, as far as the medical profession is concerned, someone who recovered from an illness by natural methods has been “lucky,” meaning that their cure is an exception, an accident, and an anomaly.


Albert Mosséri

The medical community doesn’t consider the natural hygiene experience to be a success. If repeated a thousand times, the Natural Hygiene diet will yield a thousand cured patients. Just like medical treatment repeated a thousand times leads to a thousand lamentable failures. The comments of Dr. Vetrano are as follows: “Once again we can see that medicine considers health a game of luck. The change of diet and the fast are considered irrelevant to her recovery. In fact, all the eye specialists in the world think the same thing; food has nothing to do with your eyes. "But an intelligent person, who has removed their medical blinkers, will understand that the eyes are part of the body. Their health depends on the same factors which maintain a general state of health. "On the other hand, eye diseases ensue from the same causes which alter general health. "Thus, if diet affects the body’s health in its entirety, there is no reason for it not also affecting that the eyes. To be convinced, it suffices just to have a try, honestly.” –DR. V.V. VETRANO, Hygienic Review N° 10 Vol; XLI, 1980.


Albert Mosséri

CHAPTER 3 I Had 10 Illnesses I was depressed and had ten other ailments: Rheumatoid Arthritis, Sciatica, Arthritic Conditions, Obesity, Water Retention, Fibroids, Kidney and Bladder Disorders, Thyroid, Heart, Ulcers, Allergies Flu, etc. I was young, happy, and in love. Then, all of a sudden, I caught the flu. I sought the help of a doctor and took the drugs prescribed. I subsequently became very weak and frail. So much so, that I could not stay up for long. I thought this would pass once I had recovered, but this fatigue persisted. In fact, for a whole year, I couldn’t function because I was too weak – I could barely crawl out of bed in the morning. I had such high hopes for a bright future, but after this heavy dose of flu, my health seemed to decline steadily. In turn, at the age of twenty, my nerves had become damaged. I would feel a tingling sensation, like ants crawling on my skin. I felt very stiff. At times, my heart was racing, to the point that I could not sit still. I alternated between complete fatigue and manic energy. I also had muscle spasms. They would cause my arms and fingers to contort into odd positions. All my muscles seemed to be pulling in opposite directions at the same time; this was the worst pain that I experienced. I was more scared then than I had ever been before. When I had these spasms, it was as though I was paralyzed, with ants crawling all over my insides. Sometimes I had one or two of these symptoms a day, but there were also days when I was okay.

Blood in the Urine and Thyroid Medicine I then suffered from cystitis and a kidney infection. You should know, when I was young I had my thyroid gland removed. I was then put on thyroid pills. I took them for twenty years before I was urged to stop. After my wedding and the birth of my first son, I developed arthritis. It wasn’t serious at first, as I only occasionally had pain in my back and legs. Then, the pain increased so much that I went to see a physician. He injected something into my arm to dissolve the calcium deposits. The calcium was so concentrated that he had to anesthetize me. The doctor manipulated my joints to detach the deposits; they were so loud that you could hear them cracking in the room next door.


Albert Mosséri

Arthritis and Hypertension I had to follow the treatment prescribed for my arthritis over an extended period. The doctor gave me the strongest dose of medication possible for the pain, but I found no relief. With my weight gain and deterioration in health, my blood pressure increased alarmingly. One day, the systolic reading was 240, which worried the doctor. He counter-attacked with blood pressure pills. I took those for two years. I thought I was doing the right thing in continuing to take all these drugs, yet my health did not improve. In desperation I abandoned medicine. Then one day, I heard about a reflexologist. I decided to try him. He took me off all the drugs, even the thyroid pills, and put me on a better diet. I stopped all of my medications for my heart, arthritis, hypertension, and anxiety. I had only taken drugs for anxiety from time to time when I had anxiety attacks, but I stopped these too. My results were more positive than anything I had ever seen with medicine. The immediate improvement surprised me; it was only later that I understood the reason. In fact, when you stop poisoning yourself, it is quite natural to feel better. I was then able to work a little better, which hadn’t happened for years. I even did some gardening for the first time in ages. Around January, I began putting on weight: twelve kilos (26 lbs) in a short amount of time. My arthritis worsened, and I was knocked down by a new bout of flu. I again felt the crawling sensation on my face. I should also mention that my torso was always sore and weak around my stomach. I had just learned to ‘live with it,” as I was told I needed to do. From time to time, I was doubled up with abdominal pains that were caused by the smallest things. I felt as though I had stones in my stomach. I have always had liver and gallbladder problems too. In short, I have had a lot of complications. What’s more, for thirty-five years, from time to time, I suffered from depression. The Fasting Cures It was at that point that the reflexologist sent me to Dr. Shelton’s Health School. As soon as I arrived, I began fasting. While I was quietly resting, my body did all the healing work. I just rested, relaxed, and fasted, leaving it up to my body to act and perform its miracles. On the seventh day of my fast, the feeling of pins and needles (paresthesia) had completely disappeared from my face. In the beginning, I had sore muscles and joints,


Albert Mosséri

was anxious and weak, and I also suffered from dizziness and cold sweats at night. Moreover, my colon gave me a lot of problems. I had very loose stools and an abundance of bad smelling gas; this embarrassed me. I was only permitted to fast for fourteen days the first time around. Several positive things happened during this first treatment. In fact, I passed a lot of very thick mucus through my bowels. After two weeks, I felt much better. Occasionally I still had the pins and needles sensation on my face. I was still a bit anxious too. I thought that it wasn’t possible, in just two weeks, to recover so much from a lifetime of severe illness. However, the dizziness and nausea had entirely disappeared. I also began to sleep better than I had in a long time. But I was still left with arthritis, colitis, nerve and kidney inflammation and smelly flatulence. Since my nerves were in a deplorable state, I was encouraged to eat for five weeks before undertaking a second fast. Like all sick people, I was in a hurry to recover.

The Repercussions I started on my second fast. In the beginning, I weighed 80 kg (176 lbs)! My blood pressure had gone down to 103/70. As with the first fast, this fast lasted fourteen days. I subsequently had a variety of repercussions. All of a sudden, my kidneys started hurting, as if they were going to tear themselves up and fall out. My weight had dropped to 76 kg (168 lbs). I started exercising to sleep better. I had less gas and was less tense. I then did a third fast for eleven days, after three weeks of eating, as on the previous occasion. The pains all over my body eased up, except at the base of my stomach. Arthritis in my legs, knees, and thighs was greatly reduced too. I could now stand for longer periods of time without as much pain. I did have headaches and a yellow discharge.

The Return of Symptoms After Fasting “According to Dr. Vetrano, the return of symptoms after completing a fast is normal. New symptoms may also appear during the fast. While the body is healing old lesions, severe pain can form in new places. It is merely the body doing its proper job that it hasn’t been able to do for years. Previously, drugs prevented it from doing so.” After this third fast, for the first time, my legs no longer ached. However, my back hurt. I was also frail and nervous.


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I asked Dr; Vetrano, “Is it possible to recover without negative side-effects?” She told me it sometimes was possible. But most of the time people have to go through these moments of pain to achieve better health. I stayed at the Health School for four months, total. I felt all right, but not as well as I would have liked. There was a long road to recovery and development ahead of me. I still needed to lose more weight and shake off many of the negative symptoms. Despite this, I wasn’t discouraged. Once I was home, the rough patch of symptoms continued. I persevered with the Hygienic way of living in the hope that one day, my body would return to normal. Fortunately, these rough patches no longer scared me.

Despair Followed by Failure Because of Impatience Dr. Vetrano comments on this complicated case in the following terms: “Many people give up at this point saying that the Natural Hygiene diet doesn’t work for them! These people simply haven’t given Mother Nature enough time to restore health. Instead, they stop, take a load of useless remedies, both organic and processed, and even go back to the medical community. They then find themselves back at square one, in the same condition, they started in or a step back into even worse health. “Fasting takes time to work, and most people do not have the willpower to see the process through. “Despite this, my patient wasn’t discouraged. She stuck with it. After leaving the Health School, she wrote me a lovely letter following an improvement in her health. “I have published her letter below. I did this to show the ups and downs she went through before acquiring good health. She had been seeking good health for so long and finally was able to achieve it through perseverance. “In any case, it is not possible for the body to fully recover overnight, especially from so many overlying conditions. It took her four years to get back to speed, and that isn’t a long period. In fact, it is quite rapid and remarkable after a lifetime of illness. “Other doctors will say that they can produce quicker results. It is possible, but those results are usually imaginary and short-lived. In the long term, these so-called results will destroy a person’s health. "Recovering by using Natural Hygiene methods, takes time, but it is a surefire way. It is even considered to be the fastest means of recovery, for there aren’t any alternatives.


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Either you follow Mother Nature’s path, or you continue to suffer until death greets you. Your choice.” -Dr. Vetrano. Here is our correspondence: Dear Dr. Vetrano, I know that you must be wondering, whatever happened to the girl from Maryland? Well, I succeeded in following the natural hygiene diet, fairly well. I am growing vegetables in my garden! I now weigh 136 lbs (62 kg); I have lost about 18 pounds since my return home after the four months I spent with you during therapy. At home, I haven’t fasted for more than 24 hours at a time. I do the recommended exercises and rest a lot. Reading and writing tire me out, but less so than before. I find it difficult to face my problems as well as thinking things through and decision making. Your instructions and encouragement on this issue would be much appreciated. Sincerely, Suzanne And here is Dr. Vetrano’s reply: Dear Suzanne, I see that you have succeeded in maintaining the diet and in losing weight, which is perfect. The depression periods that you occasional suffer should not deter you from the diet. It is all part of the therapeutic process. One of these days, your depression will cease to exist. I suggest that you begin adding more nuts to your diet. It will help with your fatigue. Take about 2 oz (60 g) around noon. The same goes for the evening. This will slow down your weight loss but help with the depression. I wish you the happiest and healthiest of New Years.


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Sincerely, Dr. Vetrano Here are her other letters as well as Dr. Vetrano’s replies: Dear Dr. Vetrano, Greetings from Maryland. I’ve been planning to write to you for some time. I think that I am doing better. I do a decent amount of work around the house -- helping to clean, and a little gardening. My anxiety has gradually evened out, as you said it would, for which I am very grateful. However, I still feel weak and tire quickly. I can regain my energy after some rest, though. I feel like I am living now. I enjoy work and see how much more life has to offer as well. My weight dropped to 130 lbs (58kg). I have added some starch to my diet. Right now, I can’t wait to have some fresh vegetables from my garden again. Thank you for everything. Sincerely, Suzanne Dear Suzanne, I am pleased to hear that your weight is now down to 130 lbs (58 kg). I think that you have done wonderfully. I am even happier to learn that your anxiety has considerably decreased. Living within the Natural Law works wonders – doesn’t it? Keep up your Hygienic living and your life will get better and better. Sincerely, Dr. Vetrano


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Dear Dr. Vetrano, I’ve been doing quite well. Once I started eating more nuts, my blood pressure went up, and I was soon able to work again. Here's what Natural Hygiene has done for me: 1) Nerves: I was in a constant nervous state for 36 years of my life. I would suffer fits,

spasms, and constant fatigue that never ceased, as well as depression. During and after my treatment, when I first returned home, my nervous state was even worse, but then it calmed down. I am now calm and can face life with ease.

a) Arthritis: I had rheumatism, bursitis, sciatica, arthritis, and neuralgia. Every joint

and muscle in my body gave me severe pain, 24/7. My doctor gave me the strongest painkillers he could give orally, with little results. The X-rays showed many calcium deposits in my spine and joints. Thanks to Hygienic living, I am free of all this arthritic pain.

b) Menstrual Cramps: I have suffered from these almost entirely during my adult

life. Now everything is much better. c) Weight and Water Retention: I had kidney and bladder trouble for 30 years (a

condition that seems to run in my family). I weighed 98 kg (217 lbs) due to fluid retention and I took diuretics for years. I believe the fasting removed some stones. I now weigh 62 kg (137 lbs).

