When food ispolluted and its entire composition altered by toxicchemicals, the body’s cells become sick, function poorlyand cannot keep adjusting to the irritating toxins forcedon them – causing illness, premature ageing and death! Man’s days shall be 120 years. –  Genesis 6:314
Happiness is not being pained in body or troubled in mind. – Thomas Jefferson, 3rd U.S. President, 1801-1809Synthetic, Toxic Food Additives Can Kill! A vast amount of chemical poisons contaminate our
food. Most commercial interests are not concerned with
our health and lives. The economic bottom line is their
main concern. It’s best and safer to eat live, organicallygrown foods whenever possible. Avoid complicated,
chemicalized, preserved foods. Read the labels of all foods
you purchase! Ask questions about any special productsand foods you like – even write the company and ask
for a complete nutritional and chemical analysis. Fast faithfully 
24 – 36 hours weekly to rid yourself of
toxins and help your body stay healthy and clean. When
you don’t feel up to par (colds, flus, mucus, pains, aches,
etc. ), then it’s time to take a 3, 5 or 7 day complete fast
and give your body a thorough body detox cleansing! When you fast, your Vital Force is doing the cleansing. •If you are going to keep your body clean, pure and
   healthy – you must faithfully fast regularly! •When you fast, wonderful miracles will happenin your body! •The body is cleansing, repairing and healing itself! •Following a fasting regime of one day a week youwill feel greater than you have ever felt. Internal
cleansing puts you on the road to Super Health. Beware of Harmful Salt
Would you use sodium, a caustic alkali, to season
your food? Or chlorine, a poisonous gas? “Ridiculousquestions,” you say. “Nobody would be foolhardy
enough to do that.” Of course not. But the shocking
truth is that most people do just that because they don’tknow that these powerful chemicals constitute the
inorganic crystalline compound known as salt. For
centuries, the expression “salt of the earth” has beenused to designate something good and essential. This
idea is erroneous! Salt may actually help to bury you!15
The Bragg Healthy Lifestyle followed daily will help you last a long lifetime!Salt: Some Startling Facts:
•Salt is not a food! There is no more justification
for its culinary use than there is for potassium
chloride, calcium chloride, barium chloride or any
other chemical on the druggist’s shelf. •Salt cannot be digested, assimilated or utilized
by the body. Salt has no nutritional value! Salt has
no vitamins, no organic minerals and no nutrientsof any kind! Instead, it is harmful and causes trouble
in the kidneys, bladder, heart, arteries, veins and
blood vessels. Salt is the main cause of waterloggedtissues that cause swelling and edema (dropsy). •Salt causes serious medical problems and can act
as a heart poison. It also irritates the nervous system. •Salt acts to rob calcium from the body, bones,
etc. and attacks mucous lining throughout the body. If salt is so dangerous to health, why is it used so
widely? Mainly because it’s a habit ingrained over the
years. But it’s a habit based on a serious misconception
that the body needs it. Many people never eat salt andnever miss it (
we don’t own a salt shaker )! Your wise body
doesn’t want it. Once a person is free of the salt habit,
salt becomes repulsive to the taste as tobacco is to a
nonsmoker! Among certain animal species, salt acts as apoison (particularly in the case of fowl), and pigs have
been known to die after ingesting large doses of salt. How Did the Salt Habit Originate? Gustav von Bunge, a biochemist, explains that in
prehistoric times there was a balance of organic sodiumand potassium minerals in the earth. But continuedrainfall over centuries washed away the more solubleorganic sodium salts. In time, many land-grown foodsand soils became deficient in sodium, but high inpotassium. The result was that animals and humansdeveloped a craving for something to replace thismineral deficiency. They found an ineffective and highly
dangerous substitute in salt (inorganic sodium chloride).16
Watermelon and its seeds (chew or grind them) contain cucurbocitrin
that helps reduce swelling (edema) due to excess retained water from
salt and the huge variety of salty processed foods Am ericans eat.Salt Causes Edema, Kidney Problems, etc. Swallowing salt to obtain natural organic sodium is
like taking inorganic calcium to get calcium. Both are
chemicals and neither can be assimilated. All inorganic
chemicals cause all the body harm, digestive organs, etc. That’s why the body sends out sudden SOS thirst signals,
calls for water, after salt is eaten! The stomach is reacting
to salt and demands water to quickly flush the salt outthrough the kidneys (page 
55). Imagine what effect this
has on the delicate kidney filters. Millions suffer from
serious kidney problems! Of all body organs, kidneys are
most affected by salt. What happens when more salt is
eaten than kidneys can eliminate? The kidneys break
down, the excess salt is deposited in various body parts,especially lower extremities. To protect its tissues against
salt, the body automatically seeks to dilute it by pooling
water in needed areas to help flush out salt. As tissuesbecome waterlogged, swelling occurs in feet, ankles and
legs causing edem a and dr opsy. Salt 
(sodium chloride ) also
causes puffy eyelids and water bags below lower eyelids. Salt Affects Millions With High Blood Pressure
Salt is harmful to the kidneys and heart. In some heart
conditions even small amounts of salt are dangerous! The heart muscle is governed by the balance of natural,
organic sodium (found in kelp, celery, fruits, vegetables, etc.) and calcium salts in the blood. Salt upsets this vital
action, increasing the heartbeat and causing high blood
pressure which affects millions, plus liver and kidneydisease! Statistics show  Japan ese have hi ghest salt intake
and high bl ood pressure problem s. What cau ses this? Medical Science recognizes many causes: salt, diet, stressand toxic substances as smoking, insecticides, drugs, food
additives and pollutants. To protect yourself from these
caustic agents, exclude all harmful agents possible fromyour environment. The major cause of high blood
pressure you can remedy: don’t eat salt, instead use kelp,
herbs, garlic and Bragg Aminos Seasoning.17
The best way to lengthen life is to avoid shortening it - stop salt! It’s strange that some men will drink and eat anything put
before them, but check very carefully the oil put in their car.Are you in Health Bankruptcy? If so, you need a Health Overhaul!Up to now, we have been talking about causing high
blood pressure in the average person. But how about
the effects of salt on those millions suffering from our
country’s most prevalent ailment, obesity? Here is acritical area for research, because excess weight is known
to be frequently accompanied by high blood pressure. Is there a link between the overweight individual’s highblood pressure and his salt intake? The answer is ahead! The Myth of the “Salt Lick”
Is a low-salt diet a deficient diet? Don’t we need
plenty of salt in our diets to keep us in top physical
condition? This is a popular notion, but is it true? People
will tell you that animals will travel for miles to visit socalled “salt licks”. I investigated salt licks where wild
forest animals congregate from miles around to lick the
soil. Although all of these sites were known as “salt licks” ,the one chemical property they all had in common was
a complete absence of sodium chloride. There was
absolutely no organic or inorganic sodium at the saltlicks. But they all had an abundance of other organic
minerals and nutrients which the animals craved. Why Cows are Given Large Amounts of Salt
A man who puts his investment in a dairy farm is in
it to make all the profit he can. Dairy farmers found by
giving cows salt blocks to lick, they drink more water.The more water they drink, the more milk produced. Most cows are sick, mass fed and drugged! web:nomilk.com
But the result is that the average quart of milk
contains the extremely high content of 12 grams ( 1,500
mgs) of salt per quart! Go past any American school and
look at the children. You will be amazed by how manyof them are overweight, lack stamina and the spark of
youth. Most are heavy drinkers of commercial milk, and
most foods they eat contain high concentrations of salt!18
Pure water is the essential fluid of life . . . the solvent of
our ills and the deliverer of a radiant long life. Use your willpower and better judgement to select and eat
only the foods which are best for you, regardless of the ridicule
or gibes of your friends or acquaintances. – Dr. Richard T. FieldAmericans Are Salt-A-Holics! Go into supermarkets and look at canned, bottled
and frozen foods. All of them are loaded with salt! Plus
there’s salt in milk, ice cream, prepared vegetables andmost commercial foods. Add it all up and you can see
why heart disease is the # 1 killer in America! We are a
nation of salt-a-holics! Cheese, frozen and cannedvegetables, breads, potato and corn chips, and most all
popular foods are saturated with salt. Even commercial
baby foods contain salt! Read labels! Don’t buy salt! Death Valley Hike Proved Salt Dangerous
Most people have the preconceived idea that salt lost
through perspiring must be immediately replaced. Many
factories supply salt tablets to their workers. They
mistakenly believe these are helpful! But are these salttablets necessary? In my opinion: “NO!”
