For people who know that God exists and that He, and not chance, rules the world, hunger is a sign of God’s wrath. People must be ossified in some very wrong way of thinking and acting, so that at some point it will be said: “Behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, will take away from Judah the staff and the reed, all the strength of bread and all the strength of water” (Isa. 3:1 ).
If people make walls out of their pride and hide behind them from the face of God, if people make God an enemy for themselves and laugh at His words, then hunger will become a battering weapon from which the god-fighting walls will fall. It is said about this: “If after this you do not correct yourself and go against Me, then I will also go against you and strike you seven times for your sins. The bread that sustains a man I will destroy from you...” (Lev. 26:23-25).
Is it worth rummaging through recent archives, remembering the besieged Leningrad, the artificial famine in Ukraine and the Volga region, in order to develop this topic? Isn’t it clear that whether it is a natural famine, born of the earth’s refusal to give birth, or an artificial famine, born of an evil human will, we are dealing with trouble - with great trouble and, most likely, with punishment.
But there is also a special kind of hunger. The prophet says about him: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord God, when I will send a famine on the earth—not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but a thirst for hearing the words of the Lord. And they will walk from sea to sea, and wander from north to east, seeking the word of the Lord, and will not find it” (Amos 8:11-12).
For us, “born in the USSR,” it is easier to understand these words as having been fulfilled in our recent past.
Our Motherland is amazing. If you love her, then (Lermontov is right) - “strange love.” My whole Motherland is made of paradoxes, everything is above logic or below it.
The country that won and eradicated illiteracy, the country that put all its citizens behind desks, stood in lines for bread in the days of war and for books in the days of peace, this country took the Bible from its citizens who could read. And people really wandered in search of Living Words. And people went to prison for reading and possessing the Book. And they copied the Book by hand, unwittingly turning into the kings of Israel, to whom the Law charged them with the duty of rewriting the Torah and learning from it.
Who among the older generation does not remember that caustic literary garbage called “Funny Bible”, “Funny Bible”, etc.? “Over there,” in the West, such characters as Shaw or Twain tried to make the Lord “the talk of the sharp and poisonous tongues.” In our graceless field, smaller workers sweated profusely. But the lack of talent was made up for by government orders, and these vile little books collected dust on many shelves.
And this is how the hunger for hearing the words of the Lord can be connected with the era of public printed ridicule of the Lord God!
One day I read in the Journal Hall a scholarly discussion about the possibility or impossibility, appropriateness or inappropriateness for a scientist to be a believer. Scientists, as usual, sometimes talk about nothing, sometimes so cleverly and subtly “about their own” that no one understands. And the brightest sparks are struck not from cool reasoning, but from an argument between two people, one of whom clearly does not believe, and the other truly believes. M. Gasparov, expressing his learned “not credo,” take and inappropriately touch upon the sacrament of the Eucharist. And then I hear a woman’s voice in response. On a high note of concern, with good knowledge of the topic and in beautiful language, the venerable scientist was pointed out his place in those issues where faith is involved, which Gasparov, unlike colossal knowledge, does not have. I'm looking for the author's name - I.B. Rodnyanskaya, literary critic. By the way, I. and B. stand for Irina Bentsionovna. Eh, I would give that article to any anti-Semite, from home-grown to ideological, to read. Look, some little head would have cooled down.
And Irina Bentsionovna writes there (God save her), among other things, about how she taught Gogol’s correspondence with Belinsky according to the program. About how, among the usual phrases of criticism about the rightness of Vissarion and his victory over Gogol, she for the first time felt the sweetness of the name of Jesus and vaguely felt that in Him was the Truth.
She also writes about how one old and seasoned priest told her about homemade “prayer books” of the Soviet era. These were more quotation books than prayer books, and they consisted of carefully cut out sacred quotations, for the sake of laughter and criticism placed in atheistic little books, in which the atheist laughed with sick proletarian laughter at the creation of the world, at the rites of the book of Leviticus, at the Immaculate Conception, at the feeding of the five thousand five loaves. He laughed and... gave quotes. It was these quotes that the believers carefully cut out and made small books out of them.
This is what many people had to go through, what they had to change their minds and re-evaluate, what doubts they had to overcome, what sighs they had to exhaust their chests in order to get through the red era and preserve the faith!
Here is a clear picture for you, here is a drop of blood taken to analyze the era of “the famine of hearing the words of the Lord.” Here is a small touch, small, like an iota or a line in the Law, upon examination of which much becomes clear.
The people survived, enduring various hunger strikes, and finally entered an era rich in everything, including access to information.
