Articles
Fasting and Weight Loss
Fasting and Weight Loss
“We live off 25% of what we eat. The doctors live off the other 75%.” Benjamin Franklin
The health movement has backfired. Twenty-six thousand diets were studied and the Washington Post concluded that 99% of them had failed. While there is no useful function for excess fat, Healthline estimates that 2/3 of adults and 14.7 million children in the U.S. are overweight and at risk of developing a chronic disease. This begs the question, “Why are so many people overweight, sick and fatigued?”
Harvard’s School of Public Health and the NIH both believe that ultra-processed foods are among the major culprits. Foods high in sugar, fat, salt, chemicals, corn syrup, and carbohydrates, as well as cereals, bread, soda, beer, margarines and spreads, meats and many other ultra-processed foodstuffs lining grocery store aisles are driving the weight gain. The shelf-stable breads are often no more than sophisticated emulsified foams. If we combine the increased production of ultra-processed foods with the growing list of chemical cocktails proliferating all over our planet, the prospects are extremely troubling.
The worldwide obesity rate has nearly doubled since 1980. According to WHO, 4,000,000 people die each year as a direct result of obesity. Researchers have concluded that the growing obesity epidemic and chronic diseases are directly linked to the rise in ultra-processed food consumption. Going to a doctor to get a pill for the ill has become one of the main remedies. Regrettably, the pills only treat the symptoms and come with debilitating side effects of their own.
Surgeon General David Satcher warned, “Obesity is reaching epidemic proportions in America, and could soon cause as much preventable disease and death as cigarette smoking… This is probably the most sedentary generation of people in the history of the world! This is not about aesthetics and it is not about appearances… We are talking about health!”
Let’s pull back the curtain. When the cigarette industry declined, the owners that became filthy rich poisoning people, began buying into the food, chemical and pharmaceutical conglomerates. Many of the same scientists that created the addictive chemicals found in cigarettes are now busy developing the ultra-processed foods. The American Lung Association claims that there are approximately 600 ingredients in cigarettes, and when burned, they create more than 7,000 chemicals. At least 69 of these chemicals are known to cause cancer. This begs another question, “What are these scientists putting into our food?”
Our society is all about drive through windows, double quarter pounders, triple quarter pounders with bacon and biggie beverages that have forced us to resize our cupholders. We’ve birthed the billion-dollar industries of diet programs, diet pills, liposuction and cosmetic surgery. One helping of today’s ice cream has the fat of a half a stick of butter. Did you ever try to find something healthy in a convenience store? To sublimate our frustrations, we turn to the most basic sense gratification available. We eat!
People often overeat simply because their diets lack the proper nutrition. Even though they eat enough, they remain malnourished, which in turn causes the body to send more hunger signals. That often leads to the potato chips and Cheetos. A body may also be so caked with toxins and unnatural matter from the tongue to the rectum that they can no longer properly absorb nutrients. Lack of nutrients leads to fatigue, which in turn leads a person to reach for a candy bar, donut, soda, or a cup of coffee, and the vicious cycle continues. The body gets a quick surge, but as soon as the quick fix wears off, fatigue sets in again. Overcoming excess weight is sometimes no more difficult than cleaning out the body and shifting to a healthy diet.
Please allow me to present a bonafide and FREE solution, not only for weight loss, but for health restoration, freedom from toxicity, and for achieving optimum vitality. Fasting has no peer in weight loss. A person can average a pound of weight loss a day, though obese people have lost up to 2.5 pounds a day. Weight loss is more dramatic during the beginning of a fast, because of water loss and the elimination of salt. As metabolism slows, weight loss becomes less dramatic. If a person fasts to lose weight, one, three or seven day water or juice fasts are adequate. Longer fasts should be supported by medical consultation, a healthy diet, proper sleep and exercise.
I’m 75 years old and have fasted every Monday for decades. Fasting has kept my weight constant, my body healthy and my mind razor sharp. I never get sick or get headaches. I no longer think about food on Mondays and look forward to fasting because of the increased physical vitality and the enhanced mental clarity I achieve. My wife, who is my most ardent critic, has joined me in the one day a week fasts, experienced the benefits, and has become a zealous advocate for fasting.
