Abstract  
The therapeutic dry fasting method is de-
scribed by the author based of his 25 years of ex-
perience in monitoring fasting patients. The ef-
fect of the method on the human body is exam-
ined in detail, recommendations are provided 
on the preparation and exit from dry fasting, as 
well as on the actions to be taken in case of pos-
sible complications. Indications and contraindi-
cations are enumerated. The book is intended 
for a wide circle of readers who are interested in 
fasting and use it as a cleansing and medical pro-
cedure. WARNING  
All therapeutic suggestions reported in this man-
ual are not a substitute for the advice of the 
reader’s own physician. It is highly advisable to 
consult medical professionals before undertaking 
a water or dry fasting practice. The authors, pub-
lisher, distributors and retailers of this book can-
not be held responsible for any damage or injury 
that may be connected, arise from or in any way 
associated with the application of the method il-
lustrated in this book. Those who decide to follow 
its principles and algorithms will do it under their 
own responsibility. Sergey Filonov  
20 questions and answers about dry fasting  
  
 
 
 
 
Copyright 2019 Vera Giovanna Bani. All rights reserved. First edition: November 2019  
Translated from Russian by Yana Solominskaya (chapters 8 -20) 
Translated from Italian by Francesca Morgante (chapters 1 -7) 
Cover by Julia Novachenko  
Russian title: Сухое лечебное голодание – мифы и реальность  
Italian title: Venti domande sul digiuno secco  
 
 
 
www.siberika.it 
www.dryfasting.info Contents  
Foreword by the curator of English and Italian 
edition Vera Giovanna Bani  .....................................  16 
The good fate of therapeutic fasting in Russia and 
the contribution of Prof. Yuri Nikolayev 
(introductory article by Vera Giovanna Bani)  .........  23 
Preface by Sergey Filonov  .......................................  42 
1. What is dry fasting? ............................................  59 
2. Is dry fasting a natural method? .........................  62 
3. What conditions can fasting help? Indications 
and contraindications for fasting and dry fasting. .. 66 
4. What is the scientific background of therapeutic 
fasting and dry fasting in particular? .......................  71 
5. What type of fasting (RDT) are being researched 
and commonly used in clinical practice (in Russia)  78 
6. What methods of fasting have been developed 
and disseminated in the USSR -Russia? ....................  86 
Ivanov’s method: 42 hours a week of dry fasting  .. 86 Shchennikov’s method: the complete dry fast 
(CDF) of  7-9- 11 days  .................................................. . 91 
Lavrova’s method: a 5 -stage cascade dry fasting  ... 98  
Filonov’s method: fractional dry fasting (FDF)  .. 105  
7. What are the advantages of dry fasting compared 
to water  fasting? ......................................................  113 
8. What mechanisms does a dry fast trigger within 
the body? ................................................................ . 124  
8.1. The mechanism of toxins burning "in their 
own furnace" and production of "endogenous" water
 .................................................. .................................... 124  
8.2. Anti -inflammatory and immune -stimulatory 
mechanism: the action of free forms of 
glucocorticoids ....................................... .................... 128  
8.3. The mechanism of acidification of the internal 
environment of the organism: the first and second 
acidotic crises ................................................... ........... 137  
8.4. Autolysis  .................................................. .......... 150  8.5. The mechanism of rejuvenation and tissue 
renewal: apoptosis  .................................................. .... 155  
8.6. Youth and quality of life extension ................ 168  
8.7. Preventive mechanism: protection against 
radiation, adverse environmental factors, prevention 
of oncological diseases  .............................................. 195  
8.8. Renewal of the organism’s energy  ................. 208  
9. How to properly prepare your body for dry 
fasting? ....................................................................  217 
9.1. Bowel cleansing. Introduction  ....................... 217  
9.2. Methods of use of enterosorbents  .................. 231  
9.3. Intestinal sorbent cleansing procedure  ......... 235  
9.4. Liver cleansing  ..................................................  253 
9.5. Intestinal and liver cleansing (week -long 
program)  .................................................. ................... 258  
9.6. Accelerated cleansing of the body  ................. 270  
9.7. Dietary recommendations to follow after 
cleansing procedures  ................................................. 275 9.8. Buckwheat porridge fast  ................................. 276  
10. What is fasting accompanied by? ...................  278 
10.1. Hunger sensations  ......................................... 280  
10.2. We akness  .................................................. ....... 284  
10.3. Chilliness or fever (more typical of dry 
fasting) ............................................. ............................ 286  
10.4. Bad breath  .................................................. ..... 288  
10.5. Dimmed vision, vertigo  ................................ 289  
10.6. Headache  .................................................. ....... 290  
10.7. Sleep disturbances  .......................................... 292  
10.8. Pain in various parts of the body  ................. 293  
10.9. Toothache  .................................................. ..... 296  
10.10. Egress of pus  ................................................. 297 
10.11. Nausea, regurgitation and vomiting 
(sorbents required)  .................................................. .. 298  
10.12. Palpitations  .................................................. . 300  
10.13. Heartache  .................................................. .... 301  
10.14. Muscle pain from overstrain  ...................... 303  10.15. Colds  .................................................. ............ 304  
10.16. What to do if menstruation occurs during a 
dry fasting practice? .................................................. . 305  
11. How should you conduct a short dry fast? ..... 306 
11.1. Before fasting  ..................................................  306 
11.2. Essential benefits of fatty acids contained in 
fish .................................................. .............................. 308  
11.3. The importance of fish oil fatty acids in 
sustaining health and vessel health ......................... 310  
11.4. Home dry fasts up to 5 days  ......................... 316  
11.5. How to conduct a dry fractional fast properly
 .................................................. .................................... 320  
11.6. Recommendations on conducting dry fasting
 .................................................. .................................... 324  
11.7. Let’s move on to the day -to-day description of 
the 5 -day dry fast  .................................................. ...... 340  
12. What time and which days are best for fasting? .................................................................................  348 13. How to exit from short dry fasts (1 -2-3-4- 5 days) 
properly? ................................................................ . 351  
13.1. Withdrawal from dry fasting. Recommendations ......................................... ............ 351  
13.2. Withdrawal from a 1 -day fast  ...................... 352  
13.3. Withdrawal from a 48 -hour fast  .................. 353  
13.4. Withdrawal from a 3 -day fast  ...................... 355  
13.5. Withdrawal from a 4 -5 day fast  ................... 357  
13.6. Nutrition program for good digestion (during 
withdrawal from a fast)  ............................................. 363  
13.7. How to prepare Bolotov’s whey (serum)  .... 369  
13.8. What are the potential complications during 
withdrawal from fasting? .......................................... 371  
14. What’s the ideal scheme for conducting a dry 
fractional fast at home? ..........................................  379 
15. How many kinds of dry fasting exist? ............  384 
15.1. Interesting facts: Secrets of Japanese monks
 .................................................. .................................... 392  15.2. Interesting facts: Dry fasting and dousing 
with cold water  .................................................. ......... 399  
16. How should you conduct a long dry fast? ...... 401 
17. Dry fractional fasting. Who do we recommend it 
to? ............................................................................  473 
18. How to come out of a 9 -day dry fasting course? .................................................................................  480 
A nutritional program for coming out of a fast  .. 495  
19. What diseases can be cured through dry fasting? .................................................................................  499 
19.1. Dry fasting for acute diseases. ...................... 499  
19.1.1. Fasting for acute infections (acute 
respiratory diseases, influenza)  ........................... 502  
19.1.2. Dry fasting for the relapse of gastric ulcer 
or duodenal ulcer, chronic pancreatitis, 
cholecystitis, colitis, etc. ....................................... 516  
19.1.3. Dry fasting for diabetes  ......................... 521  
19.2. Dry Fasting for chronic diseases  .................. 524  19.2.1. Dry Fasting for endointoxication and 
atherosclerosis. .......................................... ................. 529  
19.2.2. Dry Fasting for hypertension  .................... 532  
19.2.3. Why dry fasting helps fight chronic diseases
 .................................................. .................................... 539  
19.2.4. Dry fasting for cystic tumors in the body  543 
19.2.5. Dry Fasting for Infertility  .......................... 546  
19.2.6. Toxemia in Pregnant Women  .................. 551  
19.2.7. Endometriosis  ............................................. 558  
19.2.8. Dry Fasting for Benign Tumors  ................ 561  
19.2.9. Mastopathy  ..................................................  566 
19.2.10. Prostatitis and benign prostatic hyperplasia
 .................................................. .................................... 568  
19.2.11. Dry Fasting for Bronchopulmonary 
Diseases ................................................ ....................... 573  
19.2.12. Cardiovascular Diseases: Hypertension 
and Atherosclerosis  .................................................. . 591  19.2.13. Neurological diseases: degenerative disc 
disease, protrusions, disk herniation, migraine. .................................................. ............................... 600  
19.2.14. Rheumatoid arthritis, ankylos ing 
spondylitis, deforming osteoarthrosis, infectious 
polyarthritis ......................................... .................. 604  
19.2.15. Can dry fasting treat AIDS and hepatitis 
C? ................................................. ........................... 627  
19.2.16. Dry Fasting against Cancer  ................ 631  
19.2.17. Dry Fasting against Skin Diseases  ..... 637  
19.2.18. Functional Nervous System Disorders
 .................................................. ............................... 649  
19.2.19. Dry Fasting against Obesity  ............... 652  
20. How does doctor Filonov debunk myths about 
dry therapeutic fasting? ..........................................  679 
Literature  ..............................................................  722 
 
