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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..534adf3 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #63293 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63293) diff --git a/old/63293-8.txt b/old/63293-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index b5ee605..0000000 --- a/old/63293-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3981 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Fasting Cure, by Upton Sinclair - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: The Fasting Cure - - -Author: Upton Sinclair - - - -Release Date: September 25, 2020 [eBook #63293] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FASTING CURE*** - - -E-text prepared by Tim Lindell, Martin Pettit, and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made -available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org) - - - -Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this - file which includes the original illustrations. - See 63293-h.htm or 63293-h.zip: - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/63293/63293-h/63293-h.htm) - or - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/63293/63293-h.zip) - - - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/fastingcure00sincrich - - - - - -THE FASTING CURE - - - * * * * * * - -_BY UPTON SINCLAIR_ - -LOVE'S PILGRIMAGE -THE FASTING CURE -KING MIDAS -PRINCE HAGEN -THE JOURNAL OF ARTHUR STIRLING -MANASSAS -THE OVERMAN -THE JUNGLE -THE INDUSTRIAL REPUBLIC -THE METROPOLIS -THE MONEYCHANGERS -SAMUEL THE SEEKER - -_at all bookshops_ - - * * * * * * - - -[Illustration: _Mr. Sinclair's expression, as shown in the upper -photograph, used to be called "spiritual." Systematic fasting has -evolved the athletic figure pictured below._] - - -THE FASTING CURE - -by - -UPTON SINCLAIR - - -[Illustration: Logo] - - - - - - -Mitchell Kennerley -New York and London -MCMXI - -Copyright, 1911 -by Mitchell Kennerley - -The University Press, Cambridge, U. S. A. - - - -_TO BERNARR MACFADDEN_ - -_in cordial appreciation of his personality -and teachings_ - - - - -_Contents_ - - PAGE -PREFACE 5 - -PERFECT HEALTH 9 - A Letter to the _New York Times_ 34 - -SOME NOTES ON FASTING 39 - Fasting and the Doctors 48 - -THE HUMORS OF FASTING 53 - -A SYMPOSIUM ON FASTING 62 - Death during the Fast 68 - Fasting and the Mind 74 - Diet after the Fast 81 - -THE USE OF MEAT 86 - -APPENDIX - Some Letters from Fasters 105 - The Fruit and Nut Diet 132 - The Rader Case 137 - Horace Fletcher's Fast 143 - - - - -PREFACE - - -In the _Cosmopolitan Magazine_ for May, 1910, and in the _Contemporary -Review_ (London) for April, 1910, I published an article dealing -with my experiences in fasting. I have written a great many magazine -articles, but never one which attracted so much attention as this. The -first day the magazine was on the news-stands, I received a telegram -from a man in Washington who had begun to fast and wanted some advice; -and thereafter I received ten or twenty letters a day from people -who had questions to ask or experiences to narrate. At the date of -writing eight months have passed, and the flood has not yet stopped. -The editors of the _Cosmopolitan_ also tell me that they have never -received so many letters about an article in their experience. Still -more significant was the number of reports which began to appear in -the news columns of papers all over the country, telling of people who -were fasting. From various sources I have received about fifty such -clippings, and few but reported benefit to the faster. - -As a consequence of this interest, I was asked by the _Cosmopolitan_ -to write another article, which appeared in the issue of February, -1911. The present volume is made up from these two articles, with the -addition of some notes and comments, and some portions of articles -contributed to the _Physical Culture_ magazine, of the editorial -staff of which I am a member. It was my intention at first to work -this matter into a connected whole, but upon rereading the articles -I decided that it would be better to publish them as they stood. The -journalistic style has its advantages; and repetitions may perhaps be -pardoned in the case of a topic which is so new to almost every one. - -I have reproduced in the book several photographs of myself which -appeared in the magazine articles. Ordinarily one does not print his -picture in his own books; but when it comes to fasting there are many -"doubting Thomases," and we are told that "seeing is believing." -The two photographs of myself which appear as a frontispiece afford -evidence of a really extraordinary physical recuperation; and the -reader has my word for it that there was nothing in my way of life to -account for it, except three fasts, of a total of thirty days. - -There is one other matter to be referred to. Several years ago I -published a book entitled "Good Health," written in collaboration -with a friend. I could not express my own views fully in that book, -and on certain points where I differed with my collaborator, I have -come since to differ still more. The book contains a great deal of -useful information; but later experience has convinced me that its -views on the all-important subject of diet are erroneous. My present -opinions I have given in this book. I am not saying this to apologize -for an inconsistency, but to record a growth. In those days I believed -something, because other people told me; to-day I know something else, -because I have tried it upon myself. - -My object in publishing this book is two-fold: first, to have something -to which I can refer people, so that I will not have to answer half -a dozen "fasting letters" every day for the rest of my life; and -second, in the hope of attracting sufficient attention to the subject -to interest some scientific men in making a real investigation of it. -To-day we know certain facts about what is called "autointoxication"; -we know them because Metchnikoff, Pawlow and others have made a -thorough-going inquiry into the subject. I believe that the subject of -fasting is one of just as great importance. I have stated facts in this -book about myself; and I have quoted many letters which are genuine and -beyond dispute. The cures which they record are altogether without -precedent, I think. The reader will find in the course of the book -(page 63) a tabulation of the results of 277 cases of fasting. In this -number of desperate cases, there were only about half a dozen definite -and unexplained failures reported. Surely it cannot be that medical men -and scientists will continue for much longer to close their eyes to -facts of such vital significance as this. - -I do not pretend to be the discoverer of the fasting cure. The subject -was discussed by Dr. E. H. Dewey in books which were published thirty -or forty years ago. For the reader who cares to investigate further, -I mention the following books, which I have read with interest and -profit. I recommend them, although, needless to say, I do not agree -with everything that is in them: "Fasting for the Cure of Disease," -by Dr. L. B. Hazzard; "Perfect Health," by C. C. Haskell; "Fasting, -Hydrotherapy and Exercise," by Bernarr Macfadden; "Fasting, Vitality -and Nutrition," by Hereward Carrington. Also I will add that Mr. C. C. -Haskell, of Norwich, Conn., conducts a correspondence-school dealing -with the subject of fasting, and that fasting patients are taken -charge of at Bernarr Macfadden's Healthatorium, 42d Street and Grand -Boulevard, Chicago, Ill., and by Dr. Linda B. Hazzard, of Seattle, -Washington. - - - - -THE FASTING CURE - - - - -PERFECT HEALTH - - -Perfect Health! - -Have you any conception of what the phrase means? Can you form any -image of what would be your feeling if every organ in your body were -functioning perfectly? Perhaps you can go back to some day in your -youth, when you got up early in the morning and went for a walk, and -the spirit of the sunrise got into your blood, and you walked faster, -and took deep breaths, and laughed aloud for the sheer happiness of -being alive in such a world of beauty. And now you are grown older--and -what would you give for the secret of that glorious feeling? What -would you say if you were told that you could bring it back and keep -it, not only for mornings, but for afternoons and evenings, and not -as something accidental and mysterious, but as something which you -yourself have created, and of which you are completely master? - -This is not an introduction to a new device in patent medicine -advertising. I have nothing to sell, and no process patented. It is -simply that for ten years I have been studying the ill health of myself -and of the men and women around me. And I have found the cause and the -remedy. I have not only found good health, but perfect health; I have -found a new state of being, a new potentiality of life; a sense of -lightness and cleanness and joyfulness, such as I did not know could -exist in the human body. "I like to meet you on the street," said a -friend the other day. "You walk as if it were such fun!" - -I look about me in the world, and nearly everybody I know is sick. I -could name one after another a hundred men and women, who are doing -vital work for progress and carrying a cruel handicap of physical -suffering. For instance, I am working for social justice, and I -have comrades whose help is needed every hour, and they are ill! -In one single week's newspapers last spring I read that one was -dying of kidney trouble, that another was in hospital from nervous -breakdown, and that a third was ill with ptomaine poisoning. And in my -correspondence I am told that another of my dearest friends has only a -year to live; that another heroic man is a nervous wreck, craving for -death; and that a third is tortured by bilious headaches.[1] And there -is not one of these people whom I could not cure if I had him alone for -a couple of weeks; no one of them who would not in the end be walking -down the street "as if it were such fun!" - -I propose herein to tell the story of my discovery of health, and I -shall not waste much time in apologizing for the intimate nature of -the narrative. It is no pleasure for me to tell over the tale of my -headaches or to discuss my unruly stomach. I cannot take any case but -my own, because there is no case about which I can speak with such -authority. To be sure, I might write about it in the abstract, and -in veiled terms. But in that case the story would lose most of its -convincingness, and so of its usefulness. I might tell it without -signing my name to it. But there are a great many people who have read -my books and will believe what I tell them, who would not take the -trouble to read an article without a name. Mr. Horace Fletcher has set -us all an example in this matter. He has written several volumes about -his individual digestion, with the result that literally millions of -people have been helped. In the same way I propose to put my case on -record. The reader will find that it is a typical case, for I made -about every mistake that a man could make, and tried every remedy, old -and new, that anybody had to offer me. - -I spent my boyhood in a well-to-do family, in which good eating was -regarded as a social grace and the principal interest in life. We had a -colored woman to prepare our food, and another to serve it. It was not -considered fitting for children to drink liquor, but they had hot bread -three times a day, and they were permitted to revel in fried chicken -and rich gravies and pastries, fruit cake and candy and ice-cream. -Every Sunday I would see my grandfather's table with a roast of beef -at one end, and a couple of chickens at the other, and a cold ham at -one side; at Christmas and Thanksgiving the energies of the whole -establishment would be given up to the preparation of delicious foods. -And later on, when I came to New York, I considered it necessary to -have such food; even when I was a poor student, living on four dollars -a week, I spent more than three of it on eatables. - -I was an active and fairly healthy boy; at twenty I remember saying -that I had not had a day's serious sickness in fourteen years. Then -I wrote my first novel, working sixteen or eighteen hours a day for -several months, camping out, and living mostly out of a frying-pan. -At the end I found that I was seriously troubled with dyspepsia; and -it was worse the next year, after the second book. I went to see a -physician, who gave me some red liquid, which magically relieved the -consequences of doing hard brain-work after eating. So I went on for a -year or two more, and then I found that the artificially-digested food -was not being eliminated from my system with sufficient regularity. So -I went to another physician, who gave my malady another name, and gave -me another medicine, and put off the time of reckoning a little while -longer. - -I have never in my life used tea or coffee, alcohol or tobacco; but -for seven or eight years I worked under heavy pressure all the time, -and ate very irregularly, and ate unwholesome food. So I began to -have headaches once in a while, and to notice that I was abnormally -sensitive to colds. I considered these maladies natural to mortals, and -I would always attribute them to some specific accident. I would say, -"I've been knocking about down town all day"; or, "I was out in the -hot sun"; or, "I lay on the damp ground." I found that if I sat in a -draught for even a minute I was certain to "catch a cold." I found also -that I had sore throat and tonsilitis once or twice every winter; also, -now and then, the grippe. There were times when I did not sleep well; -and as all this got worse, I would have to drop all my work and try to -rest. The first time I did this a week or two was sufficient; but later -on a month or two was necessary, and then several months. - -The year I wrote "The Jungle" I had my first summer cold. It was haying -time on a farm, and I thought it was a kind of hay-fever. I would -sneeze for hours in perfect torment, and this lasted for a month, until -I went away to the sea-shore. This happened again the next summer, and -also another very painful experience; a nerve in a tooth died, and I -had to wait three days for the pain to "localize," and then had the -tooth drilled out, and staggered home, and was ill in bed for a week -with chills and fever, and nausea and terrible headaches. I mention all -these unpleasant details so that the reader may understand the state -of wretchedness to which I had come. At the same time, also, I had a -great deal of distressing illness in my family; my wife seldom had a -week without suffering, and my little boy had pneumonia one winter, and -croup the next, and whooping-cough in the summer, with the inevitable -"colds" scattered in between. - -After the Helicon Hall fire I realized that I was in a bad way, and -for the two years following I gave a good part of my time to trying -to find out how to preserve my health. I went to Battle Creek, and -to Bermuda, and to the Adirondacks; I read the books of all the new -investigators of the subject of hygiene, and tried out their theories -religiously. I had discovered Horace Fletcher a couple of years -before. Mr. Fletcher's idea is, in brief, to chew your food, and chew -it thoroughly; to extract from each particle of food the maximum of -nutriment, and to eat only as much as your system actually needs. This -was a very wonderful idea to me, and I fell upon it with the greatest -enthusiasm. All the physicians I had known were men who tried to cure -me when I fell sick, but here was a man who was studying how to stay -well. I have to find fault with Mr. Fletcher's system, and so I must -make clear at the outset how much I owe to it. It set me upon the right -track--it showed me the goal, even if it did not lead me to it. It made -clear to me that all my various ailments were symptoms of one great -trouble, the presence in my body of the poisons produced by superfluous -and unassimilated food, and that in adjusting the quantity of food to -the body's exact needs lay the secret of perfect health. - -It was only in the working out of the theory that I fell down. Mr. -Fletcher told me that "Nature" would be my guide, and that if only I -masticated thoroughly, instinct would select the foods. I found that, -so far as my case was concerned, my "nature" was hopelessly perverted. -I invariably preferred unwholesome foods--apple pie, and toast soaked -in butter, and stewed fruit with quantities of cream and sugar. Nor did -"Nature" kindly tell me when to stop, as she apparently does some other -"Fletcherites"; no matter how much I chewed, if I ate all I wanted I -ate too much. And when I realized this, and tried to stop it, I went, -in my ignorance, to the other extreme, and lost fourteen pounds in as -many days. Again, Mr. Fletcher taught me to remove all the "unchewable" -parts of the food--the skins of fruit, etc. The result of this is -there is nothing to stimulate the intestines, and the waste remains in -the body for many days. Mr. Fletcher says this does not matter, and -he appears to prove that it has not mattered in his case. But I found -that it mattered very seriously in my case; it was not until I became -a "Fletcherite" that my headaches became hopeless and that sluggish -intestines became one of my chronic complaints. - -I next read the books of Metchnikoff and Chittenden, who showed me -just how my ailments came to be. The unassimilated food lies in the -colon, and bacteria swarm in it, and the poisons they produce are -absorbed into the system. I had bacteriological examinations made in -my own case, and I found that when I was feeling well the number of -these toxin-producing germs was about six billions to the ounce of -intestinal contents; and when, a few days later, I had a headache, the -number was a hundred and twenty billions. Here was my trouble under the -microscope, so to speak. - -These tests were made at the Battle Creek Sanitarium, where I went -for a long stay. I tried their system of water cure, which I found a -wonderful stimulant to the eliminative organs; but I discovered that, -like all other stimulants, it leaves you in the end just where you -were. My health was improved at the sanitarium, but a week after I left -I was down with the grippe again. - -I gave the next year of my life to trying to restore my health. I spent -the winter in Bermuda and the summer in the Adirondacks, both of them -famous health resorts, and during the entire time I lived an absolutely -hygienic life. I did not work hard, and I did not worry, and I did not -think about my health except when I had to. I lived in the open air -all the time, and I gave most of the day to vigorous exercise--tennis, -walking, boating and swimming. I mention this specifically, so that -the reader may perceive that I had eliminated all other factors of -ill-health, and appreciate to the full my statement that at the end of -the year's time my general health was worse than ever before. - -I was all right so long as I played tennis all day or climbed -mountains. The trouble came when I settled down to do brain-work. And -from this I saw perfectly clearly that I was over-eating; there was -surplus food to be burned up, and when it was not burned up it poisoned -me. But how was I to stop when I was hungry? I tried giving up all the -things I liked and of which I ate most; but that did no good, because I -had such a complacent appetite--I would immediately take to liking the -other things! I thought that I had an abnormal appetite, the result of -my early training; but how was I ever to get rid of it? - -I must not give the impression that I was a conspicuously hearty eater. -On the contrary, I ate far less than most people eat. But that was no -consolation to me. I had wrecked myself by years of overwork, and so -I was more sensitive. The other people were going to pieces by slow -stages, I could see; but I was already in pieces. - -So matters stood when I chanced to meet a lady, whose radiant -complexion and extraordinary health were a matter of remark to -everyone. I was surprised to hear that for ten or fifteen years, and -until quite recently, she had been a bed-ridden invalid. She had lived -the lonely existence of a pioneer's wife, and had raised a family under -conditions of shocking ill-health. She had suffered from sciatica and -acute rheumatism; from a chronic intestinal trouble which the doctors -called "intermittent peritonitis"; from intense nervous weakness, -melancholy, and chronic catarrh, causing deafness. And this was the -woman who rode on horseback with me up Mount Hamilton, in California, a -distance of twenty-eight miles, in one of the most terrific rain-storms -I have ever witnessed! We had two untamed young horses, and only -leather bits to control them with, and we were pounded and flung -about for six mortal hours, which I shall never forget if I live to -be a hundred. And this woman, when she took the ride, had not eaten a -particle of food for four days previously! - -That was the clue to her escape: she had cured herself by a fast. -She had abstained from food for eight days, and all her troubles had -fallen from her. Afterwards she had taken her eldest son, a senior -at Stanford, and another friend of his, and fasted twelve days with -them, and cured them of nervous dyspepsia. And then she had taken a -woman friend, the wife of a Stanford professor, and cured her of -rheumatism by a week's fast. I had heard of the fasting cure, but this -was the first time I had met with it. I was too much burdened with -work to try it just then, but I began to read up on the subject--the -books of Dr. Dewey, Dr. Hazzard and Mr. Carrington. Coming home from -California I got a sunstroke on the Gulf of Mexico, and spent a week in -hospital at Key West, and that seemed to give the _coup de grace_ to my -long-suffering stomach. After another spell of hard work I found myself -unable to digest corn-meal mush and milk; and so I was ready for a fast. - -I began. The fast has become a commonplace to me now; but I will assume -that it is as new and as startling to the reader as it was to myself at -first, and will describe my sensations at length. - -I was very hungry for the first day--the unwholesome, ravening sort -of hunger that all dyspeptics know. I had a little hunger the second -morning, and thereafter, to my very great astonishment, no hunger -whatever--no more interest in food than if I had never known the -taste of it. Previous to the fast I had had a headache every day -for two or three weeks. It lasted through the first day and then -disappeared--never to return. I felt very weak the second day, and a -little dizzy on arising. I went out of doors and lay in the sun all -day, reading; and the same for the third and fourth days--intense -physical lassitude, but with great clearness of mind. After the fifth -day I felt stronger, and walked a good deal, and I also began some -writing. No phase of the experience surprised me more than the activity -of my mind: I read and wrote more than I had dared to do for years -before. - -During the first four days I lost fifteen pounds in weight--something -which, I have since learned, was a sign of the extremely poor state of -my tissues. Thereafter I lost only two pounds in eight days--an equally -unusual phenomenon. I slept well throughout the fast. About the middle -of each day I would feel weak, but a massage and a cold shower would -refresh me. Towards the end I began to find that in walking about I -would grow tired in the legs, and as I did not wish to lie in bed I -broke the fast after the twelfth day with some orange-juice. - -I took the juice of a dozen oranges during two days, and then went on -the milk diet, as recommended by Bernarr Macfadden. I took a glassful -of warm milk every hour the first day, every three-quarters of an hour -the next day, and finally every half-hour--or eight quarts a day. This -is, of course, much more than can be assimilated, but the balance -serves to flush the system out. The tissues are bathed in nutriment, -and an extraordinary recuperation is experienced. In my own case I -gained four and a half pounds in one day--the third--and gained a total -of thirty-two pounds in twenty-four days. - -My sensations on this milk diet were almost as interesting as on the -fast. In the first place, there was an extraordinary sense of peace and -calm, as if every weary nerve in the body were purring like a cat under -a stove. Next there was the keenest activity of mind--I read and wrote -incessantly. And, finally, there was a perfectly ravenous desire for -physical work. In the old days I had walked long distances and climbed -mountains, but always with reluctance and from a sense of compulsion. -Now, after the cleaning-out of the fast, I would go into a gymnasium -and do work which would literally have broken my back before, and I -did it with intense enjoyment, and with amazing results. The muscles -fairly leaped out upon my body; I suddenly discovered the possibility -of becoming an athlete. I had always been lean and dyspeptic-looking, -with what my friends called a "spiritual" expression; I now became as -round as a butter-ball, and so brown and rosy in the face that I was a -joke to all who saw me. - -I had not taken what is called a "complete" fast--that is, I had not -waited until hunger returned. Therefore I began again. I intended only -a short fast, but I found that hunger ceased again, and, much to my -surprise, I had none of the former weakness. I took a cold bath and -a vigorous rub twice a day; I walked four miles every morning, and -did light gymnasium work, and with nothing save a slight tendency to -chilliness to let me know that I was fasting. I lost nine pounds in -eight days, and then went for a week longer on oranges and figs, and -made up most of the weight on these. - -I shall always remember with amusement the anxious caution with which -I now began to taste the various foods which before had caused me -trouble. Bananas, acid fruits, peanut butter--I tried them one by one, -and then in combination, and so realized with a thrill of exultation -that every trace of my old trouble was gone. Formerly I had had to lie -down for an hour or two after meals; now I could do whatever I chose. -Formerly I had been dependent upon all kinds of laxative preparations; -now I forgot about them. I no longer had headaches. I went bareheaded -in the rain, I sat in cold draughts of air, and was apparently immune -to colds. And, above all, I had that marvellous, abounding energy, so -that whenever I had a spare minute or two I would begin to stand on -my head, or to "chin" myself, or do some other "stunt," from sheer -exuberance of animal spirits. - -For several months after this experience I lived upon a diet of raw -foods exclusively--mainly nuts and fruits. I had been led to regard -this as the natural diet for human beings; and I found that so long -as I was leading an active life the results were most satisfactory. -They were satisfactory also in the case of my wife, and still more -so in the case of my little boy; the amount of work and bother thus -saved in the household may be imagined. But when I came to settle down -to a long period of hard and continuous writing, I found that I had -not sufficient bodily energy to digest these raw foods. I resorted -to fasting and milk alternately--and that is well enough for a time, -but it proves a nervous strain in the end. Recently a friend called -my attention to the late Dr. Salisbury's book, "The Relation of -Alimentation to Disease." Dr. Salisbury recommends a diet of broiled -beef and hot water as the solution of most of the problems of the -human body; and it may be believed that I, who had been a rigid and -enthusiastic vegetarian for three or four years, found this a startling -idea. However, I make a specialty of keeping an open mind, and I set -out to try the Salisbury system. I am sorry to have to say that it -seems to be a good one; sorry, because the vegetarian way of life is -so obviously the cleaner and more humane and more convenient. But it -seems to me that I am able to do more work and harder work with my mind -while eating beefsteaks than under any other _régime_; and while this -continues to be the case there will be one less vegetarian in the world. - -The fast is to me the key to eternal youth, the secret of perfect and -permanent health. I would not take anything in all the world for my -knowledge of it. It is Nature's safety-valve, an automatic protection -against disease. I do not venture to assert that I am proof against -virulent diseases, such as smallpox or typhoid. I know one ardent -physical culturist, a physician, who takes typhoid germs at intervals -in order to prove his immunity, but I should not care to go that far; -it is enough for me to know that I am proof against all the common -infections which plague us, and against all the "chronic" troubles. -And I shall continue so just as long as I stand by my present resolve, -which is to fast at the slightest hint of any symptom of ill-being--a -cold or a headache, a feeling of depression, or a coated tongue, or a -scratch on the finger which does not heal quickly. - -Those who have made a study of the fast explain its miracles in the -following way: Superfluous nutriment is taken into the system and -ferments, and the body is filled with a greater quantity of poisonous -matter than the organs of elimination can handle. The result is the -clogging of these organs and of the blood-vessels--such is the meaning -of headaches and rheumatism, arteriosclerosis, paralysis, apoplexy, -Bright's disease, cirrhosis, etc. And by impairing the blood and -lowering the vitality, this same condition prepares the system for -infection--for "colds," or pneumonia, or tuberculosis, or any of the -fevers. As soon as the fast begins, and the first hunger has been -withstood, the secretions cease, and the whole assimilative system, -which takes so much of the energies of the body, goes out of business. -The body then begins a sort of house-cleaning, which must be helped by -an enema and a bath daily, and, above all, by copious water-drinking. -The tongue becomes coated, the breath and the perspiration offensive; -and this continues until the diseased matter has been entirely cast -out, when the tongue clears and hunger reasserts itself in unmistakable -form. - -The loss of weight during the fast is generally about a pound a day. -The fat is used first, and after that the muscular tissue; true -starvation begins only when the body has been reduced to the skeleton -and the viscera. Fasts of forty and fifty days are now quite common--I -have met several who have taken them. - -Strange as it may seem, the fast is a cure for both emaciation and -obesity. After a complete fast the body will come to its ideal weight. -People who are very stout will not regain their weight; while people -who are under weight may gain a pound or more a day for a month. There -are two dangers to be feared in fasting. The first is that of fear. I -do not say this as a jest. No one should begin to fast until he has -read up on the subject and convinced himself that it is the thing to -do; if possible he should have with him someone who has already had the -experience. He should not have about him terrified aunts and cousins -who will tell him that he looks like a corpse, that his pulse is below -forty, and that his heart may stop beating in the night. I took a -fast of three days out in California; on the third day I walked about -fifteen miles, off and on, and, except that I was restless, I never -felt better. And then in the evening I came home and read about the -Messina earthquake, and how the relief ships arrived, and the wretched -survivors crowded down to the water's edge and tore each other like -wild beasts in their rage of hunger. The paper set forth, in horrified -language, that some of them had been seventy-two hours without food. -I, as I read, had also been seventy-two hours without food; and the -difference was simply that they thought they were starving. And if at -some crisis during a long fast, when you feel nervous and weak and -doubting, some people with stronger wills than your own are able to -arouse in you the terrors of the earthquake survivors, they can cause -their most direful anticipations to be realized. - -The other danger is in breaking the fast. A person breaking a long -fast should regard himself as if he were liable to seizures of violent -insanity. I know a man who fasted fifty days, and then ate half a -dozen figs, and caused intestinal abrasions from which he lost a great -deal of blood. I would dwell more upon this topic were it not for my -discovery of the "milk diet." When you drink a glass of milk every -half-hour you have no chance to get really hungry, and so you glide, as -if by magic, from a condition of extreme emaciation to one of