Take advantage of my 50 plus years of experience and find out more about the extraordinary historic, spiritual and scientific marvels of fasting. Fasting Firepower by Marjan, additional articles and videos can be viewed on www.marjanbooks.com.
Juice Fasting
Fasting experts Dr. Paavlo Airola and Dr. Otto Buchinger claim that juice fasting on a cellular level is superior to water fasting in terms of physical healing, detoxification and rejuvenation. The Buchinger Clinic in Germany, having supervised over 250,000 clinical fasts, affirms that since autolysis also occurs during a juice fast, the release of dying cells, waste products and the toxins from fat cells is gentler and more gradual. Overall, juice fasting is easier than water fasting, in that there is some nutrition. Dick Gregory, an American comedian and actor, made headlines when he ran 15 miles on the 100th day of a juice fast.
Fresh juices have a cleansing effect of their own, and if taken immediately after being made, they are also energizing and exhilarating. During a juice fast, we absorb up to 90% of the nutrients directly into our systems without overstimulating or over activating the entire digestive process. Most organs and bodily processes are also given a much needed rest.
Juice fasters have inadvertently stumbled onto the age-old principle that seed bearing herbs are given to us for our healing. Along with various vegetables, organic herbs can also be added to juice for various desired effects. Researchers have proven that juice is biologically active and contains many essential nutrients, such as natural vitamins and minerals, live enzymes, trace elements and other organically-complex nutrients to aid the body in its curative process.
Freshly-squeezed or extracted fruit and vegetable juices, vegetable broth and herbal teas all contain high percentages of water, which helps to eliminate and neutralize toxins. Vegetables, fruits and broth will have different minerals and vitamins, which in turn have various positive effects on our organs. Generally, fruit contains the most water, vegetables slightly less. Carrots can contain up to 88% water.
On the other hand, water fasting is fasting in its purest sense and much more intense then juice fasting. Anyone intent on doing a water fast for over three days should be an experienced faster and consult a competent holistic physician. For serious water fasts, it is best to make sure the body is sufficiently detoxified.
It is estimated that approximately 30% of the body’s energy is expended by digesting and eliminating food. During a juice fast, processing incoming carbohydrates and the digestive system are not totally shut off, so there is less raw energy available then in a water fast. I have practiced both water and juice fasts for over 50 years, and can testify to the fact that they both have profound health benefits on every level. Whichever fast a person chooses, fasting has been proven to be one of the best healing practices on earth.
These excerpts are from the book Fasting Firepower. If you would like detailed scientific, historical and spiritual information on all things fasting and detoxification, or if you have any pending concerns about your health or the health of a loved one, additional articles and videos can be found at www.marjanbooks.com.
Valuable Water Fasting Facts
Water is essential, and second to air, our most important nutrient. Comprising 75% of an adult body, 33% of our bones, and up to 90% of an infant’s body, water is found in every cell and critical for stimulation, circulation, digestion, absorption, elimination, lubricating joints, and in regulating body temperature. A universal solvent that functions like a tiny magnet with a positive and negative charge, water needs to be frequently replenished. A person drinks around 7,000 gallons of water in an average lifetime. Water is the major ingredient in foodstuffs and the common denominator of all liquids. Without water we can’t live for more than a few days. If we lose anywhere from 15% to 25% of our body’s water, we will die.
Historically, the only pollutants humans had to worry about were biological, and debris like dirt, leaves and sand. The World Counts estimates that humanity now lives with an estimated 150,000 synthetic chemicals. Roughly 1,500 new chemicals are introduced every year. Regardless of where or how carefully we live, chemicals are in the air, soil, and in our drinking water. And, we know very little about the growing menace of chemical cocktails. Used in all city drinking water, 12 million tons of chlorine, a chemical foreign to our bodies, is produced each year. According to CNN Health, 10,000 chemicals are allowed into our processed foods. Americans ingest around 5 pounds of chemicals and plastics in an average lifetime.