To prove definitely to myself that I did not need salt
during extremely hot weather, I went to Death Valley,
California, one of the hottest spots in the entire world
during July and August. On my first test I hired 10husky, strong young college athletes to make the hike
in Death Valley from Furnace Creek Ranch to Stovepipe
Wells, a distance of approximately 
30 miles. The boys had salt tablets and all the water they could
drink . . . and a station wagon filled with plenty of food
that contained salty foods like bread, buns, crackers,cheese, luncheon meats and hot dogs. They each ate,
drank and took as many salt tablets as they desired. I
had no salt, no food, only water during the 30 mile hike.We began the hike on a sweltering July morning. The
higher the sun rose, the hotter it became! Up went the
heat until at noon it stood at 
130 degrees – a dry, hot
heat that seemed to want to melt and defeat all of us!19
Mother Nature is man’s teacher. She unfolds her treasures to his search,
unseals his eyes, illuminates his mind and purifies his heart. –Alfred B. Street
Change your mind and change to a healthy lifestyle and your
life and body will sparkle with health and joy! –  Patricia BraggThe college boys gobbled the salt tablets and guzzled
quarts of cool water. For lunch they drank cola drinks
with ham and cheese sandwiches. We rested a half hour
after lunch and then continued our rugged hike acrossthe red hot blazing sands. Soon things were beginning
to happen to those strong, husky college boys. First, 3 of them got violently ill and threw up all they
had eaten and drunk for lunch. They got dizzy and turned
deathly pale and great weakness overcame them. They
quit the hike immediately! They were driven back to theFurnace Creek Ranch in poor condition. The hike went
on with 
7 college athletes continuing. As we hiked, they
drank large amounts of cold w ater, soft drinks and took
more salt tablets. Then suddenly 5 of them got stomach
cramps and became deathly ill. Up came the drinks and
their lunch. These 5 had to be driven back to the ranch. That left but 2 out of 10 hikers. It was now about 4
pm and the merciless sun beat down on us with great
fury. Almost on the hour, the last remaining salt tablet-eating athlete collapsed under that hot, burning sun andhad to be rushed back to the ranch for medical care. Only the Non-Salt User Finishes Hike
That left me alone on the test . . . and I felt as fresh as
a daisy! I was not full of salt tablets and I was not full of
food because I was on a complete fast. The college boys
wanted cold drinks, but I drank only pure distilled water,not chilled. I finished the 
30 mile hike in around 102
hours and I had no ill effects whatsoever! I camped out
for the night. The next day I arose early and hiked
another 30 miles back to the ranch without food or salt tablets. The doctors gave me a thorough examination and
found me in perfect condition! I am ready and willing torepeat this hike across Death Valley, California for any
scientific group that wants to do research on man’s
mythical “need” for salt. (
I get organic sodium from my food. )20
Ruts long traveled can grow comfortable.Historical Proof That Salt is Not Needed
Rommel’s German-Afrikan Corps swept across the
gates of Egypt, fought and lost a hard battle at El Alamein. Then they retreated over miles of blazing desert. Yet,
when the war was over, the English found the capturedtroops in good physical condition, even though the
German soldiers were not supplied with salt tablets. This
story – just as my own Death Valley hike, which wasalso performed in the blazing desert sun – supports the
findings of many experiments performed on humans
with a non-salt diet under hot desert conditions. What happens, according to the scientific studies, is
that: after the first few days of becoming acclimatized,
the subjects stop losing salt through perspiration.Apparently there is a normalizing mechanism at work
that conserves the sodium in the body. The comfortable
endurance during all weather conditions of people onrigid, salt-poor diets shows that the “need” for added
salt in hot weather has been greatly exaggerated. There is enough naturally occurring sodium in most
vegetables, celery, soy beans, seaweeds and other foodsthat have not been processed or supplemented with
common table salt. These natural foods can supply the
needed organic sodium required by the body. Proof ofthis is also found in the past histories of many races
throughout the world who have never used salt. The Native Americans knew nothing about salt when
the first explorers landed. Columbus and all the explorers
of the American continent found wonderful physical
specimens when they arrived. Sad fact – the physicaldegeneration of people often follows the introduction
of salt, alcohol, refined, fast foods and toxic chemicals! I have made over 
13 expeditions to the far corners of
the earth and I never found the inhabitants to be salt
users. Therefore, none of them suffered from high blood
pressure. In fact, regardless of age, they generally hadblood pressures of 
120 over 70, which is perfect. They
did not suffer from kidney or heart diseases, either.21
I have found that distilled water is a sovereign remedy for my
rheumatism. I attribute my almost perfect health largely to distilledwater. – Dr. Alexander Graham Bell,  Telephone InventorIt’s magnificent to live long if one keeps healthy and youthful. – Harry FosdickHow Much Salt Can the Body Tolerate Daily? There’s been a great deal of research on salt tolerance. The American Heart Association recommends that
healthy adults reduce their sodium intake to no more
than 2400  milligrams per day. But the body’s actual
physiological sodium requirement is less than 500 mg
daily. Unfortunately, the average American salt addict
actually consumes daily 2 to 5  times his sodium tolerance! This extremely high salt figure Americans eat is due
to the excessive amount of “hidden salt” in most all
commercial and “fast” foods. It’s in breads, cheese,prepared meats (ham, bacon, lunch meats, etc. ), frozen
and canned veggies, soups and hundreds of staple foods. I was born and reared in Virginia and many of my
relatives suffered from high blood pressure. They died
early of strokes and kidney diseases because they were
heavy salt, pork, ham, sausage and bacon eaters. Highconcentrations of table salt were used at every meal. By
the time these people were 
30 years old, they ached all
over with what they called the “misery”. Their jointswere cemented, and they hobbled around stiffly andwith great pain! I believe that the heavy salt diet of the
average Southerner brought on this “misery”. The most dramatic wrongful death case against salt
occurred in a Binghamton, New York hospital, where a
number of babies died when salt was inadvertently used
in their formula. An overdose of salt can kill a babyquickly! The body needs natural, organic sodium – not
table salt, an inorganic chemical. You can obtain natural
sodium which Mother Nature provides in organic formin celery, beets, carrots, potatoes, soybeans, turnips, sea
vegetation, seaweed, kelp, watercress, etc. and many
other natural, healthy foods. Remember, only organicminerals can be utilized by your body’s living cells.22Fasting De-Salts The Body Cells and Organs
I have had over 70  years experience with the science
and use of rational fasting. And I have found that in 4
days of complete fasting we can de-salt the body. Theurine will reveal the story of salt. Take a 
4 day complete
distilled water fast. Nothing must pass through yourbody for 
4 days, except for distilled water and ACV drink. Drink at least 8 to 10  glasses daily to flush the salt out. Each morning take a sample of the first urine your
body passes. Put these urine bottles (labeled) on a shelfto settle for 
3 weeks, then look at them in the sunlight. You will see concentrated salt and toxic wastes in the
bottom of the bottle. When this salt is passed from yourbody notice how freely your kidneys will function.Notice how naturally moist your mouth is and how youhave no abnormal thirst. Notice your skin and muscletone. The first thing the body throws off during a fast issalt and the side effects – bloating and edema (dropsy)that goes with salt. Lumpy, waterlogged spots vanishand you become more streamlined. There is a thinnerand more youthful look to your body. Water-bloatingvanishes and you begin to see your natural figure again! You can hardly believe your eyes! A wonderful
transformation is taking place during your fast. Thepowerful Vital Force that would otherwise be used tohandle your food is now being used exclusively to cleanout the debris, waste, and poisons that have been lockedin the body cells and vital organs. Rejuvenation is takingplace in every one of the billions of cells of the body!After the 
4 days of de-salting the body, be sure to keep
salt out of your diet. It’s a difficult thing to do sincethere’s so much “hidden salt” in so many different foods.That’s where your weekly 
24 – 36 hour fast helps continue
to de-salt and detox your body to keep you healthy! We find it difficult in our world travels, lecturing and
doing research, to avoid “hidden salt” in foods, eventhough we always do request, “No salt, please!” inrestaurants, on cruise ships, airplanes and trains.However, our weekly cleansing fast of 
24 to 36 hours
keeps any inorganic salt we ate flowing out of our bodies.23We never add salt to foods in the Bragg household! We use natural seasonings that add zest to foods: herbs,
garlic, kelp, onion, lemon and our delicious BraggOrganic Vinegar and Bragg Aminos, a tasty all purposesoy seasoning that contains 16 amino acids. With fasting,you’ll soon see how much better you feel and look! Andwhat a sweet taste you will have in your mouth. Youwill note many changes for the better when you are
faithful with your fasting program and banishing salt! Fasting is the Great Cleanser and Purifier
People are constantly asking and writing me, “Will a
fast cure my ‘this or that’ disease?” I want it clearly anddistinctly understood that I am not recommending
fasting as a cure for any disease! I don’t believe in cures
unless Mother Nature, God and your body do it! I canonly inspire you to fast to build more Vital Force to
overcome enervation and debilitation. Then as you build
up your body’s Vital Force it can then self-cleanse andself-heal. Read our Build Powerful Nerve Force  book for
more info on importance of building your Vital Force. Enervation Explained
We live in a chaotic world. The demands for energy
in these hectic times are enormous. We all have astandard of living to maintain and an image to createand live up to for our relatives and friends. We eachhave many responsibilities. Every waking hour requiresgreat outputs of Vital Force to earn our daily living, tosupport our family, to drive a car in traffic, to beresponsible for a job, to maintain a house, to rear ourchildren, to perform social and civic duties. Plus thereare thousands of other daily activities that call for yourVital Force to perform continually in operating your
