Health Notes

Hutt News, Volume 16, Issue 37, 10 March 1943, Page 6

Health Notes

By H. K. & D. W. Adamson, (Osteopaths). So Gandhi survived his fast of twenty-one days after all and, according to the official bulletins, his physical condition has been no way unpaired, by the ordeal through which he has passed. (The black type is ours.) Fasting is not an ordeal, and, far from one's physical conditon being impaired by the abstemption from food for appropriate periods, the benefits to be derived are sometimes amazing. Fasting is not an ordeal, because, after the first day or two or forty eight hours at most, the desire for food is conspicuous by its absence. The very thought of food may even nauseate one. This loss of appetite persists for a variable period, but when hunger does eventually return, it arrives with an intensity which leaves no doubt regarding its reality. It is this absence of hunger and its eventual return that provides the most reliable guide for the breaking of a fast. Hunger may return in a few days in sortie cases, but more often than not a period of from ten to thirty or even forty days or more may elapse and strange as it may appear to some, the risk of death during that period is actually less than if the patient were being fed. How is it then that so many people succumb within a few days when lost in the bush or accidently deprived from food? They don't die of starvation. Exposure, or fear, or both may be responsible for their deaths but not lack of food so long as a reasonable amount of water is available. Nevertheless, 110 one should undertake a prolonged fast without some knowledge of the subject. Short fasts of from four to seven days may be taken with impunity and with much benefit. Now, fasting is not a panacea for all one's ills, but it certainly is the most effective method yet discovery ed for restoring the health of the body. It is frequently the only method by which certain diseases can be eradicated. And further, there is nothing new about fasting as a therapeutic measure. It dates back beyond the dawn of civilisation to the animal kingdom. All animals fast when sick and indisposed. The extraordinary benefits to be derived from fasting have their ori-

gin in the fast muscles need rest and relaxation as well as work. No one needs to be told that muscles tire following excessive or sustained exer tion or that rest restores them tt> their normal condition again. But many fail to realise the extent of our muscles. They think of them as being confined to our external structures, or on our backs, legs, etc but it should be realised that practicEtfly all of our vital structures consist of muscles. Involuntary muscles certainly, or muscles which act independently of our conscious efforts, nevertheless they possess the same characteristics as the voluntary muscles of the framework. We find them in the heart and all throughout the circulatory system, the lungs, glands, secretory and excretory organs as -well as in the whole length of the digestive system. When, through over loading or excessive work, these organs break down, it really means that the muscles comprising them need a rest to provide them with the same facilities for recuperation as one I gives his tired or over-worked back or leg muscles occasionally. The' fast provides this rest and recovery is just as certain as in the case of the external ones. I