Here we gradually approach the topic of hunger not as a punishment, but as a sign of health. A sick body turns away from food. A healthy person wants to eat. In this sense, we understand the command of Christ about the daughter of Jairus healed by Him: “She immediately stood up, and He ordered to give her something to eat"(Luke 8:55). This means that the girl is not only alive, but also healthy.
If a healthy body wants food, then a healthy soul wants the word of God, remembering that You can't live on bread alone(See: Matthew 4:4).
Our Bible was returned to us today. But now we don't want her. It lies on many people’s shelves, like a rusty weapon from a drunken deserter, and rarely do human fingers carefully touch it.
It is worth repeating a few thoughts, otherwise there is a risk of confusion.
Man lives in two ways and from two types of bread - earthly and heavenly. Any hunger is terrible - both the hunger of bread and the hunger of Divine words. Both lead to cannibalism. Not at all figurative, but very real. The book of Leviticus says so: “You will eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters you will eat” (Lev. 26:29).
Our history is so full of evidence - photographs, documents, eyewitness accounts, that to indulge in evidence is a waste of words.
Our people “during this time” turned away from healthy food (we won’t go into the reasons here) and wanted to eat only cakes, which a bright future will bake for them. As a result, I had to mix the bread for a long time, either with sawdust, or with pine needles, or with bran. Moreover, this applies to “both breads” (see above about quotation books cut from books on atheistic propaganda).
Now we have food on the table and the Bible on the coffee table. It’s time to be hungry for the word of God and read it, read it, committing it by heart, making extracts and notes, searching for meaning, filling the emptiness of your heart. Like the ancient fathers of the Sinai, Palestine and other deserts, when we meet, we need to share words about what we have read, what we have penetrated, what we have felt from the Divine Scriptures. This is healthy hunger, that is, hunger that indicates the health of the soul. And this hunger is not a punishment, but a blessing.
If heavenly bread and pure milk of words are not loved and in demand, then only religious fast food will be eaten, namely: the pursuit of miracles, unraveling worldwide conspiracies and “eschatological paranoia.”
What practically can you offer? You came to visit me, and before I seat you at the table, I say: “Let’s read five psalms from the Psalter.”
You and I met on the street, and immediately after shaking hands you tell me where the Messianic prophecies are contained in the book of Job.
Well, of course, we will never leave the church without taking with us in our memory either the explained word of the Lord or a remembered apostolic expression.
What do you think of these practical examples?
“If this is in us and increases, then we will not remain without success and fruit in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (see: 2 Pet. 1: 8).
If we don’t have this in us, and even worse, we don’t want it and we’re not interested in it, then I don’t know what to say.
If the Sweetest Jesus is not sweet to the people and the heavenly bread is not tasty to the people, then who knows whether we will soon disappear like vapor, and whether a random passer-by will say: “People once lived here.”
And if parents can often be told: “Take away the chewing gum and chocolate bars from the children. Teach them to feel the taste of simple bread,” then it is also worth reminding everyone on whom it depends: “Teach the people to God’s word. The people are destroyed without the word of God.”
The last one seems to be a direct quote from Dostoevsky.
Spiritual fasting, physical fasting and therapeutic fasting
Fasting and therapeutic fasting are different concepts and should not be confused with each other. Fasting is an abstinent way of life undertaken for spiritual purposes to calm passions and strengthen prayerful appeal to God. There are two types of fasting: spiritual fasting is abstaining from judging one’s neighbor, swearing, bad thoughts and intensifying prayer; bodily fasting is abstinence in diet, abstinence from smoking, from marital relations, etc. However, physical fasting is undertaken in the same way as spiritual fasting, for the sake of Christ, while therapeutic fasting (fasting-dietary therapy, or RDT) is abstaining from food for the sake of the flesh, that is, to get rid of illnesses and diseases. Thus, spiritual fasting, physical fasting and therapeutic fasting are different phenomena of life, and in some cases their implementation may contradict each other. For example, a wife who has family responsibilities, preparing food for the family, often cannot go hungry because fasting means an interruption in her obedience to her husband and service to the family. If attempts are made to create a so-called healthy lifestyle without an agreement between family members, tension in the family increases. In addition, therapeutic fasting for long periods is often associated with weakness, then a person will not be able to go to Church, confess, or receive communion. And in any of the four long Orthodox fasts, we must confess and receive communion. Then will we be given health? To a certain extent, fasting (RDT) is not an easy procedure, and at the end of a long fast, some people’s appetite increases so much that for several weeks a person is engaged only in satisfying his flesh and only thinking about food. Then what kind of liberation from the slavery of the sin of gluttony do we pray for? Given the many, many contradictions, to a certain extent we must try to find a compromise in which obedience takes a central place: an Orthodox person should discuss with a priest familiar with the practical results of therapeutic fasting, and receive a blessing to carry it out.