Pure water is the best choice for hydrating the body, but according to Diet for a Poisoned Planet, less than 1% of the earth’s surface water is safe to drink. Public health officials regularly find that 10%-40% of private wells are contaminated with bacteria, agricultural chemicals and other pollutants. Municipal water is monitored under the Safe Water Drinking Act for harmful chemicals, but unrecognizable chemicals are increasingly found in our water. Most water treatment plants weren’t built to deal with the dangerous chemical combinations proliferating today. The chlorine and aluminum that treatment plants use for purification remain in the water. It is a good idea to have tap water or well water tested.
Water fasting collects toxins and waste products, and then flushes them from the body rapidly and aggressively. Water fasting gives the body no other option but to turn to its reserves for fuel. This can create a problem if a person is extremely toxic because too many toxins can be flushed into the bloodstream at once. An organic diet, short juice fasts and detox programs should be undertaken until the toxic overload is minimized. If we don’t drink enough water the toxins tend to stagnate and may simply move from one area and settle in another. Whatever fast or detox program is chosen, drink at least one large glass of water every half hour or bodily organs could begin to malfunction. A long water fast should be under the supervision of a competent holistic medical practitioner. It is not advisable to water fast under severe health conditions.
The FDA regulates bottled water as a food. Using the same guidelines as tap water, bottling plants emphasize sanitation and the absence of bacteria. Bottled water is sometimes labeled natural, which may mean it is not treated at all, but sourced from a spring. Read labels carefully.
The perceived value of mineral water is misleading, because minerals are like huge boulders to the cellular membranes, often making them impossible to assimilate. There are plenty of minerals in plants which break minerals down from the soil, allowing them to be completely absorbed by the cells of the body. Water can pick up bacteria and the taste of plastic containers if it sits too long. Check the shelf life.
If you don’t have access to a pure spring or well, and before embarking on a water fast, look for water that has been treated by deionization, reverse osmosis or distillation. Distilled water is the best choice for water fasting because its magnetic properties absorb and suspend large quantities of toxins and help flush them from the body.
- Deionization uses ion exchange to produce quality water.
- Reverse Osmosis forces water through a thin membrane to remove minerals and impurities.
- Distilled Water removes everything from the water by boiling it, collecting the steam and condensing it.
During a water fast, urine can be stored in a clear jar and examined. The color, smell and inclusions will help indicate the condition of the body. Toxins and other impurities within the urine will crystallize in a couple of days. The famous fasting proponent, Dr. Paul Bragg, saved his urine every day during a ten day fast, had it analyzed, and found traces of the deadly poison DDT.
Contradicting the high-octane excess found in modern society, fasting is not generally popular, nor is it recommended by doctors. But since time immemorial, water fasting has been touted as one of the greatest healing methods known to man. Even animals, when injured or sick, instinctually rest and fast. During water fasting, a person is stripped to their bare essentials and things that really matter rise to the forefront. It is a time for reflection, developing humility, deep cleansing, rejuvenation and healing. Fasting is FREE!
This excerpt is from “Fasting Firepower” by Marjan. If you have concerns about your health or the health of a loved one, and if you would like to gain insights from my 50 years of global studies on fasting, detoxification and natural healing, additional articles and videos can be found at www.marjanbooks.com.
Incredible Blood Facts
If we connected the 60,000 miles of veins in our bodies, they would wrap around our planet 2½ times. All the necessary vitamins, minerals, amino acids, sugars, fats and oxygen are sent uninterruptedly through these veins to each and every one of an adult’s 35 trillion cells. The heart pumps blood through our veins at 2,000 gallons a day and instinctively increases blood flow to areas where healing is occurring. Remarkably, the amount of blood in a pregnant woman's body increases 50% by the 20th week of pregnancy.
Each blood cell makes 3,000 round trips around the body daily, a distance of 12,000 miles! Each second, we lose about 3 million red blood cells that are immediately replaced by the same number of red blood cells that are produced in our bone marrow. According to The Incredible Machine, human blood, a liquid tissue, retains a link to ancient Cambrian seas: The same balance of salts and minerals that existed in primitive oceans half a billion years ago is present in our blood. If the red blood cells from one person were to be stacked, they would reach 31,000 miles high!