 Foreword by the curator of English and 
Italian edition Vera Giovanna Bani    
Between 29 June and 13 July 2019 I had the 
honor and the privilege of organizing the first 
dry fasting practice in Europe (Strunjan - Slove-
nia), with Dr. Filonov and his team of masseurs: 
his daughters Olga Kulikova, Anastasiya An-
tonova and nephew Andrey Cherkasskyj. We 
worked with a fantastic group of almost thirty 
people, all Italians except for one German girl, 
one French and one Swiss. The experience was 
wonderful, effective and constructive for every-
one (see the p hoto dossier at the end of the 
book). But how did this project of disseminating 
dry fasting begin?... …In October 2016, I began to get interested in 
dry fasting without suspecting that this path 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frwould eventually propel me into an unexpected 
world. I disco vered that in the post -war Soviet 
Union, where pharmaceutical lobbies were en-
tirely inexistent, and a strong spirit of innova-
tion and scientific research prevailed, a medical -
scientific approach entailing therapeutic fasting 
was formally consolidated. Drawing on a tradi-
tion previously established in Russia, the mech-
anisms of therapeutic fasting had been success-
fully investigated and clinically tested on thou-
sands of patients over the course of 60 years. This provided the scientific foundation that 
eventuall y made it possible for the Ministry of 
Health to approve its methodological indica-
tions. Many Russian doctors had the oppor-
tunity to cultivate this approach and even 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frdevelop a radical branch, as the dry fast could be 
defined. In November 2016, I worked to meet Dr. Fi-
lonov, who is considered the top dry fasting ex-
pert in Russia. I offered him to become the fore-
runner of dry fasting in Italy and he gave me 
“carte blanche”. Thus, in March 2017, thanks to 
the invitation of the Italian University of Health 
heade d by Dr. Valdo Vaccaro, I had the oppor-
tunity to introduce Dr. Filonov to the Italian au-
dience. In the summer of 2017, I tested this fantastic 
method on myself at Dr. Filonov’s headquarters 
in Altai Republic (Ust -Sema, West Siberia) and 
finally in mid -December 2017 the monograph, 
Digiuno secco. Gli ultimi sviluppi della digiuno-
terapia in Russia  (Dry Fasting: the latest 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frdevelopments in fasting in Russia), came to life. It’s the first non -Russian book about dry fasting! This 687 -page volume comprises the al most 
complete version of the first book by Dr Filonov, 
Suchoe lechebnoe golodanie. Mify i realnost (Dry 
medical fasting. Myths and reality) and selected 
chapters of his second book, Lechenie organizma 
sobstvennymi silami  (Curing the body with its 
own strengths)1. 1 Our monograph in italian: Digiuno secco. Gli ultimi sviluppi della 
digiunoterapia in Russia  (Dry fast: the latest developments in fasting 
in Russia), Macerata, edizioni Simple 2017, brings together the  
translation of the two writings of S. Filonov and is composed as fol-
lows:  
- Suchoe lechebnoe golodanie. Mify i realnost  - (Therapeutic dry 
fasting. Myths and reality), 2008. This book is reported here in 
an almost integral version, separated into the shorter chapters: 
Interesnye svedeniya o suchom golodanii (Interesting facts about 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frThe book was received with great interest in It-
aly: its emergence attracted the attention of the 
community of complementary medicine sup-
porters, and many bought it without hesitation, 
despite its weight and hefty price. Nonetheless, we’d like to emphasize, however, 
is that the subject of our work has had repercus-
sions outside of a circle of enthusiasts of the al-
ternative medicine scene: today, our website Si-
berika.it receives continuous requests for 
 
dry fasting), Zenshchina, kotoraya ne est  (The woman who does 
not eat ), Solntseedy  (The sun -eaters)   
- Lechenie organizma sobstvennymi silami (Curing the body with 
its own strengths), 2015 - the chapters regarding the vetero -
slavic massage Staroslaviyanskie metody lecheniya  (Vetero -
slavic treatment methods) have been omittedy  
 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frclarification from ordinary people who are in-
trigued by the approach proposed by dry fasting. In 2018, this growing interest has encouraged 
us to produce a lighter and cheaper text, which 
was nevertheless full of informative content: 20 
Domande sul digiuno secco  (Twenty questions 
about dry fasting - 271 pages), a compendium of 
Dr. Sergej Filonov’s monographs, which is also a 
practical manual aimed at clarifying all the fun-
damental points related to the dry fasting 
method in a question -and-answer form. The 
positive response to this compendium further 
conv inced us that the subject is attracting more 
and more readers by the day. We therefore un-
derstood that the time has come to present it in 
English for the benefit of the huge English -
speaking community. Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frWe hope to have correctly grasped the needs of 
the gen eral audience and hope to succeed in our 
intent to offer the first, essential and exhaustive 
encounter of the dry therapeutic fasting method 
here. Vera Giovanna Bani  (vera.bani@gmail.com;  
siberika.it) 
  