2) Thyroid: Most of my thyroid gland was removed 30 years before I started fasting. I

was taking thyroid medicine almost entirely during that time. 4) Flu and Colds: Every winter I used to suffer from severe colds and influenza; I

once even had pneumonia. Very seldom do I ever catch colds now. When I do, they only last a little while. I’ve had the flu once in four years.

5) Allergies: I used to suffer from all kinds of allergies. I had internal problems (lungs,

kidneys, etc.) and external reactions (hives, rash). Even weeding in my garden would make me break out. Now – no more allergies.

6) Ulcer: I used to have an ulcer on my eyeball, which the doctor said I would always

have. I did have it until I fasted. In four years it has not bothered me. I know that it has healed.

7) Bone Spurs: X-rays showed six bone spurs in my feet, which caused me a lot of

pain. I haven’t had any pain in my feet since I began fasting.


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I haven’t taken any medication for six years now, not even vitamins. I work almost every day at home or in the garden. I am now 62 years old. All of this fantastic health is due to the Natural Hygiene diet, and taking care of the body. Here are some examples of my new health. 1. My vision: My eyes have cleared up, making my vision much better. I only need

glasses for reading or close-up work. Before the fast, I wore triple lenses and I still could not read very well.

2. My hair: All of my old hair fell out, but the new hair that replaced it is very beautiful

and not as gray. I now have hair that reaches the bottom of my spine. 3. Taste and smell: My senses of taste and smell are much stronger. 4. Hearing: I also like to think that I can hear better. USEFUL NOTES BY A.M.: 1. If you are bedridden while fasting, resist the urge to do anything except rest.

Those who are bedridden while fasting think it is necessary to do something to speed up the process. The body never stops working -- in fact, it works better when you do nothing!

2. Diarrhea, loose stools, and bad smelling gas could have been avoided if Suzanne

had spent a few weeks preparing before starting to fast. 3. Considering the number of drugs that this patient had consumed, Dr. Vetrano did

not wish to prolong the fast for more than 14 days for the first time.

But a long preparation, at home, would have launched an effective detox and avoided the brutal shock of a fast. Instead, the fast started straight away, with a poisoned body.

4. Before her path to recovery, Suzanne suffered from all her former afflictions,

which recurred one by one. In fact, illness is nothing more than a means of elimination.

5. Note that with the Sheltonian method, an average fast occurs first, followed by an

interval of five weeks. Then a second fast is undertaken, and then another, as Suzanne continued to work her way through the treatment. Shelton knew instinctively that her patient did not have enough reserves to fast for long. However, Shelton had nothing to guide him: no compass, no milestones, and no benchmarks.


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Her weight loss stopped; this was a precious signal that the body had exhausted all of its fat reserves. Otherwise, it’s a trial and error method, which in my opinion is too brutal. It is preferable, by far, to take time at home to prepare first. Then, follow the fast with a half-fast for as long as necessary.

This half fast comprises 500 g of fruit and 500 g of raw food, spread over the afternoon.

6. I also forbid all forms of muscular exercise for those with chronic ailments.

Exercise only slows down the recovery period for very sick patients. 7. Note that she had stopped her medicines two years before undertaking her fasting

treatment. In spite of this extended period, the rough patches during her fast were very strong. She had taken too many drugs in the past.

8. The nervous states that she suffered, at the end of her fasts, were a symptom of

malnutrition and energy deficiencies. She fasted too frequently and for too long. 9. Sight improves after a fast. It is necessary to reduce glasses prescriptions or to

stop using them altogether.


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CHAPTER 4 Natural Hygiene: A Revolutionary System Two days later Zadig was completely cured. Hermès, the great doctor, wrote a book in which he proved that Zadig should not have recovered. –VOLTAIRE. Natural Hygiene is a revolutionary health movement originating in the United States at the beginning of the 19th century. In Ancient Greece, fasting was practiced in temples with the aim of curing all illnesses. The Greek philosophers were known for such methods, but medicine got the upper hand. Thus, Natural Hygiene fell into oblivion and disappeared. Then, in the 19th century, Natural Hygiene was rediscovered thanks to about twenty pioneers, mostly unorthodox doctors. They were physicians such as Dr. Trall, Tilden, Weger, Jennings, Alcott, etc. In the 20th century Dr. H.M. Shelton, who was not a medical doctor, synthesized all these methods. He excluded useless ideas to create a functioning system. He removed everything that did not directly concern the pure principles of the Natural Hygiene that he had discovered. The general idea is a return to Mother Nature and hygienic factors in order to maintain good health and cure oneself. Naturopathy was created in Europe. Its founders were Louis Kuhne, Adolph Just, Abbot Kneipp, Preisnitz, Biltz, and a few others. Naturopathy was intended to reform medicine, replacing chemical drugs with herbal remedies. Contrary to Naturopathy, Natural Hygiene is a revolutionary system. Its aim is to destroy medicine, not to reform it. It is not possible to change a system whose origins are based on errors. The First Principle A house that lies in ruins is similar to a sick patient, in that the body functions are disrupted. You want to repair this broken home and make it habitable once again. So you use bricks, tiles, cement, blocks, stone, etc. That is to say, the same construction materials that served to build the house in the first place. It is the same for a rundown body. Only the materials that served to build it initially can be used to repair it and revive it.


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The naturopath, one who treats patients with baths, massages, infusions, etc., is not a natural hygienist. Is Nature Hygiene truly this rigid? Our principles are indeed. We exclude all types of remedies, even natural ones. However, two Natural Hygiene practitioners have different points of view on the length of a fast, the diet, the amount of rest that is needed, and the importance of mental health. One of them allows a certain combination of foods, while the other does not. According to the principles of Natural Hygiene, it follows that the factors necessary to maintain good health are the same as those that naturally exist for the body to heal itself, whatever the illness. Fasting, in this array of remedies, is used to rest the stomach. I would even go so far as to say that factors that are not indispensable for health and life are not for curing illness either. Example: massages. Are they necessary for maintaining good health? No. Consequently, they are not used as a treatment. The Worst Superstition: The Idea of a Cure It is unfortunate that humanity has become so attached to the concept of "remedy." It is a superstition. The only cure, so to speak, is to obliterate the cause. People like to think that there exists somewhere in Mother Nature, a plant that can cure anything, without addressing the cause of their ailments. They reject the logical solution, eliminating the cause. They are perfectly aware of what is causing their pain, but subconsciously do not want to get rid of it. Here is an illustration of such thinking. “I suffer from terrible headaches,” a young man told me one day. “Could you give me a remedy?” “You must get rid of the cause,” I told him. “But I know what the cause is. I often drink alcohol. I’m looking for something that will relieve the pain.” I estimate that only 10% of the population will be convinced by our cause, while the other 90% will refuse to consider it from the outset. The majority prefer to use symptom reducers, drugs, so they can live their unhealthy lifestyles. They prefer to live dangerously, suffer and die, rather than to live healthily. They prefer stimulation or


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sedation over the wisdom of well-being, and the serenity and profound joy of radiant health. It follows that medicine, even if beaten by scientific fact, will remain the preferred method of healing for the majority.


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CHAPTER 5 Preparation for a Fast Before embarking on a fasting treatment, a certain amount of preparation is necessary to avoid problems. In fact, during a fast, it is possible to experience some very unpleasant moments. These may include the following:

* Headaches * Dizziness, even when lying down * Repeated and constant vomiting * Delirium or confusion

Preparation before a fast has two parts, and may decrease the risk for undesirable effects, as just listed. These parts include: 1. Cutting off all drugs, either abruptly or tapering off, according to the type of

patient. Those who do not stop their medicine before fasting risk the most violent repercussions.

2. Following a strict diet for one or more weeks beforehand. This diet should be the

Natural Hygiene diet. It is not worth following any other "detox diets." This diet should be followed carefully, at home. Any carelessness will cause unnecessary suffering during the fast, as well as when you resume eating. There are some risks as you start to eat again, which can be avoided if you follow the diet. Note that Shelton never advised any preparatory diet, which is why some of his patients suffered violent repercussions. Preparation in Stages Some have their patients prepare themselves in stages at a fasting clinic. The first step is a week or more of eating raw food. Then, once the subject’s weight has stabilized, they move on to the next stage. The second phase consists only of fruit juice and raw vegetables. Once the subject’s weight has stabilized again, the fast then commences. Weight stabilization signifies that the body has adapted to its food intake. It is a nutritional adaptation.


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This form of preparation has several flaws: It maintains hunger. (Fasting cuts it off rapidly, in a few days, sometimes right from

the beginning.) Those who could have followed such a diet at home waste time and money. The change in diet is too abrupt for the average person. It is enough to prepare by

using the regular Natural Hygiene diet, which already eliminates tobacco, coffee, wine, meat, and bread from the patient’s diet. This results in the patient losing about 3kg (6.6 lbs) within the first week, well before beginning the fast.

It is much easier to go straight into a fast than to play around with stages. I once asked Dr. Shelton about fasting in successive stages. He gave me the following reply: “If you want to cut off a dog’s tail, don’t cut off an inch each day. It’s less painful if you cut it off in one go.” My preferred way of preparing for fast consists of following the standard Natural Hygiene menu (2 to 3 kilos of food per day - 4.5 to 6.5 pounds), and eliminating all of the poisons (coffee, chocolate, wine, fermented cheeses, etc.) from your diet. Those who strictly adhere to it will lose 3 kg (6-7 pounds) in a week. There is no point to following a more complicated preparation if it only makes fasting more difficult. Relaxation It is important that the patient manages to relax physically and mentally, before undertaking a fast. On top of that, it is advised to give up all protein-rich products: meat, chicken, fish, nuts, eggs, beans, cheese, bread, and grains. Those Who Are Afraid of Fasting Some people are afraid of fasting. They lack willpower, and dread hunger or the possible side-effects. Mrs. Theresa fasted for obesity for the first time in the U.S. at Dr. Benesh’s clinic, fasting for 23 days; the amazing results didn’t take long. She had fasted with enthusiasm and courage, like all those who take on fasting. Several years later, she came to my establishment. After not having followed the Natural Hygiene diet, she had put on all the weight that she had lost, and more!


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Thus, she went on a 15 day fast at my home, with some difficulty. Her enthusiasm had waned. Indeed, the experience of fasting was not new to her. Although she was a believer, she had lost her courage and sense of wonder. The human imagination is captivated by the unknown. The third time that she came to me to lose weight, she refused to fast. Therefore, I put her on a diet more frugal than what I have described below. She lost weight. After two weeks, a miracle happened: she lost all feelings of hunger and even felt a little nauseous by food. At this point, she asked to fast. She followed her instinct and took notice of her body’s reactions. Mother Nature directed her superbly. Forced to Fast (The Story of Edouard Lagnado, From California) When you apply a Natural Hygiene diet, after a certain amount of time, the body sometimes goes into a detox period. This state forces the individual to fast. I shall give two examples: The first is that of a childhood friend, living in San Diego, California. He was a natural hygienist, but in practice, not very disciplined. He ate like everybody else, but frequently fasted in various clinics in America. As it happened, he developed very unpleasant symptoms of gout. Since he didn’t want to miss a day of work, he opted for drugs to calm the pain. How effective drugs are! You are back on your feet in no time at all. But alas, later, you face the consequences. These drugs destroy the gut. When he retired, there was no longer any reason to take these drugs. My friend suffered from acute constipation to the point of a bowel obstruction (unbearable pain when trying to pass the stool). It was at this moment that he began to follow a strict Natural Hygiene diet. Now retired, he was able to take the time to care for himself properly. With his body’s natural instincts now being able to spring into action, the flushing of the toxins began in the form of gout. In other words, his body had been delayed trying to eliminate the toxins in his body causing the gout. It was just now dealing with the problem. He was obliged to fast to heal his gout. He fasted for two weeks. He called all of the fasting clinics, but none would accept him because of his violent intestinal pains. Some feared terminal cancer or serious illness. In any case, he was unable to leave his home. He asked them to send him a helicopter; he could not move because of gout.