The heart pumps about one million barrels of blood during an average lifetime, and if blood flow is reduced, blocked, or contaminated with chemical toxins, there will be problems. Toxins are absorbed into the bloodstream by way of the gastronomic tract entering through capillaries lining the colon wall. Once in the blood, the toxins circulate throughout the body and can be absorbed into organs, cells and the skin, thus lowering our immunity and setting the stage for disease.
Maintaining a healthy circulatory system is one of the most effective ways to promote health. White blood cells are on the front lines in our fight against infections and unhealthy organisms, and if we take care of our precious white blood cell army, it will take care of us. Scientists claim that soon everything about the body will be determined by analyzing a single drop of blood.
A healthy body will detoxify blood on its own, but when there is a toxic overload or a disease, the blood may need some help. Excellent ways to purify the blood are fasting and detoxification, which cleanse and recharge the 5 quarts of blood that is constantly moving in our veins. If a person detoxifies their liver, colon and kidneys, the blood will naturally benefit. It can take three to ten days, and even weeks or months to detoxify the entire circulatory system, depending on a person’s age, habits, diet, physical condition, toxicity, or addictions.
Easy to apply detox programs, as well as the historic, scientific, spiritual, and experiential aspects of fasting can be found in “Fasting Firepower” by Marjan. Additional articles and videos that can have a positive impact on your health can be found at www.marjanbooks.com.
What is Autolysis?
Autolysis, as it relates to fasting and detoxification, is one of the most encouraging scientific discoveries ever made! During a fast, the heat of autolysis, or self-digestion, accelerates like a refiner’s furnace, burning impurities from our bodies. When a silversmith desires to fashion a worthy vessel, they heat the silver over and over again and impurities rise to the surface. The impurities are scooped off time and time again, until the silver is pure enough for fabrication.
Dr. Otto Buchinger calls autolysis “refuse disposal”.
A fever is a natural defense mechanism and often the best thing that can happen. When there is an impurity in the body, a fever may occur in order to burn away the problem invader. A fever is natural autolysis.
“Give me the power to induce a fever and I will show you the way to cure all disease.” Author Unknown
Our elimination organs, the lungs, skin, kidneys, bowels, and our body’s filter the liver, instinctually know when we are fasting, remain active, and work overtime to expel impurities. During a fast, the body burns all non-essential matter before it ever touches the vital muscles, organs and tissues. Not one vital bodily component is consumed during a fast until all the impurities are gone. The more vital the tissue, the safer it is during a fast.
A human body is brilliantly designed to live on its own stored resources, as are animals, birds, and even insects. For example, a boa constrictor weighing 200 pounds, can survive on its own stored substance for up to a year between meals. Since the body receives no food during a fast, the body searches for nourishment and autolysis ensues, burning aged, morbid, damaged or dead cells, fatty tissues, toxins and poisons, calcium and mineral deposits, superfluous fluids, mucous, reserve protein, undigested food, metabolic waste, cysts, tumors, free radicals, uric acid, and all unhealthy tissue.
Most debilitating conditions are naturally reversable by eating fresh, natural foods, applying good habits, exercise, detoxification and periodic fasting. In addition, our bodily cells are regenerated and renewed every year, as is every organ. If our bodies are renewed annually, then why do we continue to be in bad health? Why is our body not brand new every year? The answer is simple. We overeat, consume and drink the wrong things, maintain unhealthy habits and get intoxicated. We also absorb harmful toxins from processed foods and accumulate chemical pollutants that are increasingly prevalent in our environment. Such contaminants bog us down and we may feel fatigued and stressed. Our cells may be new, but they simply inherit the toxic overload and bad habits that were lodged in our old cells. Science has yet to measure the effects of debilitating vices like pride, anger, lust, unforgiveness, selfishness, bitterness, envy and hate, which create neurotoxins that also lodge in various parts of our bodies and cause a multitude of exacting conditions.