blooming -rotundity. But very frequently the milk diet disagrees with people; and -these have to break the fast with very small quantities of the simplest -foods--fruit juices and meat broths for the first two or three days at -least. - -I will conclude this chapter by narrating the experiences of some other -persons with the fasting cure. With the exception of one, the second -case, they are all people whom I know personally, and who have told me -their stories with their own lips. - -First, I give the case of my wife. She has always been frail, and -subject to sore throats since girlhood. In the past five years -she has undergone three major surgical operations and had several -serious illnesses besides. Two years ago she had a severe attack of -appendicitis. The physician made a wrong diagnosis, and kept her alive -for about ten days with morphine. She was then too low to risk an -operation, and was not expected to live. It was several months before -she was able to walk again, and she had never fully recovered from the -experience. When she began the fast she was suffering from serious -stomach trouble, loss of weight, and neurasthenia. - -I did not think that she would be able to stand a fast. She had more -trouble than I--some nervousness, headache and nausea. But she stood -it for ten days, when her tongue cleared suddenly. She had lost twelve -pounds, and she then gained twenty-two pounds in seventeen days. She -then took another fast of six days with me, and with no more trouble -than I experienced the second time--walking four miles every morning -with me. She is now a picture of health, and is engaged in accumulating -muscle with enthusiasm. - -Second, a man well on in life, who had always abused his health. He -suffered from asthma and dropsy, and was saturated with drugs. He -had not been able to lie down for several years. He weighed over 220 -pounds, and his legs were "like sacks of water, leaking continually." -His kidneys had refused to act, and after his doctors had tried all -the drugs they knew, he was told that he was dying. His brother, who -narrated the circumstances to me, persuaded him not to eat the supper -that was brought in to him, and so he lived through the night. He -fasted seven days, and went for four weeks longer on a very light diet, -and is now chopping wood and pitching hay upon his farm in Kentucky. - -Third, a young physician, as a college boy a physical wreck from -dissipation, now twenty-four. "A born neurastheniac." He was attacked -by appendicitis twice in succession. He fasted five days after the -last attack, and six days later on. Gained thirty-five pounds, and is -a splendidly developed athlete; he runs five miles in 26 minutes 15 -seconds, and rode a wheel 500 miles in seven days. - -Fourth, a young lady, who had suffered a nervous collapse caused by -overwork and worry. The bones of her spine had softened; her hipbones -tilted upwards three-quarters of an inch; she was "barely able to -crawl on two sticks." She fasted ten days, and again eight days, and -took the milk diet for six weeks. I have seen her every day for the -last eight or ten weeks, and I do not think that I ever met a woman who -impressed me as possessing more superabundant and radiant health. - -Fifth, a young man, injured in a railroad wreck; a rib broken and the -outer lining of the lungs punctured. Still has an opening for drainage, -caused by chafing of the membranes. Suffered in succession attacks of -bronchitis, typhoid, pneumonia and pleurisy. Was reduced from 186 to -119 pounds, and had planned to take his life. Fasted six days, gained -twenty-seven pounds, and plays tennis vigorously, in spite of having an -opening in his chest. Recently walked 442 miles in eleven days. - -Sixth, a lady, married, and in middle life, a life-long sufferer -from stomach trouble; had experienced six attacks of inflammatory -rheumatism, resulting in valvular heart disease and the loss of the -use of her limbs. Fasted four times--four, eight, twenty-eight, and -fourteen days. I can best describe her present condition by saying that -all this summer she arose every morning at daybreak, walked four and a -half miles, went for a swim, and then walked home for breakfast. - -Seventh, an Episcopal clergyman, who had suffered almost all his life -from indigestion; had an acute attack of gastritis, followed by nervous -prostration and complete breakdown. Specialists had diagnosed his case -as "prolapsed stomach and bowels, autointoxication and neurasthenia," -and told him that he could not expect to get well in less than five -years. He was so emaciated that he could hardly creep around, and, -despite the fact that he had a wife and six children, was contemplating -suicide. He fasted eleven days, and then gained thirty pounds. I am -prepared to testify that he is the most hard-working, cheerful and -athletic clergyman it has ever been my fortune to meet. - -I have taken some trouble to investigate the subject of the fast, and -to meet people who have been through the experience. I could give a -dozen more cases such as the above if space permitted. I know one -man who reduced his weight from 365 pounds to 235. I know one little -girl whose spine was bent in the shape of a letter U lying sideways, -and who, by means of fasting and a diet of fruits exclusively, has -come four inches nearer to straightness in a few months. She has the -complexion of perfect health, and is rapidly recovering the use of arms -and legs, which were paralyzed years ago. - -The reader may think that my enthusiasm over the fasting cure is due to -my imaginative temperament; I can only say that I have never yet met a -person who has given the fast a fair trial who does not describe his -experience in the same way. I have never heard of any harm resulting -from it, save only in cases of tuberculosis, in which I have been told -by one physician that people have lost weight and not regained it. - -I regard the fast as Nature's own remedy for all other diseases. It is -the only remedy which is based upon an understanding of the fundamental -nature of disease. And I believe that when the glad tidings of its -miracles have reached the people it will lead to the throwing of 90 -per cent of our present _materia medica_ into the waste-basket. This -may be unwelcome to those physicians who are more concerned with their -own income than they are with the health of their patients; but I -personally have never met any such physicians, and so I most earnestly -urge it upon medical men to investigate the extraordinary and almost -incredible facts about the fasting cure. - - * * * * * * * - -Shortly after the above was completed the writer had another -interesting experience with the fast. He had occasion to do some work -which kept him indoors for a couple of weeks, under considerable -strain; and after that to spend the greater part of a week in the -dentist's chair suffering a good deal of pain; and finally to spend -two days and nights in a railroad train. He arrived at his destination -with every symptom of what long and painful experience has taught him -to recognize as a severe attack of the "grippe." (The last attack laid -him up in hospital for a week, and left him so reduced that he could -hardly stand.) On this occasion he fasted, and although circumstances -compelled him to be up and about during the entire time, every trace -of ill-feeling had left him in two days. Having started, however, he -continued the fast for twelve days. During this time he planned a play, -and wrote two-thirds of it, and he has reason to think that it is as -good work as he has ever done. It is worth noting that on the eighth -day he was strong enough to "chin" himself six times in succession, -though previous to the fasting treatment he had never in his life been -able to do this more than once or twice. - - - A LETTER TO THE NEW YORK TIMES - - (_unfit to print_) - - ARDEN, DEL., May 31, 1910. - - EDITOR OF THE _Times_, New York City, - - DEAR SIR,--Some time ago your news columns contained a despatch to - the effect that three young ladies in Garden City, Long Island, - were undertaking a three days' fast as a result of reading a - magazine article recommending this measure. In your editorial - referring to this despatch, you say that the ladies are "the - victims of a shallow and unscrupulous sensationalist." As I am the - writer of the magazine article in question, I presume that this - means me. I did not intend to make any reply to the remark, as I - figure that I must have long ago lost whatever reputation could - be taken from me by newspaper comments. Thinking the matter over, - however, I concluded that I would venture a mild protest, not on - my own account, but for the sake of the important discovery of - which I told in the article in question. - - It is one of the privileges incidental to owning a newspaper that - one can call other people names with impunity, and can always have - the last word in any argument. Will, however, your sense of fair - play give me the privilege of asking you to state just what you - meant by the slur in question? In the magazine article I stated - that I had taken several fasts of ten or twelve days' duration, - with the result of a complete making over of my health. I presume - that the writer of the editorial had read the article before he - condemned it. Am I to understand that he got from the article the - impression that I was telling lies, and that I had never really - taken the fasts as I said I had taken them? Or was it his idea - that I exaggerated the benefits derived therefrom, in order to - make "victims" of the three young ladies in Garden City? - - I might say that I took the fasts in question in an institution - where hundreds of people were fasting anywhere from three to fifty - days; that during the entire time I was under the observation of - many people; my weight was taken regularly every day, and all - the symptoms which I described were observed by physicians and - friends. May I also call attention to the fact that I published - in the article two photographs, one of which was taken four years - ago, and the other of which was taken after the fasting treatment? - The contrast between these two photographs was sufficiently - striking, it seems to me, to impress anyone. May I also call - attention to the fact that the article was found of sufficient - interest to be published in one of the most representative of - the English monthlies, the _Contemporary Review_? Also that the - _Contemporary Review_ appended to the article the testimony of - half a dozen people whose cases I had myself observed, and whose - letters I have in my possession? - - I fully recognize the fact that many of the things for which - I stand as a writer are abhorrent to you, but surely that is - no reason for condemning recklessly and blindly an important - discovery concerning human health, simply because I happen - to be the person who is telling about it. Setting aside all - personalities, and simply in the interest of the discovery in - question, I respectfully invite you to make an investigation of - the claims which I have set forth in that article. Let me give you - the names of some people who have fasted either under my direction - or in my presence, and who will tell a representative of your - paper of the results it has brought to them. I can tell you of a - dozen such people. Also, perhaps by way of preliminary, you might - be willing to publish as an appendix to this letter of mine the - communication from another of my "victims," omitting the name of - the writer unless you obtain permission to use it. - - Yours truly, - - UPTON SINCLAIR. - - -Appended to the above was the letter which the reader will find in the -Appendix, page 111. The _Times_ did not publish this letter, nor did it -pay any attention to several letters of protest which followed. I leave -it to the reader to judge whether the silence of the paper was one of -dignity or of fear. The following despatch from the New York _World_ of -May 17, 1910, records the experiences of the Garden City ladies, and -makes clear how much in need of sympathy my "victims" were. - - - All three of the young women are in rare spirits. They have gone - about their usual occupations and recreations, and Mrs. Trask - found time yesterday to talk about the single tax in the course of - a conversation that had to do primarily with her newer interest. - - "We are getting the most extraordinary number of letters about - this adventure of ours," Mrs. Trask said. "They began to come the - first day, and to-day there were lots of them. They come from some - of the most unexpected places and they contain some of the most - unexpected things. - - "What most astonishes me is that of all those who write to tell - us that they have tried just what we are doing, not one has told - us of a failure. There isn't any reason why they shouldn't write - to say that we are foolish and that we can't hope to gain what we - want, but dozens of them have reiterated the promise that we'll - never regret having made our experiment. - - "One New York woman told us something that we had wondered about - more than once. Her husband had suffered greatly from rheumatism, - and finally he tried fasting. Not dieting like ourselves, but - fasting. He went without food of any kind, she said, for nineteen - days. He kept on at his work, too, which was the thing we had been - wondering about. - - "We've heard from another physician, too. He lives in Boston and - has made a specialty of dietetics. He warned us not to stick too - closely to milk, because we'd find that after a day or two it - would quit being of the service it had been at first. People we - never heard of tell us that thus and so was their experience, and - when we measure our own discoveries beside theirs we find new and - convincing evidence that we picked the true way to the end we - hoped to reach. - - "I know that for myself I'll have reason to be grateful always - that I took this up. We have been greatly benefited." - - -FOOTNOTE: - -[1] The first two of these, Edmond Kelly and Ben Hanford, have since -died. - - - - -SOME NOTES ON FASTING - - -In relation to the article, "Perfect Health," I received some six or -eight hundred letters from people who either had fasted, or desired to -fast and sought for further information. The letters showed a general -uniformity which made clear to me that I had not been sufficiently -explicit upon several important points. - -The question most commonly asked was how long should one fast, and how -one should judge of the time to stop. I personally have never taken a -"complete fast," and so I hesitate in recommending this to any one. I -have fasted twelve days on two occasions. In both cases I broke my fast -because I found myself feeling weak and I wanted to be about a good -deal. In neither case was I hungry, although hunger quickly returned. -I was told by Bernarr Macfadden, and by some of his physicians, that -they got their best results from fasts of this length. I would not -advise a longer fast for any of the commoner ailments, such as stomach -and intestinal trouble, headaches, constipation, colds and sore throat. -Longer fasts, it seems to me, are for those who have really desperate -ailments, such deeply-rooted chronic diseases as Bright's disease, -cirrhosis of the liver, rheumatism and cancer. - -Of course if a person has started on a fast and it is giving him no -trouble, there is no reason why it should not be continued; but I do -not in the least believe in a man's setting before himself the goal of -a forty or fifty days' fast and making a "stunt" out of it. I do not -think of the fast as a thing to be played with in that way. I do not -believe in fasting for the fun of it, or out of curiosity. I do not -advise people to fast who have nothing the matter with them, and I do -not advise the fast as a periodical or habitual thing. A man who has -to fast every now and then is like a person who should spend his time -in sweeping rain water out of his house, instead of taking the trouble -to repair his roof. If you have to fast every now and then, it is -because the habits of your life are wrong, more especially because you -are eating unwholesome foods. There were several people who wrote me -asking about a fast, to whom my reply was that they should simply adopt -a rational diet; that I believed their troubles would all disappear -without the need of a fast. - -Several people asked me if it would not be better for them to eat very -lightly instead of fasting, or to content themselves with fasts of two -or three days at frequent intervals. My reply to that is that I find it -very much harder to do that, because all the trouble in the fast occurs -during the first two or three days. It is during those days that you -are hungry, and if you begin to eat just when your hunger is ceasing, -you have wasted all your efforts. In the same way, perhaps, it might -be a good thing to eat very lightly of fruit, instead of taking an -absolute fast--the only trouble is that I cannot do it. Again and again -I have tried, but always with the same result: the light meals are -just enough to keep me ravenously hungry, and inevitably I find myself -eating more and more. And it does me no good to call myself names about -this, I just do it, and keep on doing it; I have finally made up my -mind that it is a fact of my nature. I used to try these "fruit fasts" -under Dr. Kellogg's advice. I could live on nothing but fruit for -several days, but I would get so weak that I could not stand up--far -weaker than I have ever become on an out-and-out fast. - -One should drink all the water he possibly can while fasting, only not -taking too much at a time. I take a glass full every hour, at least; -sometimes every half hour. It is a good plan to drink a great deal of -water at the outset, whenever meal time comes around, and one thinks of -the other folks beginning to eat. I drink the water cold, because it is -less trouble, but if there is any hot water about, I prefer that. Hot -water between meals is an immensely valuable suggestion which I owe to -Dr. Salisbury. - -One should take a bath every day while fasting. I prefer a warm bath -followed by a cold shower. Also one should take a small enema. I find a -pint of cool water sufficient. I received several letters from people -who were greatly disturbed because of constipation during the fast. -People apparently do not realize that while fasting there is very -little to be eliminated from the body. (Of course, there are cases, -especially of people who have suffered from long continued intestinal -trouble, in which even after three or four weeks the enema continues to -bring away quantities of dried and impacted fćces.) - -Many of the questions asked dealt with the manner of breaking the fast; -I suppose because I had been particular to warn my readers that this -was the one danger point in the proceeding. I told of my experience -with the milk diet, and I received many inquiries about this. My answer -was to refer the writers to Bernarr Macfadden's pamphlet on the milk -diet, as I took this diet under his direction and have nothing to -add to his instructions. I might say, however, that I was never able -to take the milk diet for any length of time but once, and that after -my first twelve-day fast. After my second fast it seemed to go wrong -with me, and I think the reason was that I did not begin it until a -week after breaking the fast, having got along on orange juice and -figs in the meantime. Also I tried on many occasions to take the milk -diet after a short fast of three or four days, and always the milk has -disagreed with me and poisoned me. I take this to mean that, in my own -case, at any rate, so much milk can only be absorbed when the tissues -are greatly reduced; and I have known others who have had the same -experience. - -While I was down in Alabama, I took a twelve-day fast, and at the end -I was tempted by a delicious large Japanese persimmon, which had been -eyeing me from the pantry shelf during the whole twelve days. I ate -that persimmon--and I mention that it was thoroughly ripe; in spite -of which fact it doubled me up with the most alarming cramp--and in -consequence I do not recommend persimmons for fasters. I know a friend -who had a similar experience from the juice of one orange; but he was -a man with whom acid fruit has always disagreed. I know another man -who broke his fast on a Hamburg steak; and this also is not to be -recommended. - -It has been my experience that immediately after a fast the stomach -is very weak, and can easily be upset; also the peristaltic muscles -are practically without power. It is, therefore, important to choose -foods which are readily digested, and also to continue to take the -enema daily until the muscles have been sufficiently built up to make -a natural movement possible. The thing to do is to take orange juice -or grape juice in small quantities for two or three days, and then go -gradually upon the milk diet, beginning with half a glass of warm milk -at a time. If the milk does not agree with you, you may begin carefully -to add baked potatoes and rice and gruels and broths, if you must; but -don't forget the enema. - -People ask me in what diseases I recommend fasting. I recommend it for -all diseases of which I have ever heard, with the exception of one in -which I have heard of bad results--tuberculosis. Dr. Hazzard, in her -book, reports a case of the cure of this disease, but Mr. Macfadden -tells me that he has known of several cases of people who have lost -their weight and have not regained it. There is one cure quoted in the -appendix to this volume. - -The diseases for which fasting is most obviously to be recommended -are all those of the stomach and intestines, which any one can see -are directly caused by the presence of fermenting and putrefying food -in the system. Next come all those complaints which are caused by the -poisons derived from these foods in the blood and the eliminative -organs: such are headaches and rheumatism, liver and kidney troubles, -and of course all skin diseases. Finally, there are the fevers and -infectious diseases, which are caused by the invasion of the organism -by foreign bacteria, which are enabled to secure a lodgment because of -the weakened and impure condition of the blood-stream. Such are the -"colds" and fevers. In these latter cases nature tries to save us, for -there is immediately experienced a disinclination on the part of the -sick person to take any sort of food; and there is no telling how many -people have been hurried out of life in a few days or hours, because -ignorant relatives, nurses and physicians have gathered at their -bedside and implored them to eat. I can look back upon a time in my own -experience when my wife was in the hospital with a slow fever; they -would bring her up three square meals a day, consisting of lamb chops, -poached eggs on toast, cooked vegetables, preserves and desserts; and -the physician would stand by her bedside and say, in sepulchral tones, -"If you do not eat, you will die!" - -My friend, Mr. Arthur Brisbane, wrote me a gravely disapproving letter -when he read that I was fasting. I had a long correspondence with him, -at the end of which he acknowledged that there "might be something in -it." "Even dogs fast when they are ill," he wrote; and I replied, "I -look forward to the time when human beings may be as wise as dogs." -I read the other day an amusing story of a man who made himself a -reputation for curing the diseases of the pampered pets of our rich -society ladies. They would bring him their overfed dogs, and he would -shut them up in an old brick-kiln, with a tub of water, and leave them -there to howl until they were hoarse. In addition to the water he would -put in each cell a hunk of stale bread, a piece of bacon rind, and an -old boot. He would go back at the end of a few days, and if the bread -was eaten he would write to the fond owner that the dog's recovery was -assured. He would go back in a few more days, and if the bacon rind -was eaten would write that the dog was nearly well. And at the end of -another week, he would go back, and if the old boot was eaten he would -write to the owner that the dog was now completely restored to health. - -Several people wrote me who were in the last stages of some desperate -disease. Of course they had always been consulting with physicians, -and the physicians had told them that my article was "pure nonsense"; -and they would write me that they would like to try to fast, but that -they were "too weak and too far gone to stand it." There is no greater -delusion than that a person needs strength to fast. The weaker you are -from disease, the more certain it is that you need to fast, the more -certain it is that your body has not strength enough to digest the food -you are taking into it. If you fast under those circumstances, you will -grow not weaker, but stronger. In fact, my experience seems to indicate -that the people who have the least trouble on the fast are the people -who are most in need of it. The system which has been exhausted by the -efforts to digest the foods that are piled into it, simply lies down -with a sigh of relief and goes to sleep. - -The fast is Nature's remedy for all diseases, and there are few -exceptions to the rule. When you feel sick, fast. Do not wait until the -next day, when you will feel stronger, nor till the next week, when -you are going away into the country, but stop eating at once. Many of -the people who wrote to me were victims of our system of wage slavery, -who wrote me that they were ill, but could not get even a few days' -release in which to fast. They wanted to know if they could fast and -at the same time continue their work. Many can do this, especially if -the work is of a clerical or routine sort. On my first fast I could not -have done any work, because I was too weak. But on my second fast I -could have done anything except very severe physical labor. I have one -friend who fasted eight days for the first time, and who did all her -own housework and put up several gallons of preserves on the last day. -I have received letters from a couple of women who have fasted ten or -twelve days, and have done all their own work. I know of one case of a -young girl who fasted thirty-three days and worked all the time at a -sanatorium, and on the twenty-fourth day she walked twenty miles. - - -FASTING AND THE DOCTORS - -A most discouraging circumstance to me was the attitude of physicians, -as revealed in the correspondence that came to me. Mostly I learned of -this attitude from the letters of patients who quoted their physicians -to me. From the physicians themselves I heard practically nothing. We -have some one hundred and forty thousand regularly graduated "medical -men" in this country, and they are all of them presumably anxious to -cure disease. It would seem that an experience such as mine, narrated -over my own signature, and backed by references to other cases, would -have awakened the interest of a good many of these professional men. - -Out of the six or eight hundred letters that I have received, just two, -so far as I can remember, were from physicians; and out of the hundreds -of newspaper clippings which I received, not a single one was from any -sort of medical journal. There was one physician, in an out-of-the-way -town in Arkansas, who was really interested, and who asked me to let -him print several thousand copies of the article in the form of a -pamphlet, to be distributed among his patients. One single mind, among -all the hundred and forty thousand, open to a new truth! - -In the _English Review_ for November, 1910, I find an article entitled -"Bone-setting and the Profession, by Fairplay." It is a narrative of -the experience of the writer and some of his friends with Osteopathy, -being a defence of that method of treatment in cases of bruises and -sprains. I quote the following paragraph: - -"Harvey's statement about the circulation of the blood was met with -scorn by the doctors, who called him in derision the 'Circulator.' -Simpson's discovery of the use of chloroform was scouted by them as -incredible, some even declared it to be 'impious,' and a 'defiance of -the will of God.' Elliotson's use of the stethoscope called forth the -rage of the protected society as a body: the _Lancet_ described him as -a 'pariah of the profession.' The ignorant scorn and slander broke his -heart; but to-day the stethoscope is in constant use, and is recognized -as one of the most important aids to a correct diagnosis." - -It might also be of interest to quote the note which one finds appended -to this remarkable article: "The Editor was amused to find that the -_Lancet_ refused the advertisement of the above article, thereby -confirming what the writer alleges against the ring." - -Of course I realize what a difficult matter it is for a medical man -to face these facts about the fast. Sometimes it seems to me that we -have no right to expect their help at all, and that we never will -receive it. For we are asking them to destroy themselves, economically -speaking. We do not expect aid from eminent corporation lawyers when -we set out to overthrow the rule of privilege in our country; and it -must be equally difficult for a hard-worked and not very highly paid -physician to contemplate the triumph of an idea, which would leave no -place for him in civilization. In an article contributed to _Physical -Culture_ magazine for January, 1910, I stated that in the course of -my search for health I had paid to physicians, surgeons, druggists and -sanatoriums not less than fifteen thousand dollars in the last six or -eight years. In the last year, since I have learned about the fast, -I have paid nothing at all; and the same thing is true, perhaps on a -smaller scale, of every one who discovers the fasting cure. As one man, -who wrote me a letter of enthusiastic gratitude, expresses it: "I have -spent over five hundred dollars in the last ten years trying to get -well on medicines. It cost me only thirty cents to use your method, and -for that thirty cents I obtained relief a million-fold more beneficial -than from five hundred dollars' worth of medicine." - -Not so very long ago I saw a report in some metropolitan newspaper to -the effect that the medical profession was greatly alarmed over the -decrease in its revenues--it being estimated that the income of the -average physician to-day was less than half of what it had been ten -years ago. All this, I think, is directly attributable to the spread of -knowledge concerning natural methods in the treatment of disease--and, -more important yet, of natural methods in the preservation of health. -Only the other day I was talking with a friend who was a teacher in -a small college in the Middle West. There was a physician regularly -employed to attend the girl-students, but several of the teachers -became interested in the fasting cure, and whenever they learned of -any illness they would go to the girl and start her on a fast; as a -result, the physician lost considerably more than half his practice. In -the same way, I myself recently started several people in a small town -to fasting, and every time I saw the local physician driving by in his -carriage I marvelled at the courtesy and cordiality he displayed; for -before I had left that place I had cured half a dozen of his permanent -customers--people to whom he had been dispensing pills and powders -every few weeks for a dozen years. - - - - -THE HUMORS OF FASTING - - -At the time of writing these words, it has been just six months since I -published my first paper upon fasting, and I am still getting letters -about it at the rate of half a dozen a day. The tent which I inhabit -is rapidly becoming uninhabitable because of pasteboard boxes full of -"fasting-letters"; and the store-keeper who is so good as to receive my -telegrams over the 'phone, is growing quite expert at taking down the -symptoms of adventurers who get started and want to know how to stop. I -could make quite a postage-stamp collection from these letters--I had -one from Spain and one from India and one from Argentina all in the -same day. I am sure I might have kept a sanatorium for those people who -have begged me to let them come and live near me while they were taking -a fast. One woman writes to ask me to name my own price to take charge -of a case of elephantiasis which has been given up by all the experts -in Europe! - -Also, I could fill an article with the "humors" of these letters. One -woman writes a long and anxious inquiry as to whether it is permissible -to drink any _water_ while fasting; and then follows this up with a -special delivery letter to say that she hopes I will not think she is -crazy--she had read the article again and noted the injunction to drink -as much water as she can! And then comes a letter from a man who wants -to know if I really mean it all; do I truly expect him to eat nothing -whatever--or would I call it fasting if he ate just nuts and fruit now -and then? Quite recently I was talking with a physician--a successful -and well-known physician--who refused point-blank to believe that a -human being could live for more than four or five days without any sort -of nutriment. There was no use talking about it--it was a physiological -impossibility; and even when I offered him the names and addresses of a -hundred people who had done it, he went off unconvinced. And yet that -same physician professes a religion which through nearly two thousand -years has recommended "fasting and prayer" as the method of the soul's -achievement; and he will go to church and listen reverently to accounts -of a forty-day fast in the wilderness! And he lives in a country in -which there are sanatoriums where hundreds of people are fasting all -the time, and where twenty or thirty-day fasts occasion no more remark -than a good golf-score at a summer hotel! - -If you have any doubt that such fasts are taken, you can very quickly -convince yourself. Less than a year ago I saw a man completing a -fifty-day fast; I talked with him day by day, and I knew absolutely -that it was all in good faith. The symptoms of fasting are as distinct -and unmistakable as are, for instance, those of smallpox; you could -no more persuade an experienced person that you are fasting when you -are not fasting, than you could persuade a bacteriologist that you had -sleeping-sickness when you were merely lazy. - -When I was a very small boy, I recall that a Dr. Tanner took a -forty-day fast in a museum in New York; and I recollect well the -conversation in our family--how obvious it was that the thing must be a -fake, and how foolish people were to be taken in by so absurd a fake. -"He gets something to eat when nobody's looking," we would say. - -But then what about his weight? Here is a man, going along day by day, -year in and year out, weighing in the neighborhood of a hundred and -fifty pounds; and now, all of a sudden, he begins to lose a pound a -day, as regularly as the sun rises. How does he do it? - -"Well," we would say, "he must work hard and get rid of it." - -But how can a man do that, when he had no longer enough muscular tissue -left to support his weight? And when his pulse is only thirty-five -beats to the minute? - -Then, says the reader, perhaps he goes to a Turkish bath, and sweats it -off. - -But ask any jockey how he'd like to take a Turkish bath every day -for fifty days! And how he would stand it when his arms and thighs -were so reduced that you could meet your thumb and forefinger around -them, and could plainly trace the bones and the blood vessels! And -then again, there is the tongue. If you take a fast and really need -the fast, you will find your tongue so coated that you can scrape it -with a knife-blade. And if you break your fast, your tongue will clear -in twenty-four hours; nothing in the world will coat it again but -several days more of fasting. How would you propose to get around that -difficulty? - -Such ideas have to do with fasting as seen by the outsider. I recollect -reading a diverting account of the fasting cure, in which the victim -was portrayed as haunted by the ghost of beefsteaks and turkeys. But -the person who is taking the fast knows nothing of these troubles, -nor would there be much profit in fasting if he did. The fast is not -an ordeal, it is a rest; and I have known people to lose interest in -food as completely as if they had never tasted any in their lives. I -know one lady who, to the consternation of her friends and relatives, -began a fast three days before Christmas and continued it until three -days after New Year's; and on both the holidays she cooked a turkey and -served it for her children. On another occasion, during a week's fast, -she "put up" several gallons of preserves; the only inconvenience being -that she had to call in a neighbor to taste them and see if they were -done. I myself took a twelve-day fast while living alone with my little -boy, and three times every day I went into the pantry and set out a -meal for him. I was not troubled at all by the sight of the food. - -The longest fast of which I had heard when my article was written -was seventy-eight days; but that record has since been broken, by a -man named Richard Fausel. Mr. Fausel, who keeps a hotel somewhere in -North Dakota, had presumably partaken too generously of the good cheer -intended for his guests, for he found himself at the inconvenient -weight of three hundred and eighty-five pounds. He went to a sanatorium -in Battle Creek and there fasted for forty days (if my recollection -serves me), and by dint of vigorous exercise meanwhile, he got rid of -one hundred and thirty pounds. I think I never saw a funnier sight -than Mr. Fausel at the conclusion of this fast, wearing the same -pair of trousers that he had worn at the beginning of it. But the -temptations of hotel-keeping are severe, and when he went back home, -he found himself going up in weight again. This time he concluded to -do the job thoroughly, and went to Macfadden's place in Chicago, and -set out upon a fast of ninety days. That is a new record--though I -sometimes wonder if it is quite fair to call it "fasting" when a man is -simply living upon an internal larder of fat. - -It must be a curious experience to go for three months without -tasting food. It is no wonder that the stomach and all the organs of -assimilation forget how to do their work. The one danger in the fasting -treatment is that when you break the fast, hunger is apt to come back -with a rush, while, on the other hand, the stomach is weak, and the -utmost caution is needed. If you yield to your cravings, you may fill -your whole system with toxins, and undo all the good of the treatment; -but if you go slowly, and restrict yourself to very small quantities of -the most easily assimilated foods, then in an incredibly short time the -body will have regained its strength. - -My experience has taught me that it is well not to be too proud at such -a time, but to get some one to help you. And it ought to be some one -who has fasted, for a person at the end of a fast is an agitating sight -to his neighbors, and their one impulse is to get a "square meal" into -him as quickly as possible. Quite recently there was one of my converts -camping on my trail in New York City, and he called at the home of a -relative of mine, an elderly lady, who does not take much stock in -my eccentricities. I shall not soon forget her description of his -appearance--"I thought he was going to die right there before my eyes!" -she said. And no wonder, since the poor fellow had climbed four flights -of stairs to the apartment. "I know you'll get into trouble," added my -relative, "if you don't stop advising people to do such things!" - -I was interested enough in the question of fasting to spend some time -at a sanatorium where they make a specialty of it. One can see a sicker -looking collection of humans in such a place than anywhere else in the -world, I fancy. In the first place, people do not take the fasting -cure until they are looking desperate; and when they have got into the -fast they look more desperate. At the later stages they sometimes take -to wheelchairs; and at all times they move with deliberation, and -their faces wear serious expressions. They gather in little groups and -discuss their symptoms; there is nothing so interesting in the world -when you are fasting as to talk symptoms with a lot of people who are -doing the same thing. There are some who are several days ahead of you, -and who make you ashamed of your doubts; and others who are behind you, -and to whom you have to appear as an old campaigner. So you develop an -_esprit de corps_, as it were--though that sounds as if I were trying -to make a pun. - -All this may not seem very alluring; but it is far better than a -life-time of illness, such as many of these people have known before. I -never knew that there was such terrible suffering in the world until I -heard some of their stories; they would indeed be depressing company, -were it not for the fact that now they are getting well. The reader may -answer sarcastically that they _think_ they are. But every Christian -Scientist knows that this comes to the same thing; and I have talked -with not less than a hundred people who have fasted for three days or -more, and out of these there were but two or three who did not report -themselves as greatly benefited. So I am accustomed to say that I -would rather spend my time in a fasting sanatorium than in an ordinary -"swell" hotel. The people in the former are making themselves well and -know it; while the people in the latter are making themselves ill, and -don't know it. - - - - -A SYMPOSIUM ON FASTING - - -Recently I published a request that those who had tried the fast as the -result of my advocacy would write to advise me of the results. I stated -that I desired to hear unfavorable results as well as favorable; that I -wanted to get at the facts, and would tabulate the results exactly as -they came. The questions asked were as follows: - - - 1. How many times have you fasted? - - 2. How many days on each occasion? - - 3. From what complaints did you suffer? - - 4. Were these complaints ever diagnosed by regular physician? If - so, give the names and addresses of these physicians. - - 5. Do you consider that you were definitely benefited by the - fasts? If so, in what way? - - 6. For how long did the benefit continue? - - 7. Do you consider that you were completely cured? - - 8. Do you consider that you were definitely harmed? If so, in what - way? - - 9. Have you ever been examined by any regular physician since the - cure? If so, give name and address. - - 10. Are you willing that your name and address should be quoted - for the benefit of others? - - -The total number of fasts taken was 277, and the average number of days -was 6. There were 90 of five days or over, 51 of ten days or over, -and 6 of 30 days or over. Out of the 109 persons who wrote to me, 100 -reported benefit, and 17 no benefit. Of these 17 about half give wrong -breaking of the fast as the reason for the failure. In cases where the -cure had not proved permanent, about half mentioned that the recurrence -of the trouble was caused by wrong eating, and about half of the rest -made this quite evident by what they said. Also it is to be noted that -in the cases of the 17 who got no benefit, nearly all were fasts of -only three or four days. - -Following is the complete list of diseases benefited--45 of the cases -having been diagnosed by physicians: indigestion (usually associated -with nervousness), 27; rheumatism, 5; colds, 8; tuberculosis, 4; -constipation, 14; poor circulation, 3; headaches, 5; anćmia, 3; -scrofula, 1; bronchial trouble, 5; syphilis, 1; liver trouble, 5; -general debility, 5; chills and fever, 1; blood poisoning, 1; ulcerated -leg, 1; neurasthenia, 6; locomotor ataxia, 1; sciatica, 1; asthma, 2; -excess of uric acid, 1; epilepsy, 1; pleurisy, 1; impaction of bowels, -1; eczema, 2; catarrh, 6; appendicitis, 3; valvular disease of heart, -1; insomnia, 1; gas poisoning, 1; grippe, 1; cancer, 1. - -There follows a brief summary of some of the most interesting cases. A -number of longer letters will be found in the Appendix. - - -Mrs. Lulu Wallace Smith, 324 W. White Oak Ave., Monrovia, Cal. Age 28. -Fasted 30 days for appendicitis and peritonitis, diagnosed by four -physicians. "Yes, indeed, I have definitely been benefited by fasting. -My stomach is not distressed after meals, I have regular evacuations -of the intestines, which I had not had since I was seventeen. I feel -perfectly healthy and look the same." - -William N----. Syphilis, with advanced ulcers in throat. Physicians -declared the case hopeless. Complete disappearance of symptoms after -four day's fast, but they gradually reappeared, and longer fast -intended. - -Dora Jordan, Connersville, Md. Indigestion, extreme nervousness, -neuralgia in its worst form. Fasted thirty days; did most of cooking -for a family of five, was at no time tempted to eat. "I am no longer -troubled with the old diseases, and weigh more than ever before. After -my fast I felt as happy and care free as a little child." - -C. L. Clark, Greenville, Mich. Nervous, poor digestion. Fasted nine -days. "I have been wonderfully benefited, and am a rabid convert. -Alas, for the poor mortal who shows the faintest spark of interest in -my fast--I hand him the whole works, lock, stock and barrel! I feel -a new power and new incentive in life. Whenever I see a sick person, -I feel like telling him that for all he knows to the contrary, good -health has been and may be only eight or ten days away and waiting for -years for him to claim it." - -T. S. Jacks, Muskegon, Mich. Twenty days, followed by shorter fasts, -for stomach trouble, diagnosed by Dr. M---- as cancer. "He advised -me to be operated on. Since my fast, three years ago, I have had no -trouble with my stomach. I am entirely cured, and am enjoying fine -health." - -Gordon G. Ives, 147 Forsythe Bldg., Fresno, Cal. "Have fasted a good -many times since 1899, to cure catarrh of stomach, constipation, -deafness of four months' standing, neuralgia, etc. Duration, from -one to sixteen days. Never failed in accomplishing a cure. Benefit -continued until I had over-eaten for a long time. Complaints were never -diagnosed by regular physicians, as I got on to them in 1894. Use my -name if it will help the truth." - -Mrs. Maria L. Scott, Boring, Ariz. Reports case of husband, who fasted -seven days for constipation and deafness; had been obliged to take -enema daily for several months. Complete cure. - -Mrs. A. Wears, De Funiak Springs, Fla. "Age forty-two, subject to -severe colds and sore throat all my life, chronic catarrh of head and -throat, in bed two winters with bronchitis and asthma. Did not take -complete fast. My catarrh is much improved. I feel perfectly well and -enjoy life so much more than I did before the fast." - -Mrs. Mae Bramble, Alba, Pa., R. F. D. 70. One fast of thirty days, -another of three days; nervous prostration the first time, appendicitis -the second time. "The first complaint was diagnosed, the second was -not; as I am a professional nurse, I understood the symptoms myself." -Complete and permanent cure. "I have never had a return of the nervous -trouble, and am well of the other complaint. It is five years since the -first fast." - -M. E. Beard, Corning, Cal. Fasted nine days for scrofula. Had been -diagnosed. Complete cure, permanent since 1908. Age forty-seven. "Five -years ago I broke down. Physicians never could tell me what ailed me. I -kept busy during my fast physically and mentally; worked over the cook -stove and outdoors. Felt no weakness." - -Joseph L. Lewis, Hatfield, Ark. Fasted three days, and then four days. -"During the last ten days have felt better than at any time during the -last seven years." - -Monroe Bornn, Port of Spain, Trinidad. Fasted seven days on three -occasions, for liver trouble. "I had been treated by three physicians. -I consider that I was completely cured. I have been examined by -regular physicians since the cure." - -E. B. Bayne, White Plains, N. Y. Sends record of fasts taken by two -people, Mr. and Mrs. A. Mr. A. fasted for rheumatism, which had caused -kidney and bladder trouble of years' standing, and iritis; fasted five -days and then four days and was completely cured. Mrs. A. Neuralgia and -catarrhal deafness. Completely cured. "Finds that exposure to draughts -has no effect upon her whatever, heretofore she would catch cold upon -the least exposure." - -Mrs. Charles H. Vosseller, Newark, N. J. "I don't agree with you or -Bernarr Macfadden in not recommending fasting for tuberculosis. My case -was diagnosed by Dr. B. G----, New Brunswick, N. J. I fasted nineteen -days and was completely cured; I received no harm, and have been -examined since by a physician. I weigh 114 lbs. now and before my fast -weighed 100 lbs. I never felt better in my life than I do at present. -Do not know that I have a pair of lungs." - - -In connection with the above tabulation of results, it should be -specified that it does not include any of the cases quoted elsewhere in -the book; it includes some of the letters given in the Appendix, but -not all. Thus it will appear that there are many more than 277 cases of -fasting recorded in this volume. The reason that I did not summarize -in the tabulation all the letters I have received is, that I wished to -give only those which were sent to me in answer to my definite series -of questions, so that I might be sure of getting the unfavorable as -well as the favorable reports. Recently a well-known physician who -edits a magazine of health came out in vehement opposition to the -fasting cure, maintaining that we hear only of the cases which are -successful, and do not hear of the disastrous failures. In reply to -this, I wrote to him suggesting that he publish my series of questions -in his magazine, thus giving his readers an opportunity to make me -acquainted with the unsuccessful cases. This, however, the physician -declined to do. - - -DEATH DURING THE FAST - -There was much newspaper discussion of my fasting papers--most of -it being sarcastic. The most biting comment that I recall came from -somewhere out West, and ran about as follows: "A Seattle man fasted -forty days for stomach trouble. His stomach is troubling him no -longer. He is dead." I set to work to find out about this case, and -I give the facts on page 137. I also saw a report from the London -_Daily Telegraph_ to the effect that a man had died in South Africa -as a result of trying my "cure." How many thousands of people tried -it and lived, I do not know; but horrified relatives and enterprising -newspaper writers would see that the public was informed about any that -died. - -As to the possibility or probability of death during a fast, I have one -or two points to note: - -First, a good many sick people are dying all the time. It would be an -argument for fasting if it saved any of them. It is no argument against -fasting that it fails to save them all. No one would think of bringing -it up against his surgeon or his family physician that he occasionally -lost a patient. - -Second, people might die very frequently, without that being an -argument against the cure. It might simply be a consequence of the -desperately ill class of people who were trying it. A doctor who had a -new method of healing, and was permitted to use it only upon those whom -all other doctors had given up, would be considered successful if he -effected even an occasional cure. I would wager that of the people who -read my article and set out to fast, practically all had been suffering -for many years, and had given the "regular" physicians unlimited -opportunity to work on them. - -Third, it may be set down as absolutely certain that no one ever died -of starvation while fasting. The essential feature of the fast is that -after the first two or three days all hunger ceases; and that any one -could die of lack of food without feeling a desire for food, is absurd -upon the face of it. Nature simply does not work that way. It reminds -me of a young lady who once told me that she would not go to sleep with -a mouse in the room, because she imagined the mouse might nibble off -her ear without waking her! - -As to the possibility that you might starve, during those first days -while you _are_ hungry--the answer is simply that you _don't_. It is -perfectly true that men have died of starvation in three or four days; -but the starvation existed in their minds--it was fright that killed -them. That they did not truly starve is proven by my letters from -several hundreds of people who have fasted over that time, and who are -alive to tell of it. - -There are conditions in the human body which lead to death inevitably; -and some of these conditions are beyond the power of the fast to -remedy. When a person so afflicted sets out to fast, and dies in spite -of the fast, the papers of course declare that he died because of -the fast. Dr. L. B. Hazzard of Seattle has published a very useful -little book, "Fasting for the Cure of Disease," in which she tells -of two cases of "death from fasting," where the autopsy revealed -conditions with which the fast had no connection, and which made death -certain. Chances of that sort one has to take in life. You may have -a blood vessel in such a state that when you run after a street car -the increased pressure will cause it to burst; but you do not on that -account declare that no man ought to exert himself violently. - -As an example of the part that mental disturbances may play in the -fast, I will cite the case of a woman friend who started out to fast -for a complication of chronic ailments. She was rather stout, and did -not mind it at all--was going cheerfully about her daily tasks; but her -husband heard about it, and came home to tell her what a fool she was -making of herself; and in a few hours she was in a state of complete -collapse. No doubt if there had been a physician in the neighborhood, -there would have been another tale of a "victim of a shallow and -unscrupulous sensationalist." Fortunately, however, business called -the husband away again, and the next day the woman was all right, -and completed an eight-day fast with the best results. Bear this in -mind, so that if you wake up some morning and find your temperature -sub-normal and your pulse at forty, and your arms too weak to lift you, -and if your friends get round you and tell you that you look like a -mummy out of a sarcophagus of the seventeenth dynasty, and that I am a -Socialist and an undesirable citizen--you may be able to smile at them -good naturedly and tell them that you will never again eat until you -are hungry. - -I have thought over the cases of failure of the fast, where I have been -able to inquire into all the circumstances, and I think I can make -the statement that I do not know a case which might not be attributed -either to the influence of nervous excitement, or to unwise breaking of -the fast. In the last batch of letters was one with a printed account -of the disastrous results of a three weeks' fast taken by a woman. -It is an example of about all the blunders that I can think of. She -describes herself as occupying "a responsible office position," which -taxed her strength to the utmost; and she tried to do this work all -the time she was fasting. She would get up and go to work when she was -"scarcely able to drag one foot after another." On about the nineteenth -day her mother arrived, and then I quote: "She almost dropped at sight -of me, for I had not given a hint as to my condition; but despite my -protests, she sent for the doctor at once. My! Didn't he scold, and -tell me what was what! Mother's heart was so torn with sorrow and pity -that she hadn't the heart to reproach me for my three weeks' orgy of -fasting. She thought I had paid dearly for my folly." I don't think -it necessary to say anything more, except that I feel sorry for the -victim, and that I am glad to know this happened two years ago, so that -I am not to blame for the results. - -By way of contrast with this case I will quote the following letter, -which will show the reader the kind of experience that makes fasting -enthusiasts: "My wife and I have each nearly reached our seventy-second -year. I was born a physical wreck. A dozen years ago we began taking -short fasts, from three to eleven days' duration, for all our ills -of the flesh. But each of us had chronic troubles of forty years' -standing, which seemed growing no better. And finally, two years ago -last July, my wife said she was going to take a 'conquest fast' if -it killed her, for she was tired of living with her present ills. I -thought it a good time to try a little conquest fasting on my own hook. -I had no fear of the result. I knew that nature would tell me when I -had fasted long enough. So we began an absolute fast from all food -except distilled water and fresh air. We lived in fresh air night and -day. We took copious enemas daily, and I took a cabinet sweat, followed -by a cold plunge every other day. I knew that I must have many years of -filth accumulation in my bowels. And the amount of putridity that came -from my bowels the first twenty-five days of the fast was amazing. - -"After fasting twenty-eight days I began to be hungry, and broke my -fast with a little grape juice, followed the next day with tomatoes, -and later with vegetable soup. My wife began to be hungry after fasting -thirty-one days, and broke her fast in a similar manner to myself. - -"It is now two years since we took the conquest fast, and my wife has -no return of her former troubles. And I am enjoying all the mental -and physical pleasures which come from clean bowels. We think we -have learned how to live that we will never need another fast. Soon -after the fast I was examined by Dr. S----, the leading surgeon of -Los Angeles and Southern California, who pronounced me as being the -most wonderful person he ever met regarding softness of arteries, and -suppleness of body, for my age." - - -FASTING AND THE MIND - -The reader will observe that I discuss this fasting question from a -materialistic view-point. I am telling what it does to the body; but -besides this, of course, fasting is a religious exercise. I heard -the other day from a man who was taking a forty-day fast, as a means -of increasing his "spiritual power." I am not saying that for you -to smile at--he has excellent authority for the procedure. The point -with me is that I find life so full of interest just now that I don't -have much time to think about my "soul." I get so much pleasure out -of a handful of raisins, or a cold bath, or a game of tennis, that I -fear it is interfering with my spiritual development. I have, however, -a very dear friend who goes in for the things of the soul, and she -tells me that when you are fasting, the higher faculties are in a -sensitive condition, and that you can do many interesting things with -your subliminal self. For instance, she had always considered herself -a glutton; and so, during an eight-day fast, just before going to -sleep and just after awakening, she would lie in a sort of trance and -impress upon her mind the idea of restraint in eating. The result, she -declared, has been that she has never since then had an impulse to -over-eat. - -There are many such curious things, about which you may read in the -books of the yogis and the theosophists--who were fasting in previous -incarnations when you and I were swinging about in the tree-tops by -our tails. But I ought to report upon one fasting experiment which -resulted disastrously for me. Earlier in this book I told how I had -been able to write the greater part of a play while fasting. Shortly -afterwards I plunged into the writing of a new novel, and as usual I -got so much interested in it that I wasn't hungry. I said that I would -fast, and save the eating time, and the digesting time as well. So I -would sit and work for sixteen hours or more a day, sometimes for six -hours at a stretch without moving. After two or three days of this I -would be hungry, and would eat something; but being too much excited -to digest it, I would say, "Hang eating, anyhow!"--and go on for -another period of work. I kept that up for some six weeks, and I turned -out an appalling lot of manuscript; but I found that I had taken off -twenty-five pounds of flesh, and had got to such a point that I could -not digest a little warm milk. I cite this in order that the reader may -understand just why I take a gross and material view of fasting. My -advice is to lie round in the sun and read story-books and take care of -your body, and leave the soul-exercises and the nervous efforts until -the fast is over. But all the same, I know that there will be great -poetry written some day, when our poets have got on to the fasting -trick--and when our poets care enough about their work to be willing to -feed it with their own flesh. - -The great thing about the fast is that it sets you a new standard of -health. You have been accustomed to worrying along somehow; but now you -discover your own possibilities, and thereafter you are not content -until you have found some way to keep that virginal state of stomach -which one possesses for a month or two after a successful fast. It -must mean, of course, many changes in your life, if you really wish -to keep it. It means the giving up of tobacco and alcohol, and a too -sedentary life, and steam-heated rooms; above all else, it means giving -up self-indulgent eating. - -A couple of years ago my wife and myself made the acquaintance of -a young lady patient in a sanatorium, who was in a much run-down -condition, anćmic and nervous. We persuaded her to take a fast of -five or six days, and afterwards take the milk diet, as the result of -which she went back to her home in Virginia with what she described -as "smiles and dimples and curves and bright eyes." She was so -enthusiastic about the cure that she proceeded to apply it to all her -family and her friends; and some time afterwards she wrote my wife -a most diverting account of her adventures. After some persuasion I -secured her permission to quote her letter, having duly omitted all the -names. It makes clear the thorny path which the fasting enthusiast has -to travel in this world. - - - I will try in a very limited space of time to tell you what - keeps me a slave here at home. I got Mr. X---- down from ---- - to put papa and mamma on the fasting cure--papa had a bad case - of grippe--mamma had indigestion. My oldest married brother is - in dreadful health, and his wife and baby are not well. I wore - myself nearly out trying to get them well, and at the same time - trying to pick up some threads of long neglected social duties. - People were beginning to call me "stuck-up" (horrid vulgar term), - so unless I wanted to make enemies of the wives and daughters - of papa's and brother's business friends, I had to go to a few - parties and pay some long-neglected calls. I did it all, and then - decided to have Mr. X---- come to help me. I got papa and mamma - and M---- and _her baby_(!) on a fast--and then woe is me--I had - to get them off again! They had various and alarming symptoms due - to their ignorance of the methods, and the wild interest of the - town medicine-men. The family doctor gave me a "straight talk" and - asked me if I was going to try _to kill my father and mother_. - Papa would not give up his cigarettes, and a "toddy" now and then. - M----'s baby lost four pounds while his mother was fasting. All - the doctors' wives came to call, and beset me with questions--and - I had the d---- of a time. But I stood by my guns. When the - overfed, self-indulgent family all got to vomiting at once, my - hands were full, and I nearly had nervous prostration before I got - order out of the bedlam I had stirred up. - - Well, they got over the fast and on to the milk. Then I had to - tend to the milk myself or they refused to drink it. Finally mamma - got to feeling so well that she sat up, and planned big course - dinners and invited people to eat them. She began to order new - clothes for the kids, new furnishings for the house, and started - in to live her disorderly, ungodly "Southern hospitality" life all - over again. Our senator died and mamma got into politics in the - new election; and Cousin J---- got drunk, and I had to go with him - to the Keeley Institute, etc., etc. Surely there is a heaven for - saints like me. I did not fly the roost as I was tempted to do, - but I answered midnight calls of the spoiled, nauseated ones, and - fixed hot-water bags, quelled riots among the meat-eating servants - and hungry children--and swore I'd win! I did. Well, I got things - going in fine order at last, with papa cured of his grippe and an - old case of kidney trouble. Mamma is now comfortably eating boiled - ham and stuffed peppers, and fruit cake and cherry pie, and green - olives and what not at the same meal. She is well, though. But - of course she will get sick again. Papa, the only sane member of - our family, is still holding on to the milk, taking four quarts - of buttermilk a day, and he is flourishing, thank heaven! M---- - is still bilious, having broken her fast with hard-boiled eggs - and pork chops. And I am still living, in spite of having been to - Keeley, and incidentally having danced all night (with a low-neck, - short-sleeved gown on!) at the ---- Club ball, sat through several - dinners and bridge parties into the "wee sma' hours," and had - two men propose to me with the prelude, "You are the nicest, - most refined, and most lovable girl in the world if you _are_ a - crank." Wasn't that a nice beginning for a proposal of marriage? - I