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.fr  
The good fate of therapeutic fasting in Russia 
and the contribution of Prof. Yuri Nikolayev 
(introductory article by Vera Giovanna Bani)    
 
In Russia, therapeutic fasting has a history that 
can be traced back to 1769, when Petr Vilyami-
nov, professor of medicine at the University of 
Moscow, wrote the treaty Slovo or postakh kak 
sredstve predochraneniya ot bolezney  (On fasting 
as a means of dise ase prevention) after having 
held a series of lessons on the benefit of fasting. Vilyaminov's observations found a follower 
fifty years later: in 1822 L. A. Struve, a professor 
at the University of Jurev, wrote about fasting as 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.fran excellent method of treatment for many dis-
eases. In 1834, Professor I. G. Spassky from the Uni-
versity of Moscow used fasting in his medical 
practice. In the article he wrote in the same year, 
titled " Uspeshnoe deystvie goloda na prostudnye 
zabolevaniya " (Successful application of fasting 
in the treatment of cooling diseases) he ob-
served:  
"By limiting and changing nutrition, fast-
ing ends up balancing many disturbances 
in the body's vegetative process and in this 
sense it appears to be an excellent remedy 
in the treatment of different chronic dis-
eases". Subsequently, between the late 1800s and the 
early 1900s, Dr. Nikolay Lvovich Zeland (1833 -
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.fr1902) was interested in experimental fasting. Born in Saarema, now Estonia, he completed his 
studies in Petersburg and was appointed to work 
in the outlying regions of the Russian Empire, in 
Vladivostok, Alma -Ata, and Tashkent. Zeland 
did a lot of research on dosed fasting, experi-
menting on himself and on animals. He came to 
the conclusion that, thanks to the impact of the 
fast: 
"It is possible to notice not only radical 
changes in the composition of the nervous 
system and in the state of being, but at the 
global level the processes of digestion and 
hematopoiesis improve... A temporary ar-
rest of the vital processes becomes a source 
of renewal and of great energy for these 
same processes. Abstinence from habitual 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frfood becomes a stimulus thanks to which 
the elements of the tissues become stronger 
and are enriched with proteins. (...) After 
my experiments I came to the conclusion 
that fasting is not only an effective thera-
peutic remedy, but also a practice that de-
serves attention as an educational 
method". Dr. Zeland explained his observations in the ar-
ticle " O posledovatelnom vliyanii lishenija pish-
chi na pitanie " (On the progressive impact of 
food ab stinence on nutrition), published in the 
"Russkaya medicina" journal (Russian medi-
cine), 1888, № 5-10, 12. In 1902 it was prof. Vladimir Pashutin who 
studied the physiological and patho -physiologi-
cal characteristics of w ater, dry and partial 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frfasting in ani mal studies and in a clinical con-
text. Practicing at the Medical -Military Acad-
emy of Tsarist Russia, he experimented on dif-
ferent animals for a long time and came to for-
mulate the essence of the physiological mecha-
nisms involved. Thanks to this, V. Pashutin is 
considered the pioneer and founder of the the-
ory of fasting or endogenous feeding. To this 
day, his experiments have not lost their signifi-
cance . The figure of Aleksey Suvorin deserves a special 
mention. Descending from a powerful family of 
St. Petersburg publishers, he was interested in al-
ternative methods of treatment and oriental self -
healing practices since early age; he studied trea-
ties of Indian medicine, Tibetan, Chinese and 
books of Western hygienists. In 1914, under the 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frpseudonym Aleksey Poroshin, he described his 
first experiments with fasting in a diary entitled 
Novyj chelovek  (The New Man), published by 
the homonymous publishing house that he 
founded. After the revolution and the civil war that en-
sued in Russia, Suvorin migrated to Yugoslavi a, 
where, despite living on the edge of poverty, he 
found the enthusiasm to found a publishing 
house with a Yugoslav partner. The latter, how-
ever, ended up deceiving and denouncing him, 
and Suvorin was imprisoned without trial. In 
prison, as a protest agai nst the unjust sentence, 
he began a hunger strike that invigorated him in-
stead of annihilating him. It is said that on the 
35th day of his voluntary fasting he was given the 
opportunity to defend himself in court. He won 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frthe trial and continued to fast for  up to 42 days, 
with surprising results, which, as the story goes, 
ended up gaining the interest of the director and 
staff of the penalty facility, as well as many in-
mates. After this experience, Suvorin became a very 
active champion of the cause of therapeutic fast-
ing. In 1931, his works were released in Belgrade: 
Ozdorovliyenye golodom i pishchej (Healing with 
fasting and food),  Metoda Suvorina  (The Su-
vorin method), Lechenie golodaniyem  (Healing 
through fasting). In a short time, his method be-
came very po pular in Yugoslavia and while Su-
vorin gained the esteem of tens of thousands of 
patients (assisted at a distance, by postal corre-
spondence), he also made many enemies. In-
vited to Paris in 1937 to discuss a fasting clinic 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frproject, he died suddenly under cir cumstances 
that remained mysterious. Russia remembered this illustrious emigrant 
and promoter of fasting in relatively recent 
times: his writings were only published in Mos-
cow in 1998, collected in the monograph Metod 
Suvorina. Lechenie golodaniyem  (Suvorin's 
method. Healing through fasting). Today, every-
one in Russia recognizes the contribution of Ale-
ksey Suvorin to the Russian history of therapeu-
tic fasting, and he remains one of the most ap-
preciated authors among experts and enthusi-
asts of the method. Belarusian M.P. Zyazulya stands out among 
Suvorin's followers. He was able to heal severe 
forms of tuberculosis using the method de-
scribed in Suvorin's books. In the more recent 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frtimes, one of his compatriots, Belarusian doctor 
G. A. Vojtovich, created his method of fractional 
fasting along the same lines. However, the great architect of the widespread 
propagation of therapeutic fasting was the psy-
chiatrist Yuri Nikolayev (1905 -1998): to him we 
owe the approval and the introduction of the 
method (for which he coined the name Razgru-
zochno -dieticheskaja terapiya , abbreviated as 
RDT – Diet -fasting therapy) to the USSR’s state 
health system. The documentary Le jeûne une 
nouvelle thérapie , made in 2011 by the French 
director Thierry de Lestrade and the journ alist 
Sylvie Gilman, translated into Russian under the 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frtitle Nauka golodaniya  (The science of fasting2), 
pays tribute to the work of this courageous doc-
tor. Yuri Nikolayev was born into a family of estab-
lished vegetarians, lovers of yoga and oriental 
philosophy. According to Nikolayev himself, his 
parents were in close contact with Lev Tolstoy, 
the most famous vegetarian in Russia, and his fa-
ther corresponded with the American writer 
Upton Sinclair, a fervent supporter of the hy-
gienic cause and author of the book The fasting 
cure. Besides, he was also busy translating Her-
bert Shelton's books into Russian. 2 The Italian translation by V. G. Bani ( La scienza del digiuno ) 
was published on YouTube in April 2017. Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frYoung Yuri’s ideas and position took shape in 
this fertile soil. He started his career as a doctor, 
served as a military doctor after graduation, and 
was a student under the famous academic M.O. Gurevich in the psychiatric clinic of the First In-
stitute of Medicine in Moscow in 1939 - 1941. His interest in fasting was likely to have been 
initially stimulated by the family environment, 
was later consolidated thanks to the contribu-
tion of Prof. Bakulev, President of the Academy 
of Medical Sciences of the USSR. In 1956, Prof. 
Bakulev published an article titled Po povodu od-
nogo metoda lecheniya  (Regarding the treatment 
method) in the journal "Meditsinskij rabotn ik" 
(The medical worker). The article described a 
successful experiment in the treatment of 
chronic diseases with fasting, specifically some 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frcases of complete remission of gastric and duo-
denal ulcers after a 12- day water  fast. It must be said that discussion of "fasting" in the 
USSR of the 50s and 60s was certainly difficult. The specter of hunger was still very much alive 
in the country. The nine hundred days of the 
Nazi siege of Leningrad, with thousands of 
deaths from starvat ion and numerous incidents 
of cannibalism, as well as the challenging post -
war years characterized by scarcity of food had 
left a profoundly mark on the collective uncon-
scious of the Soviet population and the memory 
of deprivation had not subsided in a lit tle over a 
decade. However, Prof. Bakulev was able to di-
rect the attention of the scientific and medical 
community to the possibility of applying thera-
peutic fasting, and Nikolayev was certainly 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frdeeply impressed. So much so that he too, in his 
psychiatric practice, found constants worthy of 
interest. He wrote:  
"I noticed that some schizophrenia pa-
tients often give up eating and resist when 
they are force -fed. I wondered if this renun-
ciation of food was not perhaps an instinc-
tive reaction to the sick organis m's defense. So, I tried to treat these patients with a par-
adoxical method: the dosed fast”  
In the late 1940s -1960s, Nikolayev intensified 
his observations of schizophrenia patients who 
became the object of his doctoral thesis, pre-
sented in 1960 under the title Razgruzochno- di-
eticheskaja terapiya shizofrenii i ee fiziolog-
icheskoe obosnovaniye  (RDT diet -fasting therapy 
in the treatment of schizophrenia and its 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frphysiological basis). In those difficult years, Ni-
kolayev's selflessness in his work of furthering 
therapeutic fasting would not have been success-
ful, had it not been for a decisive stroke of luck: 
Nikolaeyv’s wife, also a psychiatrist employed in 
the rehabilitation of alcoholics, happened to 
handle the case of Lev Bulganin, son of an im-
portant man of t he party, the Chairman of the 
Soviet Council of Ministers, N.A. Bulganin. The Nikolayevs both treated the illustrious pa-
tient together and managed to cure him by ap-
plying the method of therapeutic fasting. The 
powerful N.A. Bulganin, wishing to express gra t-
itude for his son’s healing, assured Dr. Nikolayev 
his high protection. Thanks to this, Nikolayev 
was able to freely conduct his research and 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frexperiments at the psychiatric clinic and record 
his observations. Using fasting to treat thousands of cases of 
schizophrenia and other psychic disorders, he 
noted that, by eradicating the disease at the root, 
fasting could heal several diseases simultane-
ously. Thus, with copious clinical results in hand 
and the protection of the high -ranking official 
Bulganin, Niko layev soon succeeded in intro-
ducing therapeutic fasting into clinical practice, 
thus contributing to its approval by the Soviet 
Ministry of Health. In 1961, Nikolayev was appointed director of 
the psychiatry program at the Rostov -on-Don 
Medical Institute. During the two years in this 
position he had managed to set up a school of 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frexperts in therapeutic fasting and inspire nu-
merous colleagues. In the decades that followed, Nikolayev worked 
in Moscow at the Soviet Scientific Research In-
stitute of Psychiatry an d coordinated the work of 
the numerous fasting wards that had been 
opened everywhere throughout the Soviet Un-
ion. The development of the method benefited im-
mensely from the collection Problemy 
lechebnogo golodaniya (Problems of therapeutic 
fasting), published in Moscow in 1969. It com-
prised the contribution of scientists such as P.K. Anokhin, A.A. Pokrovskiy, P.A. Fedorov, in ad-
dition to Nikolayev. It comprised approximately 
sixty articles dedicated to therapeutic fasting in 
psychiatric practice, to the neu rophysiology of 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frthe sensation of hunger and satiety, and to the 
pathophysiology of fasting. Nikolayev himself 
spoke of the growing interest and fervor in the 
studies in the introduction to 1988 edition of his 
book Golodaniye radi zdoroviya  (Fasting for 
Health), published for the first time in 1973 with 
200,000 copies. At the end of the 1990s, the Republic of Burya-
tia hosted a pilot experience to introduce fasting 
dietary therapy (RDT) in the practice of medical 
and hospital facilities at the state level. Under the 
scientific direction of Prof. A.N. Kokosov, a 
training program for RDT specialists was estab-
lished in the republic, with lectures, seminars 
and conferences on the method aimed at both 
doctors and health personnel, and the interested 
public. Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frSince then, in Russia, the number of scientific 
articles that have been released and authors who 
have made contributions to the field of thera-
peutic fasting (including dry fasting) are un-
countable. This is evidenced by the materials re-
ported in Appendix 1 and th e relative bibliog-
raphy included in this book, which contains ref-
erences, as complete as possible, on the enor-
mous amount of medical and scientific research 
carried out in the USSR -Russia in the last sixty 
years. Finally, I would like to add that 25 years since 
the creation of the Russian fasting dietary ther-
apy (RDT) were celebrated on 10 August 2019, 
in Goryachinsk, Republic of Buryatia, and I had 
the pleasure of being present and of getting to 
know the people who are still carrying out this 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frfantastic project (see the photographic dossier at 
the end of this book). Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frPreface by Sergey Filonov  
 