As we age, we become more susceptible to disease, the accumulation of toxins increases, our metabolism slows down, and it becomes more difficult to lose weight. If people never fast or detoxify, their bodies eventually become overly burdened and they inevitably fall prey to doctor drug dealer and their never-ending list of pharmaceutical drugs. In the end, toxic saturation can cause a serious disease. How many of our elderly suffer needlessly with headaches, fatigue, low energy, mental problems, high blood pressure, diabetes, strokes and heart disease, and are then prescribed pills for the rest of their lives?
When a person initially starts to fast, their determination, stamina and focus are likely to be challenged. For instance, a person may get a severe headache or experience extreme nausea during day one or two. All this means is that a lot of toxins are being released into the bloodstream for elimination. A person may stop the fast at this juncture and then do a number of short fasts until the toxic overload in their bodies is diminished. At this juncture, a person should remind themselves of the myriad of fasting benefits and the ongoing purification. Toxins are being released, organs are being rested, and the body is healing on every level. As a faster gains experience and as the toxins are reduced, fasting becomes pleasant, invigorating and even looked forward to. A person need only remind themselves that by fasting their entire system will reach its ultimate potential!
“Fasting Firepower should be required reading in every classroom.” Holistic Practitioner
Excerpt from Fasting Firepower, by Marjan
A Priceless Nugget of Wisdom
Can you guess the AMAZING THREAD I discovered while researching famous personalities that are responsible for some of humanity’s most celebrated achievements?
Michelangelo, who sculpted the statue of David and the Pieta, and painted the Sistine Chapel practiced fasting. Benjamin Franklin, a scientist, inventor, diplomat, printer, publisher and political philosopher fasted regularly. The celebrated painter and inventor Leonardo da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa, the Last Supper and sketched the Vitruvian Man and various inventions hundreds of years before their time, including flying machines, submarines, diving suits, helicopters and clocks to name a few. Leonardo da Vinci practiced fasting. Thomas Edison, who invented electricity, the phonograph, sound recording, the light bulb and the movie camera, practiced fasting.
“The best of all medicines are rest and fasting.” Benjamin Franklin
While opening doors to Western civilization by developing the foundations of logic, rational thought and democracy, profound Greek thinkers like Socrates, Aristotle, Zarathrustra, Plutarch and Plotinus all fasted. Plato practiced 10 day fasts for clarity before he authored his dissertations and also practiced 40 day fasts. Andre Sakharov, the renowned Russian physicist, fasted often. Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, fasted. Pythagoras, the founder of geometry and the Pythagorean Theorem, fasted and required his students to fast before initiating them into his teachings.
“A wise man should consider that health is the greatest human blessing.” Hippocrates
Every major faith on earth recommends fasting. Buddha fasted 40 days and had his disciples fast to find the Middle Way. Jewish theology boasts several books that encourage fasting, including an entire volume in the Talmud. Siddhartha listed his three skills as thinking, patience and fasting. Ayurveda, India’s ancient remedial science, recommends every person fast one day a week in order to purify the body and mind. Longing to save the soul of India, Mahatma Gandhi fasted while he walked 1,500 miles from New Delhi to Bombay (Mumbai) in defiance of British salt policies. Gandhi’s fast so inspired his countrymen that they drove the British out of India by using only ahimsa (non-violence).
"The light of the world will illuminate you when you fast and purify yourself." Mahatma Gandhi
Biblical personalities like Jehoshaphat, Joel and Ezra called for group fasts in times of dire need. David fasted when he wrote Psalms. Daniel fasted as he prepared to receive revelations concerning the latter days. Hannah fasted when she desired a son. Anna and Esther fasted for divine guidance. Isaiah, Nehemiah, Zechariah, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego fasted for spiritual strength. Elijah fasted for 40 days before beginning his public ministry. All these fasts came to fruition.
In the New Testament, John the Baptist fasted and also taught his disciples to do so. Jesus fasted 40 days before he began his earthly ministry. Jesus expects his disciples to fast, but didn’t leave any hard and fast rules, other than refraining from hypocrisy. The apostle Paul fasted for three days after he was knocked off his donkey and blinded on the road to Damascus. Paul and Barnabas fasted before leaving on missionary journeys. Luke the physician, who wrote one of the four gospels, fasted twice a week. Prominent Christian leaders such as Martin Luther, John Wesley, Teresa of Avila, Joan of Arc, Jonathan Edwards, John Calvin, Charles Finney and John Knox all fasted. Catherine of Sienna went into ecstatic trances and wouldn’t eat for weeks. Francis of Assisi did 40 day epiphany fasts every year prior to the season of Lent.