accepted them both on condition that I be allowed to remain a - crank. - - Well, the next chapter began with an old lover who had married - another woman. He came to see me and said he had a tape-worm! Ye - gods--such romance! His wife had stomach and intestinal trouble. - I turned Mr. X---- over to them, and them over to Mr. X----. The - lady got along, but the poor man with a wild beast inside him - got so sick after an eight-day fast that he wanted to have me - mobbed, sent for two trained nurses and four doctors--this is no - exaggeration--the doctors looked at me, and looks were as plain as - words--"You little devil! You did it for pure meanness." For three - days my poor friend had the doctors giving him hypodermics, and - he never stopped vomiting until we were all nearly dead. Then he - quieted down, got well, ate a beef-steak with a few dozen oysters - and mushrooms, and took me riding in his new automobile. The grim - humor in the whole thing is that if I had not gotten my roses and - dimples and curves and bright eyes back by fasting, this man would - never have taken me riding in his new automobile. Take a tip from - me--all the good nursing and friendly efforts in behalf of the - health of my friends did not endear me to them one half as much - as the plump, rosy smile I wore with my new silk gown. The first - day our sick friend went out in his car--alas for the ways of - human nature--masculine human nature, I mean--I told him so. And - he agreed with me and ended by saying, "Darn an ugly woman--I'll - forgive a pretty one _anything_." - - -DIET AFTER THE FAST - -Many people write me, begging me to outline for them the ideal diet. -I used to do that sort of thing, but I have stopped; having come to -realize that we are still at the beginning of our diet-experiments. -I have done a good deal of experimenting myself, and have made some -interesting discoveries. I have lived for a week on fruit only, and -again on wheat only; I have lived for three weeks on nothing but -milk, and again on nothing but beef-steak. I have lived for a year -on raw food, and for over three years I professed the religion of -vegetarianism. For the last two months I have lived on beef-steak, -shredded wheat, raisins and fresh fruit; but by the time this book -appears I may be trying sour milk and dates--somebody told me about -that the other day, and it sounds good to me. Some of my correspondents -object to my willingness to try new diets; they write me that they find -it bewildering, and think it indicative of an unstable mind. They do -not realize that I am exacting in my demands--I want a diet which will -permit me to overwork with impunity. I haven't found it yet, but I am -on the way; and meantime I make my experiments with a light heart, for -I always know that if anything goes wrong, I can take a fast and start -afresh. - -The general rules are mostly of a negative sort. There are many kinds -of foods, some of them most generally favored, of which one may say -that they should never be used, and that those who use them can never -be as well as they would be without them. Such foods are all that -contain alcohol or vinegar; all that contain cane sugar; all that -contain white flour in any one of its thousand alluring forms of -bread, crackers, pie, cake, and puddings; and all foods that have been -fried--by which I mean cooked with grease, whether that grease be lard, -or butter, or eggs or milk. It is my conviction that one should bar -these things at the outset, and admit of no exceptions. I do not mean -to say that healthy men and women cannot eat such things and be well; -but I say that they cannot be as well as they would be without them; -and that every particle of such food they eat renders them more liable -to all sorts of infection, and sows in their systems the seeds of the -particular chronic disease that is to lay them low sooner or later. - -There are a number of other things, which I do not rate as quite so -bad, but which we bar in our family--simply because they are not -so good. For instance, I am inclined to regard beans as being too -difficult of digestion and too liable to fermentation to be eaten -by any one who can get anything better. And I personally do not -eat peanuts, because I have found that I do not digest them; and I -do not use milk (except in the exclusive milk diet), because it is -constipating, and I have a tendency in that direction. Almost everyone -will discover idiosyncrasies of that sort in his own system. One person -cannot digest cheese, another cannot digest bananas, another cannot -stand the taste of olive oil. You may read a glowing account of some -diet system by which some other person has worked miracles, and you may -try it, and persist in it for a long time, and finally come to realize -that it was the worst diet you could possibly have been following. I -have always counted orange juice as the ideal food with which to break -a fast; yet a friend whom I was advising broke his fast with the juice -of half an orange, and had a violent cramp. He had been so confiding in -my greater knowledge that he had omitted to tell me that any sort of -acid fruit had always made him ill. - -Such things as this are of course not natural; but a perfectly normal -and well person is, under the artificial conditions of our bringing up, -a very great rarity; and so we all have to regard ourselves as more or -less diseased, and work towards the ideal of soundness. We must do this -with intelligence--there is no short cut, no way to save one's self the -trouble of thinking. - -I used to think there was. I would discover this or that wonderful new -diet-wrinkle, and I would go round preaching it to all my friends, and -making a general nuisance of myself. And some one would try it, and it -would not work; and often, to my own humiliation, I would discover that -it was not working in my own case half so well as I had thought it was. - -By way of setting an ideal, let me give you the example of a young lady -who for six or seven months has been living in our home, and giving -us a chance to observe her dietetic habits. This young lady three -years ago was an anćmic school-teacher, threatened with consumption, -and a victim of continual colds and headaches; miserable and beaten, -with an exopthalmic goitre which was slowly choking her to death. She -fasted eight days, and achieved a perfect cure. She is to-day bright, -alert and athletic; and she lives on about twelve hundred calories -of food a day--one half what I eat, and less than a third of the -old-school dietetic standards. Occasionally she will eat nut butter, -or sweet potato, or some whole wheat crackers with butter, or a dish of -ice-cream; but at least ninety per cent of her food has consisted of -fresh fruit. Meal after meal, day after day, I have seen her eat one -or two bananas and two or three peaches, or say, a slice of watermelon -or canteloupe; at some meals she will eat only the peaches, and then -again she will eat nothing. A dollar a week would pay for all her food; -and on this diet she laughs and talks, reads and thinks, walks and -swims with my wife and myself--a kind of external dietetic conscience, -which we would find it hard to get along without. And tell me, Dr. -Woods Hutchinson, or other scoffer at the "food-faddists," don't you -think that a case like this gives us some right to ask for patient -investigation of our claims? Or will you stand by your pill boxes and -your carving-knives and the rest of your paraphernalia, and compel us -to cure all your patients in spite of you? - - - - -THE USE OF MEAT - - -I am asked many questions as to my attitude toward the question of -meat-eating. I was brought up on a diet of meat, bread and butter, -potatoes, and sweet things. Four years ago when I found myself -desperately run down, suffering from nervousness, insomnia, and -almost incessant headaches, I came upon various articles written by -vegetarians, and I began to suspect that my trouble might be due to -meat. I went away on a camping-trip for several weeks, taking no meat -with me, and because I found that I was a great deal better, I believed -that the meat had been responsible for my trouble. I then visited the -Battle Creek Sanitarium, and became familiar with all their arguments -against meat, and thereafter I did not use it for three years. I called -myself a vegetarian; but at the same time I realized that I differed -from most vegetarians in some important particulars. - -For instance, I had never taken any stock in the arguments for -vegetarianism upon the moral side. It has always seemed to me that -human beings have a right to eat meat, if meat is necessary for their -best development, either physical or mental. I have never had any -sympathy with that "humanitarianism" which tells us that it is our duty -to regard pigs and chickens as our brothers. I was listening the other -day to one of these enthusiasts, who had been reading aloud one of the -"Uncle Remus" stories, and who went on in touching language to set -forth the fact that his vegetable garden constituted one place where -"Bre'r Rabbit" was free to wander at will and to help himself; and he -described how happy it made him to see these gentle animals hopping -about among his cabbages, having lost all their fear of him. That sort -of thing will work very well so long as it is confined to one farm, -and so long as there is a hunting season upon all the other farms in -the locality; but let the humanitarians proceed to apply their regimen -in a whole state, and they will soon have so many billions of rabbits -hopping about among their cabbages that they will have to choose -between shooting rabbits or having no cabbages. - -The reader, I presume, is familiar with calculations which show -the rate at which rabbits multiply, how many tens and hundreds of -millions would be produced by a single pair of rabbits in ten years. -It should be quite obvious that the time would come when all human -beings would be spending their energies in planting gardens to support -rabbits; and that if ever they stopped planting gardens, there would -be a famine for the rabbits, with infinitely more suffering than is -involved in the present method of keeping them down. Also, even though -the humanitarians might have their way with men, the hawks and the -owls and the foxes would probably remain unregenerate. I remember, -when I was a small boy, being sternly rebuked by an agitated maiden -lady who discovered me throwing stones at a squirrel. Not so many -days afterwards, however, the lady discovered the squirrel engaged in -carrying off young birds from a nest outside her window, and she found -her theories about "kindness to dumb animals" rudely disturbed. - -The same thing, it seems to me, is still more true of domestic animals. -Domestic animals survive on earth solely because of the protection -of man, and for the sake of the benefits they bring to him. If it is -necessary to human health and well-being to slaughter a cow rather than -to wait and let her die of old age and lingering disease, it seems to -me that nothing but mawkish sentimentality would protest. - -It is pointed out to us what places of cruelty and filth our -slaughter-houses are; the reader may believe that I learned something -about this in my preparations for the writing of "The Jungle." But -then this is not necessarily true about slaughter-houses--any more -than it is necessarily true that railroads must kill and maim a couple -of hundred thousand people in this country every year. In Europe they -have municipal slaughter-houses which are constructed upon scientific -lines, and in which no filth is permitted to accumulate; also they -have devised means for the killing of animals which are painless. In -the stockyards I have seen a man standing upon a gallery, leaning over -and pounding at the head of a steer with a hammer, and making half a -dozen blows before he succeeded in knocking down the terrified animal. -In Europe, on the other hand, they fit over the head of the animal a -leathern cap, which has in it a steel spike; a single tap upon the -head of this spike is sufficient to drive it into the animal's brain, -causing instant insensibility. - -And it must be borne in mind also that the sufferings of dumb animals -are entirely different from our own. They do not suffer the pains of -anticipation. A cow walks into a slaughter-house without fear, and -stands still and permits a leathern cap to be fitted over its head -without suspicion; and while it is placidly grazing in the field, it -is untroubled by any consciousness of the fact that next week it will -be hanging in a butcher's shop as beef. I recall in this connection -an observation of that wise philosopher, Mr. Dooley, concerning the -inhumanities of vegetarianism. He said that it had always seemed to -him a very cruel thing "to cut off a young tomato in its prime, or to -murder a whole cradle full of baby peas in the pod." - -These things will convince the devotee of the religion of vegetarianism -that I am a lost soul, and always have been. Perhaps so. I try to -guide my conduct by scientific knowledge; what I ask to know about the -question of meat-eating is the actual facts of its effect upon the -human organism--the amount of energy which it develops, the diseases -which it causes, or, on the contrary, the immunity to disease which it -claims to confer; also, of course, its cheapness and convenience as -an article of diet. Some evidence of this sort we possess; but very -little, it seems to me, in proportion to the importance of the subject. -Professor Fisher has conducted some thorough experiments as to the -influence of meat-eating upon endurance, which seem to develop the -fact that vegetarians possess a far greater amount of endurance than -meat-eaters. These experiments are what we want, but they seemed to me, -when I read them, to be weak in one or two important particulars. They -did not tell us what the vegetarians ate, nor what the meat-eaters ate. -Those who are vegetarians at the present day are very apt to be people -who have given some thought to the question of diet, and have attempted -to adopt sounder ways of life; while, on the other hand, meat-eaters -are generally people who have given no thought to the question of -health at all--they are very apt to be smokers and drinkers as well as -meat-eaters. Also it is to be pointed out that endurance is not the -only factor of importance to our physical well-being. - -There have been numerous expositions of the greater liability of meat -to contamination. Dr. Kellogg, for instance, has purchased specimens -of meat in the butcher-shops, and has had them examined under the -microscope, and has told us how many hundreds of millions of bacteria -to the gram have been discovered. This argument has a tendency to appal -one; I know it had great effect upon me for a long time, and I took -elaborate pains to take into my system only those kinds of food which -were sterilized, or practically so. This is the health regimen which -is advocated by Professor Metchnikoff; one should eat only foods which -have been thoroughly boiled and sterilized. I have come, in the course -of time, to the conclusion that this way of living is suicidal, and -that there is no way of destroying one's health more quickly. I think -that the important question is, not how many bacteria there are in the -food when you swallow it, but how many bacteria there come to be in -food after it gets into your alimentary canal. The digestive juices -are apparently able to take care of a very great number of germs; -it is after the food has passed on down, and is lodged in the large -intestine, that the real fermentation and putrefaction begin--and these -count for more, in the question of health, than that which goes on in -the butcher-shop or the refrigerator or the pantry. - -Do not misunderstand what I mean by this. I am not advocating that -anyone should swallow the bacteria of deadly diseases, such as typhoid -and cholera; I am not advocating that anyone should use food which -is in a state of decomposition--on the contrary, I have ruled out of -my dietary a number of foods in common use which depend for their -production upon bacterial action; for instance, beer and wine, and -all alcoholic drinks, all kinds of cheeses, sauerkraut, vinegar, etc. -My point is simply that the ordinary healthy person has no reason for -terrifying himself about the common aërobic bacteria--which swarm -in the atmosphere, and are found by hundreds of millions in all raw -food, and in cooked food which has not been kept with the elaborate -precautions that a surgeon uses with his instruments and linen; also -that the real problem is to take into the system those foods which can -be readily digested and assimilated, and which afford the body all the -elements that it needs to keep itself in the best condition for the -inevitable, incessant warfare with the hostile organisms which surround -it. - -So far as meat is concerned, of course no sensible person would use -meat which showed the slightest trace of being spoiled, nor any meat -which had been canned, or ground up and made into messes, such as -sausage. If one uses reasonably fresh meat, the bacteria which may -be on the outside of it will be killed by proper cooking. And so the -question is, it seems to me, what does meat do after it gets into the -stomach? And that is a matter for practical experiment, which very few -people have made, so far as I have any information. Innumerable people -are eating meat, of course; but they are eating it in combination with -all other kinds of destructive foods, and they are eating it prepared -in innumerable unwholesome ways. So far as I know, no scientist has -ever taken a group of normal men and kept them for a certain period -upon a rational vegetarian diet, and then put them for another period -upon a diet containing broiled fresh meat, and made a thoroughly -scientific study of their condition, as, for instance, Professor -Chittenden did for his "low proteid" experiments. - -For about a year previous to reading about Dr. Salisbury's "meat diet," -I had been following the raw-food regimen. I had gained wonderful -results from this, and I had written a good deal about it; but I had -got these results while leading an active life, and not doing hard -brain-work. I found continually that when I settled down to a sedentary -life, and to writing which involved a great nervous strain, I began to -lose weight on raw food; and if I kept on with this regimen, I would -begin to have headaches, and other signs of distress from what I was -eating. As an illustration of what I mean, I might say that quite -recently I plunged into a novel in which I was very much absorbed, and -I lost twelve pounds in sixteen days; and this, it must be understood, -without changing my diet in the slightest particular. I went on with -the work for about six weeks, and by that time I had lost twenty -pounds. In explaining this to myself, I was divided between uncertainty -as to whether I was working too hard, or whether I was eating too much. -Finally I took the precaution to weigh what I was eating, and to make -quite certain that I was eating no more than I had been accustomed -to eat during periods when I had remained at my normal weight. I then -cut the quantity of my food in half, and found that I lost much less -rapidly. This served to convince me that the trouble lay in the fact -that I had not sufficient nervous energy left to assimilate the food -that I was taking. - -And I have known others to have this same experience. Bernarr -Macfadden, in particular, told me that he could not get along upon -the nut and fruit diet while closely confined in his office, and that -he found the solution of his problem in milk. Inasmuch as there is -nothing that poisons me quite so quickly as milk, I had to look farther -for my solution. As a matter of fact, I had been looking for this -solution for more than ten years, though it is only quite recently that -I had come to understand the problem clearly. It is a problem which -every brain-worker faces; and I am sure, therefore, that there will -be many who will find the report of my experiments and blunders to -be of interest to them. I have tried, under these circumstances, all -kinds of the more digestible foods--toast, rice, baked potatoes, baked -apples, milk, poached eggs, and so on; always I have found that these -foods digested perfectly, but they poisoned my system because of their -constipating effect; and this was a dilemma which I was never able to -get around. - -I now read Dr. Salisbury's book, "The Relation of Alimentation to -Disease." Many of his experiments I found extremely interesting. Dr. -Salisbury described the consequences of the ordinary starch and sugar -diet as making a "yeast-pot" of one's intestinal tract. I found in my -own case many of the symptoms which he described, and I determined to -see what would be the effect of the meat diet in my case. - -I began the experiment with reluctance. I had lost all interest in the -taste of meat, and I had a prejudice against it; I hated the smell of -it, and I hated the feeling of it, and I was prepared for the direst -consequences, according to the prophecies of my vegetarian friends. I -should not have been at all surprised if I had been made very ill by -my first meal. I was prepared to allow for that, supposing that after -three years I had perhaps forgotten how to digest meat. To my surprise, -however, I found no difficulty at all. I soon gave up preparing the -meat according to the elaborate prescription of Dr. Salisbury, and -contented myself simply with eating good lean beef-steak. I continued -the experiment for two weeks, living upon meat exclusively. I found -that all my symptoms of stomach trouble disappeared, and I had no -headaches whatever. I got quite weak upon the exclusive diet, but this -was according to Dr. Salisbury's statement; just as soon as I added a -little shredded wheat biscuit and dried fruit to the menu this trouble -disappeared, and I gained in weight with great rapidity, and was soon -back where I had been before. - -I did not continue the diet, owing partly to distaste for it, and -partly to the inconvenience of it. I had accustomed myself to the -raw food way of living, and any one who knows what this means can -understand my distaste for washing plates and scraping frying-pans, and -going to the bother of getting fresh meat and keeping it and cooking -it. Also, of course, there was the item of expense. Upon the raw-food -diet I had been able to live for ten cents a day. I am never accustomed -to spending more than thirty or forty cents a day, even when indulging -in abundant fresh fruit. - -Perhaps I ought also to specify that a good deal of the success of the -diet may have been owing to the hot-water regimen which is a part of -it. An hour or two before every meal one is supposed to sip at least -a pint of very hot water, which has the effect of cleansing out the -stomach, and stimulates peristaltic action to a remarkable degree. I -had been accustomed to drink hot water while fasting, but I had never -taken it systematically, as I did at this time. It is a trick well -worth knowing about. - -I ought also to mention the fact that I suggested to several others -that they try this meat diet. One of them, a friend who had been -eating raw food at my suggestion, with the very best results, began -the experiment and continued for three days, and the results were -most disappointing. This friend, a woman in middle years, became very -ill, with all the symptoms of stomach trouble, diarrhoea, and general -poisoning. She wrote me that she gave up the diet at the end of three -days, because she saw no use in making herself desperately ill. She -added: "I followed the regimen in every smallest detail, precisely -according to Dr. Salisbury's direction. You know me, and you know that -when I do a thing I do it thoroughly, so there is no need to say any -more about that." Which only goes to show that, as the proverb has it, -"One man's meat is another man's poison." - -Dr. Salisbury recommends the meat diet especially in cases of -tuberculosis. He finds that the predisposing cause of this disease -is "vegetable fermentation." He declares that the excessive starch -and sugar diet leads to the production of yeast spores and other -ferments in the intestinal tract, and that these are absorbed into -the circulation and ultimately clog the small capillaries in the -lungs. Dr. Salisbury's theory was set forth over thirty years ago, and -that was before Koch had made his discovery of the tubercle bacillus. -This discovery would seem to put Dr. Salisbury's theory out of court -altogether; but as we physical culturists are inclined to suspect, -there are causes of disease lying behind the attack of the specific -bacillus. These causes are a depleted blood supply and a weakened -system; and it seems to me, from what I have observed of consumptives -and their diet, that Dr. Salisbury's theories fit in very well indeed -with the Koch theory. - -I wrote recently to Professor Chittenden to ask him what, in his -opinion, would be the effects of the meat diet upon tuberculosis. -He replied that he knew no reason for believing that it would be of -special benefit but that the whole subject of diet in tuberculosis -seemed to him to be one concerning which there was urgent need of -experiment and investigation. This is unquestionably the case. I know -no two physicians who seem to agree in the diets they prescribe to -consumptives, and I have never met two consumptives who followed the -same regimen. The general idea seems to be to stuff as much food in -your system as you possibly can, especially milk and raw eggs; and it -seems to me quite certain that, whatever system may be correct, this -system is incorrect. - -This much seems to me to be clear: tuberculosis is a disease brought -about by under-nourishment. It is a disease to which the poor are -especially liable; and while this is undoubtedly in part due to bad -air, it is also due to bad feeding. And when ignorant people wish to -live cheaply, the foods they eat are the sugar and starch foods. I -remember in Thoreau's "Walden" he sets forth how he lived for many -months upon five or six dollars' worth of food. He does not give the -amount of the food by weight, so of course we cannot tell exactly; but -he gives the prices he paid, and the leading articles in his diet were -flour, rice, corn-meal, molasses, sugar and lard. One is, therefore, -perfectly prepared to learn that Thoreau died of consumption. And -the same thing, I believe, will happen to a good many enthusiastic -vegetarians of my acquaintance. They have given up meat, and they have -made up for it by increasing their consumption of bread and crackers, -rice and potatoes, and prepared and predigested cereals, which they eat -with cream and sugar. Even when they use high proteid food, it is in -some form such as beans, which contain a great deal of starch, and in -a form which is difficult of digestion. As a result of this, they are -thin and anćmic looking--they do not seem to be able to put on flesh by -means of intellectual fervor and an optimistic philosophy. The result -of my meat-diet experiment has been to convince me yet more firmly -that the cooked-vegetable diet is the worst diet in the world for -myself. (I am content to phrase it that way, and leave it for others -to find out about their own case.) There has been some agitation in -vegetarian circles since the report has gone around that I have become -a backslider, and have gone back to the flesh-pots. I state the facts -here for what they may be worth to others. I shall never call myself a -"vegetarian" again--though I shall be a vegetarian the greater part of -the time. - -For it should be noted, of course, that the objections which I have -brought against the cooked vegetarian diet do not apply at all to the -raw-food diet, which is entirely a different matter. If one lives upon -nuts, whole grains boiled or shredded, salad vegetables and fruits, -he does not get an excess of either starch or sugar, but a perfectly -balanced dietary, every article of which is rich in natural salts--in -which the starchy foods, and especially the prepared cereals, are -fatally deficient. Such a diet can be followed by any person in normal -health, who is leading a physically active life. I have known a number -of people, old and young, to start out upon this way of life without -any preliminaries, and they have noted a great gain in health and -efficiency, and have had no trouble of any sort. This diet is as cheap -as the bean and white flour and rice diet of the ordinary "vegetarian," -and it is, by all odds, the simplest and most convenient diet in the -world. - -I have been accustomed all my life to think of meat as a very "heavy" -article of food, an article of food suited for men doing hard physical -labor; it is a curious fact that the view I am setting forth here is -precisely the opposite. So long as I am doing hard physical labor, -whether it is walking ten miles a day, or playing tennis, or building a -house, I get along perfectly upon the raw food; but when I settle down -for long periods of thinking and writing--often sitting for six hours -without moving from one position--I find that I need something else, -and nothing has answered that purpose quite so well as beef-steak. It -appears to be, so far as I am concerned, the most easily digested and -most easily assimilated of foods. And because the work that I am doing -seems to me to be important, I am willing to make the sacrifice of -money and time and trouble which it necessitates. My diet at such times -will consist of beef or chicken, shredded wheat biscuit, and a little -fruit. If any one is disposed to follow my example and make this -experiment, I beg to call his attention especially to the fact that I -name these three kinds of food, and none others; and that I mean these -three kinds and none others. The main trouble with advising anybody to -eat meat is that he proceeds to eat it in the everyday world, where -it means not the eating of broiled lean beef, but also of bacon and -eggs, and of bread and butter, and of potatoes with cream gravy, and of -rice pudding and crackers and cheese and coffee. Please do not proceed -to eat these things and then hold meat-eating responsible for the -consequences. - -I do not for a moment wish to give the impression that I believe that -meat-eating is necessary to a normally active person, or that humanity -will always continue to eat meat. No invention of science can ever make -meat as cheap a food as nuts and fruit, and nothing can ever make it -as beautiful or attractive a food, nor as clean a food, nor as easily -prepared a food. I believe that children can be brought up without -knowing the taste of meat, and can be trained to lead normal and active -lives from the very beginning, and can live on the raw-food diet and -thrive. What I am discussing here are my own experiences, and I do not -regard myself as a normal specimen of humanity, because I work a great -deal harder than anybody has a right to work. I do that because there -are so many idle and useless people in the world at present--and some -have to make martyrs of themselves, until conditions of injustice and -cruelty have been done away with. - - - - -APPENDIX - -SOME LETTERS FROM FASTERS - - -LONDON, ONTARIO, May 2, 1910. - -DEAR SIR,--Your article in a recent magazine very greatly interested -me. My sister, on her way home from a five-and-a-half-weeks' visit -in Boston and New York, where she had been endeavoring to discover -the causes of her frightful headaches, bought that number of the -magazine and read your experience, with, as you can well imagine, a -deep interest. In Boston she had consulted one of the two physicians -supposed to head the profession (as consultants) in that city. This -man told her she had Bright's disease and leakage of the heart, and -he gave her ten years to live--if she was very careful. As she has -five children under twelve years of age, this was a sad outlook. She -weighed 122 pounds when she left--and this was the lowest weight since -early girlhood--but on her return, weighed on the same scales in the -same clothing, she was only 108 pounds. She looked _very_ bad, and her -spirits were at zero. - -Your article appealed to her, and she would have unhesitatingly tried -your remedy, but that she was pregnant, and thought it would probably -mean the child's death. The Boston obstetrician, who was consulted, -said, if the other doctor's diagnosis was correct, the child would have -to be taken at eight months. - -After reading your experience, I said to my sister: "You cannot perhaps -follow Mr. Sinclair's example, but you can approximate to it. If you -go to your own doctor he will undoubtedly send you to some sanatorium -where the patients are fairly stuffed. Suppose you come over