A feeling of agelessness will
replace that tight, stiff, ageing feeling. Once again you
will feel free and loose in every moveable joint of yourbody. You will have Mother Nature, fasting and eating
natural food to thank for your “New Youthful Feeling!”47 Paul C. Bragg – Fasting & Life Extension Specialist
Fasting is the greatest remedy – the physician within! – Paracelsus, 15th century physician
He established the role of body chemistry in medicine.Chapter 5
Scientific Fasting Explained
Fasting has been practiced by man and animals since
the beginning of time. Primitive man had no other method
of healing except fasting. He would fast when he got hurtor when ill, because fasting was a natural instinct for self
preservation. Along with fasting, he used herbs from the
field and forest as tonics and antiseptics. I believe that fasting is Mother Nature’s best remedy! For, as we will see, properly conducted fasts purify the
body, restoring it to health after everything has failed. In over
 70 years of supervising fasts, I have seen
miracles happen to people who were ready for the
human scrap yard that truly could be called miraculous.Fasting is not only the oldest method of fighting physical
problems, but the best of all remedies because it has no
side effects. Fasting is the most natural and originalprocess of cleansing and purifying the body.48
Mother Nature and its beauty is the signature of God.Fasting is as Old as Man
The instinct that leads us to fast when the body is
sick or wounded resides in the  cells of every living being. The reason sick or wounded animals refuse to eat is that
the instinct of self-preservation takes away their hungerso they will not eat. In this way, the Vital Force (which
would otherwise have to be used in the digestion of food)
is concentrated at the site of the injury to remove wasteproducts, thus purifying and healing the body. The
fasting instinct is so powerful and of such vital
importance that, even though semi-civilized man hasstrayed from the natural path, he is still greatly
influenced by this wonderful saving scheme of Mother
Nature! If he would obey the silent voice of this infallible,natural instinct and stop eating when hunger has been
withdrawn, he would soon get well. Better still, he would
never get sick again, provided he ate natural food, livedin a natural environment and lived a sane, sensible,
healthy, peaceful and natural lifestyle. Since the infallible intelligence of the living organism
withdraws the sensation of hunger when there is anexcess of food or when the body has been wounded,
the desire to fast begins when either of these happen. We read in ancient history that fasting has been
practiced since time immemorial by the religious people
of the East and by most ancient civilizations. They practiced
fasting not only for the recovery of health and preservationof youth, but for spiritual illumination as well. Accordingly,
we see the great philosopher, Pythagoras c.560-c.480 BC,
requiring his disciples to undertake a fast of 40 days beforethey could be initiated into the mysteries of the spiritual
teachings. He claimed that only through a 40 day fast could
the minds of the disciples be sufficiently purified and
clarified to understand the profound teachings of the
beautiful m ysteries of life. As it was in the old days, fasting will not only purify
the body and help restore it to well-being, but has a
great effect on the mental and spiritual parts of man.49
You are encircled by the arms of the mystery of God. – Hildegard of Bingen
You can reverse your biological age by eliminating toxins from your life.Fasting Awakens the Mind and Soul
In my own personal life, as well as in the lives of
many of my students who have been conscientious and
persistent in their fasting program, great mental and
spiritual doors have been opened! If I read a book today,my mind retains what I read as clearly as if the book
were in front of me . . . that is, I have a photographic
memory. Hundreds of my students write that they, too,have developed a keen photographic mind. After a fast
of 
1 to 3 days, you will notice that a dark cloud has been
lifted out of your mind. You can think more logicallyand you can come to decisions quite quickly. What was
once a great problem becomes trivial! After a fast, you
seem to fear nothing any more and things you worriedabout are solved easily by your purified mind. In my personal life, fasting helped me develop a keen
brain and extrasensory perception. I can find solutionsfor problems that once caused me hours of anxiety and
nerve-exhausting worrying. My fasting program has
created an inner peaceful tranquillity of mind. I feel moreserene and at peace with myself and the world becauseof my continued fasting program. As you purify your
body and mind, you seem to come closer to a power
higher than yourself! This inner strength and innerpower, makes you a positive-thinking, youthful person. The memory becomes sharp as a razor’s edge. You
can remember names, places and events that go backmany years. You have a better capacity for self-education. Education is not a preparation for life, but education is
life itself! To grow mentally and spiritually is the greatestgoal we humans can have on this earth. So fasting works
three ways. You purify your body physically, mentally
and spiritually and therefore enjoy super vitality andhealth. Your mind becomes  a sponge which can absorb
new facts and knowledge. Greatest of all are the inner
peacefulness and spiritual tranquillity that make lifeworth living. Through fasting you find “Peace of Mind,”
the greatest and rarest gift of life.50
Fasting is a normal part of our walk with God, as is exemplified by
the Lord Jesus. Immediately following the Lord’s Prayer, He said:Moreover when ye fast, be not of sad countenance, that thouappear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father, which is in secretand thy Father shall reward thee openly. – 
Matthew 6:16 -18
To preserve health is a moral and religious duty, for health is the basis for
all social virtues. We can no longer be as useful when not well. – Dr. Samuel Johnson,  Father of DictionariesAccuse not nature, she hath done her part;
do thou but thine. – Milton , Paradise LostThe Biblical Patriarchs Fasted
We know that in ancient times, the patriarchs of the
Bible fasted frequently. Moses, Elijah, David and others
fasted for as long as 40 days. We know that Christ fasted
40 days before he began to teach the great truths of life. We read in the Bible that Christ sent forth his disciples
after saying to them, “Heal the sick, cleanse the leper,
raise the dead, cast out devils, freely ye have received,freely give.” At the same time, Christ knew that there
were dangers awaiting those who dared to bring truth
to the people. Therefore, Christ warned his disciples withthese words, “Behold! I send you forth as sheep in the
midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents and
harmless as doves.” 
(Matthew 10: 8,16)
As in the olden days, there are dispensers of gloom,
fear, and destruction when the subject of fasting is
brought up today. I have heard people discuss howunscientific fasting is and when I asked them if they
had ever fasted, they gave me a definite answer “Never”. These dispensers of gloom still cling to the old idea
that you must eat to keep up your strength, and thatwhen you stop eating, you collapse. This is far from the
truth! A little discomfort which may occur during fasting
only happens because we are creatures of habit. If weare able to handle the first
 3 days of fasting, then it
becomes easier. You lose your appetite and craving for
food. Your energy level increases and your mind getssharper and moves faster!51
Old age is not a time of life. It is a condition of the body. It is not
time that ages the body, it is abuse that does. –  Herbert SheltonFasting – The Safe, Perfect Cleanser
Of course, if you are loaded with toxic poisons, fasting
will flush these poisons out of the body and you will
feel a little uncomfortable, but these are momentary
experiences and should cause no concern. This meansonly that fasting is working for you. You know you are
fasting to purify the body of the accumulated toxic
poisons and waste. When you feel uncomfortable, youcan say to yourself, “This is only temporary. This will
pass as soon as these old toxins are flushed out of my
body.” And what miracle rewards you’ll receive for thesmall, temporary discomfort you may have experienced. Your eyes become brighter and all the natural senses
of the body seem to be sharper! After a fast, your foodtastes better – the fruits and the vegetables taste so
marvelous, because of your newly revitalized taste sense! Your body seems to be tireless and you will sleep like a
baby after a fast. There are so many rewards from a fast
that only a person who has actually fasted can truly
realize the great benefits that are achieved. Don’t be a Slave to Foods
Most humans are slaves to foods; they must have
breakfast, lunch and dinner at regular meal hours everyday, year in and year out. They eat whether they are
hungry or not, and their poor bodies are burdened by
overeating . . . and usually poor nutrition as well! Nowonder we have so many physical wrecks! One of the
greatest nutritional teachers in the world, Professor
Arnold Ehret, said, “Life is a tragedy of nutrition.” Howtrue is the old trite saying, “Man digs his grave with his
knife and fork!” Many people never give their stomachs
a rest. They continually stuff and work the digestive andeliminative functions with an overabundance of food. This excessive burden means that the functions of
digestion and elimination become so overworked andso exhausted that they simply collapse. The entire body
then becomes enervated! Millions suffer from fatigue.52
Many dishes, many diseases. –  Ben Franklin
If mankind profits from its mistakes, we have a glorious future ahead of us!Fasting Program Regularly Removes Toxins
After a fast, you will find you don’t need as much
food as you used to eat! The fast shrinks your stomach
and you will feel lighter, look better and have more
vitality on 2 the food you were accustomed to. I am an active man physically, yet I eat only two
light meals daily. I never snack between meals. Nibbling
and compulsory eating have been eliminated from mylife by my years of the
 24 hour weekly fast and my fasts
lasting from  7 to 10 days, 3 or 4 times a year. After the
fast, your eyes sparkle and your skin tone improves.Notice the more energy and vitality you have. Your heart
sings a lighthearted song because your body is cleaner
and healthier. It’s not burdened with fighting toxicpoisons. Your fasting program keeps lifting the toxins
from your bloodstream and vital organs regularly. Plan Your Fasting Program Today
So if you want to enjoy all these great benefits, be a
strong positive person, plan a fasting program for
yourself, and live strictly by it. Don’t tell anyone you
are going to fast, because the average person is ignorantof the facts of fasting and they are not qualified to
criticize your health program. I never discuss my fasting
with people who have no knowledge of the miracles offasting. Why should I discuss it with them? They are
still full of fears held by the average person; that if they
miss a few meals, they will starve to death. So beintelligent enough not to tell others what you are doing. You will simply get a lot of worthless advice. Many times
while I am fasting for a week I conduct large HealthCrusades and I tell no one I am on a complete fast. Your
fasting time is very personal and it belongs to you, not
to anyone else. If you have faith in it, that’s all that’snecessary. You are putting faith in God and Mother
Nature’s oldest and most respected way of purifying,
renovating and rejuvenating your body – fasting!53Your Mind Must Rule Your Body
To Fast Successfully
Remember, “Flesh is dumb!” It has no intelligence
or reasoning power. If, after reading this book, you areconvinced, without any reservations, that a fastingprogram is going to elevate you to greater heights ofliving, then your mind becomes the master of your flesh!Your mind must be stronger than the desires of your
flesh, because your body has long been conditioned tohave food put into it at various intervals of the day. The average person gets up and eats breakfast whether
hungry or not. When the stomach does all the directing,the mind tags along with it’s desires. So, through reflexconditioning, the stomach expects food for breakfast.To me, breakfast is a worthless meal. The body has been
at rest all night. It has not expended energy, so whyshould a person get up after the inactivity of sleep andput a big breakfast into the stomach? I will tell you again,“You must earn your food with physical activity!”