body. You need go-power and energy! Energy is a precious vital ingredient; it cannot be
purchased in a bottle or can. Many misguided peoplethink they can get it from drugs, alcohol, tobacco,caffeine, sugar and colas. They can’t! Energy is a reward
for living as close to Mother Nature’s Laws as possible.24
When you live as God and Mother Nature
 intended you to live, you start to rejuvenate yourself!Almost every human malady is connected, either by
highway or byway, with the stomach. – Sir Francis HeadHumans Won’t Take Blame for Miseries
It’s because of your bad habits that things start to
break down and decay in your body! Your bad habits
enervate and rob your energy! This is the importantpoint: as energy drops and you become enervated, you
do not have enough energy for your body to properly
cleanse. Low energy brings on slow functioning in allthe basic eliminative organs: the bowels, kidneys, skin
and lungs. There is no energy to function at full natural
capacity. Then poisons of all kinds are not completelyflushed out of the body, but instead are deposited inside,
slowly building up and taking a terrible toll! Poisons start to collect in various parts of the body,
causing you illness, aches and pains. These are Mother
Nature’s flashing warning signals that you are not living
the healthy lifestyle that She and God intended for yourbody! Perhaps you blame everything and everybody for
your problems, instead of analyzing your lifestyle habits
for the real causes! “No,” you say, “I caught a cold when I worked too
hard.” “I get sick because I am getting older.” Excuse afterexcuse is given . . . but never the real cause: yourself. You
alone are responsible for your aches, pains and premature
ageing! Start now living The Bragg Healthy Lifestyle! Your unhealthy habits promote low Vital Force and
fatigue! Then the p oisons can’t be thoroughly flushed
out of the body. So they find a spot to torment you and arenamed according to the location of your pain. But that
pain actually came from the way you live. Don’t put the
blame elsewhere! You have enervated yourself, and thetoxic poisons from many sources of your daily living are
tormenting you. Cleanse and rebuild your Vital Force by
fasting and natural living, and fatigue will vanish! Unhealthy living is the reason why you feel burned out,
fatigued, full of aches and pains, prematurely old and,
maybe heading straight for the human “scrap heap”!25Most people think they can attempt to break all of
Mother Nature’s good and just laws of Healthful Living. How very wrong they are. You can never break a natural
law – it will break you! Many think they can break all ofthe natural laws of health – then run to a doctor to
circumvent these natural laws by having a medical
“miracle” fix-all bandage for their misery. The Miracles Are Within You
The human being craves sudden miracles. Not fully
aware of the actual achievements of natural nutrition,
exercise and fasting – which are in themselvesmiraculous – he searches in the realm of the unknown
for manifestations that he cannot understand. Simply
obeying Mother Nature’s great laws is too simple aprocedure to follow! People full of miseries and
premature ageing want a quick, easy way to find health
and youthfulness. Just remember: You must earn your
health! You cannot buy it. No one can give it to you. I
have boundless energy, great power, wonderful strength
and radiant, vibrant health because I have studied withrespect Mother Nature and God’s Natural Laws and
followed them faithfully! These healthy, natural
nutritional laws, the Laws of Self-Purification –  fasting,keeping the circulation healthy, free-flowing and the skin
and muscle tone active by exercise – lead to agelessness. Do You Have Harmful Habits to Overcome? Do you eat salt and salty foods? Do you drink coffee? Use tobacco? Alcohol? Use refined white sugar or eat
products with this devitalized material in it? What
devitaminized and demineralized foods are dragging youdown and enervating you? Is your willpower weak or
strong? Who is the boss of your body? Your bad habits? Or
does your mind control your appetites? Remember thatflesh is dumb and can’t think for you. Only with positive
thinking can you overcome the bad habits that your flesh
might crave. If you really do crave glorious health, andunbelievable strength, tremendous vital force and a  trim
and fit body you will be proud of, start now working
with faithful Mother Nature today and not against her!26
Over the next decade nutritionists expect to see those pursuing the more
healthy lifestyle move from meat to beans to avoid saturated fat, toxinsand cholesterol found in all the animal products. – Reader’s DigestNow learn what and how great benefits a temperate diet will bring along with
it. In the first place, you will enjoy good health. – Horace, 65 B.C.Fasting – the Key to Super Energy
Fasting is the key which unlocks Mother Nature’s
storehouse of energy. It reaches every cell in the body,
the inner organs and generates the Life Forces. No one
can do it for you! It’s a personal duty that only you canperform. No one can eat for you. And I believe that 99%
of all human suffering is caused by wrong and unnatural
eating. The efficiency of any machine depends upon thequality and amount of fuel for generating power it is
given. And that goes double for the human machine! Some people will blame everything on earth except
food as the cause of their physical miseries and premature
ageing. Why they are suffering is always a mystery to them. The average person does not know how horribly uncleanthe inside of their body is, caused by years and years of
overeating, eating when not really hungry and, in many
cases, wrong- minded eating of dead, devitalized foods. All
these unhealthy habits build up internal poisons and
clogging toxic wastes in their bo dies. Put the person who brags that he “enjoys perfect
health” on a complete distilled water fast for 5 or 6 days.His breath will become putrid and his tongue will have
a foul-smelling, white coating. His urine will become
dark and evil-smelling. This definitely proves that hiswhole body is filled up with decayed and uneliminated
toxic materials brought in by eating the wrong foods. The continual accumulation of increasingly foul body
poison is the buried or latent unknown ailment. When
Mother Nature wants to get rid of this ailment by a
“crisis” commonly known as sickness, people look foran easy “quick fix” to get rid of their troubles. They
usually ignore the miraculous one Mother Nature has
given us which has no dangerous side effects: FASTING! Don’t injure your system by over-feeding it. Over-eating will kill you long before your time.27
Fasting clears away the thousand little things which quickly
accumulate and clutter the body, mind and heart. It cuts through
corrosion and renews our contract with God and Mother Earth. When health is absent, wisdom cannot reveal itself, strength cannot beexerted, wealth is useless and reason is powerless. – Herophiles,
 300 B.C. Fasting Saves You 15% Yearly Off Your Food Bill
Do you want to live a longer, happier, healthier life and save hundreds of
dollars annually? Then following The Bragg Healthy Lifestyle with waterfasting one day a week not only provides life extension values, but anextra big savings of 15% off your annual food bill. – Patricia BraggFasting – A Natural Instinct and Great Purifier
Sickness is Mother Nature’s way of showing you that
you are filled with toxic wastes and internal poison. Dead
people don’t have colds. It is only when you are aliveand have Vital Force that you have physical problems. By fasting, you are working with Mother Nature to help
expel the wastes and poisons you have accumulated inyour body. Every animal in the wilderness knows fasting,
for it’s the only method animals use to help overcome
any physical trouble that befalls them. This is pureanimal instinct. We humans have lived so long in this
soft civilization that we have lost this natural instinct
to fast when health problems occur in our bodies. In your life you may have experienced physical
suffering, when you felt no desire for food – it might
even have repulsed you. Then, kind but ignorantrelatives or friends may have told you to “eat to keep up
your strength.” The very last thing you needed was food,
because your body was signaling you to stop eating.Mother Nature wanted you to fast so she could use your
Vital Force to cleanse and then heal your body. The soft voice of Mother Nature is often hard to hear
and understand. By fasting, your extra-sensory instinct
becomes very keen. The fast sharpens your mind and
tunes you in with the gentle inner voice of MotherNature and God. Fasting has made my inner body, mind
and soul alert! My body and mind work better after each
fast. I know yours will, too! Fasting is for sure a miracle! Do you want to live a longer, happier, healthier life and save hundreds of
dollars annually? Then following The Bragg Healthy Lifestyle with waterfasting one day a week not only provides life extension values, but anextra big savings of 15%+ off your annual food bill. – Patricia Bragg28
When thou fastest appear not unto men to fast, but unto
thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret,
shall award thee openly. –  Matthew 6:17-18Jesus lived by His own rules. He fasted. –  Matthew 6:16To work the head, temperance must be carried into the diet. – BeecherJack LaLanne, Patricia Bragg, Elaine LaLanne & Paul C. Bragg
Jack says, “Bragg saved my life at age 15 when I attended the Bragg Health
Crusade in Oakland, California. ” From that day, Jack has continued to live
The Bragg H ealthy Lifestyle and inspires millions to health and fitness. See Web: www.jacklalanne.comJesus, His Disciples and All History’s
Great Spiritual Teachers Fasted
When the great city of Alexandria, Egypt was the
educational center of the world, people had to fast for
40 days before they could enter and study with the
master of that time. Jesus fasted for 40 days, and his
disciples also took long fasts. All of history’s great
spiritual teachers have had great confidence in the powerof fasting – not only to improve the physical body, but
to promote a keener spiritual understanding of the divine
power that is above us and within us. Your mental powerincreases! Prove it to yourself. See how much sharper
and more alert your mind becomes after a fast. Notice
how quickly you acquire facts . . . how much more yourmind absorbs and remembers what you read.29
By relieving the body of the work of digesting foods, fasting allows the system to
rid itself of toxins while facilitating hea ling. Fasting regula rly gives your organs
a rest and helps reverse ageing process for a longer and healthier life. “Bragg Books were my conversion to the healthy way.”