to my -place each noon and take dinner, having eaten only _a very light -breakfast_; then rest from two to five, take a long bath when you rise, -go for a walk from six to six-thirty, and then to your own home for -tea, taking only a shredded wheat biscuit for that meal." - -My sister consented, and on Saturday was weighed. On that light diet, -and in twelve days, she had gained fourteen pounds. Her color is -returning, she does not tire as she did, and we are full of hope that -she may recover. - -My object in writing was to thank you for your frank recital of ills -and aches and their cure, and to get from you the names of the books to -which you referred. - -Several of my friends have read your articles on my recommendation, and -one at least is seriously considering a lengthened fast. Reading the -article took me back to the "no-breakfast régime," which I followed for -five years, and then, for no especial reason, abandoned. Already I feel -much better. - -Sincerely and gratefully, -M. R. T. - - -SKOWHEGAN, MAINE, May 30, 1910. - -DEAR SIR,--I read your article in the _Cosmopolitan_ with deep -interest, and am to-day on my seventh day's fast. My sensations thus -far are exactly like yours. I shall fast until hunger returns, if it -take a month. - -My age is forty-eight, and I have enjoyed the best of health nearly all -my life. Even now my digestion is all right, but for five years or so I -have been troubled with rheumatism, not the painful, swelling sort, but -lame joints. - -I tried "Fletcherism," and for the last nine months have done my best -to live up to his suggestions, but fell down, exactly as in your own -case. I can't tell what to eat, or when I have eaten enough. - -Whether this fast of yours does me any permanent good or not, my joints -certainly move better to-day than for six months, and I have every -confidence in the theory. The physicians here to a man all laugh at me, -likewise my friends. I had lost ten pounds in weight at the end of the -sixth day; I lost three the first, two each for the next two days, and -a pound a day for the next three days. - -You speak of an unmistakable appetite. I could eat, of course, now, -though I have no appetite, and I am wondering how I shall know when a -real appetite returns. Mrs. W. is as keen to try the fasting cure as -I, and her condition is very like Mrs. Sinclair's, but I thought one -member of the family was enough for the first try-out. Please pardon -a total stranger for encroaching upon the time of a busy man, but in -the hunt for health, without which life is not worth living, one will -do things he would not otherwise think of. For your information I will -say that I have attended to my office and business every day since my -fast began, walking to my home and back at least three times daily, for -the exercise; driving a touring-car nights and Sunday, for pleasure, -exactly as though there had been no change in my habits. The strangest -part of the experience is that I feel so well, and except for a slight -faintness, feel perfectly well to-day. Say--but I was hungry for the -first two days! - -Yours truly, -HERBERT WENTWORTH. - - -CLYDE PARK, MONT., May 17, 1910. - -DEAR SIR,--I was much interested in your article in the _Cosmopolitan_ -on "Starving for Health's Sake." For some time before I read it I -had been troubled with a coated tongue and a nasty, bitter taste in -my mouth. When I read the article my complaint was probably at its -worst. I consulted a doctor, who gave me some capsules to clean out my -intestinal canal, so he said. I asked him what I could eat and he said, -"The less you eat the better." So I ate nothing for a week. Everything -connected with my fast for that week was just as you described it--a -ravenous hunger on the second day and after that no hunger at all. -However, the coated tongue was still there, and when I next saw the -doctor I mentioned your article and said you recommended rectal -injections. He said he read your article and approved of it, and said -after a thorough examination that I had an impaction of the colon. He -said he would give me something to work on my colon and also added that -if I fasted long enough the impaction would move out of itself. He also -recommended injections. On the 25th day, although the coated tongue -and nasty taste were still with me, I commenced eating again, as there -was so much work to do on the ranch, and I had to do it, as hired help -was scarce. I drank nothing but tepid water and very thin lemonade, -slightly sweetened, during my fast of twenty-four days. I dropped from -175 pounds to 143 pounds. - -It is a week now since I broke my fast and I am rapidly gaining weight. -Yesterday I weighed 152 pounds. However, as I said, I still have the -coated tongue, although not so bad as formerly, and when I regain more -weight, I'm going to begin another fast. I am fifty-three years of age, -and have never used tea, coffee, whisky, or tobacco. I want to read up -on the subject, so that when I begin again I'll know what to do. Your -article was all the literature I had on the subject, and it may have -been incomplete in a great many important particulars. - -Respectfully yours, -ROBERT AITKIN. - - -CHICAGO, ILL., May 22, 1910. - -DEAR SIR,--I think you will be interested to learn the experience of my -wife, who tried your fast, with the same results as your wife, over -which we are very much delighted. - -Allow me to say that it was all done on the quiet, and no one knew of -it until it was all over. And then, of course, every one thought she -was raving crazy, but she has since shown her friends that it was just -the thing to do. - -In the first place it appealed to her, and she went into it with -_faith_. She fasted for eleven days, after the second day was never -hungry at all, and really began to take nourishment before she was -hungry. - -The whole thing came out exactly as in your cases and was most -interesting. She had temperature the first two days and ate crushed -ice. After that, hot or cold water as desired. The tongue was coated -very badly and her breath very bad. The tongue cleared very slowly and -was quite discouraging, but after a few days was clear again. She lost -over ten pounds, all of which has been regained and more, too, and she -is gaining all the time. Complexion very clear, and the picture of -health. Appetite great, eats everything, no aches or pains of any kind, -and, best of all, no constipation, which was what she tried the fast -for. She lost no strength to speak of and didn't have to take to bed at -all; in fact, did everything about the house as usual. - -Everything has been fine now for three weeks, and if the troubles -return, she is to fast again and do it right, and will take no -nourishment until the tongue clears. - -She took internal baths nearly every day, and was astonished at -the results when nothing but water was being taken. While we don't -recommend it for every one, it certainly has been a godsend in this -case, and I believe because it was done right and with faith that it -was just the thing for her. You certainly have one convert, and if this -interests you, shall be pleased to know it. - -Yours very sincerely, -C. D. F. - - -KNOXVILLE, TENN., June 5, 1910. - -DEAR SIR,--I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness to you for a -restoration to such health of body and clarity of mind as I have not -known since my sixteenth year, when first I entered the high school. -That was twenty years ago. - -I read your article, "Starving for Health's Sake," in the -_Cosmopolitan_, and, as you may recollect, asked you for information as -to certain books treating of the fast as a cure for disease. - -Instead of answering me fully, you referred my case to the Bernarr -Macfadden Institution in Chicago, for which I thank you, but I did not -go there because I had neither time nor money for that purpose. - -Through a local book-dealer I ordered a copy of "Fasting, Hydrotherapy -and Exercise," but after two weeks of waiting it failed to arrive, so -with your _Cosmopolitan_ article as my only guide and sum total of -knowledge as to the fast, I quit eating on May 13 and did not take -anything except water until the morning of May 26. Even then I was not -hungry, but as I did not care to remain away from work any longer I -broke the fast on the morning of the 26th. I lost thirteen pounds in -weight, but was never too weak not to move around. I worked in the -office for seven days, and the balance of the time remained at home, -basking in the sunshine and reading constantly. - -My health and appetite are in such perfect condition I can eat anything -without fear of ulterior consequences. - -As a result of the fast, I have sloughed off all my impedimenta of -disease. Constipation of ten years' standing is gone as if by magic. -Piles and resulting pruritis of eight years' tearing torture are -nightmares of the past. Bronchitis and eczema of scalp have vanished. -Asthma, due to nervous sympathy with the pneumogastric nerve, is -no more. Catarrhal deafness, sore throat, intestinal catarrh, and -a general neurasthenic condition have left me. Work was never so -pleasant. I cannot get enough of physical exercise, it seems; my -muscles seem to grow stronger as the exercise proceeds, and my weight -is going upward about a pound daily. I am now three pounds heavier than -I was before my fast began. - -Life was never so beautiful, hope and joy never so green, the future -for me and humanity's great movement toward a better day and higher -good of existence never seemed so reasonable and possible of every -realization as now, in the full possession of physical health and -mental strength which have come back to me. - -Heretofore my work has been wrought out in pain. - -I am through with drugs. I graduated from allopathy long ago, then took -up homeopathy and have now discarded it. I have spent over $500 in the -last ten years trying to get well on medicines. These professional -quacks bled me for a living and knew not how to cure me. Your article -was written in the spirit of wishing to help suffering man. It cost me -only thirty cents to use your method, viz.: six feet of rubber tubing -to make a siphon to take two enemas daily. For that thirty cents I -obtained relief a million-fold more beneficial than from $500 worth of -medicine. Nay more, from your fasting idea I got rid of $500 worth of -poisoning during ten years of medical superstition. - -Sincerely yours, -H. E. HOOVER. - - -NORTHWEST SOCIETY ARCHAEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF AMERICA - -WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, SEATTLE, WASH. -Nov. 5, 1910. - -EDITOR _Cosmopolitan_ MAGAZINE. - -Am enclosing clipping which shows that prominent men up here in the -great Northwest are not afraid to try out certain methods of fighting -disease merely because they are thought to be "new" or "faddy" (tho' in -truth the fast cure is as old as the Old Testament). - -The value of Professor Colvin's fast experience seems to be that he has -given to the world the best method of breaking the fast and getting -on to a solid-food diet. Upton Sinclair said the breaking of the fast -is the most important part of it, and would be the most dangerous were -it not for the great natural food, milk, which tides you over. But he -fails to remember there are thousands with whom milk does not agree, -sick or well. - -Shortly after interview noted in enclosed clipping from Seattle -_Times_, Professor Colvin attempted to begin to break the fast with -orange juices and utterly failed. He then tried milk and was made so -sick that he had to fast for three more days to get into a condition -to break the fast. He then started in with a very light veal broth -(not soup, nor tea). He soon got so he could take a cup of it every -hour and a half. To get on to solid food he tried a few crackers with -the broth, but found too much soda in the crackers and abandoned their -use. Finally he hit upon the very thing that fitted the condition of -his body, dry whole-wheat bread toasted. This toasted whole-wheat bread -he had his cook crush with a rolling pin into a powder and each day -mixed more of it with the cup of broth. After this he filled the cup -three-fourths full of this toast powder and only poured in as much -broth as the dust would absorb, making a solid gruel, which was very -appetizing and nourishing (so much so that the professor continues to -use it for breakfast food though his fast is closed). Now to this gruel -he added mashed baked potato from time to time (more each time) until -he virtually supplanted the toast dust. From this he went to baked -apple, thence to raw eggs, thence to macaroni, thence to pigeon squab, -and thence to solid earth. - -It seems to me that his discovery of the broth-toast-gruel method is -a great discovery. Especially so for those who live in the cities and -cannot be sure as to the absolute purity of their milk. Even when the -milk diet can be used it does not afford a solution for getting off of -a liquid diet on to a solid food basis. - -In your July number appears a letter from Mr. Buel of New York in which -he says that it would be almost criminal to permit any one advanced -in years to enter upon the dangerous folly of the "fast cure." I am -enclosing you a clipping from the _Oregonian_, telling of the fasting -experiences of Professor Colvin's friend, Rev. J. E. Fitch. Rev. Fitch -is 81 years of age and a year ago took it into his head to out-fast -Moses. Holy Writ says that Moses fasted 40 days, and to prove to his -congregation that one did not have to be superstitious to believe some -of these Old Testament tales, Rev. J. E. Fitch, at the age of 80, -fasted fifty days; and instead of losing flesh towards the last part of -his fast actually gained in weight. He is as vigorous to-day as he was -at 21. - -Your Mr. Buel spoke of fasters as cranks and faddists and intimated -that your solid citizen would not thus be led astray. Professor Colvin -is not a crank but one of our best citizens, being well known both in -this country and Europe, and spoken of as the probable president of -the Pan-American University to be located in Porto Rico. - -Very respectfully, -THOS. F. MURPHY. - - -210 Merriman Ave., -ASHEVILLE, N. C., 9/11/10. - -MR. UPTON SINCLAIR, -ARDEN, DEL. - -DEAR SIR,--After fasting for ten days I went off for ten days. Then -on for seventeen days, during which time I got rid of a long list -of troubles, except a cough, for which I underwent examination by a -specialist. I found I had tuberculosis. The entire upper right lobe of -my lung and about half of the left upper lung being affected. Now I -am up here making a very rapid recovery. I consider that the fasts I -took were the best things that could have happened for me, since they -eliminated a bunch of troubles that are nearly always present with -tuberculosis, such as indigestion, sore throat, rheumatism, etc. All of -these left me, and I never felt better in my life than since fasting. -I do not believe that such a rapid recovery as I am making could be -possible had I not fasted. Fasting did not cure the tuberculosis, -but it gave me an excellent stomach, with which to fight it, and -tuberculosis will always give way to a good stomach. I did not know I -had tuberculosis when I started fasting, but I now know, since learning -more about the disease, that I had the trouble in an active state -more than nine months before I fasted. My cough got very tame during -the fast and very nearly disappeared, but returned as I increased the -amount of food I took after breaking the fast, but at no time did it -get as bad as it was previous to the fast. I weighed 172 lbs. in May, -when I began my fasting and dropped to 148 lbs., and now weigh 180 -lbs. and never felt better in my life. Have but a slight spot of the -tuberculosis affection left in my right lung. - -While I would not recommend others affected with tuberculosis to fast, -I would ask that if you have any letters from consumptives who have -fasted I would appreciate a copy. - -ROLAND A. WILSON. - - -NEW ZEALAND, Sept. 10, 1910. - -DEAR MR. SINCLAIR,--Your article "The Truth about Fasting" in August -_Physical Culture_ to hand this week has much interested me. The -questions you ask at end of article will, I hope, receive many replies, -and give much information regarding the fasting cure. I, personally, -can supply a considerable amount of just such information as you -require, but the fact that I am a druggist in business precludes -the giving of such for publication until drugs and I part company. -Let me explain. A little under four years ago I came upon a copy of -_Physical Culture_. It interested me and I followed up the reading -by subscribing, and obtaining various books--Dewey's, Hazzard's, -Carrington's, Desmond's, Eales', Bell's and others. I became quite -convinced that about 99 per cent of usual medical treatment was wrong, -and, in fact, actually detrimental, and often death-dealing to those -who were in search of health. More and more I felt that I was doing a -big injustice to those who applied to me for help, and an accessory -in bad practice by the dispensing of physician's prescriptions. Yet I -know that, like myself, the great bulk of the doctors and chemists were -acting innocently and even conscientiously when recommending drugs and -practicing the accepted drug and surgical treatments. The belief that -drugs cure disease is so deeply rooted in the average human mind, and -the teachings in medical and druggists' colleges so universal, and even -thorough, that doctors and druggists can hardly be blamed for holding -to their mother-loves. - -However, I had an open mind, and a desire to hand out a square deal, -and decided to make a practical test of the new teachings that had come -my way. - -I started by carefully selecting my patients--those who I believed had -a fair amount of intelligence, and whose ailments had supplied them -with a fairly long course of pain, worry and expense. Being a druggist -in business, it would have been a very foolish thing for me to have -wholly condemned drugs. And that is one reason why I selected chronics -for a start--I was able to use the argument that as drugs had had a -long and faithful trial, and had proven valueless in curing, a fast of -nine or ten days would be, at least, worth a trial. My first case was a -lady about thirty-five years of age. Complaint, badly swollen, highly -inflamed and ulcerated leg, extending from two inches below knee to -one inch above ankle, and more than half way around. She proved a good -patient. The leg had been bad with more or less severity for fourteen -years, and had been treated by several doctors, druggists, and others. -She started on an immediate fast. Within twenty-four hours after fast -commenced, the inflammation decreased; by the end of the fourth day it -had entirely subsided, and by the end of the eighth day not a vestige -of the trouble remained. This fast took place over two years ago--she -has held reasonably well to the simple foods I advised, and so far -there has been no return of the ailment. Her general health has very -considerably improved. - -Since then I have treated, perhaps, fifty cases by fasting, and many -others by simple dieting. Many complete cures have been effected that -ordinary medical methods had entirely failed to benefit. My list -comprises many ailments, ranging from one to forty-five years in -evidence, while the patients themselves have ranged in age from one -year to eighty-five years. - -X. ---- - - -HASTINGS, MICH., Sept. 11, 1910. - -EDITOR, THE _Cosmopolitan_. - -Every reader of your magazine owes you a vote of thanks for the Upton -Sinclair article on fasting. - -Mr. Sinclair said, "There are three dangers attending the fast." In my -case there were four--the danger of being sent to the Insane Asylum. - -All my neighbors and relations had the utmost contempt for what they -termed "my craziness." But notwithstanding all this, I fasted fourteen -days, and stomach trouble, heart trouble, kidney trouble, chronic -catarrh, and rheumatism, which for years had made life a burden, are -no more. I do not have to tell my friends, at this date, that it was a -success, they know it. My family physician has since said that it was -probably the best thing I ever did in my life. - -I consider myself greatly indebted to you for furnishing me so -efficient a remedy, free of cost. - -Gratefully yours, - -MRS. E. L. RAYMOND. - - -UPTON SINCLAIR. - -DEAR SIR,--Yes, you may use my name in connection with my experience. - -As I did not take a complete fast the first time, I began again Sept. -4th, and fasted thirteen days, when natural hunger returned. Had none -of the unpleasant experiences of the first fast. Was able to be on my -feet and work more than at any time in years. - -Chronic rheumatism had caused sinewy swelling of my knee joints, that -in turn had caused numbness of the feet and lower limbs, making it -impossible for me to be on my feet. What I have suffered with them from -jar of people walking across the room, or brushing against them, cannot -be told. The first fast removed all the pain and soreness. The last -fast has brought them down to normal or nearly so. I am confident that -I shall soon be able to walk any reasonable distance. - -You are certainly entitled to a place among the public benefactors of -the age for giving to the people the knowledge you had gained by the -fast. - -Gratefully yours, - -MRS. E. L. RAYMOND. - - -20 Bowdoin St., BOSTON, MASS. -Aug. 1, 1910. - -DEAR SIR,--I have just read with much interest your article in -_Physical Culture_ and am minded to send you a brief account of my -experience, which has been in some respects more full than your own. -In speaking thus, I refer to the fact that my fasts, though not of so -long duration as many reported, were complete in this: that my blood -and tissue had cleaned up, my mouth was sweet, tongue moist, and there -were plenty of the digestive fluids and a call for good plain wholesome -food, which was slowly eaten and perfectly digested, and my appetite -was perfectly satisfied with a very moderate amount. - -I suffered severely from indigestion and rheumatism, and made up my -mind to try the effect of complete abstinence from food till I was -better. I was familiar with the writings of Dr. Dewey and was well -convinced that he was correct in his views. I was in my office the -morning of Jan. 1st, and the bookkeeper remarked as to how ill I -looked. Seven days after that (the first seven days of my fast) I was -in again, and he spoke of my greatly improved appearance, said I -looked very much better. He did not know nor did I tell him the reason -for the improvement. On the 12th day--the first after I had broken the -fast--he said I looked much better, which was also true, but when I -gave him an explanation of the reason, he would not believe in it at -all. - -In none of the four fasts which I have taken have I set any time limit -or taken it as a stunt at all, but only have been guided by conditions -as they developed. In no instance have I failed, and in no case was -food a temptation to me until natural hunger returned. It seems to me -an error to attempt to gauge the length of the fast. We ought to be -governed by nature's direction. A "wise dog" knows when he needs to -fast, and fasts till he wants food. It seems to me when we get to that -point of wisdom, to know as much as the dog, we will know enough to go -by intelligent needs instead of the clock. - -My experience is not in accord with the view expressed in your article -as regards weakness of stomach and lack of peristalsis after fasting. -It is my experience that after a complete fast any plain food desired -can be taken without harm. I do not favor imprudence, of course, but I -do not think that there is any good reason for being compelled to take -fluid foods unless one desires to. My longest fast was nineteen days. - -C. D. NORRIS. - - -39 Rue Singer, PARIS, FRANCE. - -DEAR SIR,--I read your article in the May _Cosmopolitan_ and was very -much impressed with the ideas you advocated. I had for twenty years -been troubled with constipation, which caused colds and grippe, besides -making me very sluggish. Being a singer and teacher, these things were -great handicaps on my work, so after reading your article I decided to -try it. I was in Paris studying singing with Oscar Seagle and Jean de -Reszke, and of course I needed to be at my very best all the time, but -I wasn't. I couldn't keep from taking cold, which always knocked me -out of a week or two of work. So when my teachers went away for their -vacation, I decided to start the fast, and on July 31 I did so. Being -a coffee "toper," it made it very hard for me to give up my breakfast -cup of strong black coffee, but I did it and the first three or four -days I nearly lost my mind. Never experienced anything in my life that -required so much will power. However, I stuck to it, but I was very -hungry and had a splitting headache for four days, after which it got -a little better. Then about the fifth day, as my hunger began to leave -me, I began to break out as if I had measles--this kept up for five -or six days. To add to that, my mouth and throat became inflamed and -very sore, and that didn't cure up until about the twelfth day of the -fast. I was exceedingly miserable all these days, but I realized how -much I needed something of the kind to get the terrible poison out of -my system, so I just held on and drank much water, and walked in the -sunshine all I could. My tongue had a thick coat on it and I had a -terrible bilious taste in my mouth for twelve days. I believed it would -take about twenty days to fix me up just right, so I was going ahead -when I suddenly decided to make a hurried business trip back to Texas; -so on the fourteenth day I sailed from Cherbourg without having broken -my fast. - -I carried a dozen oranges on board with me to make sure. When I began -to breathe the salt air I got hungry, so on the fifteenth day I began -to eat oranges and kept it up for a day and a half and then tried to -get some milk, but could get none that was good, and most of what I got -was of the condensed variety. I did the best I could for four days, -when my system rebelled and became clogged up and I took another cold -as usual. So I decided not to eat another mouthful on that ship, and I -kept the fast up until I got to Ft. Worth. Then I went at the matter -according to your instructions, and the results were perfect. I took -up oranges for two days, then went on the milk diet for two days, then -began on the boiled wheat. The results have been highly satisfactory. -Going from a cold climate like Paris into a veritable inferno like -Texas in summer made it very hard on me, but the wheat diet did -everything for me and gave me unusual strength and vigor even in that -hot climate where vigor doesn't abound much in hot weather. All my -troubles seemed to disappear. I had not sung a tone since I began the -first fast in Paris, so I began to practice again, and I never realized -such a change in anything. Everything went so easy and all my friends -said that they never saw such improvement in a human voice. I have -never even desired to taste coffee. I am living on wheat, nuts, all -kinds of fruit and vegetables, and the result is everything you said it -would be. I have completed my business in Texas and will start back to -Paris to-day. I am preparing myself for the journey this time. I have -a large "thermos" bottle which I have filled with wheat and will carry -plenty of fruit and nuts. - -I thank you very much for your information along the line of health. -You have been a great blessing to me, and I am sure you have been also -to thousands of others. - -ANDREW HEMPHILL. - - -OMAHA, NEB. - -DEAR MR. SINCLAIR,--I was so fascinated with the story of your fast -that I immediately made the experiment for myself, abstaining entirely -from food of any kind for five days. - -I had no particular ailment which seemed to need the fast cure, but -felt impelled to do a little investigating on my own account. - -I kept a diary in which I recorded each day's experience, including -loss in weight, effect of cold bath, amount of exercise taken, etc. -Without going into details, I can simply say I was astonished by the -results. While in one respect my experience differed from yours, in -that the desire for food did not entirely cease at any time, I was -surprised to find how easily it could be controlled after the first -day. Since the fast I have kept on drinking large quantities of pure -water--resulting in a gain in weight of twelve pounds, increased -digestive powers and a wonderfully improved appetite. - -I am frank to say I was never so pleased with, nor so greatly benefited -by anything ever previously extracted from a magazine article. - -R. E. WHEELER. - - -750 PENOBSCOT B'LD'G, DETROIT, -Oct. 19, 1910. - -DEAR MR. SINCLAIR,--Complying with your suggestion, will hurriedly -and briefly group my experiences through a fast which I took largely -because of your persuasive article on that subject. I absorbed the -information you gave as well as I could, and having been a great -sufferer for over twenty years with stomach and bowel troubles, began -a fast which I continued for nearly eleven days, adhering scrupulously -to the program outlined by you, in so far as I could practically do -so, except I took only one bath (tepid) daily before retiring and -omitted the enemas after the fifth day. Am fifty-seven years of age, -powerfully built and athletic in habit and practice. Normal weight -around two hundred pounds, height six feet one and one-half inches. -Various causes reduced my weight some four years ago to about one -hundred and eighty-five pounds, and almost constant non-assimilation -of foods prevented my regaining normal weight. Weight an hour previous -to my last lunch prior to the fast, one hundred and eighty-six pounds; -lost fourteen pounds during the fast, eight of which fell off me the -first three days. My indigestion had for years been accompanied by -distressing, persistent constipation. This did not yield until the -afternoon of fourth day of fast, when my entire intestinal functions -seemed to become normal, and although I had taken no food, solid or -liquid, no fruit juices, coffee, tea or milk, absolutely nothing in -fast except Detroit River water, hot or cold, as fancy suggested, after -the fourth day the bowels inclined to movement at least twice during -each twenty-four hours. Lost strength gradually throughout fast, but -looked after essentials in my office from six down to three hours the -last day. I had no pronounced desire for food from first to last. -Tongue remained heavily furred throughout the fast, breath offensive, -even to myself. I sat at table at breakfast and evening meals, serving -same, but using only a cup or two of hot water as my portion. Voice -lost resonancy and timbre, and I finally felt so enervated that I broke -the fast--juice of an orange first evening, and of five oranges the -second day; of six oranges the third day, during which I also sipped a -quart of rich milk, hot. Fourth day ate six oranges, two quarts milk, -slice of old bread and about three-fourths pound juicy steak, after -which I soon began to eat more than the usual quantity of wholesome -food. For over four months had no indigestion, bowels regular and -normal. - -I am hoping to see my way clear to fast again soon, for am needing -a brace physically.... I owe you grateful thanks for inciting me to -undertake the remedy. - -With best wishes for your continued success, usefulness and happiness. - -Sincerely, -M. E. HALL. - - -In my discussion of the question of what to eat, I have referred to the -meat diet, and also to the raw-food diet. By way of throwing further -light upon the problem, I reprint here two letters, one by a follower -of Dr. Salisbury, and the other by a man whom I was instrumental in -starting upon raw food. The latter article is reprinted from _Physical -Culture_, by courtesy of Mr. Bernarr Macfadden. The reader may find it -difficult to understand how two people can have had such apparently -contradictory experiences. I myself, however, have no doubt of the -literal truth of their statements, for I know dozens of people who are -thriving upon each of these diets. It is to me only a further proof of -the fact that our knowledge of this subject is as yet in its infancy, -and that all one can do is to experiment, and find out what system best -agrees with his own organism. - - -504 West Second St., -LOS ANGELES, CAL., July 28, 1910. - -DEAR SIR,--As you say in the August _Physical Culture_ that you would -like to hear the experiences of fasters, I will tell you of mine. In -1889-1890 I was very sick with catarrh of the stomach and bowels, which -developed into consumption of the bowels accompanied by inflammatory -rheumatism. On May 1st, 1890, I went to the office of Dr. James H. -Salisbury and treated with him for one year. During the first nine -months I ate nothing but Salisbury steaks, beginning with one ounce per -meal and increasing gradually as I could assimilate it to one pound per -meal, and drank a pint of hot water an hour and a half before meals and -at bedtime. Salisbury steak, as you probably know, is beef pulp,--round -steak with all fat and fibres removed. I dropped weight rapidly, going -from 140 pounds to 90 pounds as this loss was diseased flesh. I then -gained as rapidly on beef alone and this was good hard flesh. During -the next three months he allowed me a slice of toasted bread at two -meals daily in addition to the meat. For the past twenty years I have -eaten meat three times a day with other foods, consequently have not -needed a physician in that time. I have foolish spells occasionally -and indulge in fruit, vegetables and cereals, and destroy the proper -ratio, viz: 2/3 of meat to 1/3 of other foods, then I begin to get out -of shape and this brings me to my fasting experiences,--about eight of -them in the last seventeen years and lasting from five to fifteen days -according to the time it took for my tongue to clear off. I find that -the more hot water I drink the quicker it clears; during the last fast -three years ago I drank one quart every two hours through the day. I -got my stomach so clean that the water tasted sweet--this is the test -of a clean stomach. - -Fasts have benefited me and I recommend them, as few people will -live on beef till their blood gets pure; that an exclusive diet of -beef _will_ make pure blood I saw demonstrated in New York at Dr. -Salisbury's by microscopic tests of my own blood and that of others. -When you are in this condition you can expose yourself as much as you -like without danger of taking cold. If people suffering with stomach -and intestinal troubles, Bright's disease, diabetes, rheumatism, -sciatica, or tuberculosis, would eat nothing but beef pulp and drink -hot water before meals they would be cured in nine cases out of ten, -as this was Dr. Salisbury's average of cures when they stuck to the -treatment. I acknowledge that one gets rid of a lot of diseased tissue -while fasting, but not more rapidly than on the beef diet, and the -latter has the advantage that one is making good blood all the time. I -consider that you are doing a great work in recommending the fast cure, -and agree with you that _Hamburg_ steak is not the best food to break a -fast with, as it contains 1/4 to 1/3 of fat and "animal fat is a lower -form of organization, in fact is often a process of degeneration." I -have seen several Salisbury patients have slight bilious attacks from -eating over-fat beef, but they quickly recovered by eating leaner beef. -Beef pulp is the best thing to eat after a fast as it is absorbed -quickly into the circulation and I never saw a patient whose stomach -was too weak to digest it in small quantities, well broiled. I believe -in dry foods, well masticated,--no slops. - -Dr. Salisbury said to me "a man whose food is beef can live in a hole -in the ground and be healthy." His last words to me were, "Stick to -beef and hot water the rest of your life and nothing but old age will -kill you barring accident." I asked him how long he had lived on this -diet, he replied, "thirty years."