I was born in the Altai region in a family of 
physicians; both my mother and my older sister 
are pediatricians. Since early childhood at home 
I regularly overheard conversations about med-
icine. With such a "family anamnesis" it was a 
foreseeable predicament that my path would 
lead me straight to the study of medicine, and so 
it was indeed, even though, from what I recall, 
during childhood and adolescence I was fond of  
totally different things: like all the boys on our 
street, I, too, wanted to become a pilot. One day my father and I went skiing. After 
our outing we visited some friends for a cup of 
tea, and it was there that for first time in my life 
I saw a cancer pat ient. He was very thin and 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frsuffered from severe pain. This made a very 
strong impression on me. Once I reached home 
I asked my mother if it recovering from this dis-
ease really was impossible, and she replied: " Un-
fortunately, my son, at this stage of the illness our 
medicine is yet ineffective." In eighth grade, by chance, I stumbled upon a 
book. I do not remember the title, but I remem-
ber well that it spoke of a talented healer who 
had cured a man suffering from cancer by treat-
ing it with herbs and fasting. Hence, the body 
has the reserves and forces capable to treat such 
a serious and insidious disease like cancer, I 
thought. For every poison, there must necessarily be an 
antidote in nature. For each disease in the body 
there must be forces able to heal it. After all, 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.franimals in nature do not have hospitals, clinics 
and doctors. They are guided by their natural in-
stincts. They know better than any herbalists, 
which grass to take in the moment they need it, 
or they heal themselves just by fasting. From that 
moment, I became more interested in natural 
ways of healing. I began to read books about fast-
ing, hypnosis, herbs, acupuncture. I began to un-
derstand: a man is a natural pharmacy, the or-
ganism has all it needs for the treatment of any 
disease, it is  only necessary to discover these nat-
ural medicines and stimulate them to benefit the 
organism, with work, patience and willpower. My decision to enroll in medical school was ab-
solutely conscious, but I knew that I would not 
be interested in sitting at the  clinic and to pre-
scribe tablets. I had to find a specialization and 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frto gain knowledge in such a way that my future 
patients would be assisted and able to utilize 
their huge hidden potential to heal diseases. On the fourth year of my medical degree, I 
was appointed to supervise a patient with bron-
chial asthma. When I went to her room, I could 
not believe what I saw: a blooming woman with 
a pink blush on the face and sparkling eyes. She 
didn’t look at all like an asthmatic patient. I 
wanted to apologize and  say, that I had entered 
in the wrong room, but still I asked her name. It 
turned out I was in the right place! "Don’t be so surprised - she said  - that I don’t 
look like an asthmatic person. I have been on a 
twenty -day course of fasting, and now I'm at t he 
end of it. After the tenth day of fasting I stopped 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frhaving asthma attacks and I stopped using an in-
haler.  " Her appearance and her breathing impressed 
me. It's one thing to read books about fasting, 
and another thing to see in practice the results of 
it. After this meeting, I definitely decided that I 
needed to know everything about this wonderful 
technique and make sure to specialize in it. Professor Yu.S. Nikolayev authored the best 
texts on therapeutic fasting at the time. His 
book3 is written with such enthusiasm and faith 
in this natural method, that after reading it I also 
wanted to practice it. So I did, and got my whole 
university group involved. We started a juice 
 