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The pain was so bad that to go to the bathroom he had to drag himself on the floor and crawl on his belly like a soldier on a combat mission. His feet were so swollen that he found it impossible to walk or even stand up with a cane. His wife had gone on a visit to see their children. He was lucky that she wasn’t there to send him to a hospital, regardless of his feelings on the matter. He found himself alone, without anybody to even give him a glass of water. Using his cell phone, my childhood friend employed a nurse to help him for an hour a day. Then, he called a naturopath. Finally, he called a woman to come clean his home and do his shopping. He rang me every day and followed my instructions. After several months, his intestines began flushing out what looked like hard stones. These excretion pains persisted for several months, a long time after gout pains had disappeared. You can now see that in attempting to get rid of the gout symptoms, the medication destroyed the precious intestinal flora, resulting in a much more severe illness — intestinal constipation. A more serious blockage would have required a major operation. However, thanks to his perseverance and my strict instructions, he succeeded in avoiding that nasty surgery that would have left him physically challenged. The Story of Umberto Micalizzi The second case involves an Italian by the name of Micalizzi, who lived in Cairo in 1950. Having read some of the Natural Hygiene literature, he modified his diet by eliminating coffee, tea, tobacco, meat, etc. At 45 years old, he suffered from chronic arthritis, but tolerated it fairly well. With his change in diet, however, his body took advantage of its vitality. It launched into an immediate detox period, without asking anybody’s permission. In spite of himself, he was forced to fast. The repercussions took the form of intense arthritic pain, similar to the pain he had suffered from in the past. His joints swelled up one after another; every night he cried out in pain. Then, the swelling gradually went down, joint by joint. These rough patches were the end of his arthritis. It was an unintended preparation for a fast that, in the beginning, he had not planned. The Cowardly Policeman Here is an incredible story of the police officer who was sent to see me, against his will, by his sister. She told him that if he didn’t comply, his mother would die of a broken heart. The threat forced him to help his body.


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He was suffering from bladder cancer. He frequently urinated, day and night, and traces of blood were found in his urine for a year. Plus, at 47 years old, he was also suffering from insomnia; each night he barely managed to go to sleep by five in the morning, sometimes even seven. The doctors prescribed bladder removal surgery which would replace it with two outer plastic bags! They gave him two years to live. He refused the operation. He said to me, “My sister blackmailed me and forced me to come to you to fast. I don’t want to fast. However, I am also refusing this operation because it means that I won’t be able to go swimming, in a pool or the beach, ever again.” When I analyzed his diet, I knew that I needed to find the powerful cause that provoked such potent cancer. The doctor didn’t care about the cause, but spoke knowledgeably about viruses and microbes. How, in all honesty, with the poor diet of this police officer, could these doctors believe that he could have survived without any harm or damage? His diet consisted of cold cuts at every meal, accompanied by beer or wine — nothing else, apart from drugs and two packs of cigarettes a day. As soon as he arrived with his sister, I reassured him that I had never forced anyone to fast. He calmed his deepest fears about fasting. He also agreed to quit smoking and stop his medication in addition to eating the Natural Hygiene food that I served at my house. The miracle of miracles! Having suffered sleeping problems for years, he began to sleep through the entire night, sometimes without interruption. Before, he used to get up several times during the night to urinate, but now he didn't have to get up once. Delighted by these unexpected results, and encouraged to go further by seeing other members fast, he asked to fast of his own free will! The preparation was useful, physically as well as mentally. He was able to discuss with others who were fasting as well, and they encouraged him. However, he told me, “My sister has annoyed me for twenty years with her stories of vegetarianism and fasting. I don’t want to hear any of that crap. I am completely opposed to all of that.” True to himself, nothing made him change his ideas, despite the spectacular improvement in his health. Instead he attributed his health improvement to walking each day in the country air.


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His urine, which had contained blood, reverted to normal. The results were impressive. The fact is that if I had made him fast in the first place, he would have left my house without even saying goodbye. He would have abandoned everything. Is it possible to make someone fast? According to Shelton, people like this risk their lives if they are forced to do so. But fasting clinics are not prisons. I have never understood why Shelton considers a forced fast fatal. Anxiety Problems and History of Mental Illness This section referred to people who were ill in the past, but stopped taking their medication a long time ago. They have, however, been on medication, at some point, during the course of their lives. This category of patient risks extreme detoxification side effects during the first few days of a fast. A long preparation is necessary: one to two months. A lady came to fast, accompanied by her 72-year-old mother. Neither mother nor daughter had taken any medication for a long time. The lady informed me that her mother had experienced epileptic fits in the past, which also meant to me that she had taken medication before. But I didn’t pay attention to that detail; she hadn’t taken anything for a long time. On the third day of her fast, the older lady said that she felt funny. Then, in the afternoon, she had a violent fit: she shouted, threw objects close at hand onto the floor, undressed, sat naked in the sitting room, paced up and down the room, had anger and aggression in her eyes, all of this while never ceasing her shouting and screaming. It is evident that this was part of the elimination process of the old medication, which had remained in her body. Two or three months of preparation would have spared us all of this drama. PREPARATION Breakfast: Skip breakfast if you are not truly hungry. Otherwise have a fruit meal. Lunch: Fruit meal. Or salad, vegetables, and seasonings. EVENING: Have a salad with one of the following three meals:


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1. Boiled potatoes, + eggplant, onion, green pepper, all cooked (500g to 1.5 kg in all 1.10 lbs to 3.31 lbs). It’s the Natural Hygiene ratatouille.

2. Potatoes + cooked brussel sprouts (in all 500/1500g – 1.10 lbs to 3.31 lbs). Green

salad without dressing as an accompaniment, (above also). 3. A variety of vegetables, cooked in water (500/1500g) ALLOWED DESSERTS: (30/60 minutes after the evening meal, but with the midday meal). Soaked dates, figs, raisins, dried apricots, etc.

A teaspoon of almond purée or tahini

Yogurt without sugar SEASONINGS Virgin oil

Mayonnaise (without mustard and vinegar),

Lemon, tomato, parsley, etc.

4/5 black olives

Chopped fresh onions used immediately FORBIDDEN Pepper, vinegar, spices, herbs

Fried food, mustard, coffee, tea, chocolate,

Wine, beer, spinach oysters,

Fermented or even cooked cheeses

bread, cereals, egg white, salt, drinks. Rarely Permitted Cheats Imitation coffee, wine (on an empty stomach), mashed potatoes, gnocchi, soup, white chocolate (1 piece), 2 or 3 walnuts. The Weekly Fast Those who deviate too much from this diet must fast at least one day a week. They should pick a day when they are not hungry. Those who rarely cheat do not need to do this weekly fast.


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Half Cooked Food First, place the tougher vegetables in the pan. Add three glasses of cold water, cover, and cook on full heat for 13/15 minutes. You can drink the water afterward if there is any left. Hunger If you think that you’re hungry, wait for a half hour to confirm you are. If you’re not, skip dinner. Allow me to repeat this once more; proper preparation will help you avoid negative repercussions during the fast. These side effects are sometimes short-term. Finally, it should be noted that these preparation tips are nothing more than the ideal Natural Hygiene menu. You can follow this meal plan for life. It was the diet of the ancient cavemen, who had neither watch, nor kitchen, cooker, dining room, nor recipe books. They gathered fruit and ate it under the tree. It was the Garden of Eden. It was Paradise. Enemas I used to have all of my patients do an enema before starting a fast, to clean out their intestines. I did that so that their intestines would be clear of toxic stool from harmful foods. I had an architect fast under my supervision. He weighed 100 kilos (220 lbs). After thirty days of treatment, he began to have very painful diarrhea. I told him to stop the fast momentarily; he could start up once diarrhea had passed. Evidently, it was caused by the leftover stool in his intestine, namely the gasses that they emitted. An enema had no effect – neither did massages. Now, if he had emptied his bowels before the fast, he probably wouldn’t have had diarrhea. There was a teacher, another patient, who fasted for a week. Each day during his fast, he had regular bowel movements. On the seventh day, when his fast stopped, he had a massive bowel movement. The colon can hold on to massive amounts of fecal matter. You must get rid of it without damaging your digestive tract. Enemas strip and irritate the sensitive mucous membrane of the intestines. Moreover, they destroy precious intestinal flora. Enemas can only reach 50 cm (1’71/2”) of the colon. A colonic carries more risks and does not empty the small intestine.


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The body uses a lot of energy to neutralize putrid fecal matter, no doubt more than it does when patients use enemas or "intestinal cleanses." Unfortunately, the chemical and vegetable cleanses both strip the intestinal mucous membrane. Purging while fasting will have no effect unless a quadruple dose is used. If you do this, your digestive system will never fully recover from the damage. Enteritis, which is an intestinal inflammation, will develop. Know that a fast cannot cure enteritis once it has spread throughout the intestinal tract. Purgative infusions can also reduce your body’s digestive capabilities. In conclusion, it is preferable for you to use the dietary preparation before fasting, rather than using an intestinal cleanse, even a "green" one. After a week of this diet, your intestines will only contain healthy food waste. This fecal matter can be stored in your body for several weeks while fasting, no risk involved. Stools from fruits and vegetables are harmless. These foods do not become rotten or putrid during digestion, unlike meat, fish, and bread food waste. Fasting with Interludes If you’re worried about constipation during a fast, you can take a break after seven days of fasting. This interlude allows your body to have a proper bowel movement. This caution is primarily for those who have serious hemorrhoids, or those who have destroyed their mucous membrane with laxatives or other poisons.