No Heavy Breakfast Plan is Best
Another reason why I’m a believer and follower of
the “No Heavy Breakfast Plan” is because the big breakfast
can drain most people of the precious energy gathered
by the recharging night’s sleep. In the morning, yourenergy – physical, mental, and spiritual – should be at its
highest. With this new energy the body has created, you
can do great creative and physical work. Famous radiotalk host Dr. Dean Edell agrees. Web: www.healthcentral.com
I have shown elementary school, high school and
college students that they can do their greatest studyingearly in the morning on an empty stomach. Most
students eat an evening meal, which is their heaviest
meal of the day, and then they try to study. It’s a terrific effort to concentrate and study after
eating a huge dinner! Why does this happen? It seems
that the mind just will not work after a heavy meal. Butgive these same students a good night’s rest, get them
up early in the morning and keep food out of them for
2 or 3 hours and they will become brilliant students.54
Eat to live, not live to eat. –Ben Franklin
You never lose until you stop trying. –Mike DitkaI have taught this “No Heavy Breakfast Plan” to
millions of our health followers and readers world-wide. Here’s the logical reason why I don’t believe in a heavybreakfast. A heavy meal requires most of the total nerve
energy of the body to handle digestion, thus the mind
becomes enervated, making people dull, sleepy andleaving the precious nerve energy at its lowest ebb. Let’s look at it from another standpoint. Through
long years of misinformation, people have been told,“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It gives
you the strength, the energy and the vitality to do a
hard morning’s work, either physically or mentally.” Thisis absolutely erroneous! It is not a true scientific fact. When you eat a heavy breakfast, through reflex action
you feel full and satisfied, but you do not gain strength.It takes hours for this food to be processed by the
digestive system before you can gain any energy or
vitality from a big breakfast. Digestion is a most highlycomplicated process. Every item of food in the breakfast
has to be broken down into fine nutrient fragments so
that the cells of the body are fed. You Must Earn Your Food by Exercising
You can plainly see that healthy eating is a matter of
conditioning and habit. I haven’t eaten breakfast for over
65 years. I get up early every morning. When at our
Hollywood home, I drive to the beautiful Griffith Park
mountain trail and hike for several hours up to the top of
Mt. Hollywood and top it off by running down themountain. If I am at our home near Malibu, Patricia and I
take long hikes and runs on the beach. I am not only a
summer swimmer, but a year-round ocean swimmer. At ourdesert home, we hike the hills and ride our bicycles. After
several hours of vigorous exercise, we return home to enjoy
our fruit meal and pep drinks. Now we are ready to do our
best creative work, planning Bragg Health Crusades, writing
articles for health magazines or writing our health books
to inspire and guide you to become healthier!55
Watermelon and its seeds are by far the best and most natural kidney cleanser
and diuretic. It washes retained poisons and debris out of the bladder without sideeffects. Always eat melons alone and between meals. It opens your urinary systemlike a hydrant. Also try watermelon seed tea 
- 2 tsps ground seeds in pint boiling
water, steep, sweeten, take 3 times daily for fluid retention and a kidney cleanser. Sometimes we do a 2 to 3 day watermelon only cleanse, try it – it’s so great!Healthy Eating Habits Keep You Youthful
Around noon or so we  will eat our main meal of the
day. We start w ith a lar ge delicious salad (recipe pg. 231). After the salad we have  one cooked yellow vegetable –
such as a baked yam or carrots – one green vegetable,such as Swiss chard, kale, mustard greens, broccoli,
zucchini, squash or g reen beans – and some type of
vegetable pr otein. We enjoy tofu, beans, lentils and raw
unsalted nuts of all kinds and seeds, such as sunflower,
pumpkin, sesame, etc. (
Vegetable Protein Chart pg. 233) . Patricia and I have earned this meal through exercise
and activity. Now our bodies are ready to send the
digestive juices and internal secretions to get the full
nourishment and energy out of this natural food. Themouth and stomach digestive juices are abundant. Extra
benefit – regular exercise, ample fruits and salads
promote good elimination. This program of 
12 meals a
week, 2 meals daily, 6 days a week doesn’t burden and
exhaust the body’s digestive system and body’s bowel
eliminative powers ( we fast for 24 to 36 hour period
weekly). On this Bragg Healthy Lifestyle program, youdon’t overeat, you educate your bowels to move soon
upon arising and usually you have a bowel evacuation
within an hour after lunch and an hour after dinner. Most people are sick or half sick most of the time. It
is our opinion that they enervate and overwork  their
body and exhaust themselves in trying to burn up allthose extra calories from all the excess foods they
consume!!! We don’t overeat and the only exception we
ever make for snacking between meals is to have someluscious, juicy organic fruit. In mid-afternoon, we have
a juicy organic apple or fresh pineapple, mango or
papaya. When melons are in season, we find nothingmore refreshing than sweet, ripe melons; our favorites
are watermelon, cantaloupe, casaba and honeydew.56Americans Love Social Eating! The main reason why 65% to 70% of Americans are
overweight is because eating has become a fun, social
gorging event! People eat breakfast, eat at the coffee
break, eat at lunch and eat at their afternoon coffee break.They eat a large dinner and long before the big dinner
can be handled by the digestive system they are eating
again, plus drinking alcohol, colas or coffee whilewatching TV. No wonder they are constantly tired! It’s
because they enervate themselves by exhausting their
Vital Force. Even the healthiest person only generates
so much Vital Force daily and, if by over-eating habits
or other bad habits you exhaust your Vital Force, then
there is not sufficient energy for the needed work ofmastication, digestion, metabolism and elimination. What happens? There is not enough Vital Force to
flush the waste out of the body, so this stockpiles andconcentrates and that’s how you build autointoxication. Your troubles and premature ageing start right here! Keeping Internally Clean is Critical
Sickness and premature ageing are no mystery. You
are punished by your bad habits, not for them! If you
keep stuffing food that cannot be handled in your over
loaded digestive tract, it then rots, putrefies and poisonsyour body’s billions of cells. You become prematurely
old, sick, and weak because you have not learned how
to keep your body healthy and clean inside! The secret
of health and long life can be summed up in three words:
“Keep Clean Inside!” Etch these words of wisdom deep on
the blackboard of your brain! Repeat them over and overagain as an affirmation . . . “Keep Clean Inside!”