3 Nikolayev Yu.S. Golodaniye radi zdoroviya (Fasting for Health), 
Moskva,  Sovetskaya Rossiya, 1973. Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frfast, then tried the water fast. Of course, most of 
my group aba ndoned the experiment, but I con-
tinued. I particularly liked to fast before exams: 
after fasting my head became light, clear, and 
memory was very much improved, and most im-
portantly I would go take the exams without any 
fear. After graduating from the medi cal institute I 
was appointed in the locality of "Goryachinsk", 
in the Republic of Buryatia on the shore of the 
sacred Lake Baikal. The nature and beauty of 
these places enchanted me, especially the energy 
and the magnificence of the Lake. Working in this  sanatorium I was fortunate 
to meet a very interesting person, Vladimir Ro-
manovich Verbul. He was suffering from 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frbronchial asthma and was the first, in Buryatia, 
to try the 24 -day fast in the domestic environ-
ment. His work colleagues were shocked by the re-
sults of his therapeutic fast. Together they de-
cided to invite the famous Professor Yuri Ser-
geyevich Nikolayev to Buryatia. When the pro-
fessor arrived, they took him to our 
"Goryachinsk" sanatorium, so I had the chance 
to meet this extraordinary man for the first time. Yuri Sergeyevich liked the sanatorium and the 
surrounding nature very much. He said : "Here at 
Lake Baikal, the place and conditions are perfect 
for therapeutic fasting." Professor Nikolayev invited me to follow him 
to Moscow to practice in h is therapeutic fasting 
ward. Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frAfter my period of study in Moscow, we 
opened department for therapeutic fasting in 
our sanatorium. It was difficult for me to start it. Our collective was skeptical about fasting as a 
therapeutic method and they openly called  me 
"the hunger doctor". I remember well that when 
my first patient went to the canteen, the day of 
his exit from the fast, the nurse brought him a 
plate of cold porridge of salted millet and told 
him: "come on, eat!". Fortunately, he remem-
bered my advice and decided to wait for me. But 
what would have happened if he had eaten it?! Over time, however, seeing the good results 
of therapeutic fasting, our collective began to 
have a completely different opinion and some of 
them even decided to personally experience a 
course of fasting. Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frAfter working independently for two years, I 
was fortunate enough to go on to specialize in St. 
Petersburg, at the fasting department led by Pro-
fessor Alexsey Nikolayevich Kokosov. There, for 
the first time I heard about absolute (dry) fasting 
and its application in the treatment of diseases. It happened that some of my patients who 
had practiced a water fasting course had seen all 
their symptoms disappear during the fast, but at 
the end of it part of the symptoms had returned. Those were unpleasant moments for me. I had 
pondered for a long time how to improve the ef-
fectiveness of the method, understanding that, 
obviously, the longer the period of fasting, the 
better the result would be. But unfortunately 
times were changing, people  had to start paying 
for the health services and not everyone could 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frafford to undergo a long assisted fast. How to 
strengthen the curative effect of fasting under 
the conditions offered by our sanatorium? It was my dog who suggested a solution. He 
had been  hit by a motorcycle and after the acci-
dent had given up not only eating but also drink-
ing. For seven days, he remained motionless in a 
dark corner of the shed and only on the eighth 
day he began drinking, and then eating. Then I 
thought he had an internal  trauma and probably 
an edema. He instinctively felt it and for this rea-
son he gave up drinking, which ended up saving 
him. After a while, as if on purpose, I, too, had an 
adventure with the motorbike: after a day of fish-
ing I slipped and sank in the icy water. To get 
home, I had to travel twenty miles on a 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frmotorbike and the result was that I froze to the 
bone. This accident provoked an acute sinusitis 
and I had awful pains every time I lowered my 
head. I began to reflect on the situation. I thought: 
the pains are mainly caused by an edema. But if 
there is no water, there will be no edema. I de-
cided to fast without water until symptoms re-
solved. On the fifth day of dry fast all the symptoms 
of the disease had disappeared and even today 
they do not bother me anymore. That was my 
first dry fast experiment. I was at Lake Baikal and 
it was not difficult to practice the fast, thanks 
also to the fact that I had a good experience of 
water fasting. In any case, I was most impressed 
by the therapeutic effect and the  results obtained 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frin such a short period of time. I had assisted pa-
tients with sinusitis, but the results only showed 
up after the tenth day of water fasting. One day a young man suffering from chronic 
prostatitis came to see me. I had already assisted 
him on a fourteen -day water fast. After the prac-
tice he was better, but he still had periodic aggra-
vations. I reflected that prostatitis is an infec-
tious process. Every infection loves to reproduce 
in water, edema is present in any infectious pro-
cess. The boy  was serious about his intent to heal 
and my arguments about dry fasting convinced 
him. He did a 5 -days dry fast and then a 5 -days 
water fast. Exactly one year later he came back to 
me and said that he did not want to fast with wa-
ter anymore, that he liked  the effect of dry fast-
ing and that there were no exacerbations that 
year. Under my direct supervision he did a 7 -day 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frdry fast. Later he called me often to tell me that 
he felt very satisfied with the achieved results. I was afraid to carry out a dry fast longer than 
seven days, but in life I have always been fortu-
nate to meet interesting and unique people. For 
family reasons, I was forced to go to the Altai re-
gion, where I was offered to work in a medical 
center specializing in therapeutic fasting. At the time, from the city of Ulan -Ude, I re-
ceived an invitation to a conference dedicated to 
fasting. The conference attracted the most fa-
mous doctors specializing in therapeutic fasting, 
from all over Russia. I went. On this occasion I 
had the good fortune to m eet one of the founders 
of the dry fasting method, Professor L. A. 
Shchennikov, who assisted patients on 11 -day 
fasting. After the conference the professor in-
vited me to visit him in Kislovodsk. There, I was 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.fracquainted with his patients and studied his 
method in practice. This is a very effective, but 
very difficult approach for an untrained person 
When I returned home after being in Kis-
lovodsk I did a 9 -day dry fast, spending my time 
at home and a bit in the Altai mountains near 
Lake Teletskoe. Then I realized that a serious dry 
fast can only happen by staying in nature, possi-
bly in the mountains and near mountain rivers. After this experience I did a 10 -days dry fast, but 
only staying in the Altai mountains: we spent the 
whole period on horseback, on e xcursions. Con-
sidering all the advantages and disadvantages of 
the various methods of dry fasting and my per-
sonal experience, now I believe that the most ef-
fective approach is the "fractional dry fasting" 
that I propose to all my patients. Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frI have been work ing with therapeutic fasting 
for 30 years. I have personally assisted hundreds 
of patients. There have been excellent results but 
there have also been cases in which therapeutic 
fasting did not help. People often call me, write 
to me or simply ask me how to start and how to 
get the maximum benefit from this technique. Nowadays, thanks to the Internet, information 
regarding dry fasting is spreading rapidly. To tell 
the truth, it is often contradictory information: 
some people write that with a 2 -day dry fast  you 
can recover from cancer, while others say that in 
order to heal, you need a 15 -day dry fasting. Both are wrong. Dry fasting, according to my 
personal experience, is one of the most effective 
methods among types of fasts but if you are not 
properly pre pared and it is practices correctly it 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frcan be very risky, like all other methods of heal-
ing. Unfortunately, people turn to this method 
when it is too late, as a last resort, after having 
tried everything and wasted a lot of time. I al-
ways tell my patients that everything needs to be 
done on time. This method, like others, has its 
indications and contraindications, however its 
effectiveness is incomparable in treating the ini-
tial phase of almost all kinds of diseases. There are real horror stories about the  dam-
age that a dry fast could cause. It is not my inten-
tion to underestimate other techniques of fasting 
and treatment, but I firmly believe that it is very 
important to provide people with the most 
truthful and complete information and the pos-
sibility of choice. Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frIf someone decides to autonomously tend to 
their own healing using the dry fasting method, 
then they must do it correctly, in order to obtain 
the maximum benefit and make use of all its po-
tential. My book is dedicated to this category of 
people. I tried to illustrate the method as clearly 
and completely as I can, providing highly relia-
ble information, based on the results of decades 
of practice and confirmed by my patients’ feed-
back. Remember: a man can bear anything if he 
knows why and for what pur pose he is doing it. Sergey Ivanovich Filonov, MD4 
 