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CHAPTER 6 Some Guidelines for Fasting The general idea of “how to fast” is presented by Dr. Shelton in the following text: “There is no doubt that, to survive, wild animals fast when they are ill or injured. Due to the harsh conditions of the wilderness, many animals do not survive this fasting period. They often freeze to death, die of heatstroke, dehydration, or even physical exhaustion from facing enemies. Anything that uses up excess energy during a fast, especially for the sick or wounded, slows down recovery time and lessens the chance of survival. When humans fast, they can avoid such harmful circumstances.” “You should avoid anything that uses up too much energy during a fast, for the health and safety of your body. The aim is to preserve your resources as much as possible. This way, the fast can continue without any danger. You must avoid weakening yourself at all costs. Consequently, rest becomes essential during a fast. There are four types of rest; physical, sensory, mental, and physiological.” Natural Relaxation From time to time, people tell me about people who fasted while keeping up their daily activities. Fasting this way for fifteen days is the same as fasting for five days completely bedridden. These kinds of fasts have very limited results. Flushing out toxins happens slowly. The body can only dedicate a certain amount of energy to the fast. The rest is consumed by daily work activities. Many people believe that they must keep up their regular schedule to avoid becoming feeble. It is possible to keep to your daily routine, especially if you are overweight, but I don't recommend it. Your body must use all its energy on fasting. Staying in bed is ideal; you double the amount of energy available to your body for fasting. By using this form of fasting, the detox and regeneration processes will happen sooner and faster. Frequently, I had patients who had tried fasting at home, while continuing their usual activities. When they came to me, I asked them to remain in bed during the fast. They were astonished, this time, around, that their bodies flushed out the toxins much more


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quickly. Some of the elimination symptoms that they experienced were dark urine, headaches, and a bitter taste in the mouth. If subjects remain in bed from the beginning of the fast, they learn that they no longer have the energy to run around. They are afraid of “getting rusty” and assume that it is a good idea to move around a little. This is a grave mistake. In medicine, it is taught that those who remain in bed will suffer from phlebitis, a vein inflammation. This is a monumental error. For over forty years, I have witnessed 4,000 people fast in my home. Not one of them ever developed phlebitis. Remaining in bed during a fast does not cause one to become weak. The body diverts its energy towards detox and healing. This energy is latent and intact, just directed towards other channels. It is only temporarily withdrawn from the digestive and sexual organs, as well as muscles. You do not become a handicapped person from bed rest while on a fast. Here is an extreme example. A car mechanic had fasted at my home for 33 days because he wanted the length of his fast to coincide with his age at the time (33 yrs). He had read Shelton’s recommendation of total bed rest, and he did not leave his bed for a single day. In spite of my instructions to get up every day and walk a few steps, he stubbornly stuck to his idea. Shelton advised that your energy should be saved for bed rest; this mechanic insisted in applying this idea to the letter. He followed too this literally, even asking for a urine bottle so as not to have to get out of bed and go to the very nearby bathroom. When he ended his fast, I feared he would be unable to walk again. In fact, when I watched him walk, much to my surprise, he managed without any difficulty, albeit slowly! Nor was there any sign of phlebitis. Encouraged by this experience, from that day on, I allowed my fasters to remain in bed, without the slightest fear of anything. Two other experiences confirmed this for me. People can also go to the other extreme. Some fasters do not follow my instructions and go off walking 15 kilometers a day. They gain no benefit from their fast while exercising. There is an exception; if you are overweight but otherwise in good health, or are approaching good health, you can walk a little. The most surprising aspect of a fast for most fasters is that they do not need to sleep for more than a few hours after midnight. They do often nap during the day, though. On the other hand, those who have suffered insomnia for a long time will sleep more during a fast, as if they need to make up for their lack of sleep. From the very beginning of a fast, people feel a certain “fatigue." This is not tiredness, since fatigue is caused by physical exertion. It is more of a relaxation. People feel good


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lying in bed. They experience a feeling of relaxation, which is created by cutting off all food stimulants (coffee, wine, tobacco, meat, cheese, etc.). In fact, all high-protein foods increase the body’s metabolism and blood pressure, and prevent the person from unwinding, even at night. These foods are often responsible for short or more prolonged periods of insomnia. This is why so many people find it impossible to relax. They find themselves in a constant state of tension. It’s important to distinguish between real relaxation and the artificial kind of relaxation taught in yoga and other disciplines. These methods combat a symptom without eliminating the cause (which are the stimulants mentioned above). It is impossible to gain a valuable and lasting result of relaxation from these activities. How can you ask a coffee drinker to relax when their beverage has caused a state of permanent over-stimulation in their body? Mental Relaxation To succeed with mental relaxation, you must isolate yourself from your environment and fast in a calm place. Religious retreats could have served this purpose if they were able to provide the other conditions. Somebody once told me that a woman who had been fasting had been looking at the country landscape outside from her bedroom window. Shelton reprimanded her and asked her not to leave her bed. Having said that, boredom during a fast often poses problems. Is it not better to tire a little rather than to be bored? This is true for people in good health. For chronically ill people, Shelton’s advice should be followed to the letter; there is nothing further to be said. It is also true that people who are fasting should avoid anger, hatred, jealousy, fear, and all other strong or destructive emotions. They instead use energy necessary for the detox process. Towards the end of his career, Shelton allowed his subjects to listen to the radio with the volume turned low, as well as to the television, but not for too long. A seventy-two-year-old woman fasted for 21 days at my clinic with no problems. I broke her fast and began to feed her. One day, her friend came to see her. The two women chatted for hours. Afterward, someone else visited her and then her son came. All that added up to six hours of talking. At nightfall, the person who assisted me, accompanied by the woman’s son, called me to come as quickly as possible.


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"My mother is sick. Her pulse is too fast… I’m worried that she may not survive the night." I immediately understood the cause of the problem. I ordered all the visitors to leave the patient’s bedroom, turned out the light, and left her to rest. Two hours later, I tiptoed into her room and took her pulse. It had fallen to 80 bpm – the danger had passed. It was talking for all those hours that had exhausted all of her energy. Heating Pads, Cushions, Mattresses, and Electric Blankets During a fast, the feet should be kept warm, even if the head stays cool. There is no point in keeping the window wide open all night. A little opening is sufficient to allow air into the bedroom. Heat is more important than the pure air, even though we hear more people harp on the latter. You can use a heated blanket; they are especially useful to preheat your bed. My patients used to switch on the electric blanket just before leaving their bedroom to go and chat with me in the sitting room, and then watch a little television. They switched them off as soon as they got back into bed before going to sleep. If fasting individuals have to struggle to stay warm or cool, they lose a lot of energy and cannot relax or sleep. For chronically ill people who are very emaciated, the cold can be fatal. Physical Activity Shelton recommended that physical activity should be reduced to a minimum, as I have already said; my position is a little different. I consider it better to expend some energy, not too much, in activities like writing, reading, or embroidery, rather than getting bored. That is why I ask all my fasting patients to bring with them a radio, knitting, embroidery, tapestry, board games, cards, chess, etc. Those who can meditate peacefully will be better off. But it is not possible to remain in meditation for 24 hours straight. You Can Die Without Water It is commonly recommended to drink one or two liters of water every day. But a natural hygienist is never thirsty and never drinks. His food contains enough water to


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satisfy all his needs. If he is thirsty, that means he has eaten one of the prohibited foods. That is the case when you eat every day. And what about during a fast? Should you drink or not? “If we recommend that people only eat when they are hungry, why ask them to routinely drink a certain quantity of water, whether the body is asking for it or not?” Shelton asks. I often find that these natural mechanisms as well as instinct, are faulty in the civilized, unhealthy person. And who isn’t unhealthy? I ignore whether or not a healthy person feels thirsty when they are fasting. But I do know that many fasters do not experience thirst and only drink because they know they have to. I have supervised 4,000 fasters over 40 years, and I have noticed that most of them drank too little water at the end of a long fast (more than 20 days). On the first day, you can neglect to drink, but after that, I insist that fasters drink a minimum of 2 to 3 glasses of water a day, especially in the morning when the elimination process is at its most active. Towards the end of the fast, the subject tends to find that water has an unpleasant taste, and asks for fresher water. But it is, in fact, a bad taste in their mouth, not the water. Those who neglect drinking water sometimes experience the symptoms of poisoning (headaches, backache, depression, insomnia, urine that is too dark, cystitis, etc.). So, when a faster complains of these symptoms, I ask them to drink several glasses of water straight away; the pain rapidly disappears. The Role of Water Water is not food. It is simply a vehicle, used by the body, to transport waste excreted by the cells towards the organs that are responsible for elimination: the kidneys, the lungs, and the intestines. Without this vehicle how do you imagine that the body could reject this metabolic waste? In the event of a crisis during a fast, such as depression, headache, or dizziness, one must drink more than usual to alleviate the suffering. Some fasters don’t even drink a single glass of water in a day. At this point, it is a good idea to add lemon juice to the water and force them to drink at least a liter a day, in little sips.


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One can, therefore, see that Shelton ignored false thirst, which is simply the absence of thirst during a fast. He left it up to our natural instinct, which is thirst itself; although I repeat, it seems that this instinct is not healthy for most people. A farmer once fasted at my home for 45 days. At the moment of breaking his fast, I gave him some golden delicious apples, but he refused to eat them because they were not organic. At that time of the year, the stock of apples from our orchard was exhausted, which forced me to buy my apples at the market. So he had a different kind of organic apples sent to him from his orchard. Surprise: he found it impossible to eat a single apple and asked for my golden delicious! "Why?" I asked him. "My apples are too dry," he told me, "while your goldens are full of water." This observation shows very well that he had become dehydrated during his long fast. Other cases also illustrate this point. It is the reason for which I am often asked for vegetable soup after a fast, instead of cooked vegetables, and then for the juiciest fruits in preference to more fibrous fruits. There again, it is the need for water that the fasters can’t manage to satisfy with water alone, for they can no longer drink enough water. These observations are so common in my practice that I have drawn certain essential conclusions. I insist that fasters drink a lot (one or two liters) towards the end of a long fast, and especially afterward, during the next stage. If people can’t manage to drink this much water, then it is necessary to add lemon or orange juice. I advise people to drink particularly in the morning, because the nighttime elimination, which is more intense than during the day, and only slows down towards midday. In fact, there is more energy available to the body at night than during the day, and the body takes advantage of this time to detox. Sunbathing Without Tanning Sunbathing, the way most people practice it, is damaging, and more so during a fast. During a fast, the sun is harmful when it is too hot, or when a person stays in it for more than 15 minutes. Getting too much sun is a very common mistake amongst fasters, and provokes insomnia and nervous tension. If your eyes do not tolerate the light, then you must reduce the sunbathing time, or give it up altogether.


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During a fast, we need less sun than usual. Some Natural Hygienists entirely forbid sunshine exposure during a fast, as they consider it a factor which creates stress. This is more or less what I think. The very process of undressing, and then getting dressed again, is already tiring for some people who are weak, and who should take extra care of themselves. Showers, Baths, and Saunas Baths and showers represent a considerable energy loss for those fasting, which is why I forbid them for the entire period of the fast, except for the obese, which generally have more energy while fasting. For all others, the fact of having to get undressed, then dressed again, as well as the contact of water with the skin, and the movements of the arms and hands while remaining standing -- all of these factors exhaust the energy of the majority of fasters. Let us not forget that there are millions of tiny nerves on the skin; the skin being the largest organ of the body. Any difference in temperature immediately mobilizes all these nerves to resist, which debilitates the faster. After a bath or a shower, people say, "I feel better." One must understand that the euphoria after a bath or shower represents stimulation, and therefore an expenditure of energy. What people should rather be seeking is to economize their energy. Note that we expend more energy in withstanding hot or cold water than with lukewarm water. On the other hand, I recommend bathing or showering to those who need it, and to wash frequently with soap under the armpits, as the perspiration may become offensive and the air in their bedroom impossible to breathe. When I smell this odor in a bedroom, I always ask the person to wash, and also change their underwear. Finally, it is acceptable for an assistant to rub the body of a tired faster, using a warm damp towel. After that, the towel will have to be washed with soap. But in fact, rest is preferable to all that. These activities should take place in the afternoon, for in the morning the detox process is still taking place, fasters are tired, and they risk feeling dizzy while they are standing up. Finally, saunas are very harmful. In the past, it was thought that the skin was an eliminatory organ, and that perspiration eliminated toxins. Naturopaths are wedded to these antiquated medical ideas and continue to foster them. Alas, nothing could be more untrue.