Fasting is the best and most natural way of cleansing,
purifying and rejuvenating your body because it is Mother
Nature’s natural method. Nobody can do it for you. It is a
personal matter. It costs you nothing but a strong, positive
willpower! Remember, woe to the weak. Life is the survivalof the fittest . . . and fasting is a program of self-preservation! Remember always, you are punished by your bad habits
of living, not for them, but by them! –  Paul C. Bragg57Are You Now Ready to Fast, Detox and
Get Healthy For A Long, Wonderful Life? If you are convinced, without reservation that fasting
is a time to get detoxed and healthy, then you’re ready. Remember, when you tell your conscious and your
subconscious mind you’re going to fast for internalpurity you set things in motion for success! You have
told every cell in your body that a fast is going to improve
your health. Your body’s cells will accept this command. Start with a 
24 hour distilled water fast. During these
24 hours you are going to put nothing into your stomach
except distilled water. If you eat fruit with this, it is nota fast; it is a fruit diet. If you drink fruit or vegetable
juices during this 
24 hour period it ceases to be a
complete fast, and instead becomes either a vegetableor fruit juice fast. I want you to bear this in mind: a
complete fast is nothing allowed in the stomach except
distilled water! Your first fast may be easy or it may havesome rough spots. You may fast from lunch to lunch ordinner to dinner, as long as you abstain from food for
an entire 
24 hours. If you are accustomed to coffee, tea,
beer or alcohol drinks, you might have reactions . . .one typical reaction appears in the form of a headache. Why does this happen? Because the cells of your body
have conditioned themselves to regular dosages of astimulant. When you take the stimulant away from the
nerves and the cells there is bound to be a reaction. But
remember, this fast is going to help break that stimulanthabit, because during the 
24 hour distilled water fast
you are flushing many of the buried poisonous residues
out of your body through your eliminative organs. During their  24 hour fast, most people can carry on
their regular duties, even though they may have a little
discomfort. There may be some turbulence in the stomachbut, all in all, it should go smoothly and successfully if
you make your mind be master of your flesh. You are giving
the commands to your body from your higher brain cells. You’re not going to be dragged down to the level of the
lower stomach cells. Remem ber it’s important everyday,
especially fast days, to drink ample water. Get started!58Juice Fasting – Introductory
Road to Water Fasting
Fasting has been rediscovered through juice fasting as a
simply delicious and easy means of cleansing and purifying
and rebuilding health and vitality. To fast ( abstain from food ) is from the Old English
word fasten or to hold firm . It’s a means to commit oneself
to the task of finding inner strength through cleansing
of the body, mind and soul. Throughout history theworld’s greatest church leaders, philosophers and sages
including Socrates, Plato, Buddha and Gandhi have
enjoyed fasting and preached its many miracle benefits. Juice bars are springing up everywhere and juice fasting
has become “in” with the Stars of Hollywood. The numberof Stars who believe in the power and effectiveness ofjuice and water fasting is growing. Some are: Steven
Spielberg, Barbra Streisand, Kim Basinger, Alec Baldwin,
Christie Brinkley, Dolly Parton, Donna Karan, etc., andauthor Danielle Steel. They say fasting helps balance theirlives physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally. Although a distilled water fast is best, an introductory
liquid juice fast can offer people an opportunity to givetheir intestinal systems restful, cleansing relief from the
commercial, high-fat, sugar, salt, protein and “fast foods”
diets that too many Americans exist on daily. Organic raw live fruit and vegetable juices can be
purchased fresh from many health stores. You can alsoprepare these healthy juices yourself using a good homejuicer. When juice fasting, it’s best to dilute the juice with
3 distilled or purified water. This list gives you delicious
varieties. With vegetable and tomato combinations tryadding a dash of Bragg Liquid Aminos or herbs. Non-fast
days, try some of the nutritious green powders (barley,
chlorella, spirulina, etc.) to create a powerful health drink.When using herbs in these drinks, use 1 to 2 fresh leaves
or a pinch of dried herbs. A pinch of Dulse (seaweed) –
rich in protein, iodine and iron – is delicious withvegetable juices ( also sprinkled on salads, veggies,  etc. ). Dine with little, sup with less; do better still, sleep supperless. – Ben Franklin
59Juicing has come a long way since Paul C. Bragg imported
the first hand operated vegetable-fruit juicer from Germanyand introduced juice therapy to America. Before this, juice
was pressed by hand using cheesecloth. Juices are now
considered an ideal health beverage worldwide!11. Asparagus, carrot, and mint
12. Carrot, celery, parsley, onion,       cabbage and sweet basil13. Carrot and coconut milk14. Carrot, broccoli, lemon, cayenne15. Carrot, cauliflower, rosemary16. Apple, carrot, radish, ginger17. Apple, pineapple and mint18. Apple, papaya and grapes19. Papaya, cranberries and apple20. Leafy greens, broccoli, apple21. Grape, cherry and apple22. Watermelon (include seeds)Here are Some Powerful Juice Combinations:
1. Beet, celery, alfalfa sprouts2. Cabbage, celery and apple3. Cabbage, cucumber, celery,     tomato, spinach and basil4. Tomato, carrot and mint5. Carrot, celery, watercress,     garlic and wheatgrass6. Grapefruit, orange and lemon7. Beet, parsley, celery, carrot,     cabbage and garlic8. Beet, celery, dulse and carrot9. Cucumber, carrot and parsley10. Watercress, cucumber, garlic
Fruit bears the closest relation to light. The sun pours a continuous floodof light into the fruits, and they furnish the best potion of fooda human being requires for the sustenance of mind and body. –  Alcott
Dr. Koop & PatriciaBAD NUTRITION
#1 Cause of Sickness
People don’t die of infectious
conditions as such, but of
malnutrition that allows the
germs to gain a foothold insickly bodies. Bad nutrition is
usually one of the main causes
of noninfectious, degenerativeor fatal conditions. When the
body has its full vitamin and
mineral quota plus precious potassium, it’s impossiblefor germs to get a foothold in its healthy bloodstream
and tissues! We greatly admire our friend, the former
U.S. Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop who, in hisfamous 1988 landmark report on nutrition and health,
made this revealing, strong statement:
Diet-related diseases account for 68% of all United States  deaths! 60Chart is from book: Water – The Shocking Truth, see back pages for booklist. Teeth ............................ 10% Lungs ............... 80%
Bones ............................ 22% Brain ................. 75%
Cartilage ....................... 55% Bile................... 86%
Red blood corpuscles ......68.7% Plasma ............. 90%
Liver.............................. 71.5% Blood ................ 83%
Muscle tissue ................. 75% Lymph .............. 94%
Spleen........................... 75.5% Saliva ............... 95.5%
This chart shows why 8 glasses of water daily is important.Water Percentage in Various Body Parts:The amount of water in the human body, averaging 70%, varies
considerably and even from one part of the body to another area
(illustration on right). A lean man may hold 70% of his weight in body
water, while a woman – because of her larger proportion of water-poorfatty tissues – may be only 52% water. The lowering of the water
content in the blood is what triggers the hypothalamus, the brain’s
thirst center, to send out its familiar urgent demand for a drink of water. Blood
83%Muscle
75.6%Kidney
82.7%Brain
75%100%
70%
0%Bone
22%The 70% Watery Human61
Dehydration of certain organs will result in symptoms which are
often misdiagnosed by physicians. The message is: drink your way tohealth with volumes of pure water. – F. Batmanghelidj, 
M.D.,  Author of
Your Body’s Many Cries for Water; You Are Not Sick,  You Are Thirsty! - watercure.comChapter 6
Why I Drink Only
Pure, Distilled Water! When I refer to fasting in this book, I constantly make
the statement, “Eat absolutely no food and drink distilled
water exclusively.” Distilled water is pure H2O – which
means it’s a compound of 2 parts hydrogen and 1 part
oxygen. If you drink rain water, or the fresh juices of
fruits and vegetables, remember that all of this liquidhas been distilled by Mother Nature. If you drink rain
water or snow water, there are no inorganic minerals in
it. It is 
100%  mineral-free. If you drink fruit and vegetable
juices, you are drinking distilled water plus certain
nutrients such as fruit sugars, organic minerals and
vitamins. But if you drink lake, river, well or spring water,you are drinking undistilled water, plus the inorganic
minerals that the water has picked up. Some of this water
is known as hard water, meaning it has high inorganic
mineral concentrations that can cause health problems. Now, let me give you a short lesson in chemistry. There are two kinds of chemicals - inorganic and organic. The inorganic chemicals are inert, which means that
they cannot be absorbed into the tissues of the body. Our bodies are composed of
 16 organic minerals
which all come from that which is living or was alive. When we eat an apple or any other fruit or vegetable,that substance is living. Each has a certain survival time
after it has been picked before spoiling. We prefer the
vegetarian diet, but the same applies to animal foods,fish, milk, cheese and eggs if you eat them. Distilled water is the healthiest and greatest solvent on earth, the only
water that can be taken into the body without damage to the tissues. –
Dr. Allen Banik, Author of  The Choice is Clear62Hard, Inorganic Minerals Cause Problems! Organic minerals are very vital in keeping us alive
and well. If we were cast away on an uninhabited island
where nothing was growing, we would starve to death. Even though the soil beneath our feet contains 16inorganic minerals, our bodies could not absorb them. Only a living plant has the power to extract inorganic
minerals from the earth. No human can extract thenourishment from inorganic minerals. Many years ago, I was on an expedition to China
when one part of the country was suffering from droughtand famine. I saw with my own eyes poor, starving
people heating earth and eating it for want of food. They
died horrible deaths because they could not get one bitof nourishment from the inorganic minerals of the earth. For years I have heard people say that certain waters
were rich in all the minerals. What minerals are theytalking about? Inorganic or organic? These are inorganic
and they are burdening their bodies with these inert
minerals, which may cause the development of stones
in the kidneys, gallbladder and stone-like acid crystals
in the arteries, veins, and other parts of the body. I was reared in Virginia where the drinking water is
called hard water. It is heavily saturated with inorganic
minerals, especially sodium, iron and calcium. I saw manyof my elders die of kidney troubles. Nearly all  the people