--"Do you expect to die of old age?" -"Sure." He died August 23rd, 1905, at the age of eighty-two from -the result of an accident. He was a most scientific and successful -practitioner; but nearly all physicians, aside from those he cured, -called his treatment a farce and a delusion because his teachings if -generally followed would put the majority of them out of business. One -New York doctor told me while I was on the diet "unless you give up -beef and hot water you will not live five years--you will wear your -kidneys out." I replied, "you doctors say I am going to die anyway, so -I might as well die clean." I immediately increased my hot water from -one pint to one quart before each meal and have kept it up ever since. -When I began drinking hot water I had a slight kidney and bladder -trouble; this has disappeared; the constant flushing has strengthened -these organs,--I am now sixty-four. - -Cold water before meals is better than none, but is not as good as hot -water, as the latter does not chill the stomach or gripe one, and acts -as a tonic on the internal organs; is more quickly absorbed and starts -perspiration, causing the skin to share with the kidneys the work of -eliminating waste matter. If a person is not very sick he can eat his -round steak (after removing the fat) ground without removing the fibre. -For a regular Salisbury steak leave the knife loose and clean the -grinder frequently. - -You have a large contract in trying to force medical men to recognize -the fast cure. They even told me, "while we think you are honest, you -are mistaken; you did not see Dr. Salisbury perform the cures you think -you saw." The Doctor considered me one of his star patients; he said I -was as far gone as any man he ever saw cured by the treatment, and that -he would rather have three cases of tuberculosis of the lungs than one -like mine, my disease being in the last stage. - -You can do as you like with this letter. I write simply to strengthen -you. Persist, you are on the right track at last. You are no "shallow -sensationalist." I like your writings. - -Very sincerely, -JAS. Y. ANTHONY. - - -THE FRUIT AND NUT DIET - -From early childhood until January 9, 1910, or about twenty years -in all, I had been a sufferer from asthma, and chronic catarrh in -addition. As a child I was sick a great deal of the time, having -regular attacks every few weeks, of such little troubles as bilious -fevers, chills and la grippe, with pneumonia, typhoid, measles, -whooping cough and the like sprinkled in at times. I have taken -gallons of castor oil, and pounds of calomel and quinine, I think. I -don't believe I ever had more than one cold, but I was never really -free of that. - -The first attack of asthma came shortly after the disappearance of a -severe case of eczema, and from that time on throughout the entire -twenty years, I did not pass a single moderately cold night without -having at least one, and more often, two and three spasms of asthma -during the night. These were relieved temporarily, only after sitting -up in bed and inhaling, for several minutes, the smoke from a green -powder which I burned for that purpose. Frequently attacks would last -continually for three and four days or a week, during which time -I was not able to draw a single free breath, and would suffer so -intensely that on many occasions I felt as if I was breathing my last. -I mention all this for fear some Salisbury followers may doubt that -mine was a real genuine case of asthma. In that case, I think I can get -satisfactory evidence from our family physician and others who were -with me a great deal during that time. - -As I grew older, and about the time I went to work for myself, I began -to be interested in physical culture methods, and noticed a great -improvement by exercising and cutting down my diet, and afterwards -adopting the two-meal-a-day plan. However, there was one thing which is -strongly emphasized in these methods that did not work with me at the -time, but seemed to make the asthma worse; and that was the fresh air -idea. I always had better results, and the attacks were less frequent -and not so severe, when I closed the windows and doors, and filled the -room with the smoke and fumes of the remedy I used. That was due mostly -to the narcotic effect of the remedy when breathing the smoke and fumes -continually. I mention this for fear some one may suggest that the -ultimate permanent relief was brought about simply by breathing fresh -air continually when I did begin to open the windows. - -During all this time, I ate meat with each meal, or twice daily. - -I began to notice that nuts and especially pecans, of which I am -particularly fond, and which are quite plentiful in that part of the -country in which I live, seemed to have a decidedly bad effect on my -asthma, and a greater part of the time I would not touch them on this -account. At that time, however, I had the impression that generally -prevails among a large majority of people, that nuts or fruits were -only good for eating between meals, or as a dessert at the end of a -meal, and in addition to the regular food that was eaten; and that was -the way I had eaten them. - -Mr. Upton Sinclair's first article in the _Physical Culture_ magazine -on the fruit and nut diet was the first hint I ever had that fruit -and nuts eaten alone as a diet had any real substantial food value. -From this time on I began experimenting with short fasts of one meal -or one day, and also began substituting fruit for some meals, and at -the same time cut down my meat eating from twice daily to two or three -times a week. I noticed a great improvement in both asthma and catarrh, -although I continued having attacks of asthma almost every night, as -this was during the winter and most of the nights were quite cold. - -After the appearance of his second article, I determined to try this -diet out in my own case, hoping to lessen the attacks of asthma at -least, never dreaming of the real surprise that was in store for me. I -fasted the last two days of December, 1909, and started in January 1st, -eating mostly acid fruits, such as lemons, oranges, grape fruit, etc. -(This in order to relieve the constipation that I was then, and had -been troubled with more or less for the past two or three years.) As a -result of the fast, and of what might be termed a partial fast for a -few days after, I lost several pounds in weight, which I did not regain -until after I had been eating other fruits for several days, such as -dates, figs, bananas and apples, also all kinds of nuts, including the -much dreaded pecan, which seemed to cause so much trouble before. - -On the night of January 8, 1910, I had my last attack of asthma, and -have had none since. By that time my bowels were perfectly free, and -all traces of constipation gone. The night of the 9th I spent in -peaceful, dreamless sleep, my head perfectly clear of any cold or -catarrh, enabling me to breathe freely through my nose during sleep, -which had never been possible before this. Although the temperature -outside was a little above zero, and stood close around there during -the greater part of January and February where I was, two windows in -my room were wide open all of the time, and I slept between them; also -there was no stove or other heating appliances in the room to warm me -on retiring and arising. - -I stuck rigidly to the fruit and nuts, living on them alone until -the weather began to grow warmer. I then grew so confident, that I -gradually lapsed into a general raw-food diet, and later on, to a -partly raw and partly cooked diet, but no meat at all, save at times, -when it was necessary in order to avoid unpleasant controversies and -explanations among people who knew nothing on the subject, and were -therefore sceptical, and often inclined to ridicule me. - -With the return to cooked foods, came a return of constipation, and -with it, traces of the old cold or catarrh. This is one thing I noticed -in particular; that when my bowels were moving freely, then and only -then was I free of catarrh or cold. I am situated at present where I am -away from the influences of kind-and-well-meaning friends and members -of my own family, so am living on a raw-food diet entirely, doing heavy -gymnasium work every day, also quite a bit of study and other brain -work besides, which in all keeps me quite busy most of the day. I am -enjoying the best of health in every particular all the while. - -H. MITCHELL GODSEY. - - -THE RADER CASE - -Mr. L. F. Rader of Olalla, Wash., died at 12.15 P. M., May 11, 1910, at -123˝ Broadway North, in the forty-seventh year of his age. Mr. Rader's -physical history is one of intermittent suffering. As the result of an -accident in childhood in which he was internally injured, his youth -and early manhood were filled with a succession of most acute attacks -of painful illness. About fifteen years ago he deserted the orthodox -means of treatment and turned to what is now known as the natural or -drugless method, with the consequence that he experienced the first -relief he had ever known. Three years ago he lay ill for three months, -and after again submitting to medical treatment he turned to the fast -and to me. In fourteen days he was up and about, and in a month he was -able to attend to his ordinary business. Since then he had no return -of acute symptoms until March 31 of this year, when, after unwonted -physical exercise and a heavy meal, he was seized with severe pains in -the intestines, which compelled him to take to his bed. His stomach -rejected food, and within a week the taking of water brought nausea. I -was then called to diagnose the case and to direct treatment. I made -the statement at that time to Mrs. Rader that there seemed but little -chance for his recovery, but tried the administration of fruit juices -and light broths. - -The point was soon reached, however, when Mr. Rader refused any -sustenance, since it resulted only in nausea and excruciating pain. -In the meanwhile the patient came to Seattle, and went to the Hotel -Outlook with every symptom showing the relief that is the logical -sequence of removing food temporarily from a system struggling to -right abnormal conditions. Things progressed smoothly until meddlesome -outsiders interfered and caused the city health officials to take -cognizance of the fact that a man was "starving" in the hotel. Without -warrant Mr. Rader's rooms were entered, and he was confronted by -Drs. Bourns and Davidson, who endeavored to persuade him to return -to orthodoxy and to the care of the orthodox physicians. Mr. Rader's -indignant repudiation is of record, as is also the result of the -attempt to declare him insane. - -In connection with the latter, after his removal to a quiet, -comfortable room in the upper part of the city, an order of the court, -obtained in some manner by the health officials, sent the humane -officers to the rescue, and the house was watched and guarded while the -faithful nurses prevented forcible entry attempted by these servants -of the people. The latter even went so far as to raise ladders to -the window of Mr. Rader's room, and with display of weapons tried to -force the catches in the vain effort to serve the writ which was their -excuse. To prevent their seeing the patient and to save him as much -as possible from the noisy disturbance, I carried him to the bath and -locked the door. I then climbed from one window to another across a -court into the next flat in order to call the attorney for the humane -society, who took the needful steps that eventually recalled the writ. -In the meanwhile Mr. Rader had suffered mentally to such an extent that -his life was despaired of for many hours, and he never fully recovered -from the nervous shock, which undoubtedly hastened his end. Until the -coming of these officers he was able to walk from his room to the bath, -but afterwards he continually begged to be protected from outsiders and -to be permitted to die, if need be, in peace. - -When the death of a patient under my care occurs I am most anxious that -no stone should be left unturned to exhibit the cause. In this, my -seventh death in four years' practice in Seattle, I find my diagnosis -and prognosis completely corroborated. I was assisted in the autopsy by -two old-line physicians and by the deputy coroner. The results of the -post-mortem examination were as follows: - -Mr. Rader's viscera showed the most abnormal characteristics it has -been my fortune to observe in years of post-mortem work. The lungs -were adherent at every point to the pleural cavity as well as to the -diaphragm in places. The heart in fair condition. Stomach dilated and -prolapsed. Gall bladder in three distinct pouches, any one of which was -the size of the normal sac, and two of these sections were filled with -126 gall stones of one grain to half an ounce in weight; the largest -was 3 inches in circumference one way and 4 inches the other way. The -small intestines collapsed to the pelvis and midway intussuscepted -so that a section of two measured yards occupied but five inches in -length; portions of these were of infantile development. The transverse -colon lay anterior to the descending colon throughout its extent, -while the ascending and descending colon showed infantile size and -cartilaginous structure. The sigmoid bend and rectum were of diameter -not larger than the adult thumb and in advanced cartilaginous state. -The kidneys fair; the liver enlarged and badly congested. - -The conditions exhibited were such that the wonder in any mind -practised in the care of the human body lies in the thought that nature -was able to preserve under these handicaps this man's life until the -forty-seventh year. To me this is proof positive that "man does not -live by bread alone." - -The facts given may easily be verified. Mr. Rader fasted because he -had to fast. He could not take food in any sort or in any manner, and -his death occurred because of organic disease beyond repair. He was -never without water and fruit juices; vegetable broths and prepared -foods were given whenever the occasion seemed to present itself, but -always with painful consequences. During the month of April he was -virtually fasting, although food was supplied as mentioned. It is not -at all remarkable in my work to have patients abstain from food for -thirty, forty, and fifty days, although by far the greater number do -not require this length of time. - -Criticized as I have been for my methods, and realizing that the -combined efforts of the old schools are aimed at what it eventually -means, perhaps a definition may not prove amiss: - -Starvation consists in denying food, either by accident or design, to a -system clamoring for sustenance. - -Fasting consists in intentional abstinence from food by a system -non-desirous of sustenance until it is rested, cleansed, and ready for -the task of digestion. Food is then supplied. - -The conduct of the health and humane officers in the Rader case is not -the first instance of their methods of procedure that it has been my -fate to experience. In the latter part of January, 1908, I had under my -care Mrs. D. D. Whedon, a young married woman in a critical state of -health, mother of one child and about to become the mother of another. -Officious neighbors complained to the authorities that the child was -being subjected to the fasting method and was slowly starving. Without -warrant these creatures of authority entered the apartments of Mrs. -Whedon, subjected her to a bodily examination against her will and -protests, took her child from her by force, and when her husband -attempted to regain possession of his daughter, they arrested him for -resisting an officer and had him placed in the city jail. I also was -charged at this time with practising medicine without a license, an -accusation that was quashed on appeal to the superior court. - -I rather court an investigation of my work and its results, successful -and unsuccessful. Thus far the methods pursued by those antagonistic -have been the very ones that have succeeded in informing the world -at large that the work is here, that it progresses, else why the -furor? It is here to stay and to do what the truth eventually always -does--prevail. - -The autopsies in each of the several deaths that have occurred in -my practice in the city of Seattle have exhibited organic disease, -the origin of which lay in the early years of life. In all of these -bodies arrested development of one or other of the vital organs -was in evidence, and in the majority the injured intestines showed -cartilaginous structure and deformation that must have required either -violent shock or continued functional disturbance to produce. In view -of the fact that these instances cover subjects who had endeavored to -follow orthodox methods until orthodoxy proved unavailing, and who then -turned to the fast and its accompaniments, I feel perfectly confident -in declaring that early drug treatment is responsible for later and -fatal disease. Nature had endowed each of these patients with strong -vitality; each of them had suffered from severe functional disorder in -infancy; each had been drug-drenched. - -Broadly speaking, there is no drug that is not a poison, stimulating -or paralyzing in result, and in infancy the latter is doubly apparent -and appalling. It needs but the parallelism between the effect of -an application of a glass of brandy upon an infant and an adult to -emphasize this statement. Consider then the consequences of repeated -dosings for fevers, colic, colds, and the varied category of infantile -disease, and conceive the results upon tender, growing, human bodies. -Not one of us but has these sacred relics of the days of powdered -dried toads and desiccated cow manure to blame for organs arrested in -development or functionally ruined. - -The principle embodied in the intelligent application of fasting for -the cure of disease is not to be crushed by vilification. The knowledge -of it, thanks to strenuous attacks by the medical profession, has -been distributed gratis throughout the English-speaking world; and my -own part in the work of propaganda has been made more than easy by -opposition displayed. I believe that I have a cause to defend, a truth -to uphold, a principle for which, if need be, I shall die fighting. - -LINDA BURFIELD HAZZARD. - -SEATTLE, WASH., May 16, 1910. - - -HORACE FLETCHER'S FAST - -Dec. 11, 1910. - -MR. HORACE FLETCHER, -Care EDITOR OF _Good Health_, -BATTLE CREEK, MICH. - -MY DEAR MR. FLETCHER,--It must have been a year and a half ago that we -had our talk on the subject of fasting; you promised me that you would -investigate it. I have only just seen the copy of the November _Good -Health_, and discovered that you carried out your promise. There are -some things in connection with your account about which I want to ask -you. - -You say that you have come to agree with Dr. Kellogg, that -autointoxication continues during the fast; and that your reason -for this is that at the end of a couple of weeks you found yourself -developing weakness, bad breath, coated tongue, etc. You broke your -fast because these symptoms grew worse and worse. Now surely if a -person is going to give a fair trial to the claims of the fasters, -he should follow their instructions, and he should not proceed in -opposition to their most important advice. You say that for four days -you took no water, and that after that you took only a pint or so a -day. In this you violated the leading injunction of every advocate of -fasting with whose writings I am acquainted; I have read the books of -Bernarr Macfadden, C. C. Haskell, and Dr. L. B. Hazzard, all of whom -have treated scores and hundreds of patients by means of the fast, and -all of whom are strenuous on the point that one should drink as much -water as possible. I myself while fasting have taken at least a glass -every hour. I believe that a very great deal of your trouble may have -been caused by your procedure in this respect. - -Another point which you do not mention is whether or not you took an -enema during the fast. This is a very important point. It may very well -be true that poisons are excreted into the intestinal tract, and that -owing to lack of food they are re-absorbed; if we can aid nature by -washing these poisons out at once, can we not overcome this difficulty? -May not the reason for the non-success of your fast lie here? - -If it be true that the fast leads to constantly increasing -autointoxication, how do you account for those phenomena which are -summed up in the phrase, "the complete fast"? I personally do not -advocate the complete fast; I only advocate the investigation of it. -I have never taken one, but I have letters from many people who have -taken them, and they are in agreement upon the point that there comes a -time during the fast when the tongue clears, the breath becomes pure, -and hunger manifests itself in unmistakable form. How can this possibly -be true if Dr. Kellogg's explanation of the symptoms of fasting is -correct? Would it not happen just to the contrary, would not the -symptoms of autointoxication increase, until death through poisoning -resulted? - -Dr. Kellogg's argument is a very plausible one; for many years it -sufficed to keep me from trying the experiment of the fast. I know -that it has kept many other people. His claim is, in brief, that -during the fast the body is living off its own tissue; that we are -therefore meat-eaters, and even cannibals, while fasting. We are living -on a kind of food which is over-rich in proteid, and which generates -excessive quantities of uric acid, indican, etc. This, as I say, sounds -plausible, but I found by actual experiment that the facts do not -work out according to the theory. I myself have taken a week's fast -recently, with perfect success. During this time I had not one particle -of weakness or trouble of any sort. Perhaps it may be that my body was -excreting undue amounts of uric acid and indican, but I did not know -it, and it did me no harm so far as I could discover. I am much less -afraid of the consequences of living from my own body tissue, since I -have tried for myself the experiment of living on the tissues of other -animals. - -I am trying to get at the truth about these questions, and I know that -you are trying to do it also. For three years I did myself incalculable -harm by accepting blindly statements that meat was the prime cause -of autointoxication, together with other high proteid food. I lived -on starches and sugars, grew pale and thin and chilly, and, as I was -accustomed to phrase it, was never more than fifteen minutes ahead of a -headache. I can give myself a headache at any time at present by two or -three days of eating rice, potatoes, white flour, and sugar. Apparently -I cannot give it to myself by eating any possible quantity of broiled -lean beef. So far as I can make out, beef is the one article of diet -which never does me any harm, no matter how much of it I eat. The same -thing is true, apparently, with my little boy. - -I wish you would tell me what you think about all this. I wish that I -could induce you to try the experiment of fasting again with the use of -the enema and the copious water drinking. Still more do I wish that you -could be induced to try it with some people who need it--some people -who are desperately ill, and who have not been able to get well by -following the low proteid diet. - -Sincerely, -UPTON SINCLAIR. - - -NORWICH, CONN., U. S. A. Dec. 23, 1910. - -MY DEAR MR. SINCLAIR,--Your valued favor of the 14th inst. received -enclosing copy of your letter to Horace Fletcher. I have read your -letter to Mr. Fletcher with much interest, and I have also read Mr. -Fletcher's letter to Dr. Kellogg in _Good Health_. - -I am so crowded with work that I cannot take the time to write you on -this subject of Fasting as I would like. I have had nearly seventeen -years' experience studying and practising the "no-breakfast plan and -fasting for the cure of disease." I have followed the no-breakfast -plan all that time without a single break, and I know it has been -of exceedingly great value to me. It has also been my privilege and -pleasure to advise in thousands of cases covering nearly all forms of -disease, and where the Law of Fasting has been followed faithfully, -there have always been splendid results. - -Aside from the omission of the breakfast, I have fasted a great -many times from one day to four weeks, and always the results have -been beneficial. This could not have been the case if Dr. Kellogg's -contention is correct, that autointoxication continues and increases -during a fast. If his idea is correct on this point, instead of one -improving and at last overcoming the disease entirely, there would not -only be a continuation of the disease but an increase, and death would -naturally result. Should autointoxication continue and increase while -one is fasting, the time would not come when the tongue would be clean -and natural hunger manifest itself. On the contrary, there would be an -increase of the coating on the tongue until death finally resulted. - -I think if Mr. Fletcher had continued his fast until his tongue had -become clean, which certainly would be the case, he would have written -a very different letter. In the case of Mrs. Tarbox, whose letter -I enclose, on the thirty-seventh day of her fast, her tongue was -perfectly clean and she had natural hunger, and she was well on the way -to recovery from the terrible cancerous growth and condition in which I -found her. Since Mrs. Tarbox' cure, I have had several other cases of -cancer cured through fasting. You will note the case of Mrs. Hobson, -copy of whose letter I enclose, and the case of Mr. Davis is another -very interesting case as well as that of Mrs. Osborne. These persons -would not have been cured if autointoxication had been going on and -increasing. - -Dr. Dewey's contention I know to be true, that during a fast the heart, -lungs, and brain are supported by the predigested food stored up in -the body. These organs take the nourishment and not the poison, for -during a fast the eliminating organs work to the very limit to force -the poison out of every cell of the body, so that during a fast all -the poison in the body is growing less every hour, and when it is all -eliminated natural hunger manifests itself, the tongue is clean, and -the patient is ready to build up and have a clean physical organism. -The use of the enema is exceedingly important during a fast. I believe -that it hastens the cure at least twenty-five per cent, and perhaps -more than that. - -Mr. Fletcher's own letter is to my mind a refutation to Dr. Kellogg's -claim as to the continuation and increase of autointoxication, for he -tells the benefits that he has received during his fast of seventeen -days, and those benefits would have been greatly increased if he had -continued the fast until his tongue was clean. His sense of taste had -become so refined by the fast that his food was more delicious than -ever before, which showed that the refining process had been going on -all through his body. Another benefit that he mentions is the lessening -of his desire for sugar, that he is satisfied with the sugar sweet that -is in the food itself, which is so much more healthful than the cane -sugar. Another thing that he speaks of is the reduction in his weight, -which he needed. I sincerely hope that Mr. Fletcher will fast again, -and make it a complete fast, for I think he will have a very different -story to tell from what he tells in this letter. - -CHARLES COURTNEY HASKELL. - - -Dec. 28, 1910. - -DEAR MR. SINCLAIR,--I have your letter of the 14th inst. and its -enclosures. - -To those who have carefully and scientifically undergone or advised the -fast, the cause of the symptoms that Dr. Kellogg and all of the rest of -us recognize as indicating self-poisoning, is readily discovered to -lie in the inability of the organs of elimination to promptly convey -from the body the products of food supplied in excess of digestion. -It is a conclusion that cannot be escaped that, when the refuse from -broken-down tissue and from food ingested beyond the needs of the -body is discharged into the intestines, and when means of removal -are not at hand, re-absorption at once begins and continues until -the canal is cleansed. Self-poisoning, autointoxication, ensues, and -all of its symptoms were emphatically shown in the fast of seventeen -days that Mr. Fletcher essayed. These results are also often observed -when feeding is in progress, and in this connection I refer to an -article written by Dr. Kellogg for _Good Health_ in the summer of -1908. In it he says, "The writer's observations, extending over a -considerable number of years, have brought him to the conclusion that -the cases which are benefited by fasting are practically without -exception cases of autointoxication, generally cases of intestinal -autointoxication, though perhaps also including some cases of metabolic -autointoxication." It seems to me that the Doctor has not made it quite -clear just why, if the fast is the certain producer of the condition, -he recommends it for the cure of the condition. Perhaps "similia -similibus" or "the hair of the dog theory" is implanted in the Doctor's -ego. - -As we review the situation, covering in origin thousands and thousands -of years of wrong living, the facts are patent. The processes of -digestion and assimilation as functions have long since lost natural -expression. Drugs and heredity have created in them an inability to -cope with their work without assistance, and have in many instances -caused a positive cessation of normal action. - -Dr. Kellogg would have us accept his dictum that the cause of loss of -weight during the fast is to be found in the impoverished state of -the blood, and in the fact that, food being denied, no up-building of -tissue can occur. Can he explain in this manner the wasting of tissue -in illness when food is regularly supplied? It should be readily -understood that, in either instance, the process of elimination of -decomposed excess food has at last become the predominant function of -the diseased system. Fasting is the voluntary act that permits rapid -accomplishment of the result; and disease itself is but Nature's -attempt to cleanse and purify by means of elimination. The longer -this thought is dwelt upon, and the more its details are verified by -experiment, the stronger becomes the conviction that we are facing the -truth of the matter. - -When coated tongue, foul breath, and vertigo appear, whether feeding or -fasting, hunger is absent. It must have disappeared many days before -these signs became acute, although Nature's warnings did not fail of -display. The sensation of hunger, the desire for food for the purpose -of restoring cell life, is the human body's greatest natural safeguard. -A sentinel of lower rank is the sense of taste, which, however, like -other outposts, often becomes debauched and valueless. But hunger never -can be turned from its protecting task, and it cannot be stimulated -into action. Hunger is the one natural function that is incorruptible, -for once abused it withdraws. Its deceptive counterpart, appetite, is -the product of taste-stimulation, and, as Mr. Fletcher says, takes upon -itself the guise of habit. Or, as expressed in the text of my book, -"Appetite is craving; Hunger is desire. Craving is never satisfied; -but Desire is relieved when Want is supplied. Eating without Hunger -or pandering to Appetite at the expense of Digestion makes Disease -inevitable." - -Had real normal hunger been present when Mr. Fletcher broke his fast, -the demand for food would have been so great and so insistent that no -denial would have been tolerated. Mr. Fletcher states that he did not -want food until he had tasted it,--a clear case of taste-stimulation -or appetite. Even this was momentary and was but the expiring flame -of taste relish left after seventeen days free from the progressive -accumulation of excess food. Despite his care in the selection and the -mastication of his food, Mr. Fletcher must still have continually eaten -without hunger, and must, as a result, have stored within his system an -unusual amount of material beyond the needs of his body. Had this not -been true, he would not have exhibited the coated tongue, foul breath, -and vertigo. Hunger would have been ever present, and it would have -been impossible for him to fast. - -My only comment upon the neglect of the enema that seems to have -occurred in the conduct of Mr. Fletcher's fast is that it was a most -vital error. The enema is absolutely necessary. The question of diet -also need not be discussed, for experience shows that the feeding of -the body is a matter of individual requirement. If normal physical -balance be ever reached, fixed laws to govern the diet problem could be -formulated. In its present state, argument resolves itself into mere -utterances of individual opinion and prejudice. - -Faithfully yours, -LINDA BURFIELD HAZZARD. - - - - -+-------------------------------------------------+ -|Transcriber's note: | -| | -|Obvious typographic errors have been corrected. | -| | -+-------------------------------------------------+ - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FASTING CURE*** - - -******* This file should be named 63293-8.txt or 63293-8.zip ******* - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/6/3/2/9/63293 - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it -under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this -eBook or online at <a -href="http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you are not -located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this ebook.