However, it is necessary to clearly understand that fasting does not heal, it provides detoxification, cleansing crises, enzyme and immune changes, the release of one’s own defenses, but getting rid of ailments is entirely in the power of the Lord. This central point must always be kept in mind and fasting should be carried out in such a way that it does not contradict Orthodox traditions and complies with them to the maximum extent possible. For example, therapeutic fasting in chronic cases is better carried out during fasting, and not during non-fasting times. During the RDT period, it is imperative to confess and receive communion more often. Every day you need to read prayers, canons, psalms, asking advice from a clergyman. Carry out those Sacraments that the priest recommends.
Professor Yuri Sergeevich Nikolaev in his book “Fasting for Health” writes that the first fasting is the most effective. Many have somehow lost sight of this fact, and yet ignorance of it gives rise to many negative consequences and suffering. The view is intensively cultivated, as if a person is a mechanism that needs to be cleaned regularly, including by fasting, and he will recover. The popularizer of this simplified view was the American Paul Bragg. But a person is not a machine, and by fasting often, he can get even sicker than without fasting. Because the processes occurring with the patient’s flesh at the RDT and at the exit from it are very complex and have not yet been studied enough. That is why another American, but unlike amateurs, a specialist doctor with extensive experience, Herbert Shelton, recommends not torturing yourself with short fasts, but immediately carrying out the first and long course of fasting in order to achieve the most complete result. Then the result is much better and much less trouble, of course, if RDT is carried out under the guidance of an experienced mentor. In our practice, we have repeatedly noted that in solving the problems of serious illnesses, it is the first fast that plays the most important role and provides the most important chance for getting rid of ailments. For example, with bronchial asthma, the first fast after 5 days allows most asthmatics to throw away all medications and pocket inhalers, because asthma attacks stop completely. But if after a course of RDT there was non-compliance with the diet and fasting, there were cases when asthma returned again after a few months or a year, and repeated fasting for 20, 30 and sometimes more days did not produce results and the sufferers despaired. There is an opinion that if RDT does not help with asthma, nothing will help the patient. This means not just relief, but the dream of all asthmatics - to breathe deeply and quit all medications. But the duration of fasting should always be clarified by a specialist individually. For example, the work of a group of doctors led by Professor Alexey Nikolaevich Kokosov has proven that for different pathologies, approaches should be different. In particular, for bronchial asthma, they recommend two fasts per year for two weeks, since a decrease in autoimmune reactions of the bronchial tree occurs after a 14-day fast and lasts exactly six months, after which a second course of RDT is required.
In most cases of serious pathology, the course of RDT must be long and all conditions must be created to exclude a negative impact on the course of treatment. It is in the first year of RDT that it is especially carefully necessary to saturate every hour of the patient with spiritual work on himself: reading spiritual books, prayers, visiting church, conversations with worthy people.
Receiving in most cases bright results after a course of RDT, the patient should not make hasty conclusions about absolute healing. Therapeutic fasting has one secret feature that few who write about RDT reveal to readers. But we will reveal it. This feature is that after fasting... the disease often returns again! This is reality, this is a fact, and you can’t escape it. And those who advise fasting, promising complete healing, are lying. Such pseudo-experts cannot be trusted. But one should not rush into disappointment, because for some reason RDT is steadily widespread in treatment centers here and abroad. And that's why. The reality of the treatment process is that any chronic disease after any treatment (and without treatment) can go away, but then returns again, that is, periods of exacerbation and periods of remission alternate. Likewise, after a course of RDT, for example, asthma disappears, but after a few months or years the person comes to the doctor again with blue lips, breathing heavily and wheezing. Why is this happening? In the case of bronchial asthma, for example, when after RDT the patient does not follow a diet, if he eats a lot of mucus-forming foods (sweet and dairy), gluten (flour and potatoes), then the mucus “seals” part of the respiratory tract and the asthmatic has nothing to breathe. In addition, sweets, flour, and dairy are hyperergic foods that increase the body's reactivity, including the immune one. It is known that bronchial asthma is an autoimmune disease. One’s own immunity “hits” the lungs’ own tissues and increases swelling of the airways, making it even more difficult for an asthmatic to breathe. Eating meat, canned food, fried foods, vinegar, acidifies the blood, and in case of asthma we must alkalize the blood. By the way, to alkalize the blood, asthmatics are given a soda solution via dropper to relieve an attack.