– James F. Balch, M.D., Prescription for Nutritional HealingChapter 3
The Enemy Within Our Bodies
Victor Hugo eloquently called the poison in our body
“the serpent which is in man.” While this remark is poetic,it contains even more truth than poetry. I have come to
regard autointoxication (self-poisoning) as the worst
enemy in the fight for Agelessness and Longevity. It ismind-poisoning as well as body-poisoning because, even
after the energy of the body is regained, one has a lingering
sense of the futility of all endeavors. Some are inclined tosay, “The best of life is behind me. What lies before is
brief and burdensome. So many of my friends and
relations have gone.” Others say, “My turn’s coming. I’vegot a date with the undertaker and it’s not so far off.”
These depressing thoughts can generate sad moods
and are detrimental to Agelessness and Longevity!Remember, you can make the second half of life the best. Autointoxication itself is your health’s greatest
enemy. It’s so common and yet so rarely recognized.Those morbid moods – the worry, tensions, stresses,
frustrations, nervousness and needless anxiety – are
foreign to a healthy state. You should always beoptimistic, happy, carefree, self-confident and at peace. Why is it that sometimes when fortune smiles her
brightest, you remain unhappy, mirthless, depressed, andungrateful? Then again when things look their bleakest,
you are amazed at your buoyancy. The purity or impurity
of your bloodstream might explain that! I love life and want to live 
120 years and more, in
prime physical condition! Each day of life is a beautiful,
priceless miracle! I want to keep it, value it, treasure itand enjoy every waking hour! I also want this for you.30
The nervous system falters and suffers when we don’t take care of our body. Develop healthy self-esteem to generate positive lifestyle habits that
will promote more serenity, peace and love in your life. – Patricia BraggRid Yourself of Depression
The worst aspect of autointoxication is that it has
been building up for years. It takes water fasting, whole
natural foods and living a healthy lifestyle to defeat it. When these poisons are surging through your body, youoften are pessimistic with depressed feelings. The
mockery of life comes home to you. You begin to wonder,
“Is it all worthwhile?” Then one morning you awakento find your cheery self again. Though a bit shaken up,
you have hopefully beaten off the foe. Newspapers,
magazines, TV and radio all sell products that makepromises to relieve you of that “half alive” feeling. Which
one do you take? There are no shortcuts to feeling your
best physically and mentally and looking your best. You are punished by your bad habits of living! You are greatly rewarded by your good habits of living! Ageless Mother Nature will not let you get away with
abusing your body. You must pay a high price every timeyou insult your body with dead and devitalized foods.Of course, you could take drugs to deaden or stimulate
your body, but you are living in a fool’s paradise if you
think you can eat any old thing and then swallow somekind of magic pill and get away with it. You pay a dear
price every time you make a garbage can of your
stomach! Your heart and arteries suffer. Your spells ofautointoxication (self-poisoning) are shortening your
life. Each attack leaves its mark and, for this reason, it’s
something to dread. Please don’t poison your bloodstream.Learn to defend and protect yourself against all possible
autointoxication by living The Bragg Healthy Lifestyle. Once a week make it a habit to take a complete water
fast, lasting from 
24 to 36 hours. On the days you do
eat, consume only natural, organic and unpoisoned
foods. Let your mind rule your body. Flesh is dumb! Youcan feed your stomach anything. Now you are going to
use common sense and eat with new health intelligence.31
When it comes to health, nine men in ten are suicides. –  Ben FranklinUnhealthy Lifestyle & Overeating are Killers
Keep this firmly in mind: autointoxication is the
greatest enemy of vibrant health. It’s the root cause of
all major physical troubles, because illness starts in a
poisoned bloodstream. It’s the basis of most troubleswhich affect the heart, arteries, liver, kidneys and joints. When your bloodstream, your river of life, becomes poisoned,
this has more to do with premature ageing than all othercauses combined. Keeping your blood pure, clean and
healthy is half the battle! The other killer is overloading
your stomach and digestive system, giving it a new jobbefore it has finished digesting the previous meal. You have been taught to eat at regular times, even if
not hungry. Many, when it’s mealtime, stuff themselvesautomatically. This is wrong and scientifically outdated,
for overstuffing your body is very unhealthy! Patricia and I took a cruise around South America
visiting 
12 countries. The over-stuffed passengers started
with an early wake-up breakfast in their staterooms. Then
an hour or so later they ate in the dining room a formalbreakfast of bacon, ham, eggs, rolls, toast, jam, friedpotatoes and gallons of coffee, followed by snacks on
deck at mid-morning. Then a big buffet lunch at noon,
afternoon tea with gooey pastries at 
4 pm, a big supper
at 7 pm and another big buffet at 11 pm. Sadly we buried
5 people at sea in a few short weeks! All died by
autointoxications! This kind of overeating encouragesfermentation, putrefaction, illness and death! Life is a Slow Suicide For Many
From the cradle many begin damaging their health
while lightheartedly trimming off the years quickly atthe beginning of existence, unknowingly chopping them
off in bigger chunks at the end. Blissfully unconscious,
they burn their candles at both ends and sometimes evenin the middle! Many people suffer in poor health not
realizing that their unhealthy lifestyle habits are the
main cause of their sickness.32
Man’s days shall be 120 years. – Genesis 6:3
May nature’s force be with you! – George W. Lucas, Jr., Star WarsWhy Not Enjoy Life to 120 Years? There is little doubt that any person born with a
sound constitution, according to health research and
Genesis 6:3, can reach the 120 year mark! Why not? There
are no diseases of old age. Now, follow me: if startingfrom childhood, you eat healthily, plus fast one day a
week and several times a year for periods of from 
7 to 10
days – then how is it possible to get a fatal disease? Children today are being fed wrong! Many mothers
don’t nurse their babies. Some lack the internal health
and vitality to produce the greatest food for their young- mothers’ milk. Their babies are bottle-fed and are given
processed baby food out of jars, all loaded with refined
white flours, sugar and dangerously full of deadly salt.The abuse of the physical machine of the modern child
is started at birth! Under these tragic circumstances,
sooner or later premature breakdown is inevitable. If you seek enlightenment on the subject of health,
look at people around you. Every day, there are 
25 million
Americans critically ill in thousands of hospitals fromcoast to coast. The 300,000 doctors are kept franticallybusy trying to patch up the desperately sick people in
our country! Over 150,000 dentists can’t do even 
10%
of the dental work Americans need! A void toxic silver
mercury fillings, all fluoride water, toothpastes, gels, etc. (see page 152). Read Bragg book Water – The Shocking Truth . I find most children’s mouths are filled with decay
and cavities before they are 17. We are a desperately sick,
ill nation! We are brainwashed to believe we are a healthy
vital country. The World’s facts and figures tell a differentstory. Even if you don’t overeat, the food you eat is mostly
unhealthy. Yet a little knowledge of physiology, health,
diet and fasting could save you from health bankruptcy.Ignorance is a worse enemy than over indulgence. Overhaul your body and save your precious health! You
can’t be a walking toxic factory and expect to live a long
life of super health in a painless, tireless, ageless body.33
Just trust yourself – be wise, then you will know how to live. – von GoetheAutointoxication Promotes Sickness
I was reared in Virginia on a typical southern diet. Ninety percent of my food was prepared in the frying
pan: fried chicken, fried ham, bacon, potatoes, porkchops and other fried meats of all kinds. I ate heavy
cream, flour gravies and hot biscuits and plenty of pies,
cakes and jellies. When I look back, I see I suffered inmy youth from this self-poisoning and didn’t know it. Despite my abhorrence of drugs, I let myself be drugged
by the poisons within me. Rarely was I entirely free ofthem, and the average health I enjoyed was far from the
radiant health that was my natural heritage. I usually slept 
10 hours a night instead of 8, and the
excess I am sure was largely due to autointoxication. Even after a long night of sleep, I seldom woke up feeling
refreshed, plus I had a bitter morning taste in my mouth.Most people are not really living; they are merely
existing. They are so full of toxic poisons that living
becomes an effort. Few people rise early to see the sunriseand greet the new day with eagerness and joy! I do now! Let us look at our bedrooms as recharge areas where
we are required to spend a certain length of time in sleep
to recharge our life batteries. Let’s make our bedroomsuncluttered and peaceful with ample fresh air and light. Ceiling fans in hot summers are nice. During the early
morning hours you always get more accomplished – sotry to cultivate early morning rising. You can if you put
your mind to it! Work days, when you get up earlier,
take a “cat nap” for 20 minutes after eating your lunch. I understand why millions worldwide use stimulants
such as tobacco, alcohol, coffee, tea, cola drinks and “pep
pills”. They try to fight the desperate moods of fatigueand depression caused by autointoxication. I could write
pages depicting the woes of toxins. As a youth my blood
was poisoned. No one would set out to foul their purebloodstream, yet, consistently, in ignorance I polluted
my precious life with unhealthy foods. Analyze your life
and improve where needed. Keep a daily journal.34
Stop your life from an out-of-control down spiral! Become the Health Captain of
your life by following The Bragg Healthy L ifestyle – start today! – Patricia BraggOutwit Acidosis That Affects Millions
It has taken me all these years of research and study