“Instead of medicine, fast a day.” Plutarch
In primitive societies there is a strong belief that fasting frees the spirit for higher revelation. For centuries, Native Americans have fasted as a purification rite, during rituals, and in sweat lodges for spiritual guidance. Medicine men fasted prior to going in search of healing herbs and said that fasting gave them clearer visions. In Indonesia, the Javanese define a godless person as one who never fasts. The Essenes, authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls, fasted regularly. Many lived to be more than 120 years old.
Not only did these great personalities and civilizations discover the age-old secrets of fasting, but also today, in clinics worldwide, scientists, university researchers and medical professionals are discovering fasting’s multitude of benefits. Their studies are backed up by mountains of clinical data.
History will forever remember these great personalities. If fasting plays a prominent role in high level achievements, why didn’t we learn this monumental fact in school? Why don’t Western medical professionals shout this inimitable revelation from the rooftops in an effort to keep everyone’s health at optimum levels? I would venture to say, that for the love of money alone, the medical establishment, and the food, beverage, chemical and pharmaceutical conglomerates need people to be addicted to their processed foodstuff, to get sick, and to be taking their pharmaceuticals. We need look no further than the 9 out of every 10 seniors over the age of 60 that are now on prescription drugs. If people had been taught how to apply the greatest healing and preventive therapy in all of history when they were young, I would venture to say that more than half of them would be drug free and healthy today. I would also venture to say, that for those of you that understand the profound implications of this message, it may not be too late to turn your health around.
The Amazing Thread is Fasting! Practiced since time immemorial, fasting is a genuine, dynamic elixir that helps cleanse the body and mind, promotes vitality, optimizes health and enhances vision and creativity. FASTING IS FREE and can work for you!
“Marjan has thrown a life preserver into the turbulent sea of sickness.” Anonymous medical practitioner
Excerpts from Fasting Firepower©
50 reasons to fast from Fasting Firepower by Marjan – Find a reason!
“Fasting does no harm, and is always worth trying.” Dr. Otto Buchinger
- Help cure disorders
- Help relieve the body of poisons and toxins
- Help a body heal faster
- Fasting is preventative
- Build resistance to disease and infection
- Rejuvenate down to the cellular level
- Allow for nutritional reorganization
- Extend life
- Help repair damaged livers
- Help diseases disappear
- Burn unnecessary fat
- Build physical stamina
- Rest vital organs
- Destroy sick and superfluous substances
- Develop muscular flexibility
- Improve intestinal and stomach passages
- Strengthen connective tissue
- Restore gall bladder function
- Restore our ability to assimilate nutrients
- Lessen fat content in the blood
- Regulate blood sediment and blood sugar
- Reduce high blood pressure
- Clean and thin blood
- Improve food assimilation
- Correct hormone imbalances
- Look and feel younger
- Clear the complexion
- Cleanse joints
- Clear the mind
- Sharpen the mind
- Boost cognitive performance
- Become more alert
- Release tension
- Sleep less
- Allow for an ease of gases
- Strengthen the heart
- Diminish deposits in the arteries
- Destroy fat in the vascular walls
- Increase immunity
- Leave a person in the best possible shape
- Help overcome addictions
- Reduce inflammation
- Strengthen nerves
- Improve overall fitness
- Decrease the risk of metabolic diseases
- Protect against neurodegeneration
- Balance emotions
- Gives us a feeling of greater self-assurance
- Provides an enhanced capacity for prayer
- Can bring a believer closer to God
What are the Benefits of Fasting?