Thus, well understanding the essence of the process, we can describe it as follows: when receiving remission through therapeutic fasting, with further recommendations we “stretch” the remission period as much as possible. Or perhaps several years. Then a long course of RDT must be repeated. And again, having surrendered to the will of the Lord, to abstain in prayer and repentance, for who knows what His providence is for our fate. Yes, and asking about the future is a sin.
1. Pray and observe fasting abstinence, as well as moderation outside of fasting.
2. Don’t do anything to others that we don’t want for ourselves.
3. If possible, avoid chemical-electric treatment.
4. Lead an active lifestyle, have a vegetable garden, be in the clean air, fish, swim in the river in summer and steam in a bathhouse in winter (except for the phase of exacerbation of diseases).
5. Eat domestic products, preferably from your own garden and garden, or proven and from familiar people in the market.
6. Eliminate foreign products.
7. Monitor the ecology in the surrounding space (air, water) and fight for cleanliness.
8. Drink medicinal plants and eat medicinal greens throughout the year, if possible, with minimal interruptions. Individual selection according to diseases is contained in our methods.
By the way, this is what Cain’s medicine does with illness: it shortens periods of remission. This is noted during the treatment of radiculitis with diodynamic currents - without DDT, the process will pass and may not be repeated for several years, but after electrical exposure to DDT, exacerbations can become frequent - every year and even sometimes several times a year. The same is observed in the treatment of gastric and duodenal ulcers with H2-histamine blockers - after their use, exacerbations become more frequent, becoming annual or several times a year. The same is true after the use of antibiotics and sulfonamides for many diseases. Perhaps the biggest champions in shortening remission are hormones, including hormonal ointments for skin diseases.
Cain products: pasteurized milk, sweets, chocolate, canned food, sausages are also often a factor that constantly shortens remission and contributes to the exacerbation of many diseases.
A logical question arises: it is impossible for us to give up everything and leave life, is that what you preach? No, I just want to convey to the reader thoughts that often conflict with reality. And thinking is a purely personal, individual process. But there are special questions - what to avoid and what not to avoid in this or that health problem. That is why we need a parish doctor, with whom we can determine the level of compromise individually. For example: for flying rashes in children, we recommend giving them dates, raisins, figs instead of chocolate. But with the rheumatoid process or systemic scleroderma, we completely exclude most carbohydrates: not only all sweets, but also bread and potatoes. In this case, the compromise has much less degrees of freedom and much less choice.
And again let's return to the three main concepts that non-Orthodox authors try to confuse: spiritual fasting, bodily fasting, therapeutic fasting. One of the most important laws of human existence is law of contradiction of flesh and spirit. The Orthodox Church firmly and clearly points out this, which pseudo-Christian ideologists terribly dislike. The Apostle Paul points this out directly: Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on carnal things, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on spiritual things (Rom 8:5). I say: walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh, for the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh: they oppose each other, so that you do not do what you would like. (Gal 5:16)
The ideas that have been circulating recently about supposed harmony between the spiritual and physical principles are impossible. Those who practically try to achieve harmony between body and spirit through cleansing, exercise, fasting, super-diets inevitably slide into indulging carnal thoughts, from which slavery sooner or later arises. And doctors are witnesses to personal and family disasters or spiritual degradation.
A surprised question may arise: Is the author against a healthy lifestyle? - No, I don’t mind. But you cannot put “healthy lifestyle activities” at the center of your life, because this is carnal and base. Dealing too much with one’s flesh is dangerous because the identification of the human “I” with the body increases. And the desires of the flesh can turn into desires of the soul. Perhaps a reasonable compromise is to carry out a course of RDT, achieve a stable remission of the disease and, in the meantime, eat normal foods and drink herbal tea. Visit the bathhouse once a week. THIS IS NORMAL AND REASONABLE. But doing qigong bodily exercises for several hours a day is a huge waste of time. Taking an enema for weeks at a time without a doctor’s prescription, drinking vegetable oil once every three months and then dragging your feet with nausea for a week or two is excessive and unnecessary.