to discover the great fact that the bloodstream should
be alkaline. Yet, with most of us, it is in an acid state. From headache and indigestion, to pimples and thecommon cold, most problems arise from acidosis due
to self-poisons caused by unhealthy foods. When the
life stream is so polluted, how can our immune systemdefend the body against disease and illness? People
unwittingly prepare the body for sickness with their
unhealthy lifestyle and then let it be out of control, whilethey search for a magic pill that will work miracles! Now if you are as naive as I was, you will ask, “What
can I do to counteract this supposed acidity? How can Icleanse my blood?” The answer is: “By supplying it with
alkaline-forming healthy foods .” At the first sign of
acidosis (heartburn, bloating, tired, etc.) go on a 
3 day
water fast. After fasting, switch to alkaline-forming
healthy foods and be wise, always avoid unhealthy foods! What Are Alkaline-Forming Foods? “But what are alkaline-for ming foods?” Y ou ask. They
are, generally speaking, organic, raw fruits and vegetables,
salads and leafy greens and lightly steamed vegetables. Three-fifths of your diet should be composed of fruits
and vegetables, both raw and cooked. It’s alw ays best to
enjoy your raw fresh fruit  or a raw vegetable garden salad
before you eat any cooked foods. See recipe on page 231. The alkaline forming foods are the most important
to your body. Some of you will say, “raw fruits and
vegetables give me gas, etc.” That is because you are on
the acid side and, when you eat the alkaline foods, theystart to houseclean and move the toxins out of your
bloodstream and body. So you avoid eating them and
use the weak excuse that they don’t agree with you. Theydo agree with you and your toxic body definitely needs
them to help get you clean, healthy and alkaline!35
Bad cooking diminishes happiness and shortens life. – Wisdom of AgesRaw, Organic Fr uits and Vegetables
Are Mother Nature’s Miracle Cleansers
When you get a bad reaction from certain raw fruits
and vegetables, remember that these are cleansing and
purifying foods. Use a small amount until you can reduce
your body’s toxic poisons. Your weekly 24 hour fast is
going to get rid of a lot of your body wastes. If you have
the intestinal strength to fast for 3 to 7 days, most
troubles from cleansing foods disagreeing with you willbe over. What are the acid-forming foods? Chiefly sugar,
its products and coffee, tea, alcohol, meats and fish. No doubt the idea of excluding even a portion of the
latter will dismay you, but if you want to live agelessly
you must do many things at first that dismay you. Eventually you will be dismayed at your dismay. Often anew task is difficult because you think it will be. Tackle it
with the idea that it is easy and it becomes easier! Living
on a diet composed mainly of organic fruits, veggies,salads, nuts and seeds isn’t difficult. No one will denythat fruits are luscious. Salads may be enjoyed in great
variety. The list of vegetables is long and diversified. All
the raw nuts and seeds, raw or lightly roasted pecans,almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, etc. are
nutritious and delicious. You need not confine yourself
to these foods, but if you lean towards acidosis you shouldcombine fasting with a diet of fruits, salads and veggies. If you must eat meat, it should be only 
2 or 3 times
weekly. On the least symptom of feeling bad, it’s best toget back to the healthier vegetarian alkaline diet quickly. Headaches, dizziness, specks in the vision, bitterness in
the mouth, body fatigue and mental blockage merelydenote a bile attack, but again the disorder may be more
deep seated. If you think it’s your liver, you should cut
out all fats and flesh foods. Also, cut out all refined sugarsand refined starches. The little protein you need you
can get from organic healthy plant sources, beans, raw
nuts and seeds, sprouts, etc. The Vegetable Protein %Chart on page 
233 gives some healthy food-to-eat  ideas.36
It’s never too late to begin getting into shape,
but it does take daily perseverance. – Thomas K. CuretonWe live not upon what we eat, but upon what we digest. – Abernethy
To lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals. – Ben FranklinYour Mind Must Control Your Body
Prudently assume, that your condition is one of
autointoxication. If you feel your energy is at a low ebb,
and not up to par, go on a short fast lasting from 24
hours to 3 or 4 days. Drink nothing but pure, steam
distilled water. I will tell you more about water later. You will experience a craving for food, but not an
actual hunger. It’s the body reflexes that are accustomedto being fed at certain intervals. Again let me state, “Flesh
is dumb!” It has all kinds of cravings, but you must be its
master. You must control your entire body with yourmind – your human miracle computer. I readily admit
that fasting takes immense determination and willpower. I remember very well my first 
4 day fast. It was while
I was under the care of the famous Dr. A. Rollier at his
sanitarium in Switzerland. I was battling for my life with
tuberculosis and I had been at the sanitarium for severalmonths. Dr. Rollier told me it was going to be a great
experience – and it surely was! The good doctor told me
to study my urine daily, so each day I took a specimenof my urine and kept it in a bottle. I put it on a shelf inmy room and I would look at the specimens each day. As the urine would cool and settle I could see the great
amount of foreign matter that was leaving my body. As soon as I finished the fast, I was placed on a highly
alkaline diet with an abundance of fresh fruits and raw
and lightly steamed or baked vegetables. About 2 weeksafter the fast, I experienced a sense of exhilaration and
well-being that I had never known in my entire life! From that time on my health and vitality grew by
leaps and bounds! That was not my only fast under Dr.
Rollier’s supervision. He started me out with a 
24 hour
weekly fast and in the next 9 months, put me on a 7, 14
and 21 day fast. Between fasts I was fed an alkaline diet.37
When you live The Bragg Healthy Lifestyle you can help activate
your own powerful internal defense arsenal and maintain it at top
efficiency. Remember bad, unhealthy eating habits make it harder
 for your body to  fight illness and stay healthy! –  Paul C. Bragg
What wound did ever heal but by gentle degrees. – William Shakespeare
Little things are like weeds – the longer we neglect them the larger they grow.Keep Your Stomach Healthy & Alkaline
Because acidosis is more of a negative than a positive
ill, you should beware of it. Have you ever said, “Oh,
I’m a little off color; low on energy; a bit blue for no real
reason. Everyone has their off days. It seems to be a partof life.” Nothing of the kind! You can maintain yourself
in a state of consistent good health, not spasmodic good
health. You can come to consider your body a finemachine, one that with proper care will never go wrong. At the first suspicion of acidosis, analyze your diet. A
grayish tongue, a snappish temper, a flushing of the face;these are not too trivial to heed! They are signs of red
flashing danger! Perhaps today they might not amount
to much, but tomorrow they will be more insistent.Acidosis is insidious and accumulative in its action; and
it is today, not tomorrow, that you should begin to
defend yourself, for life is self-defense. Your adversaryhas you at a disadvantage, and what you lack in stamina
you must make up for in living a healthy lifestyle! Beware then of acidosis and all of the evils it invites. Apart from asking for trouble from invading germs,chronic acidosis will lead to high blood pressure and
followed by arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). Thus, the wr ecking chain is working: over-acid dietary
autointoxication, high blood pressure, stiff arteries and
eventually premature death. High-sugar, high-fat and high-
protein diets promote acidosis. Stay away from them! Eata healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables and grains from
organic sources. At the first danger sign, be strong and
give up all unhealthy habits and faithfully live The BraggHealthy Lifestyle. This will guide you to super health!38
Bragg Organic Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar with the “Mother” is the #1 food
I recommend for maintaining the body’s vital acid-alkaline balance. – Gabriel Cousens, M.D., Author of “Conscious Eating” and “Spiritual Nutrition”Perfect pH Balancer – Apple Cider Vinegar
Another safeguard to keep pH acid/alkaline balance
healthy is to enjoy the healthy Bragg Organic Raw Apple
Cider Vinegar Cocktail three times daily. Drink a glass
upon arising, another an hour before lunch and one anhour before dinner. Read page 
161, 238, and recipe page 230. Important
Parts of the
Digestive
System
39
The word “vegetarian” is not derived from “vegetable,” but
from the Latin phrase, homo vegetus, meaning among theRomans, a strong, robust, thoroughly healthy man. –  
Paul C. BraggChapter 4
Fasting Fights Deadly
Acid Crystals
Toxic Acid Crystals Can
Cement Your Joints to Make You Stiff
Stand on any street corner and watch the average
person hobble along. Their feet, knees, hips, spine and
head seem to be cemented. There is no free-swinging
movement in their locomotion. Let’s look at their feet.They seem to pick up their feet heavily and lay them
down flatly. Their knees seem to be completely cemented
and stiff. There is little movement in the swinging hipmotion, their spines are rigid and so are their heads. All
of the elasticity and resiliency seems to have gone out
of what should be a free-swinging body. Crystals Are Cement – Not Lubrication
Between the moveable joints of every bone in the
human body, Mother Nature has placed an abundant
supply of a lubricant known as synovial fluid. Take alook at a youngster who is, say 
10 years of age, and watch
the easy movement of every moveable joint in his body.Why is this? I know that your answer would be, “This
child is only 
10 years of age. I am 66. I can’t have the
same freedom of motion in my joints as a child of 10
does.” My answer to you is, “Why can’t you? Years havenothing to do with the amount of synovial fluid thatallows the joints to move freely and easily. There is justone thing that cements your body’s moveable joints andthat is the build-up of toxic acid crystals.”