The world's largest centers for research on therapeutic fasting, the Buchinger Wilhelmi Clinics in Germany, founded by Dr. Otto Buchinger, have been in existence for over 100 years. Now operated by the 4th generation of the Buchinger family, the clinics, in cooperation with extensive university research, have conducted over 250,000 clinical fasts and proven beyond a doubt that fasting is one of the most powerful and effective means to promote healing, vitality and longevity. The clinic’s fasting programs have evolved into highly effective holistic, personalized and scientifically documented treatment traditions.
As a naval doctor, Dr. Otto Buchinger was infected by rheumatism of the joints caused by septicemia (blood poisoning) and was forced to retire from the navy. Conventional Western medicine was of no help and he was referred to Doctor Riedlin in Freiburg, who prescribed therapeutic fasting. A resounding success, the fasting activated his self-healing powers and saved his life. Consequently, Doctor Buchinger dedicated the rest of his life to developing his fasting clinic and became instrumental in boosting the emotional and physical well-being of thousands of people.
Attended by over 6,500 guests annually, and looked after by teams of up to 20 doctors, 60 nurses and 300 employees, the clinic’s attendees overcome fatigue, anxiety, pain, toxicity, obesity, mental health issues such as depression, and a host of other illnesses. Nothing short of miraculous, many lives have been radically changed and the program has gained legions of converts. It has been proven that fasting cleanses and restores our insides on every level, physically, mentally and spiritually. When our insides are taken care of, the outsides are fine and we feel healthy, revitalized and gain marked improvements in our complexion and eye color.
There are a myriad of reasons to fast. Dangerous chemicals, invisible toxins, deadly metals like mercury, lead, chromium, cadium and arsenic, as well as various parasites settle in our bodies and can cause chronic pain and mysterious diseases. People often travel from doctor to doctor and never find the root cause of their suffering. For example, a clogged, putrefied colon can cause depression and a person can waste valuable time and money visiting a psychiatrist and getting misdiagnosed. Detoxification and a simple colon cleanse often solves the problem.
But a fast doesn’t merely detoxify; it can also break down superfluous tissue-fat, abnormal cells, atheromatous plaque, and even tumors. Fasting is likened to wringing out a sponge full of filthy water. It helps release toxins, diseased matter and cellular byproducts from fatty and lymphatic tissues. Fasting then helps to mobilize the contaminants into the body’s circulation system for elimination.
When detoxing the body, fasting can also prevent disease. During a fast the mind is cleared, sharpened and clarity improves. Energy levels increase and the nervous system is balanced. People lose unwanted weight, which alleviates pressure from the entire bodily system. During fasting, every organ is rested, strengthened and healed. The body’s cellular biochemistry is meticulously cleaned and balanced. Breathing becomes fuller and freer. Joints are rejuvenated and there is a greater ease of movement. The entire digestive and elimination systems are rested and cleaned.
In today’s polluted environment, people need to learn how to maximize their health, know what foods to buy and what foods to avoid, how to prevent sickness and disease, and ESPECIALLY HOW TO DETOXIFY. If you want to learn more about the benefits of fasting, about the harmful foods and toxic chemicals we are being subjected to, and how to effectively deal with them, do yourself and your loved ones a favor and read Fasting Firepower by Marjan. Learn how to detoxify and strengthen organs like the colon, kidneys, liver and gallbladder. Combining science, history, spiritual wisdom and over 50 years of study and personal experience, Fasting Firepower is one of the most insightful books ever written on fasting, detoxification and natural healing. The straightforward answers may surprise you, challenge you and quite possibly save your life!
Are GMOs a Blessing or a Curse?
GMOs, first introduced in 1983, are microorganisms, plants or animals whose genes have been artificially altered, transferred from one organism to another, or even from species to species. Unless you eat strictly organic, or from an heirloom garden, you are undoubtedly ingesting genetically modified organisms. The National Library of Medicine states that GMOs pose a number of risks for humanity. As of 2023, and despite biotech’s dubious assurances, GMOs are restricted in 60 countries and totally banned in 26 more, including France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Russia, China, India, as well as in 19 European Union countries. There are no laws banning GMOs in the USA and Canada. Incidentally, even large health food stores like Whole Foods, operating in the USA, Canada and the UK now carry GMO products.