When receiving health as a gift from God, you need to spend time and energy on repentance, prayer and doing good, but not on qigong exercises or auto-training. Practical experience shows that the more a person deals with health during this period, the faster it eludes him. A healthy lifestyle also does nothing for the soul, it is only for the flesh. One day a woman came to me and said that she and her husband were vegetarians. She heard that the author of these lines is a vegetarian and suggested: “You and your wife are vegetarians, and we are vegetarians with your husband, let’s be friends as families.” I was a little surprised by this proposal and began to think. I really wanted to be friends, but after many minutes of silence I did not find any reason to be friends on the basis of vegetarianism. What, discuss cooking methods? - Unclear. And he admitted to her: “You know, I don’t understand how to do this.” You can be friends, loving your Fatherland and rooting for it, you can be friends with Orthodox families, go to the same church and read and exchange books. But it is not clear how to carry out the process of friendship based on vegetarianism.
We use the maximum approximation to the Orthodox tradition, recommending the components of fasting in the process of therapeutic fasting, but we should never confuse these different concepts and the different goals achieved by the practice of fasting and the practice of RDT. In a sense, even the personality of the doctor is divided into two aspects. The medical doctor strives to correctly carry out RDT, to influence various links in the pathogenesis of the disease with herbs, and by all means strives to achieve the recovery of the patient. The Christian doctor contemplates what is happening and is amazed at the reversal of human destinies and the wisdom of God’s Providence for man. Let us remember the Apostle Paul, who had illness in his flesh: And so that I would not be exalted by the extraordinary nature of the revelations, a thorn was given to me in the flesh, the angel of Satan, to depress me, so that I would not be exalted. Three times I prayed to the Lord to remove him from me. But the Lord said to me: My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness. (1 Cor. 12:7)
The purpose of this book is not to analyze spiritual issues, for everyone should mind their own business. For the author, it’s a healing thing. Therefore, we will continue to consider medical issues.
Hello dear friends.
Today is the main article on this site. She's boring, but still the main one.
So, What is therapeutic fasting? For many people this phrase may seem absurd. At least most of the people around me offline looked at me in surprise when I did this.
After all, many remember the words of their grandmother: “Eat, grandson, otherwise you will weaken and get sick” or something like that.
Therapeutic fasting is a voluntary abstinence from food carried out according to certain rules in order to restore health.
The therapeutic fasting procedure is divided into three parts:
- Preparation.
- Immediate abstinence from food.
- Exit.
What “certain rules” are we talking about?
_______________________
When preparing for therapeutic fasting, you must:
Go to the so-called " ", which contains 80% natural natural food (fruits, vegetables, nuts, honey, herbs, ); I would recommend the period of the preparatory period to be as long as possible, but no less than the period of abstinence from food itself;
The second stage of preparation is bowel cleansing (enemas, shankh prakshalyana);
The third is liver cleansing (especially before long fasting);
_______________________
During immediate abstinence from food DO NOT TAKE ANYTHING INSIDE In addition to clean (ideally distilled) water, in some cases you can use a weak solution of honey. If you eat vegetables or fruits, this will mean breaking the fast. If you eat anything protein - meat or dairy - you will cause harm to yourself, even death.
_______________________
Exit. This stage is very individual. Some people go out on citrus juices, and everything is fine. This method is suitable for people who have been practicing this lifestyle for a long time. This method did not work for me. You can also come out of therapeutic fasting on combined fruit and vegetable juices, as well as on the vegetables, fruits, and salads themselves. You can even use porridge or sprouted wheat or buckwheat seeds. This is a broad topic.
_______________________
Therapeutic fasting is a natural method of healing and rejuvenating your body. It has been known for as long as life has existed. Animals do not eat anything when they are sick. Most likely, most people have done this before. However, for some reason this method has become “littered”. The principle of therapeutic fasting has been forgotten and the theory of chemical drugs has been inspired.
I almost forgot. In addition to the three 3 parts, there is one more condition. It is necessary to perform the following set of measures:
- Provide yourself with a source .
- Eating natural food during the winter (how to preserve the naturalness of vegetables and fruits for the winter period of time in urban conditions).
- Quitting drugs (including smoking and alcohol) COMPLETELY!
- Refusal of junk food (fast food, sweet carbonated water, hormonal meat, yeast bread, etc.).
Even if you don’t delve into the practice of therapeutic fasting, but simply adhere to at least these four points, life will become much easier for your body. Fulfillment of these conditions is the foundation
In the old days, people in Rus' knew well what fasting was. Nowadays, this concept has been lost or greatly distorted, and now many people do not understand the essence of Orthodox fasting, reducing it to simple abstinence from certain types of food. And there are those who confuse the concept of fasting and dieting or even fasting. Various books by modern authors, in which completely incompatible concepts are mixed, play a significant role in this. Thus, at the scientific conference “Traditional Medicine and Nutrition” in 1994, a report was read out “The importance of short-term fasts for the treatment of colds” - obviously an incorrect use of the word “fast”, which has become fashionable. Let's try to figure out what fasting and therapeutic fasting are.