were prematurely old because the inorganic minerals would
collect on the inner walls of their arteries and veins, causingmany to die from hardening of the arteries, strokes and
heart attacks. One of my uncles died at Johns Hopkins
hospital when he was only 48. The autopsy doctors  stated
that his arteries were as hard as clay pipes because they
were so stiff and corroded with inorganic minerals. Yet you will hear people say, “Distilled water is dead
water. A fish cannot live in it.”  Of course a fish cannot live
in freshly distilled water for any length of time, because it
needs the vegetation that grows in rivers, lakes and seas.Imagine you were shipwrecked while on a passenger ship63going to Hawaii and you became a castaway in a lifeboat
for days on the open sea. If the only water available was rain
water, would you say, “Rain water is dead distilled water,
I won’t drink it?” No, you would never say that. Of course
you would drink pure rain water and survive until rescued! Millions Drink Rain (Distilled) Pure Water! By drinking distilled water, you would be joining
millions worldwide who drink unpolluted rain water. Man evolved drinking rain water. In Bermuda, etc.,
where soil is so porous that water cannot be held in thesoil, people have special roofs to catch rain water so that
it drains into tanks under their houses  or nearby. The great castle of the powerful emperor Tiberius, who
ruled the world at the time of Christ, is located on the Isle
of Capri. It has a remarkable reservoir to catch rain water
inside the castle walls. Today, over 
2000 years later, the
people of Capri still go there for water during a dry spell. I have seen this with my  own eyes, you can too! Years ago, my Hollywood friend, the great actor
Douglas Fairbanks Sr., and I roamed the South Sea
Islands. During that trip, we came upon an island
inhabited by beautiful, healthy Polynesians who neverdrank anything but distilled water, because the island
was surrounded by the Pacific Ocean. Sea water is
undrinkable because of its high salt content. Their islandwas based on porous coral which could not hold water,
so they only had Mother Nature’s distilled water drinks
from rain water and delicious fresh coconut milk. I have never seen any finer specimens of men or
women than these native South Sea Islanders! There were
several doctors on the yacht who thoroughly examinedthe oldest people on these islands, and the heart doctor
stated that he had never examined such well-preserved
people in his life. They never celebrated birthdays, so theywere gloriously ageless, not only in years, but in body! These older men performed as well in the vigorous native
dances as the younger men. These people were beautifulspecimens of humanity, and they all lived their lengthy
lives drinking only Mother Nature’s per fect dis tilled water.64Distilled Water is Best for Your Health
Years ago, during an expedition to the Atlas mountains
of Morocco, I found vigorous people roaming the desert,
and the only water they d rank was unpolluted rain water. Every liquid prescription that is compounded in any
drug store the world over is prepared with distilled water.It is not true that distilled water leaches the organic
minerals out of the body nor is it dead water. It is the
purest and safest water that man can drink! Distilled water helps to dissolve the terrible, toxic
poisons that collect in people’s bodies. It passes through
the kidneys without leaving inorganic pebbles andstones. If you wash your hair in rain (distilled) water
you will discover the softness of natural soft water. No new water has been created on the face of the
earth since it was originally formed. Just as the same
energy is formed and reformed, so the same water is re-
used over and over again by the miracle of MotherNature. Waters of the earth are purified by naturaldistillation. The sun evaporates the water. It is collected
into clouds and the clouds become full and then we
have rain and dew . . . pure, perfectly clean water, oneof God’s and Mother Nature’s great miracles! Who dares
to say that they supply man with dead water! Distilled
water is the purest water on earth and it’s free of allharmful inorganic minerals and toxic substances. Over 
70 years ago, I predicted that some day man
would need clean, pure water so desperately that greatgovernment distillation plants would have to be installed
at the seas to convert the unlimited supply of salt water
into pure water for all purposes. I have lived to see myprediction come true. Even in Santa Barbara, California
they had to build a plant during a long dry spell. In the
American Navy, there are huge aircraft carriers with fivethousand Navy personnel aboard. These ships cannot
carry enough land water so they distill sea water for the
men to drink and bathe in. Also big ocean cruise shipsdistill sea water for their passengers’ use, bathing, etc.65
To resist old age creeping in one must work with the body, mind, soul and
the heart. And to keep strong and healthy one must live a healthy lifestyle.Paul C. Bragg clasps hands with Jack LaLanne
Jack says he would have been dead by 17 if he hadn’t attended
The Bragg Crusade. Jack says, Bragg saved my life at age 15, when I
attended The Bragg Health Crusade in Oakland, California . From that
day on Jack has continued a busy, fulfilled life, living The BraggHealthy Lifestyle, inspiring millions to health, fitness and longevity! www.jacklalanne.comThe Miracle Life of Ageless Jack LaLanne
I enjoy eating  raw vegetable salads, plenty of organic fruit and fresh juices. I
love vegetables, wholegrains, beans, brown rice and lentils. – Jack LaLanneBragg Family Uses Only Distilled Water
At our Bragg homes, distilled water is delivered in 5
gallon bottles for household use. I also have it at the
Bragg Santa Barbara office. Distilled water can be boughtalmost everywhere. It is used for baby formulas, heartand kidney patients and many other purposes. Millions of homes across the nation have water
softeners for household uses, because hard water is notgood for washing clothes and it spots dishes. But pleasedon’t drink unhealthy water from water softeners! It’snot a healthful drinking water. Drink only distilled waterexclusively for a year and you’ll never drink hard orsoftened water again. When you fast, please use onlydistilled water for greater cleansing and health. Read theBragg book – Water – The Shocking Truth  for more info.66Chart from Bragg Water Book  – Be a Bragg Crusader, copy and share with friends. Ten Common Sense Reasons Why You
Should Only Drink Pure, Distilled Water! •There are over 12,000 toxic chemicals on the market today
. . . and 500 are being added yearly! Regardless of where
you live, in the city or on the farm, some of thesechemicals are getting into your drinking water. •No one on the face of the earth today knows what effectthese chemicals could have upon the body as they blendinto thousands of different combinations. It is like makinga mixture of colors; one drop could change the color. •The equipment hasn’t been designed to detect some ofthese chemicals and may not be for many years to come. •The body is made up of 70% water ( shown on page  60). Therefore, don’t you think you should be particular aboutthe type of water you drink to maintain your body? •The Navy has been drinking distilled water for years! •Distilled water is chemical and mineral free. Distillationremoves all the chemicals and impurities from water thatare possible to remove. If distillation doesn’t remove them,there is no known method today that will. •The body does need minerals . . . but it is not necessarythat they come from water. There is not one mineral inwater which cannot be found more abundantly in food!Water is the most unreliable source of minerals because
it varies from one area to another. The food we eat – notthe water we drink – is the best source of organic minerals! •Distilled water is used for intravenous feeding, inhalationtherapy, prescriptions and baby formulas. Therefore,doesn’t it make common sense that it is good for everyone? •Thousands of water distillers have been sold throughoutthe United States and around the world to individuals,families, dentists, doctors, hospitals, nursing homes andgovernment agencies. These and other informed, alertconsumers are helping protect their health by using onlypure, distilled water. Be wise – you do the same. •With all of the chemicals, pollutants and other impurities
in our water, it only makes good common sense youshould clean up the water you drink Mother Nature’sinexpensive way through distillation.67How Long Should One Fast? For a person who has no fasting experience, the
longest fast should never be over  10 days, unless they
are under the supervision of a health expert with fasting
experience. Fasting is the most natural method of
purifying the body and is truly a miracle! In my opinion,it’s best to do shorter fasts for the first few months,
gradually working into longer fasts. This helps prevent
distress to your body by gently loosening and passingthe stored toxins out of the body. A long fast must be supervised by an expert because
only they can best determine when a fast should bebroken. Sometimes even the experts cannot tell how long
a fast should last. When and how to break the fast is
determined by carefully watching how conditions in thefaster’s body change during the fast. The expert watchesto see how fast the body, kidneys, etc. are throwing off
mucus and toxins. They will examine the urine daily –
if too many toxins are being eliminated, causing a strainon the kidneys, they will usually stop the fast. Even the greatest experts won’t all agree with putting
a person on a 
30 or 40 day fast. Often people plan a longer
fast and find toxins pouring out so quickly that it’s best
they do short fasts and not one big long fast. Sometimes
in the first 6 days, if too many toxic poisons were releasedinto the ir circulation, I felt it wise to have them stop  the
fast and do another short fast in a few weeks. I have heard unqualified people say, “the long fast is
best.” This I do not believe, because man is the sickest
creature on earth! None of God’s other creatures have
violated His nutritional laws as much as man; who eatswith little discretion towards his health and life!Chapter 7
Fasting regularly gives your or gans and digestion a rest and helps
reverse the ageing process for a healthie r and l onger life. – James Balch, M.D.,  Prescriptions for Nutritional Healing
“Bragg books were my introduction to healthy living.”68
The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest
his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet and in
the cause and prevention of disease. – Thomas A. EdisonShorter Fasts Are Better and Safer
Here again is another reason I do not believe in long
fasts unless they are carefully supervised by a health
expert. The average person is not only filled with toxic
poison from wrong food, air pollution, water pollutionand common table salt, but they also have a residue of
the many drugs they have consumed stored deep in the
organs of their bodies. So a long fast to cleanse one’sbody might sound good in theory but, in actual practice,
it is emphatically not the case! In my personal experience, I have achieved greater