As researchers continue to tamper with Mother Nature, GMOs are being modified to increase yields and to delay ripening after picking. Many GMO plant mutations contain the poison glyphosate and are being mass produced for nonselective weed control. The GMO plants themselves are modified to be resistant to this poison. GMOs can also be grown to impact a person’s health. In other words, GMOs can deliver synthetic vitamins and other substances developers have decided you need with or without your approval. Medicine, pharmaceuticals, vaccines and human characteristic modifications are in the pipeline.
Like recognizes like, and our bodies recognize and easily process natural foods. But when unnatural, chemically engineered elements enter the body, the body goes into a self-protective mode, which results in various side effects such as headaches, fatigue, allergies, blood sugar disorders, mental issues and metabolism disorders. Continued use can set the stage for more serious problems like cancer and kidney and gastronomical tract diseases. Unnatural substances, chemical toxins and the resultant imbalances build up over the years. Consequently, the older people get, the sicker they become, which is why 9 out of 10 seniors over age 60 are now on one or more prescription drugs.
Several GMO “Frankenfoods” that are prevalent in the supermarkets are corn, soybeans, potatoes, eggplant, strawberries, tomatoes, lettuce, cantaloupe, papaya, carrots, zucchini, Canola, cottonseed and soybean vegetable oils, margarine and sugar beets. GMO foodstuff is also fed to livestock, poultry and our pets.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of GMOs with respect to health? GMOs are suspected of causing alterations to biochemical pathways that can lead to toxic buildup. Another potential problems is outcrossing, which occurs when GMO genes pass into wild plants and other crops, thus also effecting birds, insects and other species. We fear what we don’t understand and what we don’t understand is exactly which chemicals are being used in the process of genetically modifying plants and animals. The processes are not on the labels.
The bottom line is that GMOs long-term effects on plants, wildlife and humans, like the chemical cocktails that are being systematically pumped into our environment, is unknown. We do know that viral resistance can lead to the formation of new viruses and therefore new health risks. The evolution of resistant pests and weeds termed superbugs and superweeds is another potential problem. Pest populations can also shift to other plants that were once unthreatened. From a toxicological standpoint, further investigation is required to determine if the residue from herbicide or pest resistant plants can harm organisms found in surrounding soil, such as bacteria, fungi, nematodes, worms, and other microorganisms. Also, the transfer of manipulated animal genes into plants is not included on the labels, as such consumer knowledge is considered bad for profits.
The National Institute of Health states that nearly 300 million Americans, 1,350 million Chinese, 280 million Brazilians and millions elsewhere regularly eat GMO foods, directly or indirectly. The profiteers simply ask us to buy the GMO food and trust them. I remember when I was seven years old and fixing to get my tonsils removed, my doctor was smoking a cigarette when he checked my vitals. The tobacco companies, like the GMO companies of today, made smoking look cool and once claimed tobacco was good for you.
Aside from reduced nutritional value, disruption of biodiversity and the release of toxins into the soil, Healthline points out that current research suggests that GMOs can also cause allergies, cancer and a host of ensuing environmental issues. Most GMOs are now bred to be resistant to poisons like Roundup, which is one of the reasons bugs and birds are disappearing from farmer’s fields. In addition, Reuters states that pesticide use has increased by 404 million pounds since GMOs were introduced.
The FDA does not require labels and tens of millions of people are now guinea pigs testing GMO foods. 93% of corn grown in the USA is GMO corn. Supermarket shelves are packed with products that use corn derivatives like GMO corn syrup as a sweetener. Read labels carefully! The labels won’t necessarily say GMO, but say bioengineered food, or they may have the USDA bioengineered label. Deceptively, the package may just say “Scan here for more information.” Healthline warns that a product labeled as organic may also have some GMO ingredients, whereas a product labeled 100% organic should not.
Our bodies become what we eat, so we should demand that GMOs are subject to extensive testing. We can avoid foods not labeled organic, or without a non-GMO project seal. We can support local organic farmers. For those that want detailed information, as well as detox solutions, read Fasting Firepower by Marjan. The historical, scientific and spiritual answers may surprise you, challenge you, and quite possibly save your life or the lives of your loved ones.