Age is not toxic. Just because you live
 50, 60  or 70
years, there should be no diminishing of the supply of
synovial fluid due to your calendar years. 40
Water flows through every single part of your body, cleansing
and nourishing it. But the wrong kind of water – with inorganicminerals, harmful toxins, chemicals and other contaminants canpollute, clog and gradually turn every part of your body to stone.USA leads the world in heart diseases, strokes, cancers, arthritis and diabetes!How Toxic Acid Crystals Build in Your Body
Despite the fact that I am way past 85, I pride myself
on having the most flexible body, regardless of my age,
and I feel ageless! I can perform difficult yoga postures
with ease while standing on my head. Few people inthe world can do this regardless of age. Mother Nature
can’t stiffen and cement one person’s body as they age
and yet allow me to have the flexibility of a youngster. There are 4 great eliminative systems in our bodies
that get rid of the poisons created by our daily living. By
nature, we eat food, we drink liquids and we breathe air.Most humans eat too much food, eating by habit rather
than by hunger. They have been brainwashed to believe
that they must have scheduled meals by the clock. I knowfrom long experience as a Physical Therapist that people
with these grotesque shapes have not been able to burn
up these so-called regular meals. They have beenconditioned to eat breakfast whether they have hunger
or not, so they load up on ham, bacon, eggs, hot cakes,
sugared doughnuts and sweet rolls, toast, jelly, jams,fried potatoes, pancakes, w affles, pork sausage, coffee,
hot chocolate and dry processed (unhealthy) cereals. The body doesn’t have enough Vital Force energy to
continually masticate, digest, assimilate and eliminate theseheavy breakfasts. There is always a toxic residue left . . . where does this toxic residue go? It is concentrated and
crystallized as deposits in the moveable joints in the body.It’s a slow process that few sense until the joints start to
give them trouble. It takes years of wrong eating to create
these heavy concentrations of acid crystals and toxins inthe moveable joints. When these calcium-like spurs attach
themselves to the joints and calcified substances replace
the synovial fluid, it’s then that the pains and aches arefelt in the moveable joints of the body causing pain.41The
Bones
of the
Human
Body
Bone, like all living tissue, requires adequate
nutrition for health and growth. Bones needsufficient levels of minerals, especially calcium,
phosphorous, magnesium, manganese, zinc,
copper and silicon, plus vitamins A, C and K.Vitamin D and boron are necessary to ensure
proper intestinal absorption and utilization of
calcium. Live The Bragg Healthy Lifestyleto keep the bones healthy and strong!HEALTHY BONES:
Back View
Every man is the builder of a temple, called his body. We are all sculptors and painters,
and our material is our own flesh, blood and bones. –  Henry David ThoreauFront ViewExcerpt from the Bragg Back Book . See back pages for booklist.42
Make me aware that there is more  to life than measuring its speed. Periodic fasting keeps you connected to your body’s natural tendency
to cleanse and rejuvenate. – Pamela Serure, The 3-Day Energy FastJoint & Back Pains – Curse of Mankind
The toxic crystals first attack the feet, and their 26
moveable bones in each foot. The force of gravity sends
the toxic crystals down into the feet. Gradually the feet
and ankles start to stiffen, because the toxic acid crystals
are taking over and replacing the lubrication in the jointsof the feet. Instead of having flexible feet, they become
stiff and tire easily (
read page 138). They ache, burn and
cause tremendous misery. (Do read our Foot and Back books.) From the feet and ankles, the toxic acid crystals move
upward, causing many people to suffer from pains in
the knees. As time marches on, so does the deteriorationof the joints. Soon toxic crystals creep into the great
moveable hip joints – you will notice by the way people
move their hips that they are stiff and painful. Few people escape an aching or stiff back. Watch
middle-aged people bend over and notice the agony on
their faces when they straighten up. Day after day theycry out in anguish, “Oh, my aching back!” But the toxic
acid crystals don’t stop in the lower back, they go up
into the spine, the shoulder blades, the shoulder joints,the neck and elbows . . . eventually creeping into thewrists and fingers. Some people are so full of toxic acid
crystals that they cannot close their hands or make fists. They all seem to falsely blame one thing: “All my achesand pains are due to the fact that I am getting old.”
Don’t you believe it. These acid crystals are poisons
that stayed in your body and cemented themselves inthe moveable joints. Billions of pain pills are used by
the American public to get relief from aching joints. Thousands of people go to hot mineral baths to get relief.Many different medical treatments are used for the relief
of their problems. I am offering you fasting and The Bragg
Healthy Lifestyle to guide you onto the road to healthso you can help your body detox and heal itself. In nature there are neither rewards or punishments
– there are consequences! – Robert Ingersoll43
Fasting and prayer seemed to strengthen Jesus, for when His time
of fasting was ended, He manifested a new power and poise. Jesusthen returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee. – Luke 4:14Fasting for Purification
When you fast for 24 to 36 hours, or from 3 to 10
days, the healing power starts to work in your body. I
have told you, over and over, that the power to cleanse,purify and rejuvenate yourself is within your body. This
power has always been in your body. When you go on a
complete distilled water fast, the Vital Force in your bodythat would ordinarily be used to masticate, digest,
assimilate and eliminate food is used to purify your body. That is what fasting is: deep internal cleansing, aphysiological rest to build Vital Force. Now, say you are a person of 
60 and you have been
eating 3 meals daily, whether you were hungry or not,and you have allowed toxic acid crystals to get deposited
into the moveable joints of your body. It is going to
take time for Mother Nature and the vital power withinyour body to break down the toxic crystals that have
accumulated over the years. The Man Who Rebuilt Himself
I remember a Mr. Evans who came to me years ago. He hobbled painfully into my office. A well known doctor
in California had given him a prescription which read
“Physical therapy as prescribed.” I am also a physicaltherapist which helped in my health and healing practice. This man’s sad story is one of millions in our country. He had never been educated to know how to care forhis wonderful body, but he had been conditioned to eat
3 meals per day and eat anything that pleased him. Now,
I have told you several times in this book that “HumanFlesh is Dumb.” You can put anything in your stomach
at any hour that you wish. You can get up in the morning
and fill up on cereal, ham and eggs, fried potatoes andtoast and wash it down with
 5 cups of coffee, but you
must take the consequences of eating habits like this. You can do more for your own health and well-being than any doctor,
any hospital, any drug and any exotic medical device. – Joseph Califano44Victory Won By Fasting, Diet and Exercise
First and foremost, your body has to earn its food by
the sweat of your brow. That means you only eat food
appropriate to your physical activity and climate. This
man was eating as he did when he was a young activefarm boy. Slowly his joints were becoming cemented
solid by toxins and toxic crystals that were pressing on
nerves causing him agonizing pain. He wanted an easyway out of his misery. I told him truthfully that it had
taken a long time of wrong eating and bad habits of
living to get him in this wretched condition. Now itwould take fasting, a healthy diet and ample exercises
to help relieve these pains. He was an intelligent man
and saw the truth of my simple philosophy. I started him on a
 3 day distilled water fast. Following
the fast, I had him eat only fresh fruit for breakfast and
a raw vegetable combination salad for lunch. I had himeat a grated carrot, beet, chopped cabbage salad and one
cooked vegetable for dinner. I took him off all animal
products, meat, fish, eggs, cheese and dairy products. Ieliminated all salt, sugar and refined foods. I took himoff all grains and all legumes such as beans, peas, rice
and lentils for two months. Every day I had him take a
10 minute hot bath (add 1 cup apple cider vinegar),
bringing the water up to 104 degrees, using a bath
thermometer. I gave him an exercise program of brisk
walking starting with 3 blocks the first day, and every
third day I added another block to his walking program
until he was walking  3 miles a day. Every week he took a 36 hour water fast. As the days
and weeks rolled into months, I gave him one 7 day
and one 10 day fast. In one year you would hardly have
recognized this man! His family and friends were amazedat his transformation. His joints became flexible and,
although he hadn’t been swimming for years, he joined
the 
YMCA  and swam 3 days a week. He hadn’t ridden a
bicycle for years, yet he purchased one and rode for miles
at a time. He and his wife took up dancing and in a year
he was winning contests. The stiffness left him. He eventook up the piano and became a good piano player.45
Enter, or perhaps re-enter, the brave new world of wellness through
healthy lifestyle, exercise, natural r emedies, alternative therapies,
meditation and prayer with positive thinking. – Monica Skrzypczak
The body must be wisely nourished, physically, emotionally and spiritually. We’re spiritually starved in America and not underfed, but undernourished. – Carol HornigTo lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals. – Ben Franklin