benefits from short fasts than I have by the long fasts,
even though I have supervised many long fasts. Starting
with a 
24 to 36 hour fast weekly, I find that the faster
can really give himself a splendid internal house
cleaning. The person who wishes to attain supreme
vitality and agelessness can prepare for a 3 to 4 day fast
by following the “No Heavy Breakfast Plan” (I regard
fresh fruit as nutritional refreshment, not as a full meal)
combined with a program of eating only whole, natural,organic foods for several months. After about
 4 months of the weekly fast and  4 to 6
fasts of from  3 to 4 days, a person would be ready for a  7
day fast. By this time, large amounts of toxic waste will
have been removed from the body by this series of
weekly and longer fasts, combined with The Bragg
Healthy Lifestyle of eating healthy organic fruits, veggies,sprouts whole grains, seeds and nuts. Remember, it’s
important to drink 8-10 glasses of distilled water daily! With a background of
 6 months of internal cleansing,
the 7 day fast will prove quite simple. This first week-
long fast will be a wonderful experience because the
internal purification the faster experiences are  absolutelytremendous! In several more months, this person will
be ready for a ten-day fast. Again this will cause a super-
cleansing of every cell in the body.69The Faster Will Gather Marvelous Experience
Once embarked on this sensible, logical program of
internal purification, you will be so imbued with the joys
of your new life that fasting will become a necessary part
of life itself. Day by day, while you watch the miracle ofrejuvenation taking place in your body and mind, you will
rejoice that you have been led to The Bragg Healthy
Lifestyle of living that will make  you a healthier, happier
and better person every day of your life! Why Should You Fast? Most people spend the major part of their short lives
destroying their health! But those who have found thetruth have captained their lives to healthy living. It all
comes down to the law of compensation. You get out of
an effort just what you put into it! To me, to achievesupreme health, vitality and agelessness is worth all effort
possible! I found what I want in life. I know that money
cannot buy health, long life and agelessness. I followmy Bragg Healthy Lifestyle and I enjoy supreme health! Every day we read about wealthy men and women
who are desperately ill, many of them dying long beforetheir time. There is no wealth that can impart or equal
health and agelessness. That is the reason I often tell
people that I am the richest man on earth. I am a healthmultibillionaire! I have the greatest wealth a person can
have. I have Supreme Health 
365 days of the year. I have
a painless, tireless and ageless body. No one gave me myHealth Wealth. I earned it by living The Bragg Healthy
Lifestyle and by always staying as close to Mother Nature
as possible in this polluted, poisoned world of today. The More Often You Fast,
The Longer You Will Be Able to Fast
I do not want to limit your fasting to 10 days. But I
do not advise fasting any longer than 10 days until you
have had, at the very least, four 10 day fasts spaced at 4
month intervals. With that experience behind you, now
you could graduate to a 15 day fast. By then you have
done a tremendous amount of internal house cleaning.70Great Benefits From Short and Long Fasts
If you are ready to attempt a  21 or 30 day fast you
know now how to conduct the fast. You now have your
past fasting experience and knowledge to guide you! But,
personally, I feel that my weekly  24 to 36 hour fast and
my 7 to 10 day fasts  4 times a year is sufficient fasting for
me. I eat only 12 meals a week and sometimes less
because I never eat unless I have a genuine hunger! Again let me state emphatically that fasting is a
science. Please do not force yourself into a long fast
because you think the long fast is going to do wonders,unless you are under the strict supervision of a health
expert. And even the expert may decide that you would
benefit more from shorter fasts to first condition yourselfto a longer fast. Your
 24 to 36 hour weekly fast, your  3 or
4 day fasts and your  7 to 10 day fasts will provide you
with the fasting experience you will definitely needshould you wish to try a longer fast later. I have found in my research on fasting that even the
health experts disagree on how long one should fast toget the very best results. Health opinions worldwide varyon fasting lengths from
 7 to 30 days. I personally don’t
believe in the longer fast unless it is really an emergency
– and then it is imperative that it be supervised by ahealth expert. I have thousands of students worldwide
following this fasting program I’m presenting to you in
this book. They are delighted and satisfied with themarvelous health benefits they enjoy! Through our actions and deeds, rather than promises, let us display the
essence of love – perfect harmony in motion. –  Philip Glyn, Welsh PoetIt’s the song you sing and the smiles you wear, that is
making the sunshine everywhere. – James Whitcomb RileyIf just half of the $ billions spent on cancer research were spent on educating
the public how to avoid disease – millions of lives would be saved from cancer. – Joel Fuhrman,  M.D., Author of  Fasting and Eating for HealthDerek Prince was one of the most loved and anointed ministers in the
world. He and his wife led a disciplined life of fasting every wednesday
and they traveled the world crusading. – www.derekprince.com71Fasting Appreciated Worldwide
The German fasting resorts believe the ideal fast is
21 days. The French are in favor of not more than a 14
day fast. In England they feel a 30 day fast is best. In our
American fasting resorts, many of the fasts are supervisedfrom
 14 to 30 days. I have found that in foreign and American fasting
resorts, the directors are dedicated men and women whohave a thorough knowledge of fasting. They all have
been highly successful with people who have various
complicated physical problems. Fasting is a great and wonderful science and there is
much to learn about it. I have been supervising fasts for
over
 70 years. During these years I have faithfully fasted
and have enjoyed wonderful benefits! It is my honest
opinion that if anyone fasts over  10 days they should be
under the guidance of a health expert they can call. I believe that the average person can fast  10 days
without any complications. The 10 day fast results in a
great amount of internal housecleaning. I sincerely hopeI am not putting any fearful thoughts in your mind aboutthe great science of fasting. There are thousands of people
around the world who supervise their own fasts and
some for
 even 20 or 30  days. When I speak on fasting at
the Bragg Health Crusades worldwide, I ask my students
how many of them have supervised their own fasts. I
found that thousands of Bragg followers have fasted  20
and 30 days or more with great results! But, I still feel that if a person is going to take a 30
day fast, it is wise to be under the guidance of a health
expert, who knows how to control long fasts. They are
always ready to help you when the toxic poisons are
being eliminated more heavily. They might advise youto break the fast, because they feel you may have
loosened enough toxic poisons for this particular fast. Always be flexible, kind and loving to your body. Healthy, healing dietary fibers are organic fresh vegetables, fruits, salads
and whole grains and their products. These health builders help normalizeyour blood pressure, cholesterol and also promotes healthy elimination.72Short Fasts Need Good Nutrition and Good
Healthy Lifestyle Habits Between Fasts
I know that the wheels of progress grind slowly, but
surely. Here is my theory on the science of fasting. Weare dealing with human nature and there are many fears
in each of us. I believe that more people will experiment
with the science of fasting if they do short fasts. Manypeople are willing to try a 
24 or a 36 hour fast and, when
they find that they feel better and look better, they will
then attempt a 3 day fast because they now have more
confidence. The next thing you know, they will fast very
successfully for 7 to 10 days. Many of my students who
took several 10 day fasts had such good results that they
tried a 15 day fast. Some even went on to 21 day fasts
and others tried the full 30 day fast by themselves. But they wisely started with the 24 hour fast and then
graduated to the longer fast. The more experience and
good results you gain, the stronger belief you will have
in fasting. If you have never fasted before, start with 24
or 36 hour fast each week. I urge you to be the judge of
the wonder-working miracle powers of the fast. Then you may graduate to the 3 to 4  day fast and,
after that, to a 7 to 10  day fast that will make you very
proud of your willpower. You can accomplish a great
amount of internal cleansing on short fasts. Remember,
it is cumulative. The more you fast, the cleaner youbecome inside. Just make sure that between fasts you
are faithfully living the good, Bragg Healthy Lifestyle! Pre-Cleanse Diet Brings Better Fasting Results
If you prepare for a fast by eating a cleansing diet for 1
to 2 days, this can greatly facilitate the cleansing process. Fresh variety salads, fresh vegetables and fruits and theirjuices, as well as green drinks (alfalfa, barley, chlorophyll,
chlorella, spirulina, wheatgrass, etc.) stimulate waste
elimination. Live, fresh organic foods and juices can literallypick up dead matter from your body and carry it away. Following this pre-cleansing diet for a few days, then you
are now prepared and can start your liquid fast.73Here is My Personal Fasting Program –
Which I Recommend for Bragg Students
I know the great benefits I have received from fasting,
and that goes for my whole family. Every week Patriciaand I take a 
24 to 36 hour fast. We never miss this! In
addition we fast from  7 to 10 days,  4 times a year. Over the many years that I have been following this
schedule, I have kept myself in superior health. I am ahuman dynamo! I get more living out of
 1 day than
most people get out of 5. I have unlimited energy for
work and play! I never get tired - sleepy, yes. But neverdo I get that worn out, exhausted feeling. I keep myselfactive mentally, physically and spiritually! I maintain aheavy lecture schedule and I travel worldwide. I writeand have many duties to perform. But I still make timefor an enormous amount of vigorous physical activity. All of my sports and play time is spent with youthful
men and women who don’t recognize calendar yearsand who are ageless in body, mind and spirit as I am.Otherwise, I keep far, far away from prematurely oldpeople because most of them are so negative! Sad facts –millions have convinced themselves they are old andtired! This the reason they are ready for the scrap heap!Many died mentally years ago and have joined the half-alive generation. Avoid this! Please don’t join them! My daughter Patricia and I belong to hiking, tennis
and beach clubs, gyms, mountain climbing clubs anddancing clubs. We love ballroom dancing and SouthAmerican dances like the samba, tango, etc. and fastmoving steps that give us a chance to be physically activeand mentally joyous. Try it – turn the music on anddance! If needed, take lessons and learn – it’s fun! Weenjoy the Hawaiian dance – the Hula. When at home inHawaii, we give health buffet parties along with someHawaiian musical entertainment, singing and dancing. When your body is cleansed by fasting and living a