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During the enthronement of a former pope, a few centuries ago, a child was painted with gold and silver, and then carried in an open carriage along the path with the procession. After a few hours, the child lost consciousness and died. So what caused the death of the child? Simply sunstroke – gold and silver are metals and good conductors of heat. In the case of the child who died during the pope’s celebration, perspiring was impossible, and the temperature was far too high for the child to survive. Modern physiology considers the skin as a regulator of temperature, a thermostat, rather than a respiratory or eliminatory organ. But naturopaths who possess old medical books stick to antiquated ideas. When a healthy person is subjected to the cold, the millions of blood vessels on the surface of the skin contract, and send the blood towards the interior of the body, thus avoiding loss of heat. On the other hand, when it is hot, the opposite happens: the body loses heat through the skin, whose blood vessels dilate. Perspiring also cools the body, when it is hot. Sugar and Honey A few doctors in Germany and Switzerland give their fasting subjects honey or sugar to counteract acetone, but the body should be left to eliminate naturally; the process should neither be hindered nor forced. Herbal Teas Natural Hygienists reject all herbal teas, either during a fast or afterward. They are used as a drug, and we are opposed to any idea of a remedy. Green Clay and Magnesium A long time ago a lady fasted at my home. After her cure, she felt tired – quite normal. But she attributed this to the hard water from my well. The calcium in drinking water is inert and has no chemical action. It is rejected in the intestines, then in the stools, without passing into the blood. On the other hand, aspirin and all other medicines pass into the blood, and their chemical reactions cause havoc. It is the same for clay and magnesium, which are inert and have no chemical action. No one has expressed any reservations about these two substances, as they have for calcium in the water. Clay has no healing power, contrary to what many believe. The curative power belongs solely to living tissue and not to inanimate and inert products. Clay is not something


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which is indispensable for life. Consequently, it is not indispensable during illness either. At best, clay absorbs the pus from an open wound and helps to drain it, in the same way as a damp compress would. As for magnesium, it is a chemical product, a medicine, not an organic substance. Our body needs magnesium, but in an organic form: plant-based and not mineral. Massage and Other Forms of Treatment Those who are not Natural Hygienists and who fast commonly call on a variety of treatments during their cure, including measures to “force” the process: massages and manipulation, adjustments to the vertebrae, hot and cold baths, hydrotherapy, enemas, treatments to stimulate the liver or kidneys, etc. All of them are best avoided. In fact, stimulants exhaust the body. All these measures weaken the organism and slow down recovery in direct proportion to their use. Stimulants are the opposite of rest. These so-called therapeutic measures provoke increased activity and deplete energy. It is better to work hand in hand with the natural conserving tendencies of the fasting organism, rather than against it. Procedures which seek to stimulate liver activity, to force elimination by the intestines, or to stimulate the heart and nervous system, all waste vital energy and should be avoided. In fact, all methods of treatment which increase the activity of the organism, in any way at all impede rest.


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CHAPTER 7 Stimulation and Elimination The Dangers of Stimulation There is a natural law that states that stimulation will be followed by a period of depression of equal intensity and similar proportion. If you feel better, euphoric, and radiant during the period of stimulation then you will pay for this later on. Also, the stimulation obtained decreases gradually, and the consecutive depression is increasingly accentuated, according to the use of stimulants (coffee, drugs, etc.) Stronger and more frequent amounts, or the use of another stimulant, may prove to be necessary, but the period of recovery will become longer. The main objection against stimulants is that they fight an effect and not the cause. How to Hasten Detox Some think that exercise accelerates elimination. They are very wrong. Instead, exercising, walking, and working all deviate energies towards the muscles and thus slow down elimination.

Stimulation reduces your functional capacity by the expenditure of additional energy, and the increase in metabolic wastes.

"The more the body is stimulated, the more quickly it reaches the state of total exhaustion. Also, the more the body is weak, the less it can resist the stimulants - and larger is the need “not to do anything” in an intelligent way." Dr. Shelton

Elimination occurs on the level of the cells and not on that of the organs (skin, liver, kidneys, etc.) These organs reject already eliminated substances. The liver transforms the waste eliminated by cells into simpler matters. The kidneys filter wastes from the blood and reject them into the bladder.

Therefore, to hasten elimination, it is necessary to push the cells, not the organs, to eliminate. How?

For this purpose, you need to know how cells function. To work, the cells need nervous energy. When this is abundant, they eliminate much. If not, they detoxify little. How to increase this nervous energy? No substance will give it to you, no method, and no stimulant.

One can increase nervous energy only while resting.


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CHAPTER 8 Symptoms and Crises During or After the Fast The person in excellent health can fast for weeks without any trouble. Elimination occurs smoothly. On the other hand, the sick individual, as is the case of almost everybody, will react according to his state: violent if they are vital and otherwise weak. Thus, when a person affirms to me to have an excellent health, I never believe her. At the end of a few days of fasting, the symptoms start to appear. Fasting is like the mirror of health. It accurately reflects the real state of health, whereas stimulants mask it. A 22-year-old man, Emmanuel, swears that he is in perfect health. He only wants to cure his strong myopia. After a few days, each night he has an asthma attack. In the beginning, the crisis lasted two hours; then it decreased day by day until it disappeared completely. Emmanuel thought he was in excellent health, whereas his body was toxic and his lungs overflowed with these toxins. The person who smokes or who drinks alcohol is a sick person, even if she feels very well. As soon as she stops the tobacco or alcohol, and starts to fast, she experiences crises of detoxification which make her suffer greatly. All the sufferings and the crises of detoxification that are experienced during the fast are symptoms of the elimination of the nicotine and alcohol that accumulated in the tissues. To avoid or attenuate the crises which can occur during the fast, it is necessary to follow the preparation described in detail before, for several weeks. Lightheadedness The most frequent symptom in a faster is the light-headedness that occurs when rising abruptly from the bed. It is never serious, except if you might fall on a sharp object and be injured. To avoid any accident, it is enough to sit down a little at the edge of the bed, before rising gently. Any activities should be reserved for the afternoon, because at this time, one is tired less, considering that detoxification slows down then. Here's an informative personal experiment. During one of my fasts, I took my car and went downtown to do some shopping. I went through several shops, standing in line at each one of them. But with the last one, the line was a little longer than the others.


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I started feeling dizzy. To avoid fainting, I rested a few minutes on the steps of a nearby staircase. Seeing me there, the manager called for an ambulance. But meanwhile, having pulled myself together, I headed towards my car. I was already sitting in it when I heard the sirens of the ambulance, stopping in front of the store door and waiting in vain for the patient who had disappeared! It was a close call, as the hospital was the last place I wanted to end up. Fever From time to time, a faster tells me that he feels feverish, without taking his temperature. But that feeling lasts only a few hours. It is a sign of detox. One should not do anything to fight the fever, other than drinking a little more water. Headaches Headaches during the fast can last from a few hours to several days. Do not seek to attenuate them, because they are invaluable symptoms of elimination. A lady had suffered all her life from migraine headaches. She fasted under the surveillance of a naturopathic doctor for 20 days. To fight these headaches, the doctor gave her pills, sugar, enemas, etc. At the end of the cure, her migraines resumed. One year later, she came to fast under my surveillance, without enemas or pills. When the headaches were painful to bear, I asked her to go through the pain and wait. Sometimes the headaches are caused by the generous discharge of toxins in the blood. At this time, it is necessary to drink more water, several glasses, little by little. She fasted at my home for 20 days, and her headaches disappeared forever. This story illustrates two ways of fasting and makes it possible to compare the results obtained by one and the other. When a naturopath supervises the fast, he always has the tendency to fight symptoms. I welcome them as signs of detoxification. Colics Colics are pains in the belly, generally caused by gasses coming from fermentation in the intestines. If you follow the preparation described before the fast, then you can avoid colic during the fast. Intestinal pains are sometimes very sharp. Soft massages are sometimes enough to move the pocket of gas, and the pain stops. Otherwise, attempting to move the bowels, with patience, is necessary.


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Weakness Weakness is completely normal during the fast. The faster can move around in the house and go to the toilet. But if there's no force left to do these simple activities, then the fast must be stopped immediately. We must distinguish weakness from the actual inability to get up to do simple tasks like these. Insomnia, Noise Sensitivity, and Nervousness The majority of fasters sleep little during the night. Their nights are very long. In contrast, young people and insomniacs sleep well during fasting. When one passes to the following phase, that of the half-fast, sleep returns little by little. Some people read, while others watch television to pass the time. Shelton recommended keeping the bed in the darkness and relaxing. Bleedings of the Gums, Bad Breath Bad breath is the sign of an advantageous detoxification. Sometimes, the taste of the mouth is pasty, sometimes bitter or putrid, and at other times, the mouth is dry. Some people spit all day from excessive salivation. It is elimination happening through the salivary glands. Bleeding of the gums occurs with some, not with all. Palpitations, Irregular Pulse, the Bar on the Chest Many fasters feel palpitations now and then. The heart beats more quickly than usual. They should stay in bed. That the heart beats quickly or slowly does not have importance provided it is regular. It can thus go up to 120 pulsations per minute or 45 only. But an irregular pulse is a bad sign which indicates the fast must end. A dentist came to my home to fast. Before his visit, he had gone for an electrocardiogram to check his heart condition, with good results to boot. On the seventh day of the fast, I heard a small noise late in the night. Passing by his room, I saw the lights. I asked him, "How are you?"He answered, "Very well. My pulse is irregular." I took his pulse; it was quite irregular. I broke the fast in the middle of the night. A Spaniard, 72 years old, came and asked to fast 30 to 40 days. He had previously fasted for 20 days in Spain. One week after the beginning of the fast, he expressed the desire to break the fast. I asked him for the reason; he answered that he wanted to cut the fast, without knowing too much why. I did not insist.


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But several hours afterward, having thought of the question, I asked him then if he had received a letter which had annoyed him or bad news. He answered no. He wanted to cut the fast, but did not know why. He was by no means afraid of the fast, since he had already fasted and he was a dedicated Natural Hygiene follower for many years. Intrigued by this case, I had took his pulse. It was irregular! He had thus had a premonitory feeling of the danger. Lastly, the feeling of a bar on the chest is a sign of distress for cardiac cases. People feeling this symptom should move directly on to the half-fast. The Vomiting of Bile This kind of vomiting occurs when the liver is tired and overworked, often in people who believe themselves quite healthy. If this vomiting occurs during the first two weeks of fast, it is necessary to let it run its course and support the faster. It is undoubtedly an elimination. But if this vomiting occurs after the fifteenth day, it is necessary to break the fast without waiting. A young law student had come to fast, 24 years ago. He complained of bad breath, so much so that his parents and friends pointed it out to him. That inconvenienced him very much. The fast, he thought, was to detoxify him and liberate him from this evil. On the 20th day of the fast, he started to vomit bile every hour. The vomiting continued until the 40th day of the fast. As soon as he ate for the first time, he suffered from mental confusion for ten days. He did not remember anything anymore. He did not know if his wife was in France or another country. He even asked me whether he had come to fast of his own free will. At other occasions, he forgot that he had fasted. It is the only case of mental confusion which I have ever seen with fasting, and I would not have any other, because I understood the reason of it. Shelton had seven cases of mental confusion. Each time he published a new edition of his book on fasting, he added one or two new cases. I am still astonished that he did not draw a general conclusion from them. If one follows a preparation before the fast, one attenuates or most likely completely avoids this unpleasant and painful vomiting.