In medicine there is the concept of “therapeutic fasting”. This is a non-drug method of treating certain diseases, which is possible only with the participation of a specialist. Fasting for medicinal purposes has been known since ancient times; Pythagoras, Socrates, Hippocrates and Avicenna resorted to it. In the Middle Ages, the idea of fasting was supported by Paracelsus and F. Hoffman. In Russia, the ideas of therapeutic fasting were developed in the middle of the 17th century. At the beginning of the twentieth century. The founder of this method was the student S.V. Botkin Professor V.V. Pashutin.
Since the 1940s in practice, the method of fasting-dietary therapy of Professor Yu.S. Nikolaev was successfully used (he introduced the term RDT). According to this technique, which is still popular today, neuropsychiatric diseases, alcoholism, asthma, hypertension, and patients with drug intolerance are treated. According to Yu.S. Nikolaev himself, RDT is “not a specific method for any disease or group of diseases. This is a general strengthening method that mobilizes the body’s defenses, and therefore has a wide range of indications.” But in this author’s book one can again observe a confusion of the concepts of fasting and therapeutic fasting (dietary nutrition). He further writes: “In Russia in the Middle Ages, fasting was widely practiced in monasteries... Sergius of Radonezh very often went hungry himself. ...Fasting, in essence, was an expression of folk wisdom; the need for periodic cleansing of the body, prompted by instinct, helped to maintain health.” One can only guess how they “maintained health” and “cleansed the body” in Rus' before the adoption of Christianity with its system of fasting? In addition, Nikolaev’s system is not exactly a scientific method, it is rather naturopathy, calling for a return to “nature”, giving preference to natural food that has not undergone chemical treatment, seeing the cause of disease in “departure from nature and violation of its laws.” This is already quite far from the Orthodox doctrine, especially from the Orthodox concept of fasting.
Medical therapeutic fasting can be complete (“wet”) and absolute (“dry”); partial (“malnutrition”) has no therapeutic value. The most common and studied method is complete (“wet”) fasting. “Dry” fasting, without drinking water, is carried out less frequently and is limited in duration. Therapeutic fasting has its limits. Thus, the loss of body weight should not be more than 20–25%, the period of fasting should not exceed 40 days, the extreme age of fasting people should be from 17 to 60 years. With RDT, the body's excretory systems are activated, and regular cleansing procedures ensure the removal of toxins. Changes occur in metabolism, and “internal reserves” begin to be used up. One of the most important conditions of RDT is the correct “exit from fasting”, i.e. strictly gradual restorative nutrition. There are contraindications for performing RDT, so doing “amateur activities” is unacceptable here.
As we can see, the RDT technique is scientifically based and is carried out in specialized clinics under the supervision of specialists. However, there are also various proprietary methods, of which the systems of healing and fasting by P. Bragg, G. S. Shatalova and G. P. Malakhov are the most famous.
Paul S. Bragg - American physician (1881–1970). He attached the main importance to human health to therapeutic fasting and proper nutrition. We published his book “The Miracle of Fasting”, which had a wide resonance. Bragg considered a vegetarian-oriented diet to be optimal for human health, the basis of which is vegetables and fruits, the consumption of meat and eggs is limited, sausages and canned food are not recommended - anything that contains food colorings and preservatives. Sugar is replaced with honey and juices, salt is completely excluded from the diet. For some diseases, Bragg recommends daily - 24-hour - complete abstinence from food, once every three months fasting for 3 days, once a year - 7-10 days.
From a medical point of view, the P. Bragg system contains many controversial issues. The short fasts recommended by him do not lead to a restructuring of the body to internal nutrition and cannot have a therapeutic effect, rather promoting simple “rest” of the gastrointestinal tract. He also paid insufficient attention to cleansing the body during fasting and the correct “exit” from it. And in general, the Bragg system is practically inapplicable in our conditions of a limited labor regime, a limited choice of plant foods and a high content of toxins in it.