Knowing and following th ese teachings will mean
true life and good health for you. – Proverbs 4:22Mother Nature Works Miracles Slowly,
But Surely When You Honor Her Laws
Mr. Evans is growing younger as he is growing older. His miseries are gone! He accomplished all this by himself!I only helped him to help him self! As a health teacher, I
only laid out his healthy lifestyle program of naturalliving. Today he fasts every week for 
24 to 36 hours without
fail. Four times a year – winter, spring, summer and fall –he takes a 
10 day complete fast. His lively steps are that of
a man 20 years of age! His movements are quick and
accurate. He didn’t do all this in a day, in a week or amonth. It took time to break down and eliminate thepoisons and toxic acid crystals that were tormenting him. What Mr. Evans did you can do too! The body is
self-repairing, self-healing and self-maintaining. All youhave to do is live by the laws of God and Mother Nature,and you will be rewarded with the joy of living. Be a faithful health captain and live The Bragg
Healthy Lifestyle! I don’t want you to have to totter alongon life-support drug cocktails and hip replacements, butchoose to LIVE with super energy and total health! Fasting is an important part of your program for
banishing toxic acid crystals from the moveable jointsof your body. You and only you know how free yourjoints are of this toxic material which causes prematureageing. Start today on your first 
24 hour, distilled water
fast. You be the judge of what effects fasting will haveon the many moveable joints of your body. At this verysecond, roll your head round and round. Do you hearthat grating sound of grinding toxic acid crystals?46 •To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. •To talk health, peace and happiness to everyone you meet. •To make all your friends feel that they are special. •To look at the sunny side of everything and make
your optimism and dreams come true. •To think only of the best, work only for the best and expect
only the best for your life. •To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you
are about yours. •To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater
achievements of the bright, fresh future. •To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every
living creature you meet a smile. •To give so much time to the improvements of yourself that
you have no time to be critical of others. •To be too large for worry, too strong for fear, too noble
for anger, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble. – Christian D. LarsonWITH LOVE PROMISE YOURSELFToxic Acid Crystals Make Joints Grind
The grinding sound you hear is the toxic acid crystals
that have deposited themselves on the uppermost boneof your spine – the Atlas. Your 
24 hour or 7 day fast will
not eliminate all the toxic acid crystals from your Atlas,but the body purification will be started. Fast one day aweek. In one year you will have fasted
 52 days. In that
time the Vital Force of your body will have dissolved alarge amount of the acid crystals from your joints. Each time you fast you will notice more freedom in
every joint in your body.
The_Miracle_of_Fasting_by_Paul_Bragg.txt
Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        When food ispolluted and its entire composition altered by toxicchemicals, the body’s cells become sick, function poorlyand cannot keep adjusting to the irritating toxins forcedon them – causing illness, premature ageing and death. Man’s days shall be 120 years. –  Genesis 6:314
Happiness is not being pained in body or troubled in mind. – Thomas Jefferson, 3rd U. S. President, 1801-1809Synthetic, Toxic Food Additives Can Kill. A vast amount of chemical poisons contaminate our
food. Most commercial interests are not concerned with
our health and lives. The economic bottom line is their
main concern. It’s best and safer to eat live, organicallygrown foods whenever possible. Avoid complicated,
chemicalized, preserved foods. Read the labels of all foods
you purchase. Ask questions about any special productsand foods you like – even write the company and ask
for a complete nutritional and chemical analysis. Fast faithfully 
24 – 36 hours weekly to rid yourself of
toxins and help your body stay healthy and clean. When
you don’t feel up to par (colds, flus, mucus, pains, aches,
etc. ), then it’s time to take a 3, 5 or 7 day complete fast
and give your body a thorough body detox cleansing. When you fast, your Vital Force is doing the cleansing. •If you are going to keep your body clean, pure and
   healthy – you must faithfully fast regularly. •When you fast, wonderful miracles will happenin your body. •The body is cleansing, repairing and healing itself. •Following a fasting regime of one day a week youwill feel greater than you have ever felt. Internal
cleansing puts you on the road to Super Health. Beware of Harmful Salt
Would you use sodium, a caustic alkali, to season
your food. Or chlorine, a poisonous gas. “Ridiculousquestions,” you say. “Nobody would be foolhardy
enough to do that. ” Of course not. But the shocking
truth is that most people do just that because they don’tknow that these powerful chemicals constitute the
inorganic crystalline compound known as salt. For
centuries, the expression “salt of the earth” has beenused to designate something good and essential. This
idea is erroneous. Salt may actually help to bury you. 15
The Bragg Healthy Lifestyle followed daily will help you last a long lifetime. Salt: Some Startling Facts:
•Salt is not a food. There is no more justification
for its culinary use than there is for potassium
chloride, calcium chloride, barium chloride or any
other chemical on the druggist’s shelf. •Salt cannot be digested, assimilated or utilized
by the body. Salt has no nutritional value. Salt has
no vitamins, no organic minerals and no nutrientsof any kind. Instead, it is harmful and causes trouble
in the kidneys, bladder, heart, arteries, veins and
blood vessels. Salt is the main cause of waterloggedtissues that cause swelling and edema (dropsy). •Salt causes serious medical problems and can act
as a heart poison. It also irritates the nervous system. •Salt acts to rob calcium from the body, bones,
etc. and attacks mucous lining throughout the body. If salt is so dangerous to health, why is it used so
widely. Mainly because it’s a habit ingrained over the
years. But it’s a habit based on a serious misconception
that the body needs it. Many people never eat salt andnever miss it (
we don’t own a salt shaker ). Your wise body
doesn’t want it. Once a person is free of the salt habit,
salt becomes repulsive to the taste as tobacco is to a
nonsmoker. Among certain animal species, salt acts as apoison (particularly in the case of fowl), and pigs have
been known to die after ingesting large doses of salt. How Did the Salt Habit Originate. Gustav von Bunge, a biochemist, explains that in
prehistoric times there was a balance of organic sodiumand potassium minerals in the earth. But continuedrainfall over centuries washed away the more solubleorganic sodium salts. In time, many land-grown foodsand soils became deficient in sodium, but high inpotassium. The result was that animals and humansdeveloped a craving for something to replace thismineral deficiency. They found an ineffective and highly
dangerous substitute in salt (inorganic sodium chloride). 16
Watermelon and its seeds (chew or grind them) contain cucurbocitrin
that helps reduce swelling (edema) due to excess retained water from
salt and the huge variety of salty processed foods Am ericans eat. Salt Causes Edema, Kidney Problems, etc. Swallowing salt to obtain natural organic sodium is
like taking inorganic calcium to get calcium. Both are
chemicals and neither can be assimilated. All inorganic
chemicals cause all the body harm, digestive organs, etc. That’s why the body sends out sudden SOS thirst signals,
calls for water, after salt is eaten. The stomach is reacting
to salt and demands water to quickly flush the salt outthrough the kidneys (page 
55). Imagine what effect this
has on the delicate kidney filters. Millions suffer from
serious kidney problems. Of all body organs, kidneys are
most affected by salt. What happens when more salt is
eaten than kidneys can eliminate. The kidneys break
down, the excess salt is deposited in various body parts,especially lower extremities. To protect its tissues against
salt, the body automatically seeks to dilute it by pooling
water in needed areas to help flush out salt. As tissuesbecome waterlogged, swelling occurs in feet, ankles and
legs causing edem a and dr opsy. Salt 
(sodium chloride ) also
causes puffy eyelids and water bags below lower eyelids. Salt Affects Millions With High Blood Pressure
Salt is harmful to the kidneys and heart. In some heart
conditions even small amounts of salt are dangerous. The heart muscle is governed by the balance of natural,
organic sodium (found in kelp, celery, fruits, vegetables, etc. ) and calcium salts in the blood. Salt upsets this vital
action, increasing the heartbeat and causing high blood
pressure which affects millions, plus liver and kidneydisease. Statistics show  Japan ese have hi ghest salt intake
and high bl ood pressure problem s. What cau ses this. Medical Science recognizes many causes: salt, diet, stressand toxic substances as smoking, insecticides, drugs, food
additives and pollutants. To protect yourself from these
caustic agents, exclude all harmful agents possible fromyour environment. The major cause of high blood
pressure you can remedy: don’t eat salt, instead use kelp,
herbs, garlic and Bragg Aminos Seasoning. 17
The best way to lengthen life is to avoid shortening it - stop salt. It’s strange that some men will drink and eat anything put