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In the event of fainting, it is necessary to leave the subject laid on the ground. At the end of a few minutes, he will awaken. The patient should certainly not be raised immediately, not even to raise his head. The strongest crises occur among those who do not follow any preparation before fasting. Drugs must be removed gradually several months in advance. Do not neglect this preparation. Sand or Blood in the Urine. Kidney Stones. After two or three weeks of fasting, "sand" or blood may be found in the urine. When the bladder or the gall bladder is full of small kidney stones, all end up disintegrating under the effect of the fast. Then they are evacuated by the kidneys (nephritic stones), if not by the intestines (hepatic stones). A 45-year-old Italian broke his 15 days fast at my home. Two days later, he passed muddy and bloody urine. He had already decided on the day of his departure, but I asked him to delay it by a few days. His family would have been frightened, and would have persuaded him to go to the hospital, and the consequences would have been catastrophic. Physicians do not have any experience on the matter. I gave him quiet a lot of water to drink between meals. At the end of four days, his urine became normal again, and he left in better health. Others can develop an extremely violent crisis of nephritic or biliary stones. These crises last from 4 to 5 hours. The subject cannot keep his calm or remain in place, and is continuously agitated. It is the passage of the stone which causes these feelings. One should not give anything to the faster. It is necessary to make him have patience, and the crisis will pass slowly or suddenly, after 4 or 5 hours. Light Sensitivity The eyes are the most sensitive organs of the body, and any symptom which affects them during the fast must be taken into account. If daylight bothers the faster in his room so much so that he prefers to wear sunglasses inside the house, it is a sign of deficiency which requires breaking the fast without delay. I saw this symptom in fasters at the end of 50 days of fasting, seldom less. The Difficulty of Breathing If the faster is asthmatic, asthma attacks will undoubtedly occur during the fast. Following the diet preparation will minimize these crises.


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I had a patient who suffered from these asthmatic crises for one week. He also had stomach pains for the same period. He had stopped the drugs but had continued the use of the inhaler during them. At the end of the crises, and during the remainder of the cure, he had ceased using the inhaler. His asthma had completely disappeared. Heart Disease When one supervises elderly people who fast, there are sometimes latent physical weaknesses that can threaten their lives. As soon as the first signs of such a weakness occur, it is necessary to move to the half-fast. Mrs. C. was 64 years old. She fasted for her asthma, which she had for 30 years or more. She had always taken drugs for her attacks, and they were suddenly stopped the day before her fast. She fasted 19 days without trouble, then by prudence and because of her age, the fast was broken. However, at this time she had an asthma attack which lasted several days. It appeared that her life was in danger, because her heart showed apparent signs of tiredness, according to the doctor who checked her. It was necessary at all costs that these attacks of asthma stop because the fast had caused a pronounced weakness which would have been of no significance if she had been younger. At this time, the doctor prescribed a light drug to calm her asthma, which I approved under the circumstance, so as not to endanger her life. Vomiting among older people with heart disease can also cause deathly crises or a severe accidental hemorrhage. It is necessary to supervise the heart of cardiac patients and to avoid the vomiting by passing to the half-fast. Vomiting can also potentially cause a hernia. My experience with seniors is not extensive because of the inherent risks. Pains in the Kidneys or the Lungs An intense elimination can overwhelm the kidneys or lungs when they are not strong enough. Thus, one can feel a localized pain in these two vital organs. The urine can be loaded with blood. At such a time, it is necessary to drink water: at least 2 liters of water. In the event of difficulty in drinking, add orange or lemon juice in the two liters. If the intense pains


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continue after a few days, then it is necessary to pass to the half-fast, while continuously drinking a lot. The High and Intermittent Fever with Pain in the Belly A high and intermittent fever during the fast, or independently of the fast, and one that is accompanied by a dull pain in the chest area, with swelling, indicates the bursting of an internal abscess. The fever goes up and goes down without apparent reason. It is necessary to operate at once. Swollen Feet and Ankles "Mr. Mosséri, my feet, and my ankles have swelled. I cannot put my shoes on anymore. What should I do?" Here is how patients call me sometimes, after their return home. They are in a state of panic and helpless. "Did you cheat?" "Yes, I have been tempted by a forbidden dish." "Go back on the diet, and all will return to normal within in a few weeks." "There is nothing else I can do?" "Nothing else." It is necessary to wait one month after the fast, before going off the diet even just a little bit. In conclusion: When the preparation is followed, one avoids most or all of these crises. Do not forget that the sicker a person is, the longer the preparation must be. Last, most people will not have any significant crisis, but the precautions are always useful.


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CHAPTER 9 Daily Weighing As soon as you embark on a fast, it is necessary to weigh yourself every day, at the same hour, dressed in the same way. You don't have to undress because it is the difference which counts. Drink about the same quantity of water every day. If you don’t, the losses are inaccurate. But thirst takes precedence over any other consideration of weight. Some things to think about: When you don’t lose weight, or lose little weight, that means detoxification is slowed down. Detox uses nutritive substances existing in the organism. If this deceleration lasts only one or two days, it should not be taken into account, because it is not significant. But if it lasts three consecutive days, then that indicates a deceleration of elimination, due to deficiencies. With the second deceleration during three consecutive days, it is necessary to pass to the following level that of the half-fast.


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CHAPTER 10 Second phase — the Half-Fast and the Colored Tongue In 1986, I made an extraordinary discovery in the field of fasting, which obliged me to revise my Sheltonian method. A 37-year-old man came to fast under my supervision. He had taken 104 different tranquilizers during the 14 previous years. As soon as a drug did not have any more effect on him, the doctor prescribed another one. Wanting to look after himself without drugs of any kind, he fasted for 29 days without problems. Then seeing him tense, unable to relax or sleep, and not being able to drink water in spite of an intense thirst and a sharp kidney pain, I told him that he could not continue like that, though he had much to detox. Indeed, his tongue was still very white, his urine dark, and his breath foul, and he had painful kidneys despite all the water he had drunk. He answered to me that he had spent all his time, and that he wished to complete his detoxication. Then I thought that the occasion had come for him to break his fast. Indeed, as soon as fasters break the fast, they do not think of anything but going back home, and I do not see their tongue anymore. My only concern at this time is to conclude reintroduction of food so that there are no problems. However after three days, he told me to look at his tongue. I did and it was black as coal. It is true that I had already seen some cases where the tongue became black during a fast. But in this case, the color was not fortuitous. I understood that the diet kick-started detoxication. I have concluded as well that I could have caused this boosting of elimination much earlier, from the 20th day of the fast. He had thus lost ten days, during which detoxification was very weak. His tongue remained black for a few days, and then changed to mustard during several weeks, before becoming a bright pink color. At the same time, true hunger came back, the kidney pain disappeared, and I gave him the regular diet then. Then I had wondered whether this case was an exception, or if it could be reproduced at will among other patients. I had understood that the half-fast had accelerated elimination, but I needed a confirmation in other cases.


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I started again in the same way with two sisters, and their tongues took on a chestnut color the day after breaking the fast. Since then, 90% of the patients develop a colored tongue, and the 10% remainder get it during their second fast. One should naturally continue this half-fast as long as the tongue remains stained. A black tongue indicates that elimination occurs in the depths of the cells, to reject drugs taken 10-20 years before. According to the traditional method, preached by Shelton, the fast is carried on even when the patient does not lose any more weight. Detoxification becomes insignificant. When someone pointed out to Shelton that the fasters did not lose more than 200 grams per day, and that the elimination hardly continued, he answered that it was better than nothing. But he was unaware that one could start detoxification in force again, instead of being at a standstill. When one continues the fast at this level of stagnation, the weight barely drops and elimination is weak because the body does not have enough vitamins and enzymes to eliminate. There is just enough left to survive. As we saw previously, the reserves of the body are not balanced. There is always too much fat and toxins, and few essential elements (vitamins, etc.) With this new method, the fast becomes easier. It includes fewer troubles and risks. The fast becomes mathematical, precise, and scientific. This important discovery condemns the long fasts as a waste of time, if not that they are risky and useless. I call this second level of the fast following the integral water fast, the half fast. In truth, it is a detox diet, since one eats one kilo per day consisting of half fruits and half salads. But I prefer to say half-fast, to better appeal to the imagination of the patient. Otherwise, they would get tempted to eat larger quantities. The half-fast includes the following: - 500 grams of raw fruits, spread out over all afternoon. According to the size of the person, this quantity can vary.

- 500 grams of salads and green vegetables in the evening, taken in two sittings.


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The patient must still drink enough water between midnight and noon because this is the time frame when elimination is strongest. Add lemon juice if necessary. I prefer to give apples as the fruit, because they act as a brush in the intestines. Sometimes it is better to give a very water-rich fruit, like watermelon. The Three Phases of the Fast We can divide the fast into three phases: 1. The phase of the superficial elimination, when the tongue is white. This phase

leads to decent results for health, and a cure for the acute and functional illnesses. 2. The phase of survival, which is when the deficiencies start, the weight is stabilized,

and detoxification is slowing down. It is a waste of time to continue. It is preferable to avoid entering this phase and replacing it by the phase of the half-fast. The half-fast will fill deficiencies, making it possible for the weight to continue to drop, the tongue to color itself, and elimination to be started again in force.

If one continues this half-fast until the total cleaning of the tongue, then it leads to still better results for general health. It may cure more disorders and chronic diseases.

3) The starvation phase. If one continues the fast with water past the preceding

phase of survival, then one ends up entering the phase of starvation.

The symptoms of this phase are sensitivity to light, prostration, skeletal thinness, the impossibility of sitting upright, etc. The body plunders the noble organs of the body to survive.

How I Determined the Food Quantities of the Half-Fast An obese man of Marseilles followed a 17 days fast when he switched to the half-fast. I gave him only one orange in the morning and 300 grams of raw vegetables in the evening. I insisted that he drink one liter per day, but he could not do it. As a result, I gave him the juice of a squeezed orange in this liter of water. His tongue spent seven days slightly colored. One could not see but a long bar of brown color, sometimes two bars, which were not visible every day. From this case, I concluded that it was necessary to give more fruit. I currently feed between 400 and 800 grams, according to the person's size.


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The Confirmation by the pH Denis Letourneux directs a Canadian hygienic fasting center. I announced my discovery to him. But he was not convinced that the half-fast was better than the fast. I explained to him that the half-fast was to follow the fast, not to be undertaken alone. The fast clears the ground, and the half-fast accelerates detoxification by providing the exhausted vital elements. In short, Denis Letourneux had the idea to measure the pH using a strip, which he soaked in the urine. Blue coloring is neutral, and red indicates acid. However, during the half-fast, the color changed from blue to red. He phoned to tell me that this analysis had convinced him, and that it confirmed my discovery. In the Event of Serious Complications In the event of serious complications, like persistent hiccups, vomiting, the impossibility of swallowing solid or liquids, it is necessary to give warm vegetable stock, for one or two days. Do not give this stock more than two days, because the lack of vitamins in this cooked broth can bring on deficiencies. The advantages of this stock, in exceptional circumstances, and which should not be the rule for all, are the following: 1. It gives the faster a lot of water. After a long fast, the patients are a little dehydrated,

because they do not drink enough water towards the end of the fast. 2. The stock gives a useful interior heat which improves wellness. 3. The stock does not contain acids or sugar, like fruit. 4. The hot vegetable stock is cooked, therefore not very nutritive. It is an advantage

for the serious cases and not a disadvantage. The goal is to prepare the patient who is in bad shape, so that their stomach can accept raw and nutritive food.