</p> -<p>Title: The Fasting Cure</p> -<p>Author: Upton Sinclair</p> -<p>Release Date: September 25, 2020 [eBook #63293]</p> -<p>Language: English</p> -<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> -<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FASTING CURE***</p> -<p> </p> -<h4 class="pgx" title="">E-text prepared by Tim Lindell, Martin Pettit,<br /> - and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> - (<a href="http://www.pgdp.net">http://www.pgdp.net</a>)<br /> - from page images generously made available by<br /> - Internet Archive<br /> - (<a href="https://archive.org">https://archive.org</a>)</h4> -<p> </p> -<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10"> - <tr> - <td valign="top"> - Note: - </td> - <td> - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - <a href="https://archive.org/details/fastingcure00sincrich"> - https://archive.org/details/fastingcure00sincrich</a> - </td> - </tr> -</table> -<p> </p> -<hr class="pgx" /> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/front.jpg" alt="front" /></div> - -<hr /> - -<h1>THE FASTING CURE</h1> - -<hr /> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/books.jpg" alt="Books by Upton Sinclair" /></div> - -<hr /> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/frontispiece.jpg" alt="Upton Sinclair" /></div> - -<hr /> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/title.jpg" alt="title page" /></div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> - -<p class="bold2">The Fasting Cure</p> - -<p class="bold space-above"><i>by</i></p> - -<p class="bold2">UPTON SINCLAIR</p> - -<div class="center space-above"><img src="images/logo.jpg" alt="logo" /></div> - -<p class="bold space-above">MITCHELL KENNERLEY<br />NEW YORK AND LONDON<br />MCMXI</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span></p> - -<p class="center">COPYRIGHT, 1911<br />BY MITCHELL KENNERLEY</p> - -<p class="center space-above">THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p> - -<p class="center"><i>TO BERNARR MACFADDEN</i><br /><br /> -<i>in cordial appreciation of his personality<br />and teachings</i></p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span></p> - -<h2><i>Contents</i></h2> - -<table summary="CONTENTS"> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"></td> - <td><span class="smaller"><span class="smcap">Page</span></span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="left"><span class="smcap">Preface</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_5">5</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="left"><span class="smcap">Perfect Health</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_9">9</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="left">A Letter to the <i>New York Times</i> </td> - <td><a href="#Page_34">34</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="left"><span class="smcap">Some Notes on Fasting</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_39">39</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="left">Fasting and the Doctors</td> - <td><a href="#Page_48">48</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="left"><span class="smcap">The Humors of Fasting</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_53">53</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="left"><span class="smcap">A Symposium on Fasting</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_62">62</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="left">Death during the Fast</td> - <td><a href="#Page_68">68</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="left">Fasting and the Mind</td> - <td><a href="#Page_74">74</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="left">Diet after the Fast</td> - <td><a href="#Page_81">81</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="left"><span class="smcap">The Use of Meat</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_86">86</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="left"><span class="smcap">Appendix</span></td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="left">Some Letters from Fasters</td> - <td><a href="#Page_105">105</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="left">The Fruit and Nut Diet</td> - <td><a href="#Page_132">132</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="left">The Rader Case</td> - <td><a href="#Page_137">137</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="left">Horace Fletcher's Fast</td> - <td><a href="#Page_143">143</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p> - -<h2>PREFACE</h2> - -<p>In the <i>Cosmopolitan Magazine</i> for May, 1910, and in the <i>Contemporary -Review</i> (London) for April, 1910, I published an article dealing -with my experiences in fasting. I have written a great many magazine -articles, but never one which attracted so much attention as this. The -first day the magazine was on the news-stands, I received a telegram -from a man in Washington who had begun to fast and wanted some advice; -and thereafter I received ten or twenty letters a day from people -who had questions to ask or experiences to narrate. At the date of -writing eight months have passed, and the flood has not yet stopped. -The editors of the <i>Cosmopolitan</i> also tell me that they have never -received so many letters about an article in their experience. Still -more significant was the number of reports which began to appear in -the news columns of papers all over the country, telling of people who -were fasting. From various sources I have received about fifty such -clippings, and few but reported benefit to the faster.</p> - -<p>As a consequence of this interest, I was asked by the <i>Cosmopolitan</i> -to write another article,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> which appeared in the issue of February, -1911. The present volume is made up from these two articles, with the -addition of some notes and comments, and some portions of articles -contributed to the <i>Physical Culture</i> magazine, of the editorial -staff of which I am a member. It was my intention at first to work -this matter into a connected whole, but upon rereading the articles -I decided that it would be better to publish them as they stood. The -journalistic style has its advantages; and repetitions may perhaps be -pardoned in the case of a topic which is so new to almost every one.</p> - -<p>I have reproduced in the book several photographs of myself which -appeared in the magazine articles. Ordinarily one does not print his -picture in his own books; but when it comes to fasting there are many -"doubting Thomases," and we are told that "seeing is believing." -The two photographs of myself which appear as a frontispiece afford -evidence of a really extraordinary physical recuperation; and the -reader has my word for it that there was nothing in my way of life to -account for it, except three fasts, of a total of thirty days.</p> - -<p>There is one other matter to be referred to. Several years ago I -published a book entitled "Good Health," written in collaboration -with a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> friend. I could not express my own views fully in that book, -and on certain points where I differed with my collaborator, I have -come since to differ still more. The book contains a great deal of -useful information; but later experience has convinced me that its -views on the all-important subject of diet are erroneous. My present -opinions I have given in this book. I am not saying this to apologize -for an inconsistency, but to record a growth. In those days I believed -something, because other people told me; to-day I know something else, -because I have tried it upon myself.</p> - -<p>My object in publishing this book is two-fold: first, to have something -to which I can refer people, so that I will not have to answer half -a dozen "fasting letters" every day for the rest of my life; and -second, in the hope of attracting sufficient attention to the subject -to interest some scientific men in making a real investigation of it. -To-day we know certain facts about what is called "autointoxication"; -we know them because Metchnikoff, Pawlow and others have made a -thorough-going inquiry into the subject. I believe that the subject of -fasting is one of just as great importance. I have stated facts in this -book about myself; and I have quoted many letters which are genuine and -beyond dispute. The cures which they record are altogether without<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> -precedent, I think. The reader will find in the course of the book -(page 63) a tabulation of the results of 277 cases of fasting. In this -number of desperate cases, there were only about half a dozen definite -and unexplained failures reported. Surely it cannot be that medical men -and scientists will continue for much longer to close their eyes to -facts of such vital significance as this.</p> - -<p>I do not pretend to be the discoverer of the fasting cure. The subject -was discussed by Dr. E. H. Dewey in books which were published thirty -or forty years ago. For the reader who cares to investigate further, -I mention the following books, which I have read with interest and -profit. I recommend them, although, needless to say, I do not agree -with everything that is in them: "Fasting for the Cure of Disease," -by Dr. L. B. Hazzard; "Perfect Health," by C. C. Haskell; "Fasting, -Hydrotherapy and Exercise," by Bernarr Macfadden; "Fasting, Vitality -and Nutrition," by Hereward Carrington. Also I will add that Mr. C. C. -Haskell, of Norwich, Conn., conducts a correspondence-school dealing -with the subject of fasting, and that fasting patients are taken -charge of at Bernarr Macfadden's Healthatorium, 42d Street and Grand -Boulevard, Chicago, Ill., and by Dr. Linda B. Hazzard, of Seattle, Washington.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span></p> - -<p class="bold2"><span class="smcap">The Fasting Cure</span></p> - -<h2>PERFECT HEALTH</h2> - -<p>Perfect Health!</p> - -<p>Have you any conception of what the phrase means? Can you form any -image of what would be your feeling if every organ in your body were -functioning perfectly? Perhaps you can go back to some day in your -youth, when you got up early in the morning and went for a walk, and -the spirit of the sunrise got into your blood, and you walked faster, -and took deep breaths, and laughed aloud for the sheer happiness of -being alive in such a world of beauty. And now you are grown older—and -what would you give for the secret of that glorious feeling? What -would you say if you were told that you could bring it back and keep -it, not only for mornings, but for afternoons and evenings, and not -as something accidental and mysterious, but as something which you -yourself have created, and of which you are completely master? </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span></p> - -<p>This is not an introduction to a new device in patent medicine -advertising. I have nothing to sell, and no process patented. It is -simply that for ten years I have been studying the ill health of myself -and of the men and women around me. And I have found the cause and the -remedy. I have not only found good health, but perfect health; I have -found a new state of being, a new potentiality of life; a sense of -lightness and cleanness and joyfulness, such as I did not know could -exist in the human body. "I like to meet you on the street," said a -friend the other day. "You walk as if it were such fun!"</p> - -<p>I look about me in the world, and nearly everybody I know is sick. I -could name one after another a hundred men and women, who are doing -vital work for progress and carrying a cruel handicap of physical -suffering. For instance, I am working for social justice, and I -have comrades whose help is needed every hour, and they are ill! -In one single week's newspapers last spring I read that one was -dying of kidney trouble, that another was in hospital from nervous -breakdown, and that a third was ill with ptomaine poisoning. And in my -correspondence I am told that another of my dearest friends has only a -year to live; that another heroic man is a nervous wreck, craving for -death; and that a third<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> is tortured by bilious headaches.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> And there -is not one of these people whom I could not cure if I had him alone for -a couple of weeks; no one of them who would not in the end be walking -down the street "as if it were such fun!"</p> - -<p>I propose herein to tell the story of my discovery of health, and I -shall not waste much time in apologizing for the intimate nature of -the narrative. It is no pleasure for me to tell over the tale of my -headaches or to discuss my unruly stomach. I cannot take any case but -my own, because there is no case about which I can speak with such -authority. To be sure, I might write about it in the abstract, and -in veiled terms. But in that case the story would lose most of its -convincingness, and so of its usefulness. I might tell it without -signing my name to it. But there are a great many people who have read -my books and will believe what I tell them, who would not take the -trouble to read an article without a name. Mr. Horace Fletcher has set -us all an example in this matter. He has written several volumes about -his individual digestion, with the result that literally millions of -people have been helped. In the same way I propose to put my case on -record. The reader will find that it is a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> typical case, for I made -about every mistake that a man could make, and tried every remedy, old -and new, that anybody had to offer me.</p> - -<p>I spent my boyhood in a well-to-do family, in which good eating was -regarded as a social grace and the principal interest in life. We had a -colored woman to prepare our food, and another to serve it. It was not -considered fitting for children to drink liquor, but they had hot bread -three times a day, and they were permitted to revel in fried chicken -and rich gravies and pastries, fruit cake and candy and ice-cream. -Every Sunday I would see my grandfather's table with a roast of beef -at one end, and a couple of chickens at the other, and a cold ham at -one side; at Christmas and Thanksgiving the energies of the whole -establishment would be given up to the preparation of delicious foods. -And later on, when I came to New York, I considered it necessary to -have such food; even when I was a poor student, living on four dollars -a week, I spent more than three of it on eatables.</p> - -<p>I was an active and fairly healthy boy; at twenty I remember saying -that I had not had a day's serious sickness in fourteen years. Then -I wrote my first novel, working sixteen or eighteen hours a day for -several months, camping out, and living mostly out of a frying-pan. -At<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> the end I found that I was seriously troubled with dyspepsia; and -it was worse the next year, after the second book. I went to see a -physician, who gave me some red liquid, which magically relieved the -consequences of doing hard brain-work after eating. So I went on for a -year or two more, and then I found that the artificially-digested food -was not being eliminated from my system with sufficient regularity. So -I went to another physician, who gave my malady another name, and gave -me another medicine, and put off the time of reckoning a little while -longer.</p> - -<p>I have never in my life used tea or coffee, alcohol or tobacco; but -for seven or eight years I worked under heavy pressure all the time, -and ate very irregularly, and ate unwholesome food. So I began to -have headaches once in a while, and to notice that I was abnormally -sensitive to colds. I considered these maladies natural to mortals, and -I would always attribute them to some specific accident. I would say, -"I've been knocking about down town all day"; or, "I was out in the -hot sun"; or, "I lay on the damp ground." I found that if I sat in a -draught for even a minute I was certain to "catch a cold." I found also -that I had sore throat and tonsilitis once or twice every winter; also, -now and then, the grippe. There were times when I did not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> sleep well; -and as all this got worse, I would have to drop all my work and try to -rest. The first time I did this a week or two was sufficient; but later -on a month or two was necessary, and then several months.</p> - -<p>The year I wrote "The Jungle" I had my first summer cold. It was haying -time on a farm, and I thought it was a kind of hay-fever. I would -sneeze for hours in perfect torment, and this lasted for a month, until -I went away to the sea-shore. This happened again the next summer, and -also another very painful experience; a nerve in a tooth died, and I -had to wait three days for the pain to "localize," and then had the -tooth drilled out, and staggered home, and was ill in bed for a week -with chills and fever, and nausea and terrible headaches. I mention all -these unpleasant details so that the reader may understand the state -of wretchedness to which I had come. At the same time, also, I had a -great deal of distressing illness in my family; my wife seldom had a -week without suffering, and my little boy had pneumonia one winter, and -croup the next, and whooping-cough in the summer, with the inevitable -"colds" scattered in between.</p> - -<p>After the Helicon Hall fire I realized that I was in a bad way, and -for the two years following I gave a good part of my time to trying -to find<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> out how to preserve my health. I went to Battle Creek, and -to Bermuda, and to the Adirondacks; I read the books of all the new -investigators of the subject of hygiene, and tried out their theories -religiously. I had discovered Horace Fletcher a couple of years -before. Mr. Fletcher's idea is, in brief, to chew your food, and chew -it thoroughly; to extract from each particle of food the maximum of -nutriment, and to eat only as much as your system actually needs. This -was a very wonderful idea to me, and I fell upon it with the greatest -enthusiasm. All the physicians I had known were men who tried to cure -me when I fell sick, but here was a man who was studying how to stay -well. I have to find fault with Mr. Fletcher's system, and so I must -make clear at the outset how much I owe to it. It set me upon the right -track—it showed me the goal, even if it did not lead me to it. It made -clear to me that all my various ailments were symptoms of one great -trouble, the presence in my body of the poisons produced by superfluous -and unassimilated food, and that in adjusting the quantity of food to -the body's exact needs lay the secret of perfect health.</p> - -<p>It was only in the working out of the theory that I fell down. Mr. -Fletcher told me that "Nature" would be my guide, and that if only<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> I -masticated thoroughly, instinct would select the foods. I found that, -so far as my case was concerned, my "nature" was hopelessly perverted. -I invariably preferred unwholesome foods—apple pie, and toast soaked -in butter, and stewed fruit with quantities of cream and sugar. Nor did -"Nature" kindly tell me when to stop, as she apparently does some other -"Fletcherites"; no matter how much I chewed, if I ate all I wanted I -ate too much. And when I realized this, and tried to stop it, I went, -in my ignorance, to the other extreme, and lost fourteen pounds in as -many days. Again, Mr. Fletcher taught me to remove all the "unchewable" -parts of the food—the skins of fruit, etc. The result of this is -there is nothing to stimulate the intestines, and the waste remains in -the body for many days. Mr. Fletcher says this does not matter, and -he appears to prove that it has not mattered in his case. But I found -that it mattered very seriously in my case; it was not until I became -a "Fletcherite" that my headaches became hopeless and that sluggish -intestines became one of my chronic complaints.</p> - -<p>I next read the books of Metchnikoff and Chittenden, who showed me -just how my ailments came to be. The unassimilated food lies in the -colon, and bacteria swarm in it, and the poisons<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> they produce are -absorbed into the system. I had bacteriological examinations made in -my own case, and I found that when I was feeling well the number of -these toxin-producing germs was about six billions to the ounce of -intestinal contents; and when, a few days later, I had a headache, the -number was a hundred and twenty billions. Here was my trouble under the -microscope, so to speak.</p> - -<p>These tests were made at the Battle Creek Sanitarium, where I went -for a long stay. I tried their system of water cure, which I found a -wonderful stimulant to the eliminative organs; but I discovered that, -like all other stimulants, it leaves you in the end just where you -were. My health was improved at the sanitarium, but a week after I left -I was down with the grippe again.</p> - -<p>I gave the next year of my life to trying to restore my health. I spent -the winter in Bermuda and the summer in the Adirondacks, both of them -famous health resorts, and during the entire time I lived an absolutely -hygienic life. I did not work hard, and I did not worry, and I did not -think about my health except when I had to. I lived in the open air -all the time, and I gave most of the day to vigorous exercise—tennis, -walking, boating and swimming. I mention this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> specifically, so that -the reader may perceive that I had eliminated all other factors of -ill-health, and appreciate to the full my statement that at the end of -the year's time my general health was worse than ever before.</p> - -<p>I was all right so long as I played tennis all day or climbed -mountains. The trouble came when I settled down to do brain-work. And -from this I saw perfectly clearly that I was over-eating; there was -surplus food to be burned up, and when it was not burned up it poisoned -me. But how was I to stop when I was hungry? I tried giving up all the -things I liked and of which I ate most; but that did no good, because I -had such a complacent appetite—I would immediately take to liking the -other things! I thought that I had an abnormal appetite, the result of -my early training; but how was I ever to get rid of it?</p> - -<p>I must not give the impression that I was a conspicuously hearty eater. -On the contrary, I ate far less than most people eat. But that was no -consolation to me. I had wrecked myself by years of overwork, and so -I was more sensitive. The other people were going to pieces by slow -stages, I could see; but I was already in pieces.</p> - -<p>So matters stood when I chanced to meet a lady, whose radiant -complexion and extraordinary health were a matter of remark to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>everyone. I was surprised to hear that for ten or fifteen years, and -until quite recently, she had been a bed-ridden invalid. She had lived -the lonely existence of a pioneer's wife, and had raised a family under -conditions of shocking ill-health. She had suffered from sciatica and -acute rheumatism; from a chronic intestinal trouble which the doctors -called "intermittent peritonitis"; from intense nervous weakness, -melancholy, and chronic catarrh, causing deafness. And this was the -woman who rode on horseback with me up Mount Hamilton, in California, a -distance of twenty-eight miles, in one of the most terrific rain-storms -I have ever witnessed! We had two untamed young horses, and only -leather bits to control them with, and we were pounded and flung -about for six mortal hours, which I shall never forget if I live to -be a hundred. And this woman, when she took the ride, had not eaten a -particle of food for four days previously!</p> - -<p>That was the clue to her escape: she had cured herself by a fast. -She had abstained from food for eight days, and all her troubles had -fallen from her. Afterwards she had taken her eldest son, a senior -at Stanford, and another friend of his, and fasted twelve days with -them, and cured them of nervous dyspepsia. And then she had taken a -woman friend, the wife of a Stanford<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> professor, and cured her of -rheumatism by a week's fast. I had heard of the fasting cure, but this -was the first time I had met with it. I was too much burdened with -work to try it just then, but I began to read up on the subject—the -books of Dr. Dewey, Dr. Hazzard and Mr. Carrington. Coming home from -California I got a sunstroke on the Gulf of Mexico, and spent a week in -hospital at Key West, and that seemed to give the <i>coup de grace</i> to my -long-suffering stomach. After another spell of hard work I found myself -unable to digest corn-meal mush and milk; and so I was ready for a fast.</p> - -<p>I began. The fast has become a commonplace to me now; but I will assume -that it is as new and as startling to the reader as it was to myself at -first, and will describe my sensations at length.</p> - -<p>I was very hungry for the first day—the unwholesome, ravening sort -of hunger that all dyspeptics know. I had a little hunger the second -morning, and thereafter, to my very great astonishment, no hunger -whatever—no more interest in food than if I had never known the -taste of it. Previous to the fast I had had a headache every day -for two or three weeks. It lasted through the first day and then -disappeared—never to return. I felt very weak the second day,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> and a -little dizzy on arising. I went out of doors and lay in the sun all -day, reading; and the same for the third and fourth days—intense -physical lassitude, but with great clearness of mind. After the fifth -day I felt stronger, and walked a good deal, and I also began some -writing. No phase of the experience surprised me more than the activity -of my mind: I read and wrote more than I had dared to do for years -before.</p> - -<p>During the first four days I lost fifteen pounds in weight—something -which, I have since learned, was a sign of the extremely poor state of -my tissues. Thereafter I lost only two pounds in eight days—an equally -unusual phenomenon. I slept well throughout the fast. About the middle -of each day I would feel weak, but a massage and a cold shower would -refresh me. Towards the end I began to find that in walking about I -would grow tired in the legs, and as I did not wish to lie in bed I -broke the fast after the twelfth day with some orange-juice.</p> - -<p>I took the juice of a dozen oranges during two days, and then went on -the milk diet, as recommended by Bernarr Macfadden. I took a glassful -of warm milk every hour the first day, every three-quarters of an hour -the next day, and finally every half-hour—or eight quarts a day. This -is, of course, much more than can be assimilated, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> the balance -serves to flush the system out. The tissues are bathed in nutriment, -and an extraordinary recuperation is experienced. In my own case I -gained four and a half pounds in one day—the third—and gained a total -of thirty-two pounds in twenty-four days.</p> - -<p>My sensations on this milk diet were almost as interesting as on the -fast. In the first place, there was an extraordinary sense of peace and -calm, as if every weary nerve in the body were purring like a cat under -a stove. Next there was the keenest activity of mind—I read and wrote -incessantly. And, finally, there was a perfectly ravenous desire for -physical work. In the old days I had walked long distances and climbed -mountains, but always with reluctance and from a sense of compulsion. -Now, after the cleaning-out of the fast, I would go into a gymnasium -and do work which would literally have broken my back before, and I -did it with intense enjoyment, and with amazing results. The muscles -fairly leaped out upon my body; I suddenly discovered the possibility -of becoming an athlete. I had always been lean and dyspeptic-looking, -with what my friends called a "spiritual" expression; I now became as -round as a butter-ball, and so brown and rosy in the face that I was a -joke to all who saw me.