  
 
4 Taken from  the first book by dr Filonov, Suchoe lechebnoe go-
lodaniye. Mify i realnost  - (Therapeutic dry fasting. Myt hs and real-
ity), 2008. Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.fr1. What is dry fasting? An absolute fast  or dry fasting  (DF) is nor-
mally defined as abstinence from any food or liq-
uid over a particular time frame. Russian doctors 
recommend a practice from 1 day up to a maxi-
mum of 5 in domestic conditions (3 days for 
people affected by illness) and from 6 to 11 days 
strictly under medical assistance (see question 
10). This type of fasting requires abstaining from 
water not only for internal use, but also for ex-
ternal use. For maximum therapeutic effect, in 
fact, it is advisable to totally refrain from any 
contact with water; this results in the greatest ex-
perience of rejuvenation and restructuring of the 
cells through the detoxification process stimu-
lated by DF. Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frIt is necessary to also avoid brushing teeth; 
while fasting the saliva composition changes and 
acquires the ability to "dissolve" the enamel. Throughout the fasting practice a special organic 
layer usually coa ts the teeth and protects them 
from decaying. If the wish to brush one’s teeth is 
too strong it is possible to do it, but only once a 
week. Regarding contact with water for domestic 
use, it will be sufficient to use a pair of rubber 
gloves. It must be said that in the case of certain pa-
thologies doctors allow patients to wash them-
selves with cold water (less than 11 degrees) or 
swim in natural water basins. The contrast in 
temperature experienced by the body enhances 
the thermal reaction triggered by DF wi thin the 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frorganism, which is considered one of the main 
mechanisms of self -healing. Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.fr2. Is dry fasting a natural method? Nowadays dry therapeutic fasting is consid-
ered one of the most advanced healing methods, 
but in fact this approach is “as old as the world”. It was born at the dawn of humanity. It can be 
affirmed with certainty that since the beginning 
of the evolution of animal life forms existing to-
day, dry fasting was frequently used by all their 
representatives. As humanity progressed this archaic method 
has been mostly forgotten and only in recent 
decades, thanks to the growing popularity of hy-
gienism and water and water  fasting, there has 
been a return of interest in this ancient practice. Dry fasting is an absolutely natural process, in-
corpor ated into the genetic code of man and an-
imals: it is well known that when animals fall 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frsick, especially in serious conditions, they im-
mediately refuse food and water. When the body gets ill, it begins to mobilize 
all its forces to protect itself and it starts using its 
reserves, if they exist. Therefore, with the intent 
to save energy from processing external water 
and food, the body triggers a rescue program, 
which involves an automatic "refusal" to intro-
duce them. Similar situations also occur in respons e to 
adverse environmental conditions: to protect 
themselves from extreme cold (winter hiberna-
tion) or from extreme hot (aestivation) animals 
do not eat and do not drink for long periods and 
enter a state of inactivity and metabolic depres-
sion characterized by low body temperature, 
slow breathing, slow heart rate and low 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frmetabolic rate. The function of hibernation -aes-
tivation is to conserve energy when sufficient 
food is unavailable. This phenomenon can affect animal and 
plant species, both in the adult form and in the 
intermediate forms of development (eggs, lar-
vae, chrysalises, seeds, spores, pollen, buds, tu-
bers, bulbs, etc.) and may depend on seasonal 
environmental phenomena, as in the case of 
winter hibernation or from accidental external 
causes (drough t, temperature changes, lack of 
nourishment). In all these situations we speak of 
anabiosis, or apparent death or latent life5. 5 Cryptobiosis (latent life) is the collective name for a state of life 
used by some organisms to overcome periods of unfavorable envi-
ronmental conditions such as desiccation , freezing , and  oxygen  de-
ficiency . Cryptobiotic organisms are known from both the plant 
and animal kingdom (mainly among invertebrates). Cryptobiosis 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frAnabiosis is a temporary state during which the 
organism, in the absence of nourishment, slows 
down its vital functions, which resume perfectly 
as soon as the external conditions normalize. Therefore, fasting is a natural adaptive mecha-
nism, an organism’s automatic self -defense reac-
tion genially developed by Mother Nature and 
incorporated into the vital strategies of animal 
and pl ant organisms to survive environmental 
conditions. may be entered either within a specific life stage (for example larvae 
and eggs, spores of various fun gi and bacteria, and pollen and seeds 
of some plants) or over the entire life cycle (in species of Protozoa, 
Nematoda, Tardigrada, Arthropoda, mosses, lichens, and algae, as 
well as some higher plants). In the cryptobiotic state, all measurable 
metabolic processes are interrupted. When environmental condi-
tions return to being hospitable, the organism will return to its  met-
abolic  state of life as it was prior to the cryptobiosis. Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.fr3. What conditions can fasting help? In-
dications and contraindications for fast-
ing and dry fasting. Main indications:  
• hypertension, stages 1 and 2;  
• neurocirculatory dystonia, hypertensive or 
mixed (there are limitations regarding hypo-
tonic neurocirculatory dystonia since there is 
a chance of orthostatic collapse);  
• ischemic heart disease, angina pectoris of 
classes I, II and III; 
• chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 
(COPD); 
• bronchial asthma;  
• pulmonary sarcoidosis, phases I and II; 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.fr• chronic gastritis with secretory insufficiency 
and hyperacidity, gastroduodenitis;  
• pancreatitis and chronic cholecystitis with-
out gallstones;  
• biliary dyskinesia 
• irritable bowel syndrome (IBS); 
• diseases of the  musculoskeletal system of in-
flammatory and dystrophic origin; 
• neuroendocrine disorders in chronic 
salpingoovaritis; 
• prostate adenoma;  
• alimentary -constitutional obesity, dience-
phalic obesity; 
• resistance to drug therapy;  
• skin allergies (chronic allergic der matosis, 
neurodermatitis, psoriasis, eczema); food al-
lergies and (or) from drugs. Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.fr• neurosis, depressive conditions, schizotypal 
personality disorder. Contraindications  
    