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CHAPTER 11 The First Bowel Movement After the Fast With the majority of the fasters, it is completely normal not to pass a bowel movement during the duration of the fast, with rare exceptions. Constipated people and even others can wait up to 17 days before having the first bowel movement after the fast. Thus, one should not lose patience, and wait. I had a dancer who came to us to after a ten year old constipation. She took laxatives every evening. After ten days of fasting, she had to wait 17 days to have the first bowel movement. The following year, she fasted 14 days, in good health, and had a movement only two days after breaking the fast. She had quit the laxatives between the two cures. At the time of a meal, one experiences a certain difficulty to expel the first stool. One never should insist on evacuating. If one does not occur, it is necessary to rest and wait until the following day. One can also oil the anus or take a small soapy tepid water rectal injection. But before doing anything, it is necessary to have patience for a day or two. It is important to give the body time to widen the anus which was tightened. One never should force a bowel movement because these efforts do not always succeed. I had a Spanish lady of about 50 who was on her second fast. She fasted for three weeks without problems; her weight was stabilized twice, and we passed to the following phase, the half-fast. A few days afterward, she went to the bathroom and waited, but without success. At midnight, she experienced very sharp pain. She knocked on my door, and I saw her lying on the ground, without strength. I then asked her to have patience, but she wanted to have a rectal injection. I could not refuse, because she was in so much pain. I knew in advance that it was useless, but that saved time. The rectal injection was prepared and managed without result. The third day, when I saw her, she told me that she had passed a bowel movement without any difficulty. The rectal injections had thus been of no use, no more than oil, soap, or nothing would have been.


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CHAPTER 12 Eating After the Fast Can one have a feast after the fast? Many people think that after a fast, they will sit down to a feast, at a table filled with all kinds of food. Let's enjoy food after so many sacrifices! Then, many gorge on everything, seek supplements, and try to regain the lost weight to get back on their feet. The error is monumental. If you act in this way, then you will demolish all that we built during the fasting cure, and all the profit drawn from this period of physiological rest will be lost. You will return to the same state of poor health as before, to the same diseases, and the same troubles. It's better to not go through the trouble of fasting, than to go through such an ordeal for nothing. One of the major symptoms of these excesses is the swelling of the feet, the ankles, and even the legs. I called this “elephant feet." So many fasters call me in hysterics to tell me about the swelling of their feet after the fast. To cure that, I recommend they return to the strict hygienist diet, without any cheating. At the end of 15 days, the swelling disappears. After having fasted, it is necessary to eat very frugally on healthy, natural food. The body cannot metabolize all the new food and have you back on your feet overnight. It takes time. As a plant which one waters, it needs time so that the shoots develop. If one eats like before, the body digests only that which it needs and rejects the remainder in the stools. Moreover, when one overeats after the fast, the surplus, before being rejected into the stools, ferments and putrefies, giving rise to malodorous gasses, which act as poisons. The worst of all these excesses are those of protein food (various nuts, meat, chicken, fish, legumes, egg whites etc.). Then, it is the excess of dates, dry figs, and other dried fruits. All these dried fruits must be soaked to restore the water that they've lost. Otherwise, they are indigestible. By these excesses, health can be destroyed in little time. The repercussions are then considerable. The digestive capacity is lowered, the nervous system affected, sleep is disturbed, muscular strength crushed, and hunger disappears. There are also psychological effects, such as pessimism, anxiety, a confused mind, and depression. In his work The Nutrition of Man (1907), Professor Russell H. Chittenden, University of Yale, gives the detail of his experiments in the field of protein nutrition.


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“The faster," Chittenden writes, "having lost a good part of his protein reserves, can replace them only slowly, even if he eats abundant protein food. The human body does not keep proteins reserves, and that is true whatever the needs for the tissues which need to be set afloat again, even very much so. "The obese faster will lose less muscle than the thin faster. And when this obese person lives on a certain quantity of protein, he can maintain a certain amino acid balance, or even keep a little protein in reserve, while the thin one placed on the same diet will lose his proteins. "To gorge on protein does not give corresponding results, because of the particular physiological properties of proteins, and then because of their effect of general stimulation on the metabolism. "It is impossible for humans to store much flesh by overfeeding. In the same way, muscular force cannot be increased much by food excess. "The only conditions which make it possible for amino acids to be stored are those where energies of cellular rejuvenation are implied. Thus the accumulation of muscle tissues are found especially in the organism in a state of growth, where new cells are in fast making, as in the adult who, although having ceased growing, devotes himself to a muscular work, and finally in all the cases where the muscular of the body decreased, because of a fast or a disease. "Let us point out the fact that by nourishing the animals, one can force them to accumulate fat by overfeeding, but never their muscle.” - Professor Russel H. CHITTENDEN Let us summarize in simpler terms: the body cannot store protein. It needs some protein every day, but in small quantities. The amount of protein that you need is much smaller than most people believe. In any event, there is a little bit in the fruits and vegetables, sufficient to fill your needs. Those who might require extra protein:

- Those in a state of growth, like the children

- Pregnant women

- Individuals after a fast or a disease

- Those during increased sexual activity

- Those that have an intense muscular activity: athletes, hard working people, etc.


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True and False Hunger It is necessary to distinguish between true hunger and false hunger: what is normal and pathological. To distinguish them, wait for an hour: true hunger gets stronger and the mind becomes clear, while false hunger disappears. When one waits for true hunger before eating, the stomach is small and is fully satisfied with less. On the other hand, when one eats before being very hungry, the stomach is still distended by the preceding meal, and you are only satisfied by swallowing large quantities of food: this is pathological satiety. Without acute hunger, there is little pleasure, and people tend to seek satisfaction in variety and quantity. Under these conditions, it is difficult “to only fill the stomach two-thirds,” according to common advice, unless making superhuman efforts. And all that because one is not satisfied with the meal. Frugality becomes then a renouncement, an austerity, mortification. The Dewey System and the No-Breakfast Plan Doctor Edward H. worked in the United States at the beginning of the 20th century and suffered from dyspepsia because he gorged on food like all dyspeptics. His observations led him to eliminate the morning breakfast and to adopt the system of two meals per day. This marvelous system, however, needs certain compromises to avoid overeating. Indeed, those who are hungry in the morning or the middle of the morning will have to eat. True hunger commands. The Cornaro System Luigi Cornaro was an Italian aristocrat, who lived in the 15th century. At 40, he was so sick that his doctors advised him to write his will, arrange his affairs, and prepare to reach heaven. However, still wishing to live, he had the brilliant idea to start eating tiny amounts, without changing the composition of his diet. To everyone’s surprise, Cornaro recovered from all his supposedly incurable diseases. He even survived all his doctors who had condemned him. He lived for 104 years in radiant health, an incredible endurance, and strength. His spirit was a rare clarity, so much so that he wrote several volumes of philosophy. At 102, he published a booklet entitled "How to Live 100 Years," which he sent to all the kings, ministers, presidents,


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priests and eminent men of the world. It was since then translated into almost every language. The day of his 100th birthday, he danced all night with a 20-year-old girl and without getting tired. His method consisted of eating 700 grams of food per day and not more, liquids included. The food was the same as everyone else's, i.e. bread, meat, wine, fruits, vegetables. If he had such spectacular results on his health and his longevity, in spite of unnatural food for humans, was because of his frugality. His heredity was probably also rather solid. When we decrease food intake, we lose weight in the beginning, but then after that, the body becomes accustomed and extracts the maximum from what it has. So, it saves a lot of energy, usually spent in digestion. The organs are preserved from the fatal wear of the years. The Thompson System Five centuries later, came James C. Thomson, who lived in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was inspired by Cornaro. He suffered from tuberculosis at 40, and his doctors condemned him as incurable. Filled with wonder by the example of Luigi Cornaro, he adopted the same system of frugality. Several years after that, when he had cured his tuberculosis, he wanted to inform his family practitioner, who had condemned him several years before. He went to visit him. It was the widow of the doctor who opened the door! The food in his system did not include meat, fatty foods, or wine. Here is the menu: Morning - One fruit, one yogurt without sugar Noon - 1 slice of whole wheat bread, honey, three leaves of lettuce, raw vegetables, oil, lemon. (300 grams - 11 ounces) 4 p.m. apple juice Evening - Vegetables, cheese, jelly, ice-cream or cookies (300 grams - 11 ounces) Total - 800 grams per day (1.75 pounds) This strict diet is supposed to be followed all year round. Thomson applied it to all his patients with spectacular results. He prescribed fasting for only three days. Thomson rejected long fasts because he thought the body became depleted by it and could not express the curative symptoms of the disease.


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Which Diet After the Cure? I consider the consumption of food specific to our species is of primary importance and should have the primacy on frugality. Thomson and Cornaro had widened the range of allowed foods considerably. To have a precise idea of the diet I recommend, that which approaches more of the ideal diet, you can take as a starting point the following outline: The Mini-Meals According to this system, you wait for true hunger, and then calm this hunger with the minimum of food. Then you start again. That will make 5 to 6 small meals per day, without respecting fixed hours to eat. It is the hunger which orders the consumption. Here some examples of mini-meals:

1. 2 or 3 fruits of only one kind.

2. A whole head of lettuce seasoned with a choice of oil, lemon, tomato, black olives, yogurt without sugar, mayonnaise without vinegar nor mustard.

3. A salad bowl full of raw vegetables seasoned like above for lettuce. - An avocado.

4. Cooked vegetables.

5. Cooked potatoes, with a side of lettuce

6. Dried dates, figs, raisins or dried apricots. Always to soak dry fruits 24 h, to facilitate their digestion.

Temptations A friend of mine left for England to fast in a naturopathic clinic. The 16th day of the fast, she went away into town and ate fried eggs in a restaurant in London. She immediately experienced atrocious stomach pain and bleeding. She regretted it bitterly. "I nearly died," she told me after she returned from her journey. One Cannot Eat Just Anything After the Fast. Moreover, it is necessary to follow a progression in the re-feeding and a person won't have the discipline to follow it on their own. You need to be under the supervision of a qualified person in a hygienist house. Medical supervision is not desirable because the fasting is not taught to physicians. When one is alone to decide, one always yields to multiple temptations, and to overeating. At this delicate time, one reasons only with one’s stomach, which cries


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famine. However, the stomach that is overwhelmed by too great a quantity of food does not digest anything. In a later chapter, I will tell the tragic history of a girl who fasted all alone, at her home for ten days. During re-feeding, she listened to the calls of her stomach and ate more than she could digest. Each large meal caused her indigestion and obliged her to skip one or two other meals. Then when she would begin again to eat, and was unable to restrict herself, the upset stomach started again. And so on, until her tragic death. She died from not being able to control herself. To want to eat too much, one digests nothing and one does not come back up the slope. Who can claim to be able to limit oneself all alone after a fast? Nobody. One needs the authority of a guide. Before cheating on your diet, you must wait for three months after a long fast. Which Food to Eat After the Fast? One cannot eat everything after the fast. To eat bread, eggs, meat, fish, etc… is to ask for trouble. Shelton and all his predecessors ended the fast with orange juice - half a glass every hour. It had become a hygienist tradition, and no expert dared to do differently from it by fear of complications. Then doctor Vetrano came. She reasoned that the fast had existed since the beginning of humanity, but the juicers were recent inventions. How was the fast broken before? With whole natural foods, certainly. Animals do not juice! She gave whole tender fruits to the fasters. For my part, I prudently tested apples, spread out over all the afternoon. I have had no problem with any faster. Thus, I give them a small apple or half of a large apple, every hour, between midday and eight hours of the evening. Blood Tests You must wait six months before doing them, after a fast, otherwise, they would be alarming. Indeed, the fast generates provisional deficiencies, which are doubly filled thereafter. For example, anemia worsens after the fast but disappears completely six months later. When Can One Do a Second Fast?

People sometimes ask me when they can start a second cure, especially if the first was not complete, i.e. until the tongue becomes pink, or if one did not obtain all the anticipated results.


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In theory, it is initially necessary to wait to have recovered the lost weight so that it becomes normal again.

That means that one can begin a second cure after a few months.