You can also see in P. Bragg’s system many points that do not correspond to the Orthodox faith. In his “commandments” and “moral guidelines” he reveals a worldview that is alien to Orthodoxy in spirit. Thus, someone who wants to cleanse the body must: “... honor your body as the greatest manifestation of life... devote years of dedicated and selfless service to your health... keep your thoughts, words and emotions pure, calm and sublime.” During fasting, Bragg recommends moving away from everyone, shutting yourself off from the outside world, and not telling anyone about your abstinence in order to “avoid the influence of other people’s negative thoughts.” P. Bragg himself, in the preface to his book, says that he speaks in it “as a teacher, not a doctor.” There is a call to “follow the natural laws of life,” i.e. Nature is elevated to a cult. Bragg insists on the need to “cultivate positive thoughts... Consider your thoughts as real power. Through fasting, you can create the person you would like to be" (The Miracle of Fasting). This can already be attributed to visualization techniques, and the author himself can be blamed for the fact that he goes beyond the scope of popular scientific work on physical health and claims to have some kind of control over the consciousness of readers, imposing on them various mystical views. The book talks about a certain “life force”, and the main concern of the starving man is the extension of human life. However, in Orthodoxy, the cause of death is not a violation of the laws of nature, but sin - a violation of a person’s connection with his Creator. Confusing the concepts of diet, fasting and fasting, P. Bragg gives the example of “therapeutic fasting” of Moses, David and Christ Himself, which, of course, comes from his complete misunderstanding of the essence of fasting as an ascetic feat. We also know that the life force for a Christian is Divine grace (Acts 17:28), which does not depend on the properties of the food eaten. A Christian does not elevate the health of the body into a cult, which is what P. Bragg does; we remember that the body does not exist for food, but food for the body. Thus, we can conclude that P. Bragg’s system is inherently not acceptable for an Orthodox person.
Another author of the popular method of healing the body using fasting and diets is Galina Sergeevna Shatalova (born in 1916), candidate of medical sciences. There is already an appeal to “solar energy products”. It is proposed to completely exclude meat and dairy products from the diet (meat is considered a source of troubles, such as acceleration in children, and milk is completely harmful to health; after 3 years the body no longer needs it), eat vegetables, herbs, and fruits collected in season. It is advisable to use those fruits that grew “in your climate zone.” However, WHO experts have established that a person needs animal protein in an amount of at least 1 g per 1 kg, otherwise undesirable changes begin in the body. G.S. Shatalova also recommends “chewing food at least 50 times,” “do not mix plant and animal foods,” “do not reheat cooled food,” and do not use frying pans and pressure cookers.
If you take a closer look at this system, you can find here the same anti-Christian elements of the deification of nature that are present in Bragg’s systems and Nikolaev’s reasoning. According to G.S. Shatalova, her system is based on “the indissoluble unity of man and the nature of the Earth, the Universe as a whole. The idea of a rational beginning of Nature was expressed in ancient times." According to Shatalova herself, her system is based on Eastern teachings about human health (including yoga, qigong) and the experience of “traditional healers” (for example, P. Ivanov), i.e. far from traditional medicine. The disease, according to Shatalova, is a violation of the “man-nature” connection, and its treatment, accordingly, will consist in restoring this connection. Fasting is recommended as an integral part of a specific (i.e. separate) diet. The first place in the system of natural healing is “achieving a positive mental attitude.” The system itself is openly declared as “a transition to a different way of life, life in unity and harmony with nature and oneself.”
Another popular technique in our country is the “separate nutrition” technique, popularized by the American physician Herbert Shelton (1895–1985). He wrote the book “Orthotrophy. Basics of proper nutrition”, in which he outlined his views on the problem of proper human diet. However, upon closer examination, it turns out that this system is erroneous and is based on ignorance of the processes of digestion. Thus, it is assumed that the digestion of proteins occurs in the acidic environment of the stomach, and carbohydrates in an alkaline environment, greens and fruits are digested in any environment and are “compatible” with everything. But these ideas are wrong! In the stomach, food, firstly, is mixed under the influence of peristalsis, and secondly, digestion occurs in the small intestine, where the environment is alkaline, while in the stomach only the preparation of proteins for this process takes place. Another important point should also be taken into account - there are no “mono-products”, i.e. proteins and carbohydrates in their pure form, these include only salt, sugar and butter, the rest consist of a harmonious mixture of different substances. Thus, Shelton's statements are untenable from a medical point of view. The separate nutrition system has two disadvantages: psychological discomfort (fear of eating something “wrong”) and a restructuring of enzyme production (with systematic adherence to the system), so that at a certain time only certain enzymes are produced to digest protein or carbohydrate foods. A failure in nutrition can lead to very serious consequences and threaten a person’s life. The Shelton system was developed in the southern states of the United States, where the diet of the inhabitants was overloaded with meat products, so that this led to serious digestive problems. However, in Russia, meat consumption is much lower (approx. 62 kg per year versus 180 kg). Instead of separate meals, it is enough to reduce the level of protein consumption to 100 g per day.