1. Absolute contraindications:  
• marked body mass deficit (more than 15% 
from the expected values);  
• malignant tumors; 
• active tuberculosis of the lungs and other or-
gans;  
• bronchiectasis;  
• systemic diseases of the blood;  
• type I diabetes mellitus;  
• thyrotoxicosis;  
• disorders of the heart rhythm and/or of the 
pulse propagation of any origin; 
• post -focal myocardial infarction;  
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.fr• heart failure of II B - III degree; 
• chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis of the liver; 
• chronic renal failure and renal failure of any 
genesis;  
• thrombophlebitis. 2. Relative contraindication s: 
• coronary heart disease with rhythmic disor-
ders and cardiac failure greater than stage II 
A; 
• severe hypotension;  
• cholelithiasis;  
• urolithiasis; 
• stomach ulcer and duodenal ulcer; 
• chronic venous insufficiency; 
• type II diabetes mellitus;  
• gout; 
• febrile conditions; 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.fr• pregnancy and breastfeeding;  
• in childhood (up to 14 years) and the elderly 
(over 70); 
    
  
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.fr 
4. What is the scientific background of 
therapeutic fasting and dry fasting in 
particular? In Russia therapeutic fasting has a research 
tradition that can be traced back to 1769, when 
Petr Vilyaminov, professor of the Moscow Uni-
versity medical school, wrote the treatise Slovo o 
postakh kak sredstve predochraneniya ot 
bolezney  (“On fasting as a means of disease pre-
vention”). Later, between the early 1800s and the mid -
20th century, many Russian researchers and 
physicians became interested in fasting, among 
which we cite prof. I. G. Spassky, Dr. N. Zeland, 
prof. V. Pashutin, A. S uvorin and prof. Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frBakulyev, who studied the physiological and 
pathophysiological characteristics of fasting and 
applied it in animal studies and in a clinical set-
ting. But the great promoter of fasting as a thera-
peutic practice was the psychiatrist Yuri Nik ola-
yev: he was responsible for the approval and the 
introduction of fasting in the USSR state 
healthcare system. Thanks to the contribution of 
prof. Nikolayev fasting was scientifically investi-
gated in studies that began in the 1960s and con-
tinue to the present day, with a peak of activity 
in the decades of the 70s, 80s and 90s. It was Professor Nikolayev who coined the 
term razgruzochno- dieticheskaya terapiya  
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.fr(RDT) (“fasting -dietary therapy – FDT”)6. The 
term distinguishes spontaneous fasting or fast-
ing induced by circumstances beyond personal 
control from therapeutic fasting researched and 
applied in the medical field on the basis of pre-
cise protocols approved by the Ministry of 
Healthcare first in the Soviet Union and later in 
Russia. This is also under stood as a therapeutic 
 
6 The razgruzochno- dieticheskaya terapiya  (RDT) (“fasting -dietary 
therapy – FDT”) was based on the method of complete “ water ” fast-
ing, developed by Professor Yu. S. Nikolayev and approved by the 
Ministry of Healthcare of the USSR in 1990, then revised and ap-
proved by the Ministry of Healthcare of the Russian Federation in 
2005. The course of therapy consisted of three main periods: pre-
paratory, fasting and restoration periods (see the Methodological 
Recommendations Primenenie razgruzochno -dieticheskoj terapij 
(RDT) v vosstanovitelnoy medicine. Posobye dliya vrachey  (Method-
ological Recommendation for application of FDT (RDT) in Reha-
bilitation Medicine. A Manual for Physicians), Moskva 2005). Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frpractice based on the transition of the organism 
to an endogenous diet. With regards to dry fasting specifically, it was 
only in recent decades that (in Russia) total ab-
stinence from food and water started being ap-
plied in clinical p ractice (V.A. Zakirov7  and I.E 
Khoroshilov8), although the physiologist 
 