naturally healthy life, you will discover you feelwonderful all the time. This is because God and MotherNature intended people to be healthy, happy and well-balanced; free of fears, frustrations, stresses and strains!74
Health in a human being is the perfection of bodily organization,
intellectual energy and moral power. –T.L. Nichols, M.D.Breaking Health Laws – You Pay Big Price! Please understand that man cannot break a Natural Law. He only breaks himself while attempting to break the
Natural Law. Can man break the law of gravity? Can man
jump off a 25 story building and live? No! This also appliesto Mother Nature’s Laws. Man is brainwashed into eating
the processed, devitalized foods that has propelled him
into a pitiful physical condition. Americans are so gulliblethey believe the false propaganda passed out by big special
interests, saying Americans are healthy and long lived. Sickness is Costly Big Business in America! Who spends more money in the pursuit of health
than any other nation in the whole, wide world? AMERICA DOES! Who spends more money for doctors, nurses,
hospitals, surgery, drugs and health insurance? AMERICA DOES! Which nation has more “drives” to collect funds to
fight the many diseases that plague our population? AMERICA DOES! Who has more convalescent homes, mental clinics
and institutions than any other country in the world? AMERICA DOES! What nation spends the most money on magazine,
newspaper, TV and radio advertising promoting
“do it yourself,” over-the-counter drug medication? AMERICA DOES! What nation takes the most sleeping pills, diet
pills,  laxatives, aspirin and other pain killers? AMERICA DOES! We even have children’s aspirin. Sadly, it seems they
need painkillers! Aspirin in any form – be it buffered,plain or mixed with other compounds – masks the
problem instead of solving it. Pain is the body’s alarm!75How to Break a 24 Hour Fast
Follow These Instructions Carefully! Your 24 hour fast can be from lunch to lunch or from
dinner to dinner, as long as you abstain from all solid
foods. This also means no fruit or vegetable juices! This
is known as the absolute distilled water fast. One exception to the 24 hour fast is to add equally one
teaspoon of raw honey ( optional and diabetics can use
stevia ) and one teaspoon Braggs Organic Raw Apple Cider
Vinegar or fresh lemon juice to at least 3 of your 8 to 10
glasses of distilled water. This acts as a mucus and toxin
dissolver, plus makes the water more palatable. This helpsflush debris out through the great natural filters of the
body – the kidneys. They play a vital part in your fast. This is why it’s important during any fast to drink 8 to10 glasses of pure, distilled water. I have told you how important it is to save the urine
after a 
24 hour fast. Just put it in a tightly sealed labeled
bottle and let it settle for several weeks. You will see withyour own eyes the poisons – such as mucus, salt crystals
and toxins – that have been flushed out of your body by
your miracle-working kidneys. Your Kidneys – The Miracle Organs
Just think of it – each of the  2 kidneys in your body
have a million efficient filters. When the body is fasting,the kidneys step up their work of detoxification. All of
the Vital Force and nervous energy of the body is now
working overtime to cleanse and heal your body, becauseit’s not being used up in the laborious task of mastication,
digestion, metabolism and elimination. You have no idea
how powerful the Vital Force is in your body until you
experience this great fasting body renovation! The three greatest letters in the English alphabet are N-O-W. There is no time like the present. Begin now! – Sir Walter ScottChapter 876Some Discomfort is Normal When Cleansing
Remember that as long as there is any toxic waste in
your circulation, you may feel some discomfor t during
your fast. Soon as the Vital Force flushes these poisons
out through your kidneys, you will star t to feel better. Many times during a fast, old drugs that have been
buried in your system for years are loosened up andflushed out of the body. Let me tell you of one of mygreatest experiences when I first started fasting. Now,
let’s go back to my early childhood diet. I was born and
reared in Virginia and I was fed a typically greasy, starchy,fatty and sugary diet. My body was so filled with toxins
as a child that I had every known childhood disease:
mumps, measles, whooping cough . . . you name themand I had them! Along with these childhood miseries, I
was given large amounts of a drug known as “Calomel”
– and this drug was filled with quicksilver (mercury)! A Swiss Doctor Was My Human Angel
After I was restored to a good state of health at Dr.
August Rollier’s Sanitarium in Leysen, Switzerland, I
started my regular fasting program – which I am proud
to say I have continued through all these wonderful yearssince then! I fasted one
 24 hour period weekly and  4
times a year at  3 month intervals, I fasted from  7 to 10
days – always on a distilled water fast. After I had beenon this fasting program for
 5 years, it was during one of
my 10 day fasts that a great miracle happened to me! I was at my family’s old homestead in Virginia. On
about the seventh day of a  10 day fast, I was out in a
canoe on the river leisurely enjoying the sunshine andfresh air when suddenly, without warning, I doubled upwith stomach cramps. I thought I would never be able
to stand the pain! With great effort I got ashore and
then it happened. I had a terrific bowel evacuation! Atthe end of this evacuation, I felt a heavy, cool sensation
in my rectum and out passed a 
3 cup of the quicksilver
from the toxic Calomel that I took in my childhood. Fasting is Mother Nature & God’s Miracle – it cleanses, renews & rejuvenates!77That experience marked a new day in my entire
physical structure. From that day on I knew what
superior health meant! My Vital Force was increased so
greatly with my program of eating natural living foods,fasting, sunshine and exercise that all my body cells
rejoiced with my new Energy Power! With fasting I
eliminated the drugs that were given to me in my youth. Keep Your Spirits and Morale High
Please understand, even when you take a 1 day fast
you are cleansing and purifying your whole body. Thevery thought that you are building a painless, tireless
and ageless body should be an incentive to keep your
morale high during your fast. Don’t allow self-pity ornegative thoughts to get in your mind when fasting. Repeat these powerful affirmations when fasting:
•I have this day put my body in the hands of God andMother Nature. I turn to the highest power for  internal
purification and rejuvenation  of body and soul. •Every minute that I fast I am flushing dangerous
poisons that do great damage from my wonderful body. Every hour that I fast I become happier, h ealthi er and
have more energy and youthfulness. •Hour by hour, my body is cleansing and purifying itself. •When I fast I am using the same method for physical,
mental and spiritual purification that the greatestspiritual leaders have used throughout the ages. •I am in complete control of my body during this fast.No false hunger pains will stop me from fasting! I will
carry my fast through to a successful conclusion
because I have total faith in God and Mother N ature! Just remember, you must give instructions to all the
cells of your body with your total mind and heart. The
thoughts you send to your body are going to be carried
out by your cells. That is the reason I urge you to notdiscuss your fasting program with relatives or friends. Most would give you a negative reaction. Fasting is a
personal matter and please keep it that way! Everyone is a house with four rooms: Physical, Mental, Emotional and Spiritual. Visit each every day to be a healthy balanced person. – Rurner Godden78Keep Your Meals Healthy and Simple
When the toxins are passing out of your body and
you feel some discomfort, just say to yourself . . .“This
too will also pass.” Be strong-minded when you fast! Think of the wonderful results you are going to achieveby fasting. Rejoice that you have been led to this great
natural cleansing and rejuvenation miracle. At the end of every fast, the very first food that reaches
your taste buds should be a raw coleslaw cabbage  salad – a
base of chopped cabbage, grated carrots and beets. For a
dressing try fresh lemon or orange squeezed over the salad.This salad acts as “nature’s broom,” it sweeps your intestines
clean. It makes the muscles along the gastrointestinal tract
work hard. If you want more have
 a bowl  of freshly stewed
(or salt-free canned) tomatoes. Stewed tomatoes are not
acid-forming except when prepared with white sugar or
hunks of refined, white bread. Or have a serving of delicioussteamed greens – such as kale, chard, collard, spinach or
beet tops with tomatoes and fresh garlic. Serve in bowls
and over greens sprinkle with Brewers Yeast (
large) flakes, a
spray of Bragg Liquid Aminos, 3 tsp Bragg Organic Vinegar
and 2 tsp Bragg Organic Olive Oil. Try this – it’s delicious! Remember, keep your meals simple and natural. Please never break a fast with animal products such
as meat, milk, cheese, butter, fish or nuts or seeds. After
a 24 or 36 hour fast, wait until the second or third meal
before you eat the heavier foods and beans, brown rice,potatoes, etc. Remember, we prefer you eat the vegetarian
proteins – they are healthier! Please read the important
“Foods to Avoid List,” on page 
237 for  your not-to-buy
guide when shopping. The body and the mind are so closely connected that not even a
single word or thought can come into existence without being reflected
in the personality and health of the individual. – John PrentissOld age is not a time of life. It is a condition of the body. It is not
time that ages the body, it is abuse that does! – Herbert Shelton
Good Health, generated by physical fitness, is the logical starting point for
the pursuit of excellence in any field. Physical vitality promotes mental vitality andthus is essential to executive achievement. – Dr. Richard E. Dutton79The Vegetarian Diet is Healthiest! Vegetarians are healthier and live longer! If you must
eat meat and fish, please don’t consume it more than 2to 
3 times weekly. Eat whole grain health breads – they
are best lightly dry toasted into a melba-like toast so thestarch is converted into what we call “blood sugar” . Seepage 
89 for Patricia’s recipe on garlic toast. Sprinkle the
large flake nutritional yeast over salads, veggies, potatoesand soups. This gives your body the B vitamins for your
nervous system and also a healthier elimination. Don’t Worry About Bowels During the Fast
One of the greatest worries most people who fast have
during a fast lasting from  3 to 10 days is that their bowels
may stop moving. You shouldn’t worry about bowelmovements during a fast! Elimination adjusts itself shortly
after each fast, so forget about bowel movements and thinkabout the wonderfu l cleansing your body is experiencing. Mother Nature’s plumbing system works perfectly if youallow it to (but a few colonics and enemas are optional if
desired and needed.)