Encyclopedia of rituals and customs.
Medical and hygienic aspects of nutrition during fasting (meat.ru).
Yu.S.Nikolaev, E.I.Nilov, V.G.Cherkasov. Fasting for health. - M., 1988.
Therapeutic fasting. Methodological recommendations for doctors (lenmed.spb.ru).
Yu.N. Kudryavtsev, Candidate of Medical Sciences. Critical analysis of the P. Bragg method (abgym.ru).
P.Bragg. The miracle of fasting (lib.ru).
“The miracle of fasting” as the eighth wonder of the world (tvplus.dn.ua).
St. John of Damascus. An accurate exposition of the Orthodox Faith. - M., 2002.
Fasting is a process of increased physical regeneration, renewal of all cells, their molecular and chemical composition. After fasting, a significant renewal of the body occurs, a kind of rejuvenation.
For a long time, people have known about the cleansing power and health benefits of therapeutic fasting. However, the rejuvenating value of meaningful fasting for human life has often been masked by its religious significance.
It is believed that fasting was first prescribed by God to the ancestors of mankind, Adam and Eve, who were forbidden to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (forbidden fruit).
In Hinduism, various movements and sects actively use fasting as a means of purification. Of the 64 volumes of the Jewish Talmud, Megillat Taamit, one is entirely devoted to this topic and is translated as “The Scroll of Fasting.”
The treatise examines in detail the characteristics of each of the 25 days of the year on which Jews are required to fast.
In ancient centuries, when a real threat to the state arose, the highest authority, the Sanhedrin of the Elders of Zion, had the authority to declare a general famine in order to ask the Lord for salvation. These mass fasts usually lasted from several days to a week.
Orthodox Jews still mark the days of tragic events in Jewish history by fasting, unlike other peoples who prefer in most cases large feasts with alcoholic beverages.
All modern religious Jews fast on Judaism's holiest day, Yom Kippur, the day of atonement that occurs at the end of September when they do not eat or drink for 24 hours. Members of the Pharisees' party must fast regularly for two days a week.
The Bible in the book of Exodus, the second book of the Old Testament and the Jewish Pentateuch, says that Moses, before receiving from God the Ten Commandments and the Tablets for Israel, fasted twice on Mount Sinai (Horeb) for only 40 days and nights, and only then did God deign to pay attention to Moses.
In Christianity, everyone knows the legend that Jesus Christ, like Moses, before he began preaching God’s message, went into the desert and did not eat for 40 days and nights.
Jesus fasted in full accordance with the laws of Judaism, to which he belonged by birth and upbringing.
It was at the end of his 40-day fast that Jesus Christ said: “Man does not live by bread alone, but by what the Lord God tells him.”
Thus, he confirmed with his personal experience, like Moses, that the Lord God himself begins to speak to the hungry man.
Periods of fasting confirm that Christians take fasting seriously.
The Orthodox consider multi-day fasts to include Great Lent and Peter's Lent. Assumption Fast and Nativity Fast. Thus, a true Christian can fast up to 220 days a year.
Muslims strictly observe the month-long fast of Ramadan. During this month, all Muslims do not eat or drink from dawn to dusk. The beginning and end of Ramadan are major public holidays.
Ramadan is so serious that people who cannot observe it due to illness or pregnancy must observe Ramadan later, that is, repay the debt.
During the day, nothing can enter the gastrointestinal tract - you can’t even swallow saliva.
However, after sunset, Muslims eat modest fasting foods, such as beans, lentil soup with spices, dates, etc.
According to the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, fasting helps a person avoid sin, so a true Muslim should abstain from eating two days every week, just like the Jewish Pharisees.
Fasting is an integral part of Yogi practice. In particular, those who practice Hatha yoga are recommended to fast for a month from 1 to 3 days and fast before kris (from 5 to 12 days) from 1 to 4 times a year.
For many peoples, fasting was part of not only religious, but also traditional cultural practice. For example, the American Indians considered fasting as the most important and indispensable test in the transformation of a young man into a warrior.
Typically, boys who reached a certain age were taken to the top of a mountain and left for four days and four nights without food or water. Fasting was seen as a means of training the will, cleansing and strengthening.
Fasting as a meaningful mass method of treating diseases and cleansing the body became popular at the end of the 19th century. simultaneously in America and Europe.