7 Zakirov V. A., Klinicheskaya i funktsionalnaya kharakteristika 
bolnykh bronkhialnoy astmoy pri reducirovannoy (trednevnoj) 
rasgruzochno- dieticheskoy terapii metodami “vlazhnogo” I “suchogo” 
golodaniya , (Clinical and functional characteristics of patients with 
bronchial asthma treated with fasting dietary therapy (three days) 
and "  water  " and "dry" fasting methods”) // Nemedikamentoznye 
metody v lechenii i reabilitatsii bolnykh nespecificheskimi 
zabolevaniyami legkikh  (Non -pharmacological methods in the 
treatment and rehabilitation of patients with non -specific lung dis-
eases // Leningrad 1989, pp. 63 -67. 8 Khoroshilov I. E., Kliniko- gigienicheskye aspekty absoljutnogo go-
lodaniya , St. Petersburg, 1994. Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frVladimir Pashutin9 in 1902 and the gastroenter-
ologist and dietician M. Pevzner10 in the 1950s 
had already written about the possibility to limit 
water during an absolute fast. The method of dry fasting has scientific evi-
dence. The Scientific Research Institute of Pul-
monology in St. Petersburg, led by prof. A. Ko-
kosov11, has produced guidelines on the 
 
9 Pashutin  V. V . (1845 —1901) , Kurs obshchey I eksperimentalnoy 
patologii (patologicheskoy fiziologii)  (The Course of General and Ex-
perimental Pathology (pathological physiology), St. Petersburg, 
1902. 10 Pevzner M. I. (1872 -1952), Osnovy lechebnogo pitaniya  (Funda-
mental of Therapeutic Nutrition), Moscow,1958. 11 Kokosov A. N., Osinin S. G., Trofimov V. I., Razgruzochno -diet-
icheskajya terapiya bronkhialnoy astmoy  (The FDT (RDT) in the 
treatment of bronchial asthma), Leningrad, 1978; Razgruzochno -di-
eticheskajya terapiyja bolnykh bronkhialnoy astmoy (The FDT in the 
treatment of patients with bronchial asthma), Tashkent, ed. Medic-
ina, 1984; Opyt lechenija bronkhialnoy astmoy metodom 
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frtreatment of various lung diseases using the dry 
fasting method. A clinical experiment con-
ducted in the mid -1990s at the Medical Acad-
emy of Ivanovo, showed that absolute fasting 
(without food and water) opens interesting pro-
spects for the treatment of cancer and serious 
immunodeficiency disorders. It is scientifically 
demonstrated that dry fasting allows the organ-
ism to develop the highest concentrations of bi-
ologically active substances, hormones, immu-
nocompetent cells and immunoglobulins in 
body fluids (according to the research developed 
 
razgruzochno- dieticheskoj terapiey (Experiment in the treatment of 
bronchial asthma using the FDT method), Leningrad, 1986; the 
guidelines for the Physicians Razgruzochno- dieticheskaja terapiya 
bronkhialnoy astmoy  (The FDT (RDT) in the treatment of bronchial 
asthma), Leningrad, 1980. Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frin the USSR -Russia, see the bibliography sec-
tion). Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.fr5. What type of fasting (RDT) are being 
researched and commonly used in clini-
cal practice (in Russia)  
The medical recommendations elaborated by 
the Russian Ministry of Health12, define the dif-
ferent types of fasting: absolute or dry fasting 
(absence of food and water), complete fasting 
(absence of food with water intake), incomplete 
or water fasting (with limited water intake) and 
different types of qualitative fasting (protein, li-
pid, vitamin, carbohydrate). 12 The Methodological Recommendations Primenenie razgruzo-
chno- dietiches koj terapij (RDT) v vosstanovitelnoy medicine.
20_Questions_&_Answers_About_Dry_Fasting_by_Sergey_Filonov.txt
Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        Abstract  
The therapeutic dry fasting method is de-
scribed by the author based of his 25 years of ex-
perience in monitoring fasting patients. The ef-
fect of the method on the human body is exam-
ined in detail, recommendations are provided 
on the preparation and exit from dry fasting, as 
well as on the actions to be taken in case of pos-
sible complications. Indications and contraindi-
cations are enumerated. The book is intended 
for a wide circle of readers who are interested in 
fasting and use it as a cleansing and medical pro-
cedure. WARNING  
All therapeutic suggestions reported in this man-
ual are not a substitute for the advice of the 
reader’s own physician. It is highly advisable to 
consult medical professionals before undertaking 
a water or dry fasting practice. The authors, pub-
lisher, distributors and retailers of this book can-
not be held responsible for any damage or injury 
that may be connected, arise from or in any way 
associated with the application of the method il-
lustrated in this book. Those who decide to follow 
its principles and algorithms will do it under their 
own responsibility. Sergey Filonov  
20 questions and answers about dry fasting  
  
 
 
 
 
Copyright 2019 Vera Giovanna Bani. All rights reserved. First edition: November 2019  
Translated from Russian by Yana Solominskaya (chapters 8 -20) 
Translated from Italian by Francesca Morgante (chapters 1 -7) 
Cover by Julia Novachenko  
Russian title: Сухое лечебное голодание – мифы и реальность  
Italian title: Venti domande sul digiuno secco  
 
 
 
www. siberika. it 
www. dryfasting. info Contents  
Foreword by the curator of English and Italian 
edition Vera Giovanna Bani. 16 
The good fate of therapeutic fasting in Russia and 
the contribution of Prof. Yuri Nikolayev 
(introductory article by Vera Giovanna Bani). 23 
Preface by Sergey Filonov. 42 
1. What is dry fasting. 59 
2. Is dry fasting a natural method. 62 
3. What conditions can fasting help. Indications 
and contraindications for fasting and dry fasting. 66 
4. What is the scientific background of therapeutic 
fasting and dry fasting in particular. 71 
5. What type of fasting (RDT) are being researched 
and commonly used in clinical practice (in Russia)  78 
6. What methods of fasting have been developed 
and disseminated in the USSR -Russia. 86 
Ivanov’s method: 42 hours a week of dry fasting. 86 Shchennikov’s method: the complete dry fast 
(CDF) of  7-9- 11 days. 91 
Lavrova’s method: a 5 -stage cascade dry fasting. 98  
Filonov’s method: fractional dry fasting (FDF). 105  
7. What are the advantages of dry fasting compared 
to water  fasting. 113 
8. What mechanisms does a dry fast trigger within 
the body. 124  
8. 1. The mechanism of toxins burning "in their 
own furnace" and production of "endogenous" water.
The book is intended for a wide range of readers who are interested in fasting and using it as a cleansing and medical procedure.
What is the purpose of the book?
The author of the book is Sergey Filonov.
Who is the author of the book?
The main theme of the book is therapeutic dry fasting.
What is the main theme of the book?
The author's 25 years of experience is in monitoring fasting patients.
What is the author's 25 years of experience in monitoring fasting patients?
The book lists the following contraindications for dry fasting: marked body mass deficit, malignant tumors, active tuberculosis of the lungs and other organs, bronchiectasis, systemic diseases of the blood, type I diabetes mellitus, thyrotoxicosis, disorders of the heart rhythm and/or pulse propagation of any origin, post-focal myocardial infarction, chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis of the liver, chronic renal failure, and thrombophlebitis.
What are the contraindications for dry fasting?