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:

        A feeling of agelessness will
replace that tight, stiff, ageing feeling. Once again you
will feel free and loose in every moveable joint of yourbody. You will have Mother Nature, fasting and eating
natural food to thank for your “New Youthful Feeling. ”47 Paul C. Bragg – Fasting & Life Extension Specialist
Fasting is the greatest remedy – the physician within. – Paracelsus, 15th century physician
He established the role of body chemistry in medicine. Chapter 5
Scientific Fasting Explained
Fasting has been practiced by man and animals since
the beginning of time. Primitive man had no other method
of healing except fasting. He would fast when he got hurtor when ill, because fasting was a natural instinct for self
preservation. Along with fasting, he used herbs from the
field and forest as tonics and antiseptics. I believe that fasting is Mother Nature’s best remedy. For, as we will see, properly conducted fasts purify the
body, restoring it to health after everything has failed. In over
 70 years of supervising fasts, I have seen
miracles happen to people who were ready for the
human scrap yard that truly could be called miraculous. Fasting is not only the oldest method of fighting physical
problems, but the best of all remedies because it has no
side effects. Fasting is the most natural and originalprocess of cleansing and purifying the body. 48
Mother Nature and its beauty is the signature of God. Fasting is as Old as Man
The instinct that leads us to fast when the body is
sick or wounded resides in the  cells of every living being. The reason sick or wounded animals refuse to eat is that
the instinct of self-preservation takes away their hungerso they will not eat. In this way, the Vital Force (which
would otherwise have to be used in the digestion of food)
is concentrated at the site of the injury to remove wasteproducts, thus purifying and healing the body. The
fasting instinct is so powerful and of such vital
importance that, even though semi-civilized man hasstrayed from the natural path, he is still greatly
influenced by this wonderful saving scheme of Mother
Nature. If he would obey the silent voice of this infallible,natural instinct and stop eating when hunger has been
withdrawn, he would soon get well. Better still, he would
never get sick again, provided he ate natural food, livedin a natural environment and lived a sane, sensible,
healthy, peaceful and natural lifestyle. Since the infallible intelligence of the living organism
withdraws the sensation of hunger when there is anexcess of food or when the body has been wounded,
the desire to fast begins when either of these happen. We read in ancient history that fasting has been
practiced since time immemorial by the religious people
of the East and by most ancient civilizations. They practiced
fasting not only for the recovery of health and preservationof youth, but for spiritual illumination as well. Accordingly,
we see the great philosopher, Pythagoras c. 560-c. 480 BC,
requiring his disciples to undertake a fast of 40 days beforethey could be initiated into the mysteries of the spiritual
teachings. He claimed that only through a 40 day fast could
the minds of the disciples be sufficiently purified and
clarified to understand the profound teachings of the
beautiful m ysteries of life. As it was in the old days, fasting will not only purify
the body and help restore it to well-being, but has a
great effect on the mental and spiritual parts of man. 49
You are encircled by the arms of the mystery of God. – Hildegard of Bingen
You can reverse your biological age by eliminating toxins from your life. Fasting Awakens the Mind and Soul
In my own personal life, as well as in the lives of
many of my students who have been conscientious and
persistent in their fasting program, great mental and
spiritual doors have been opened. If I read a book today,my mind retains what I read as clearly as if the book
were in front of me. that is, I have a photographic
memory. Hundreds of my students write that they, too,have developed a keen photographic mind. After a fast
of 
1 to 3 days, you will notice that a dark cloud has been
lifted out of your mind. You can think more logicallyand you can come to decisions quite quickly. What was
once a great problem becomes trivial. After a fast, you
seem to fear nothing any more and things you worriedabout are solved easily by your purified mind. In my personal life, fasting helped me develop a keen
brain and extrasensory perception. I can find solutionsfor problems that once caused me hours of anxiety and
nerve-exhausting worrying. My fasting program has
created an inner peaceful tranquillity of mind. I feel moreserene and at peace with myself and the world becauseof my continued fasting program. As you purify your
body and mind, you seem to come closer to a power
higher than yourself. This inner strength and innerpower, makes you a positive-thinking, youthful person. The memory becomes sharp as a razor’s edge. You
can remember names, places and events that go backmany years. You have a better capacity for self-education. Education is not a preparation for life, but education is
life itself. To grow mentally and spiritually is the greatestgoal we humans can have on this earth. So fasting works
three ways. You purify your body physically, mentally
and spiritually and therefore enjoy super vitality andhealth. Your mind becomes  a sponge which can absorb
new facts and knowledge. Greatest of all are the inner
peacefulness and spiritual tranquillity that make lifeworth living. Through fasting you find “Peace of Mind,”
the greatest and rarest gift of life. 50
Fasting is a normal part of our walk with God, as is exemplified by
the Lord Jesus. Immediately following the Lord’s Prayer, He said:Moreover when ye fast, be not of sad countenance, that thouappear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father, which is in secretand thy Father shall reward thee openly. – 
Matthew 6:16 -18
To preserve health is a moral and religious duty, for health is the basis for
all social virtues. We can no longer be as useful when not well. – Dr. Samuel Johnson,  Father of DictionariesAccuse not nature, she hath done her part;
do thou but thine. – Milton, Paradise LostThe Biblical Patriarchs Fasted
We know that in ancient times, the patriarchs of the
Bible fasted frequently. Moses, Elijah, David and others
fasted for as long as 40 days. We know that Christ fasted
40 days before he began to teach the great truths of life. We read in the Bible that Christ sent forth his disciples
after saying to them, “Heal the sick, cleanse the leper,
raise the dead, cast out devils, freely ye have received,freely give. ” At the same time, Christ knew that there
were dangers awaiting those who dared to bring truth
to the people. Therefore, Christ warned his disciples withthese words, “Behold. I send you forth as sheep in the
midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents and
harmless as doves. ” 
(Matthew 10: 8,16)
As in the olden days, there are dispensers of gloom,
fear, and destruction when the subject of fasting is
brought up today. I have heard people discuss howunscientific fasting is and when I asked them if they
had ever fasted, they gave me a definite answer “Never”. These dispensers of gloom still cling to the old idea
that you must eat to keep up your strength, and thatwhen you stop eating, you collapse. This is far from the
truth. A little discomfort which may occur during fasting
only happens because we are creatures of habit. If weare able to handle the first
 3 days of fasting, then it
becomes easier. You lose your appetite and craving for
food. Your energy level increases and your mind getssharper and moves faster. 51
Old age is not a time of life. It is a condition of the body. It is not
time that ages the body, it is abuse that does. –  Herbert SheltonFasting – The Safe, Perfect Cleanser
Of course, if you are loaded with toxic poisons, fasting
will flush these poisons out of the body and you will
feel a little uncomfortable, but these are momentary
experiences and should cause no concern. This meansonly that fasting is working for you. You know you are
fasting to purify the body of the accumulated toxic
poisons and waste. When you feel uncomfortable, youcan say to yourself, “This is only temporary. This will
pass as soon as these old toxins are flushed out of my
body. ” And what miracle rewards you’ll receive for thesmall, temporary discomfort you may have experienced. Your eyes become brighter and all the natural senses
of the body seem to be sharper. After a fast, your foodtastes better – the fruits and the vegetables taste so
marvelous, because of your newly revitalized taste sense. Your body seems to be tireless and you will sleep like a
baby after a fast. There are so many rewards from a fast
that only a person who has actually fasted can truly
realize the great benefits that are achieved. Don’t be a Slave to Foods
Most humans are slaves to foods; they must have
breakfast, lunch and dinner at regular meal hours everyday, year in and year out. They eat whether they are
hungry or not, and their poor bodies are burdened by
overeating. and usually poor nutrition as well. Nowonder we have so many physical wrecks. One of the
greatest nutritional teachers in the world, Professor
Arnold Ehret, said, “Life is a tragedy of nutrition. ” Howtrue is the old trite saying, “Man digs his grave with his
knife and fork. ” Many people never give their stomachs
a rest. They continually stuff and work the digestive andeliminative functions with an overabundance of food. This excessive burden means that the functions of
digestion and elimination become so overworked andso exhausted that they simply collapse. The entire body
then becomes enervated. Millions suffer from fatigue. 52
Many dishes, many diseases. –  Ben Franklin
If mankind profits from its mistakes, we have a glorious future ahead of us. Fasting Program Regularly Removes Toxins
After a fast, you will find you don’t need as much
food as you used to eat. The fast shrinks your stomach
and you will feel lighter, look better and have more
vitality on 2 the food you were accustomed to. I am an active man physically, yet I eat only two
light meals daily. I never snack between meals. Nibbling
and compulsory eating have been eliminated from mylife by my years of the
 24 hour weekly fast and my fasts
lasting from  7 to 10 days, 3 or 4 times a year. After the
fast, your eyes sparkle and your skin tone improves. Notice the more energy and vitality you have. Your heart
sings a lighthearted song because your body is cleaner
and healthier. It’s not burdened with fighting toxicpoisons. Your fasting program keeps lifting the toxins
from your bloodstream and vital organs regularly. Plan Your Fasting Program Today
So if you want to enjoy all these great benefits, be a
strong positive person, plan a fasting program for
yourself, and live strictly by it. Don’t tell anyone you
are going to fast, because the average person is ignorantof the facts of fasting and they are not qualified to
criticize your health program. I never discuss my fasting
with people who have no knowledge of the miracles offasting. Why should I discuss it with them. They are
still full of fears held by the average person; that if they