before them, but check very carefully the oil put in their car. Are you in Health Bankruptcy. If so, you need a Health Overhaul. Up to now, we have been talking about causing high
blood pressure in the average person. But how about
the effects of salt on those millions suffering from our
country’s most prevalent ailment, obesity. Here is acritical area for research, because excess weight is known
to be frequently accompanied by high blood pressure. Is there a link between the overweight individual’s highblood pressure and his salt intake. The answer is ahead. The Myth of the “Salt Lick”
Is a low-salt diet a deficient diet. Don’t we need
plenty of salt in our diets to keep us in top physical
condition. This is a popular notion, but is it true. People
will tell you that animals will travel for miles to visit socalled “salt licks”. I investigated salt licks where wild
forest animals congregate from miles around to lick the
soil. Although all of these sites were known as “salt licks”,the one chemical property they all had in common was
a complete absence of sodium chloride. There was
absolutely no organic or inorganic sodium at the saltlicks. But they all had an abundance of other organic
minerals and nutrients which the animals craved. Why Cows are Given Large Amounts of Salt
A man who puts his investment in a dairy farm is in
it to make all the profit he can. Dairy farmers found by
giving cows salt blocks to lick, they drink more water. The more water they drink, the more milk produced. Most cows are sick, mass fed and drugged. web:nomilk. com
But the result is that the average quart of milk
contains the extremely high content of 12 grams ( 1,500
mgs) of salt per quart. Go past any American school and
look at the children. You will be amazed by how manyof them are overweight, lack stamina and the spark of
youth. Most are heavy drinkers of commercial milk, and
most foods they eat contain high concentrations of salt. 18
Pure water is the essential fluid of life. the solvent of
our ills and the deliverer of a radiant long life. Use your willpower and better judgement to select and eat
only the foods which are best for you, regardless of the ridicule
or gibes of your friends or acquaintances. – Dr. Richard T. FieldAmericans Are Salt-A-Holics. Go into supermarkets and look at canned, bottled
and frozen foods. All of them are loaded with salt. Plus
there’s salt in milk, ice cream, prepared vegetables andmost commercial foods. Add it all up and you can see
why heart disease is the # 1 killer in America. We are a
nation of salt-a-holics. Cheese, frozen and cannedvegetables, breads, potato and corn chips, and most all
popular foods are saturated with salt. Even commercial
baby foods contain salt. Read labels. Don’t buy salt. Death Valley Hike Proved Salt Dangerous
Most people have the preconceived idea that salt lost
through perspiring must be immediately replaced. Many
factories supply salt tablets to their workers. They
mistakenly believe these are helpful. But are these salttablets necessary. In my opinion: “NO. ”
To prove definitely to myself that I did not need salt
during extremely hot weather, I went to Death Valley,
California, one of the hottest spots in the entire world
during July and August. On my first test I hired 10husky, strong young college athletes to make the hike
in Death Valley from Furnace Creek Ranch to Stovepipe
Wells, a distance of approximately 
30 miles. The boys had salt tablets and all the water they could
drink. and a station wagon filled with plenty of food
that contained salty foods like bread, buns, crackers,cheese, luncheon meats and hot dogs. They each ate,
drank and took as many salt tablets as they desired. I
had no salt, no food, only water during the 30 mile hike. We began the hike on a sweltering July morning. The
higher the sun rose, the hotter it became. Up went the
heat until at noon it stood at 
130 degrees – a dry, hot
heat that seemed to want to melt and defeat all of us. 19
Mother Nature is man’s teacher. She unfolds her treasures to his search,
unseals his eyes, illuminates his mind and purifies his heart. –Alfred B. Street
Change your mind and change to a healthy lifestyle and your
life and body will sparkle with health and joy. –  Patricia BraggThe college boys gobbled the salt tablets and guzzled
quarts of cool water. For lunch they drank cola drinks
with ham and cheese sandwiches. We rested a half hour
after lunch and then continued our rugged hike acrossthe red hot blazing sands. Soon things were beginning
to happen to those strong, husky college boys. First, 3 of them got violently ill and threw up all they
had eaten and drunk for lunch. They got dizzy and turned
deathly pale and great weakness overcame them. They
quit the hike immediately. They were driven back to theFurnace Creek Ranch in poor condition. The hike went
on with 
7 college athletes continuing. As we hiked, they
drank large amounts of cold w ater, soft drinks and took
more salt tablets. Then suddenly 5 of them got stomach
cramps and became deathly ill. Up came the drinks and
their lunch. These 5 had to be driven back to the ranch. That left but 2 out of 10 hikers. It was now about 4
pm and the merciless sun beat down on us with great
fury. Almost on the hour, the last remaining salt tablet-eating athlete collapsed under that hot, burning sun andhad to be rushed back to the ranch for medical care. Only the Non-Salt User Finishes Hike
That left me alone on the test. and I felt as fresh as
a daisy. I was not full of salt tablets and I was not full of
food because I was on a complete fast. The college boys
wanted cold drinks, but I drank only pure distilled water,not chilled. I finished the 
30 mile hike in around 102
hours and I had no ill effects whatsoever. I camped out
for the night. The next day I arose early and hiked
another 30 miles back to the ranch without food or salt tablets. The doctors gave me a thorough examination and
found me in perfect condition. I am ready and willing torepeat this hike across Death Valley, California for any
scientific group that wants to do research on man’s
mythical “need” for salt. (
I get organic sodium from my food. )20
Ruts long traveled can grow comfortable. Historical Proof That Salt is Not Needed
Rommel’s German-Afrikan Corps swept across the
gates of Egypt, fought and lost a hard battle at El Alamein. Then they retreated over miles of blazing desert. Yet,
when the war was over, the English found the capturedtroops in good physical condition, even though the
German soldiers were not supplied with salt tablets. This
story – just as my own Death Valley hike, which wasalso performed in the blazing desert sun – supports the
findings of many experiments performed on humans
with a non-salt diet under hot desert conditions. What happens, according to the scientific studies, is
that: after the first few days of becoming acclimatized,
the subjects stop losing salt through perspiration. Apparently there is a normalizing mechanism at work
that conserves the sodium in the body. The comfortable
endurance during all weather conditions of people onrigid, salt-poor diets shows that the “need” for added
salt in hot weather has been greatly exaggerated. There is enough naturally occurring sodium in most
vegetables, celery, soy beans, seaweeds and other foodsthat have not been processed or supplemented with
common table salt. These natural foods can supply the
needed organic sodium required by the body. Proof ofthis is also found in the past histories of many races
throughout the world who have never used salt. The Native Americans knew nothing about salt when
the first explorers landed. Columbus and all the explorers
of the American continent found wonderful physical
specimens when they arrived. Sad fact – the physicaldegeneration of people often follows the introduction
of salt, alcohol, refined, fast foods and toxic chemicals. I have made over 
13 expeditions to the far corners of
the earth and I never found the inhabitants to be salt
users. Therefore, none of them suffered from high blood
pressure. In fact, regardless of age, they generally hadblood pressures of 
120 over 70, which is perfect. They
did not suffer from kidney or heart diseases, either. 21
I have found that distilled water is a sovereign remedy for my
rheumatism. I attribute my almost perfect health largely to distilledwater.
The body's cells become sick, function poorly, and cannot adjust to the irritating toxins, causing illness, premature aging, and death.
What happens when the body's cells become polluted and its composition is altered by toxic chemicals?
Most commercial interests are concerned with the economic bottom line, not our health. This can lead to the use of unhealthy foods and additives, which can harm our health.
What is the main concern of most commercial interests, and how does it affect our health?
The key to a long and healthy life is to avoid salt and other toxic substances, and to maintain a healthy lifestyle. One can achieve this by following the Bragg Healthy Lifestyle, which includes a diet of organic and unprocessed foods, regular fasting, and self-care.
What is the key to a long and healthy life, according to the author, and how can one achieve it?
The author is strongly against the use of salt in the diet, as it is a harmful, non-nutritive substance that can cause kidney and heart problems. Instead, the author recommends using natural, organic sodium sources such as kelp, celery, and other fruits and vegetables.
What is the author's stance on the use of salt in the diet, and what are some alternatives?
The author advises to fast for 24-36 hours a week, and then switch to an alkaline diet to help eliminate toxic acid crystals from the body. It is important to do so because the buildup of these crystals can cause premature aging and joint pain.
What is the author's advice on how to get rid of toxic acid crystals in the body, and why is it important to do so?