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CHAPTER 13 Way of Life After the fast, it is necessary to change your way of life so that it becomes healthy. What is the point of detoxifying oneself if one must turn back to the habits which produced disease? Fasting is not a panacea. You must remove the causes of poisoning: coffee, tobacco, wine, spices, chemicals, etc. It is also necessary to avoid the food nonspecific to our species, which slowly poison the body by acidifying it (bread, meat, honey, etc.) When the organs are too damaged by the toxins, they reach a point of no return and an irreversible pathological state. The tissues become fibrous and of bad quality. It is the case in arteriosclerosis, cirrhosis, cancer. We fast and feed ourselves good food not to cure the disease, but to detoxify and restore health, which is not the same. Rejuvenation Despite all our repeated explanations on the goal of the fast, several patients come back home with the firm intention, if not desire, to take again the same food and the same activities which had previously made them sick. They think that if they fall sick again, another fast will put them back on their feet. However, the body never returns to the same state in which it was before. Instead, it becomes more sensitive to unhealthy food and reacts more violently against them. Then, the tissues are degraded with time and the cheating. Fortunately, only a few people act that way, and others are true health seekers who adopt a healthy lifestyle. It is better not to fall sick, to keep the original integrity of the tissues and our body. Each mistake makes us take a few steps back. Such an amount of energy spent to maintain ourselves would have been better spent leading us to 120 years with strength and radiant health. Unfortunately, many hygienists, knowing the cause of disease, are no longer afraid of it and sometimes do not fear eating unhealthy food. It is the other side of the coin. They have been freed from the fear of disease, but they do not hesitate anymore to infringe the laws of Nature.


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It is critical not to get discouraged. If you yield to the temptation to eat this or that, try again. Substitutions Note that it is easier to replace an unhealthy substance that to eliminate it. For example, replace coffee with a caffeine-free substitute. This fake coffee should be later discarded, but this will be easier to do than to quit coffee in the first place. Act in the same way for all the other poisons, if possible. The most difficult part is the first step. We all have our weaknesses, and it is necessary to take them into account. The important point to keep in mind is always to make progress with good habits, never to stop. Also, some add up all of the bad habits which they removed, but don't care to mention all those that they still keep. However, one should not look behind oneself, always ahead. Can All the Mistakes Be Removed? “Correct all your way of life, and do not expect to achieve your goal by a partial change." The small cheats kill you gently. People will tell me that they live hygienically 90%, and then they ask me: "Why am I sick? Why don’t I get better?" They think that if 10% of their way of life remains unhealthy, that should not count. Of course they always exaggerate in their favor that proportion of healthy life which they respect. “When we say that to recover, it is necessary to eliminate all the causes of the disease, we do not want to say by that that one can practice all the virtues except only one." Dr. Shelton With all the respect and the admiration which I owe to Shelton, I cannot agree with him when he says that one can correct all the mistakes. The civilized life is too complicated to control it completely. For example, one must attend the wedding of a relative. How to avoid the late hours? Impossible. And temptations?


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I think that it is necessary to concentrate on the serious mistakes and to neglect the small ones without any consequences. We must sort out and not mix the little cheats with the big mistakes, or confuse the small errors with the significant lapses. Besides, the small blunders can always be corrected immediately. The important thing is not to cheat regularly. After fasting, as I said earlier, the mistakes are punished by Nature: your feet will swell (elephant feet). A simple return to a frugal way of eating will make this swelling disappear within two or three weeks. When patients do not recover, Shelton says that they did not stop 100% of their mistakes. I estimate as far as I am concerned, that if these patients are not healed, that is because they have kept some big mistakes, not the secondary ones. The secondary errors have only small consequences. Also, the patient cannot himself distinguish the serious errors from the secondary errors. It is necessary that the professional hygienist studies the way of life of the person and be able to distinguish the important from the accessory. Here is an example. A person eats a small amount of meat or bread only once a week. This is much less worrisome than eating spicy food every day. To eat bread every day is more damaging than to eat fish every Friday. To drink wine on the weekends is less damaging than staying up every night and sleeping only at late hours. Depression, Weakness, and Thinness Some patients reported serious depression after the fast. I immediately detected a malnutrition because of eating cheese or other protein, foods which cause infection and fever. Their thinness can also be due to very small portions of fruits, potatoes, or dried fruit. They follow a diet of famine. They do not have the strength to work. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the quantities of fresh and dried fruits, those of potatoes and to remove cheese, or other protein food. How to Make Up for Mistakes Mistakes can be partly fixed by fasting one day a week, the same day or the day when one is not very hungry. Who can praise himself to follow to the letter the hygienic principles, without being tempted to cheat one day or the other? If the mistakes are not too serious, it is not necessary to follow this weekly fast.


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CHAPTER 14 Who Should Not Fast? Fasting is not advisable in the following cases:

Those suffering from true heart disease.

Those with tuberculosis.

Those who are skeletal, meaning who weigh 20 kilograms less than the healthy weight and also have digestive difficulties.

Those who have not stopped taking drugs for anxiety, depression or mental illness, painkillers, sedatives, and who use them regularly.

Diabetics who take insulin or other drugs regularly for more than two years.

Those who have been taking cortisone for a long time, as well as hormones, unless they stop at least three months before the fast.

Those whose thyroid gland has been removed or destroyed.

The mentally ill risking the return of their old crises (delirium, depression, madness). A 3 month preparation will be enough for them to fast in safety.

The very elderly - aged over 80.

Pregnant women over six/nine months.

Cases of cancers of the liver and spleen.

And other cases. Those Who Are All Skin and Bone The skeletal ones, who ventured to fast even for a few days, are likely to fall into a coma. And well before that, they will not hold on their legs that become soft like cotton. Even the half-fast is not advisable for excessively thin people. Already the diet change will likely cause weight loss. Therefore, it must be done with great caution. First, remove the poisons: coffee, wine, spices, sauces, tobacco, etc. After several months, change the rest of the diet, gradually, keeping white rice every day. As a safety measure, I put all the seniors on a half-fast. On the other hand, babies and children can completely fast with benefit.


Albert Mosséri

CHAPTER 15 Complicated Cases Deaths in Hospitals Not having statistics at my disposal to inform me about the number of deaths that occur in hospitals, I resorted to an original method to discover the truth. I met a stretcher-bearer who worked in a large hospital in the area. I asked him the number of rooms and patients that this hospital contained, then the number of dead bodies that he transported each week. Knowing also that death rates in fasting centers did not exceed 1/1000, I concluded from it that, all things considered, hospitals had ten times more deaths than fasting clinics. Thus, every day, patients can die by the thousand in hospitals, but nobody thinks of blaming the medical treatments. However, only one case of death is enough, if it has occurred after a fast so that there is a general outcry. We blame fasting, vegetarianism, and "charlatans." The media, which is dominated by ignorant and unscrupulous journalists, launches into the attack. It mentions the name of the deceased, and the name of the expert who supervised the cure. They question the spouse, the children, the neighbors, everyone. They never fail to mention the money involved. To be fair, it would have been necessary that the journalists, for each hospital death, publish the name of the deceased, that of his doctor, of the drugs taken, the operation they underwent, and the response of the family. As for the patients themselves who fast, the media does not care about their opinion. After having tried all the medical methods and all the treatments, after having undergone one or more mutilating operations, these patients often come to fasting as a last resort, when they are at the edge of the abyss. Often they are improved, and even miraculously restored, but sometimes they arrive too late. Those are the complicated cases. I refuse several of them each year, but sometimes yield when people insist too much, even when it compromises me. It sometimes happens that I accept a fatal case, only to regret it bitterly afterwards, because of the catastrophic mishaps that follow.


Albert Mosséri

A local radio invited me to participate in an evening program. A listener challenged me: "I am astonished to listen to you to speak on the radio, when you had a fatal case in your house." Then I answered her sharply: "But the number of deaths in the hospitals is ten times greater. In those cases, you never say anything. Medicine can thus kill with impunity; that leaves you impassive. Come on, come on, wake up!" Shelton operated his fasting center for forty years. He had forty deaths during that time. All were serious cases: cardiac diseases, tuberculosis, hidden internal abscess, advanced perforated ulcers, etc… One time, I accepted a Spaniard who suffered from advanced tuberculosis for 20 years. At 42, he had succeeded in stabilizing his state while abstaining from smoking and by adopting a vegetarian diet. Thus, he lived 20 years without troubles, taking care of his health as much as possible. Then he started again to smoke. And at the same time, he adopted a diet of mainly oranges and spinach. The result was catastrophic for his vulnerable lungs. The damage of tobacco is known, but one is unaware of those of oranges and spinach abuse in a sick person. By pity, I had accepted him. He only fasted three days and started to eat again during for one month. I returned him to his home where he died two months later. Another Case In 1949, I had gone to India for s training course in a naturopathic fasting center. At the end of my six months training, someone invited me to a distant city to look after a tubercular young person of 20 years. His father was convinced in the natural methods. I took the train and halfway, I sprained my foot. This forced me to stop my journey during one week in New Delhi, where I lived in a hotel, awaiting the healing of my painful foot. It turned out to be a lucky event, because, on my arrival, I was informed of the death of the young patient the day before. If I had arrived on the agreed day, my care could have been accused.


Albert Mosséri

Third Case One of our customers sent me her obese cousin, suffering from generalized cancer. Her analysis showed only 1 million and a half of red globules. I refused her. She died at the hospital two weeks later. If I had accepted her, she would have died at my center. People would have said that the fast had killed her! The Student of Nice A young student from the city of Nice had come to fast six days at my home. The fast was broken, and we started a re-feeding period. The meals were weighed. Her digestion was poor, but she slowly managed to claw her way back again to health and to digest her meals. She went back home and resumed her studies. The following year, she decided to fast all alone, in her student room, surrounded by her friends. "I saw how that works at Mosséri’s place," she thought. "It is as simple as anything. I can do it all alone, at home. Moreover, at home, I will be less bored, I will be surrounded by all my friends, and it won't cost me a thing." Many patients return home before the end of the cure, with the intention to continue it at their place? None of them succeed very well. Moreover, the failure can also lead to disastrous consequences. She thus fasted without difficulty, like always. "Fasting is easy." But after breaking the fast, she threw herself into food without being able to control herself. As a result, indigestion forced her to abstain from eating until she felt at ease again. Then again, she overate, and so on. Months passed in that manner, without her being able to digest only one meal because they were too large. Like all the fasters, she was unable to control herself. The supervision of a qualified person is a critical necessity for a thousand reasons. She died at home, nine months later, weighing only 26 kilos. The Case of Mr. Martinez Too many people in poor health think that reading a book is enough to give them the necessary knowledge to fast alone. They risk their lives, and many have died in this way. It is enough sometimes, for well-intentioned relatives or neighbors to "rescue them," to call for a physician, the police, or a social worker. They will end up, against their own will, in a hospital.


Albert Mosséri

In fact, I met Mr. Martinez, who had fasted all alone in his home. He was not a sick man, nor was he in poor health. Friends went to see him. Then he told them candidly: "If you want to know the truth, I am now in the middle of 40-day water fast." They phoned the hospital, which gladly came to fetch him. "I continued the fast at the hospital," he told me, "and on the 40th day, I asked for a lemon to break it." The hardest place to fast is in the grim atmosphere of hospitals. She Fasted in a Hotel! A lady went to fast in a hotel to isolate herself from her family. The manager worried when her client never left her room or her bed. She candidly confessed that she was fasting. Immediately, he telephoned the police, who sent for an ambulance and put her in hospital without asking her opinion. She did not die, but other similar cases have died.

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