miss a few meals, they will starve to death. So beintelligent enough not to tell others what you are doing. You will simply get a lot of worthless advice. Many times
while I am fasting for a week I conduct large HealthCrusades and I tell no one I am on a complete fast. Your
fasting time is very personal and it belongs to you, not
to anyone else. If you have faith in it, that’s all that’snecessary. You are putting faith in God and Mother
Nature’s oldest and most respected way of purifying,
renovating and rejuvenating your body – fasting. 53Your Mind Must Rule Your Body
To Fast Successfully
Remember, “Flesh is dumb. ” It has no intelligence
or reasoning power. If, after reading this book, you areconvinced, without any reservations, that a fastingprogram is going to elevate you to greater heights ofliving, then your mind becomes the master of your flesh. Your mind must be stronger than the desires of your
flesh, because your body has long been conditioned tohave food put into it at various intervals of the day. The average person gets up and eats breakfast whether
hungry or not. When the stomach does all the directing,the mind tags along with it’s desires. So, through reflexconditioning, the stomach expects food for breakfast. To me, breakfast is a worthless meal. The body has been
at rest all night. It has not expended energy, so whyshould a person get up after the inactivity of sleep andput a big breakfast into the stomach. I will tell you again,“You must earn your food with physical activity. ”
No Heavy Breakfast Plan is Best
Another reason why I’m a believer and follower of
the “No Heavy Breakfast Plan” is because the big breakfast
can drain most people of the precious energy gathered
by the recharging night’s sleep. In the morning, yourenergy – physical, mental, and spiritual – should be at its
highest. With this new energy the body has created, you
can do great creative and physical work. Famous radiotalk host Dr. Dean Edell agrees. Web: www. healthcentral. com
I have shown elementary school, high school and
college students that they can do their greatest studyingearly in the morning on an empty stomach. Most
students eat an evening meal, which is their heaviest
meal of the day, and then they try to study. It’s a terrific effort to concentrate and study after
eating a huge dinner. Why does this happen. It seems
that the mind just will not work after a heavy meal. Butgive these same students a good night’s rest, get them
up early in the morning and keep food out of them for
2 or 3 hours and they will become brilliant students. 54
Eat to live, not live to eat. –Ben Franklin
You never lose until you stop trying. –Mike DitkaI have taught this “No Heavy Breakfast Plan” to
millions of our health followers and readers world-wide. Here’s the logical reason why I don’t believe in a heavybreakfast. A heavy meal requires most of the total nerve
energy of the body to handle digestion, thus the mind
becomes enervated, making people dull, sleepy andleaving the precious nerve energy at its lowest ebb. Let’s look at it from another standpoint. Through
long years of misinformation, people have been told,“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It gives
you the strength, the energy and the vitality to do a
hard morning’s work, either physically or mentally. ” Thisis absolutely erroneous. It is not a true scientific fact. When you eat a heavy breakfast, through reflex action
you feel full and satisfied, but you do not gain strength. It takes hours for this food to be processed by the
digestive system before you can gain any energy or
vitality from a big breakfast. Digestion is a most highlycomplicated process. Every item of food in the breakfast
has to be broken down into fine nutrient fragments so
that the cells of the body are fed. You Must Earn Your Food by Exercising
You can plainly see that healthy eating is a matter of
conditioning and habit. I haven’t eaten breakfast for over
65 years. I get up early every morning. When at our
Hollywood home, I drive to the beautiful Griffith Park
mountain trail and hike for several hours up to the top of
Mt. Hollywood and top it off by running down themountain. If I am at our home near Malibu, Patricia and I
take long hikes and runs on the beach. I am not only a
summer swimmer, but a year-round ocean swimmer. At ourdesert home, we hike the hills and ride our bicycles. After
several hours of vigorous exercise, we return home to enjoy
our fruit meal and pep drinks. Now we are ready to do our
best creative work, planning Bragg Health Crusades, writing
articles for health magazines or writing our health books
to inspire and guide you to become healthier. 55
Watermelon and its seeds are by far the best and most natural kidney cleanser
and diuretic. It washes retained poisons and debris out of the bladder without sideeffects. Always eat melons alone and between meals. It opens your urinary systemlike a hydrant. Also try watermelon seed tea 
- 2 tsps ground seeds in pint boiling
water, steep, sweeten, take 3 times daily for fluid retention and a kidney cleanser. Sometimes we do a 2 to 3 day watermelon only cleanse, try it – it’s so great. Healthy Eating Habits Keep You Youthful
Around noon or so we  will eat our main meal of the
day. We start w ith a lar ge delicious salad (recipe pg. 231). After the salad we have  one cooked yellow vegetable –
such as a baked yam or carrots – one green vegetable,such as Swiss chard, kale, mustard greens, broccoli,
zucchini, squash or g reen beans – and some type of
vegetable pr otein. We enjoy tofu, beans, lentils and raw
unsalted nuts of all kinds and seeds, such as sunflower,
pumpkin, sesame, etc. (
Vegetable Protein Chart pg. 233). Patricia and I have earned this meal through exercise
and activity. Now our bodies are ready to send the
digestive juices and internal secretions to get the full
nourishment and energy out of this natural food. Themouth and stomach digestive juices are abundant. Extra
benefit – regular exercise, ample fruits and salads
promote good elimination. This program of 
12 meals a
week, 2 meals daily, 6 days a week doesn’t burden and
exhaust the body’s digestive system and body’s bowel
eliminative powers ( we fast for 24 to 36 hour period
weekly). On this Bragg Healthy Lifestyle program, youdon’t overeat, you educate your bowels to move soon
upon arising and usually you have a bowel evacuation
within an hour after lunch and an hour after dinner. Most people are sick or half sick most of the time. It
is our opinion that they enervate and overwork  their
body and exhaust themselves in trying to burn up allthose extra calories from all the excess foods they
consume. We don’t overeat and the only exception we
ever make for snacking between meals is to have someluscious, juicy organic fruit. In mid-afternoon, we have
a juicy organic apple or fresh pineapple, mango or
papaya. When melons are in season, we find nothingmore refreshing than sweet, ripe melons; our favorites
are watermelon, cantaloupe, casaba and honeydew. 56Americans Love Social Eating. The main reason why 65% to 70% of Americans are
overweight is because eating has become a fun, social
gorging event. People eat breakfast, eat at the coffee
break, eat at lunch and eat at their afternoon coffee break. They eat a large dinner and long before the big dinner
can be handled by the digestive system they are eating
again, plus drinking alcohol, colas or coffee whilewatching TV. No wonder they are constantly tired. It’s
because they enervate themselves by exhausting their
Vital Force. Even the healthiest person only generates
so much Vital Force daily and, if by over-eating habits
or other bad habits you exhaust your Vital Force, then
there is not sufficient energy for the needed work ofmastication, digestion, metabolism and elimination. What happens. There is not enough Vital Force to
flush the waste out of the body, so this stockpiles andconcentrates and that’s how you build autointoxication. Your troubles and premature ageing start right here. Keeping Internally Clean is Critical
Sickness and premature ageing are no mystery. You
are punished by your bad habits, not for them. If you
keep stuffing food that cannot be handled in your over
loaded digestive tract, it then rots, putrefies and poisonsyour body’s billions of cells. You become prematurely
old, sick, and weak because you have not learned how
to keep your body healthy and clean inside. The secret
of health and long life can be summed up in three words:
“Keep Clean Inside. ” Etch these words of wisdom deep on
the blackboard of your brain. Repeat them over and overagain as an affirmation. “Keep Clean Inside. ”
Fasting is the best and most natural way of cleansing,
purifying and rejuvenating your body because it is Mother
Nature’s natural method. Nobody can do it for you. It is a
personal matter. It costs you nothing but a strong, positive
willpower. Remember, woe to the weak. Life is the survivalof the fittest. and fasting is a program of self-preservation. Remember always, you are punished by your bad habits
of living, not for them, but by them. –  Paul C. Bragg57Are You Now Ready to Fast, Detox and
Get Healthy For A Long, Wonderful Life. If you are convinced, without reservation that fasting
is a time to get detoxed and healthy, then you’re ready. Remember, when you tell your conscious and your
subconscious mind you’re going to fast for internalpurity you set things in motion for success. You have
told every cell in your body that a fast is going to improve
your health. Your body’s cells will accept this command. Start with a 
24 hour distilled water fast. During these
24 hours you are going to put nothing into your stomach
except distilled water. If you eat fruit with this, it is nota fast; it is a fruit diet. If you drink fruit or vegetable
juices during this 
24 hour period it ceases to be a
complete fast, and instead becomes either a vegetableor fruit juice fast. I want you to bear this in mind: a
complete fast is nothing allowed in the stomach except
distilled water. Your first fast may be easy or it may havesome rough spots. You may fast from lunch to lunch ordinner to dinner, as long as you abstain from food for
an entire 
24 hours. If you are accustomed to coffee, tea,
beer or alcohol drinks, you might have reactions. one typical reaction appears in the form of a headache.
Fasting purifies the body, restoring it to health after everything else has failed.
What is the main benefit of fasting, according to Paul C. Bragg?
The body is concentrating its vital force at the site of the injury to remove waste products, so the body can heal.
What is the primary reason for the discomfort during a 24-hour fast, according to the text?
The author recommends fasting for 24 hours, 3-4 times a year, and not eating anything except distilled water.
What is the recommended frequency and duration of fasts, according to the author?
The author recommends waiting until the second or third meal before eating the heavier foods and beans, brown rice, potatoes, etc.
What is the recommended method for breaking a 24-hour fast, according to the text?
The author advises to start with a 24-hour fast, then gradually increase the duration and frequency of fasts, and to always drink distilled water during the fasting period.
What is the author's advice for those who want to start fasting?