</p> - -<p>I had not taken what is called a "complete"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> fast—that is, I had not -waited until hunger returned. Therefore I began again. I intended only -a short fast, but I found that hunger ceased again, and, much to my -surprise, I had none of the former weakness. I took a cold bath and -a vigorous rub twice a day; I walked four miles every morning, and -did light gymnasium work, and with nothing save a slight tendency to -chilliness to let me know that I was fasting. I lost nine pounds in -eight days, and then went for a week longer on oranges and figs, and -made up most of the weight on these.</p> - -<p>I shall always remember with amusement the anxious caution with which -I now began to taste the various foods which before had caused me -trouble. Bananas, acid fruits, peanut butter—I tried them one by one, -and then in combination, and so realized with a thrill of exultation -that every trace of my old trouble was gone. Formerly I had had to lie -down for an hour or two after meals; now I could do whatever I chose. -Formerly I had been dependent upon all kinds of laxative preparations; -now I forgot about them. I no longer had headaches. I went bareheaded -in the rain, I sat in cold draughts of air, and was apparently immune -to colds. And, above all, I had that marvellous, abounding energy, so -that whenever I had a spare minute or two I would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> begin to stand on -my head, or to "chin" myself, or do some other "stunt," from sheer -exuberance of animal spirits.</p> - -<p>For several months after this experience I lived upon a diet of raw -foods exclusively—mainly nuts and fruits. I had been led to regard -this as the natural diet for human beings; and I found that so long -as I was leading an active life the results were most satisfactory. -They were satisfactory also in the case of my wife, and still more -so in the case of my little boy; the amount of work and bother thus -saved in the household may be imagined. But when I came to settle down -to a long period of hard and continuous writing, I found that I had -not sufficient bodily energy to digest these raw foods. I resorted -to fasting and milk alternately—and that is well enough for a time, -but it proves a nervous strain in the end. Recently a friend called -my attention to the late Dr. Salisbury's book, "The Relation of -Alimentation to Disease." Dr. Salisbury recommends a diet of broiled -beef and hot water as the solution of most of the problems of the -human body; and it may be believed that I, who had been a rigid and -enthusiastic vegetarian for three or four years, found this a startling -idea. However, I make a specialty of keeping an open mind, and I set -out to try the Salisbury system. I am sorry to have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> to say that it -seems to be a good one; sorry, because the vegetarian way of life is -so obviously the cleaner and more humane and more convenient. But it -seems to me that I am able to do more work and harder work with my mind -while eating beefsteaks than under any other <i>régime</i>; and while this -continues to be the case there will be one less vegetarian in the world.</p> - -<p>The fast is to me the key to eternal youth, the secret of perfect and -permanent health. I would not take anything in all the world for my -knowledge of it. It is Nature's safety-valve, an automatic protection -against disease. I do not venture to assert that I am proof against -virulent diseases, such as smallpox or typhoid. I know one ardent -physical culturist, a physician, who takes typhoid germs at intervals -in order to prove his immunity, but I should not care to go that far; -it is enough for me to know that I am proof against all the common -infections which plague us, and against all the "chronic" troubles. -And I shall continue so just as long as I stand by my present resolve, -which is to fast at the slightest hint of any symptom of ill-being—a -cold or a headache, a feeling of depression, or a coated tongue, or a -scratch on the finger which does not heal quickly.</p> - -<p>Those who have made a study of the fast <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>explain its miracles in the -following way: Superfluous nutriment is taken into the system and -ferments, and the body is filled with a greater quantity of poisonous -matter than the organs of elimination can handle. The result is the -clogging of these organs and of the blood-vessels—such is the meaning -of headaches and rheumatism, arteriosclerosis, paralysis, apoplexy, -Bright's disease, cirrhosis, etc. And by impairing the blood and -lowering the vitality, this same condition prepares the system for -infection—for "colds," or pneumonia, or tuberculosis, or any of the -fevers. As soon as the fast begins, and the first hunger has been -withstood, the secretions cease, and the whole assimilative system, -which takes so much of the energies of the body, goes out of business. -The body then begins a sort of house-cleaning, which must be helped by -an enema and a bath daily, and, above all, by copious water-drinking. -The tongue becomes coated, the breath and the perspiration offensive; -and this continues until the diseased matter has been entirely cast -out, when the tongue clears and hunger reasserts itself in unmistakable -form.</p> - -<p>The loss of weight during the fast is generally about a pound a day. -The fat is used first, and after that the muscular tissue; true -starvation begins only when the body has been reduced to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> the skeleton -and the viscera. Fasts of forty and fifty days are now quite common—I -have met several who have taken them.</p> - -<p>Strange as it may seem, the fast is a cure for both emaciation and -obesity. After a complete fast the body will come to its ideal weight. -People who are very stout will not regain their weight; while people -who are under weight may gain a pound or more a day for a month. There -are two dangers to be feared in fasting. The first is that of fear. I -do not say this as a jest. No one should begin to fast until he has -read up on the subject and convinced himself that it is the thing to -do; if possible he should have with him someone who has already had the -experience. He should not have about him terrified aunts and cousins -who will tell him that he looks like a corpse, that his pulse is below -forty, and that his heart may stop beating in the night. I took a -fast of three days out in California; on the third day I walked about -fifteen miles, off and on, and, except that I was restless, I never -felt better. And then in the evening I came home and read about the -Messina earthquake, and how the relief ships arrived, and the wretched -survivors crowded down to the water's edge and tore each other like -wild beasts in their rage of hunger. The paper set forth, in horrified -language, that some of them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> had been seventy-two hours without food. -I, as I read, had also been seventy-two hours without food; and the -difference was simply that they thought they were starving. And if at -some crisis during a long fast, when you feel nervous and weak and -doubting, some people with stronger wills than your own are able to -arouse in you the terrors of the earthquake survivors, they can cause -their most direful anticipations to be realized.</p> - -<p>The other danger is in breaking the fast. A person breaking a long -fast should regard himself as if he were liable to seizures of violent -insanity. I know a man who fasted fifty days, and then ate half a -dozen figs, and caused intestinal abrasions from which he lost a great -deal of blood. I would dwell more upon this topic were it not for my -discovery of the "milk diet." When you drink a glass of milk every -half-hour you have no chance to get really hungry, and so you glide, as -if by magic, from a condition of extreme emaciation to one of blooming -rotundity. But very frequently the milk diet disagrees with people; and -these have to break the fast with very small quantities of the simplest -foods—fruit juices and meat broths for the first two or three days at -least.</p> - -<p>I will conclude this chapter by narrating the experiences of some other -persons with the fasting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> cure. With the exception of one, the second -case, they are all people whom I know personally, and who have told me -their stories with their own lips.</p> - -<p>First, I give the case of my wife. She has always been frail, and -subject to sore throats since girlhood. In the past five years -she has undergone three major surgical operations and had several -serious illnesses besides. Two years ago she had a severe attack of -appendicitis. The physician made a wrong diagnosis, and kept her alive -for about ten days with morphine. She was then too low to risk an -operation, and was not expected to live. It was several months before -she was able to walk again, and she had never fully recovered from the -experience. When she began the fast she was suffering from serious -stomach trouble, loss of weight, and neurasthenia.</p> - -<p>I did not think that she would be able to stand a fast. She had more -trouble than I—some nervousness, headache and nausea. But she stood -it for ten days, when her tongue cleared suddenly. She had lost twelve -pounds, and she then gained twenty-two pounds in seventeen days. She -then took another fast of six days with me, and with no more trouble -than I experienced the second time—walking four miles every morning -with me. She is now a picture of health, and is engaged in accumulating -muscle with enthusiasm. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span></p> - -<p>Second, a man well on in life, who had always abused his health. He -suffered from asthma and dropsy, and was saturated with drugs. He -had not been able to lie down for several years. He weighed over 220 -pounds, and his legs were "like sacks of water, leaking continually." -His kidneys had refused to act, and after his doctors had tried all -the drugs they knew, he was told that he was dying. His brother, who -narrated the circumstances to me, persuaded him not to eat the supper -that was brought in to him, and so he lived through the night. He -fasted seven days, and went for four weeks longer on a very light diet, -and is now chopping wood and pitching hay upon his farm in Kentucky.</p> - -<p>Third, a young physician, as a college boy a physical wreck from -dissipation, now twenty-four. "A born neurastheniac." He was attacked -by appendicitis twice in succession. He fasted five days after the -last attack, and six days later on. Gained thirty-five pounds, and is -a splendidly developed athlete; he runs five miles in 26 minutes 15 -seconds, and rode a wheel 500 miles in seven days.</p> - -<p>Fourth, a young lady, who had suffered a nervous collapse caused by -overwork and worry. The bones of her spine had softened; her hipbones -tilted upwards three-quarters of an inch;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> she was "barely able to -crawl on two sticks." She fasted ten days, and again eight days, and -took the milk diet for six weeks. I have seen her every day for the -last eight or ten weeks, and I do not think that I ever met a woman who -impressed me as possessing more superabundant and radiant health.</p> - -<p>Fifth, a young man, injured in a railroad wreck; a rib broken and the -outer lining of the lungs punctured. Still has an opening for drainage, -caused by chafing of the membranes. Suffered in succession attacks of -bronchitis, typhoid, pneumonia and pleurisy. Was reduced from 186 to -119 pounds, and had planned to take his life. Fasted six days, gained -twenty-seven pounds, and plays tennis vigorously, in spite of having an -opening in his chest. Recently walked 442 miles in eleven days.</p> - -<p>Sixth, a lady, married, and in middle life, a life-long sufferer -from stomach trouble; had experienced six attacks of inflammatory -rheumatism, resulting in valvular heart disease and the loss of the -use of her limbs. Fasted four times—four, eight, twenty-eight, and -fourteen days. I can best describe her present condition by saying that -all this summer she arose every morning at daybreak, walked four and a -half miles, went for a swim, and then walked home for breakfast. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span></p> - -<p>Seventh, an Episcopal clergyman, who had suffered almost all his life -from indigestion; had an acute attack of gastritis, followed by nervous -prostration and complete breakdown. Specialists had diagnosed his case -as "prolapsed stomach and bowels, autointoxication and neurasthenia," -and told him that he could not expect to get well in less than five -years. He was so emaciated that he could hardly creep around, and, -despite the fact that he had a wife and six children, was contemplating -suicide. He fasted eleven days, and then gained thirty pounds. I am -prepared to testify that he is the most hard-working, cheerful and -athletic clergyman it has ever been my fortune to meet.</p> - -<p>I have taken some trouble to investigate the subject of the fast, and -to meet people who have been through the experience. I could give a -dozen more cases such as the above if space permitted. I know one -man who reduced his weight from 365 pounds to 235. I know one little -girl whose spine was bent in the shape of a letter U lying sideways, -and who, by means of fasting and a diet of fruits exclusively, has -come four inches nearer to straightness in a few months. She has the -complexion of perfect health, and is rapidly recovering the use of arms -and legs, which were paralyzed years ago. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p> - -<p>The reader may think that my enthusiasm over the fasting cure is due to -my imaginative temperament; I can only say that I have never yet met a -person who has given the fast a fair trial who does not describe his -experience in the same way. I have never heard of any harm resulting -from it, save only in cases of tuberculosis, in which I have been told -by one physician that people have lost weight and not regained it.</p> - -<p>I regard the fast as Nature's own remedy for all other diseases. It is -the only remedy which is based upon an understanding of the fundamental -nature of disease. And I believe that when the glad tidings of its -miracles have reached the people it will lead to the throwing of 90 -per cent of our present <i>materia medica</i> into the waste-basket. This -may be unwelcome to those physicians who are more concerned with their -own income than they are with the health of their patients; but I -personally have never met any such physicians, and so I most earnestly -urge it upon medical men to investigate the extraordinary and almost -incredible facts about the fasting cure.</p> - -<p class="center">* * * * * * *</p> - -<p>Shortly after the above was completed the writer had another -interesting experience with the fast. He had occasion to do some work -which kept him indoors for a couple of weeks, under <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>considerable -strain; and after that to spend the greater part of a week in the -dentist's chair suffering a good deal of pain; and finally to spend -two days and nights in a railroad train. He arrived at his destination -with every symptom of what long and painful experience has taught him -to recognize as a severe attack of the "grippe." (The last attack laid -him up in hospital for a week, and left him so reduced that he could -hardly stand.) On this occasion he fasted, and although circumstances -compelled him to be up and about during the entire time, every trace -of ill-feeling had left him in two days. Having started, however, he -continued the fast for twelve days. During this time he planned a play, -and wrote two-thirds of it, and he has reason to think that it is as -good work as he has ever done. It is worth noting that on the eighth -day he was strong enough to "chin" himself six times in succession, -though previous to the fasting treatment he had never in his life been -able to do this more than once or twice.</p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">A Letter to the New York Times</span></h3> - -<blockquote><p class="center">(<i>unfit to print</i>)</p> - -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Arden, Del.</span>, May 31, 1910.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Editor of the</span> <i>Times</i>, New York City,</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>,—Some time ago your news columns contained a -despatch to the effect that three<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> young ladies in Garden City, -Long Island, were undertaking a three days' fast as a result of -reading a magazine article recommending this measure. In your -editorial referring to this despatch, you say that the ladies are -"the victims of a shallow and unscrupulous sensationalist." As I -am the writer of the magazine article in question, I presume that -this means me. I did not intend to make any reply to the remark, -as I figure that I must have long ago lost whatever reputation -could be taken from me by newspaper comments. Thinking the matter -over, however, I concluded that I would venture a mild protest, -not on my own account, but for the sake of the important discovery -of which I told in the article in question.</p> - -<p>It is one of the privileges incidental to owning a newspaper that -one can call other people names with impunity, and can always have -the last word in any argument. Will, however, your sense of fair -play give me the privilege of asking you to state just what you -meant by the slur in question? In the magazine article I stated -that I had taken several fasts of ten or twelve days' duration, -with the result of a complete making over of my health. I presume -that the writer of the editorial had read the article before he -condemned it. Am I to understand that he got from the article the -impression that I was telling lies, and that I had never really -taken the fasts as I said I had taken them? Or was it his idea -that I exaggerated the benefits derived therefrom, in order to -make "victims" of the three young ladies in Garden City? </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p> - -<p>I might say that I took the fasts in question in an institution -where hundreds of people were fasting anywhere from three to fifty -days; that during the entire time I was under the observation of -many people; my weight was taken regularly every day, and all -the symptoms which I described were observed by physicians and -friends. May I also call attention to the fact that I published -in the article two photographs, one of which was taken four years -ago, and the other of which was taken after the fasting treatment? -The contrast between these two photographs was sufficiently -striking, it seems to me, to impress anyone. May I also call -attention to the fact that the article was found of sufficient -interest to be published in one of the most representative of -the English monthlies, the <i>Contemporary Review</i>? Also that the -<i>Contemporary Review</i> appended to the article the testimony of -half a dozen people whose cases I had myself observed, and whose -letters I have in my possession?</p> - -<p>I fully recognize the fact that many of the things for which -I stand as a writer are abhorrent to you, but surely that is -no reason for condemning recklessly and blindly an important -discovery concerning human health, simply because I happen -to be the person who is telling about it. Setting aside all -personalities, and simply in the interest of the discovery in -question, I respectfully invite you to make an investigation of -the claims which I have set forth in that article. Let me give you -the names of some people who have fasted either under my direction -or in my presence, and who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> will tell a representative of your -paper of the results it has brought to them. I can tell you of a -dozen such people. Also, perhaps by way of preliminary, you might -be willing to publish as an appendix to this letter of mine the -communication from another of my "victims," omitting the name of -the writer unless you obtain permission to use it.</p> - -<p class="right">Yours truly,<span class="s5"> </span><br /><span class="smcap">Upton Sinclair</span>.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Appended to the above was the letter which the reader will find in the -Appendix, page 111. The <i>Times</i> did not publish this letter, nor did it -pay any attention to several letters of protest which followed. I leave -it to the reader to judge whether the silence of the paper was one of -dignity or of fear. The following despatch from the New York <i>World</i> of -May 17, 1910, records the experiences of the Garden City ladies, and -makes clear how much in need of sympathy my "victims" were.</p> - -<blockquote><p>All three of the young women are in rare spirits. They have gone -about their usual occupations and recreations, and Mrs. Trask -found time yesterday to talk about the single tax in the course of -a conversation that had to do primarily with her newer interest.</p> - -<p>"We are getting the most extraordinary number of letters about -this adventure of ours," Mrs.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> Trask said. "They began to come the -first day, and to-day there were lots of them. They come from some -of the most unexpected places and they contain some of the most -unexpected things.</p> - -<p>"What most astonishes me is that of all those who write to tell -us that they have tried just what we are doing, not one has told -us of a failure. There isn't any reason why they shouldn't write -to say that we are foolish and that we can't hope to gain what we -want, but dozens of them have reiterated the promise that we'll -never regret having made our experiment.</p> - -<p>"One New York woman told us something that we had wondered about -more than once. Her husband had suffered greatly from rheumatism, -and finally he tried fasting. Not dieting like ourselves, but -fasting. He went without food of any kind, she said, for nineteen -days. He kept on at his work, too, which was the thing we had been -wondering about.</p> - -<p>"We've heard from another physician, too. He lives in Boston and -has made a specialty of dietetics. He warned us not to stick too -closely to milk, because we'd find that after a day or two it -would quit being of the service it had been at first. People we -never heard of tell us that thus and so was their experience, and -when we measure our own discoveries beside theirs we find new and -convincing evidence that we picked the true way to the end we -hoped to reach.</p> - -<p>"I know that for myself I'll have reason to be grateful always -that I took this up. We have been greatly benefited."</p></blockquote> - -<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> The first two of these, Edmond Kelly and Ben Hanford, have -since died.</p></div></div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p> - -<h2>SOME NOTES ON FASTING</h2> - -<p>In relation to the article, "Perfect Health," I received some six or -eight hundred letters from people who either had fasted, or desired to -fast and sought for further information. The letters showed a general -uniformity which made clear to me that I had not been sufficiently -explicit upon several important points.</p> - -<p>The question most commonly asked was how long should one fast, and how -one should judge of the time to stop. I personally have never taken a -"complete fast," and so I hesitate in recommending this to any one. I -have fasted twelve days on two occasions. In both cases I broke my fast -because I found myself feeling weak and I wanted to be about a good -deal. In neither case was I hungry, although hunger quickly returned. -I was told by Bernarr Macfadden, and by some of his physicians, that -they got their best results from fasts of this length. I would not -advise a longer fast for any of the commoner ailments, such as stomach -and intestinal trouble, headaches, constipation, colds and sore throat. -Longer fasts,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> it seems to me, are for those who have really desperate -ailments, such deeply-rooted chronic diseases as Bright's disease, -cirrhosis of the liver, rheumatism and cancer.</p> - -<p>Of course if a person has started on a fast and it is giving him no -trouble, there is no reason why it should not be continued; but I do -not in the least believe in a man's setting before himself the goal of -a forty or fifty days' fast and making a "stunt" out of it. I do not -think of the fast as a thing to be played with in that way. I do not -believe in fasting for the fun of it, or out of curiosity. I do not -advise people to fast who have nothing the matter with them, and I do -not advise the fast as a periodical or habitual thing. A man who has -to fast every now and then is like a person who should spend his time -in sweeping rain water out of his house, instead of taking the trouble -to repair his roof. If you have to fast every now and then, it is -because the habits of your life are wrong, more especially because you -are eating unwholesome foods. There were several people who wrote me -asking about a fast, to whom my reply was that they should simply adopt -a rational diet; that I believed their troubles would all disappear -without the need of a fast.</p> - -<p>Several people asked me if it would not be better<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> for them to eat very -lightly instead of fasting, or to content themselves with fasts of two -or three days at frequent intervals. My reply to that is that I find it -very much harder to do that, because all the trouble in the fast occurs -during the first two or three days. It is during those days that you -are hungry, and if you begin to eat just when your hunger is ceasing, -you have wasted all your efforts. In the same way, perhaps, it might -be a good thing to eat very lightly of fruit, instead of taking an -absolute fast—the only trouble is that I cannot do it. Again and again -I have tried, but always with the same result: the light meals are -just enough to keep me ravenously hungry, and inevitably I find myself -eating more and more. And it does me no good to call myself names about -this, I just do it, and keep on doing it; I have finally made up my -mind that it is a fact of my nature. I used to try these "fruit fasts" -under Dr. Kellogg's advice. I could live on nothing but fruit for -several days, but I would get so weak that I could not stand up—far -weaker than I have ever become on an out-and-out fast.</p> - -<p>One should drink all the water he possibly can while fasting, only not -taking too much at a time. I take a glass full every hour, at least; -sometimes every half hour. It is a good plan to drink a great<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> deal of -water at the outset, whenever meal time comes around, and one thinks of -the other folks beginning to eat. I drink the water cold, because it is -less trouble, but if there is any hot water about, I prefer that. Hot -water between meals is an immensely valuable suggestion which I owe to -Dr. Salisbury.</p> - -<p>One should take a bath every day while fasting. I prefer a warm bath -followed by a cold shower. Also one should take a small enema. I find a -pint of cool water sufficient. I received several letters from people -who were greatly disturbed because of constipation during the fast. -People apparently do not realize that while fasting there is very -little to be eliminated from the body. (Of course, there are cases, -especially of people who have suffered from long continued intestinal -trouble, in which even after three or four weeks the enema continues to -bring away quantities of dried and impacted fćces.)</p> - -<p>Many of the questions asked dealt with the manner of breaking the fast; -I suppose because I had been particular to warn my readers that this -was the one danger point in the proceeding. I told of my experience -with the milk diet, and I received many inquiries about this. My answer -was to refer the writers to Bernarr Macfadden's pamphlet on the milk -diet, as I took this diet under<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> his direction and have nothing to -add to his instructions. I might say, however, that I was never able -to take the milk diet for any length of time but once, and that after -my first twelve-day fast. After my second fast it seemed to go wrong -with me, and I think the reason was that I did not begin it until a -week after breaking the fast, having got along on orange juice and -figs in the meantime. Also I tried on many occasions to take the milk -diet after a short fast of three or four days, and always the milk has -disagreed with me and poisoned me. I take this to mean that, in my own -case, at any rate, so much milk can only be absorbed when the tissues -are greatly reduced; and I have known others who have had the same -experience.</p> - -<p>While I was down in Alabama, I took a twelve-day fast, and at the end -I was tempted by a delicious large Japanese persimmon, which had been -eyeing me from the pantry shelf during the whole twelve days. I ate -that persimmon—and I mention that it was thoroughly ripe; in spite -of which fact it doubled me up with the most alarming cramp—and in -consequence I do not recommend persimmons for fasters. I know a friend -who had a similar experience from the juice of one orange; but he was -a man with whom acid fruit has always disagreed. I know another man -who broke his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> fast on a Hamburg steak; and this also is not to be -recommended.</p> - -<p>It has been my experience that immediately after a fast the stomach -is very weak, and can easily be upset; also the peristaltic muscles -are practically without power. It is, therefore, important to choose -foods which are readily digested, and also to continue to take the -enema daily until the muscles have been sufficiently built up to make -a natural movement possible. The thing to do is to take orange juice -or grape juice in small quantities for two or three days, and then go -gradually upon the milk diet, beginning with half a glass of warm milk -at a time. If the milk does not agree with you, you may begin carefully -to add baked potatoes and rice and gruels and broths, if you must; but -don't forget the enema.</p> - -<p>People ask me in what diseases I recommend fasting. I recommend it for -all diseases of which I have ever heard, with the exception of one in -which I have heard of bad results—tuberculosis. Dr. Hazzard, in her -book, reports a case of the cure of this disease, but Mr. Macfadden -tells me that he has known of several cases of people who have lost -their weight and have not regained it. There is one cure quoted in the -appendix to this volume.</p> - -<p>The diseases for which fasting is most <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>obviously to be recommended -are all those of the stomach and intestines, which any one can see -are directly caused by the presence of fermenting and putrefying food -in the system. Next come all those complaints which are caused by the -poisons derived from these foods in the blood and the eliminative -organs: such are headaches and rheumatism, liver and kidney troubles, -and of course all skin diseases. Finally, there are the fevers and -infectious diseases, which are caused by the invasion of the organism -by foreign bacteria, which are enabled to secure a lodgment because of -the weakened and impure condition of the blood-stream. Such are the -"colds" and fevers. In these latter cases nature tries to save us, for -there is immediately experienced a disinclination on the part of the -sick person to take any sort of food; and there is no telling how many -people have been hurried out of life in a few days or hours, because -ignorant relatives, nurses and physicians have gathered at their -bedside and implored them to eat. I can look back upon a time in my own -experience when my wife was in the hospital with a slow fever; they -would bring her up three square meals a day, consisting of lamb chops, -poached eggs on toast, cooked vegetables, preserves and desserts; and -the physician would stand by her bedside and say, in sepulchral tones, -"If you do not eat, you will die!" </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p> - -<p>My friend, Mr. Arthur Brisbane, wrote me a gravely disapproving letter -when he read that I was fasting. I had a long correspondence with him, -at the end of which he acknowledged that there "might be something in -it." "Even dogs fast when they are ill," he wrote; and I replied, "I -look forward to the time when human beings may be as wise as dogs." -I read the other day an amusing story of a man who made himself a -reputation for curing the diseases of the pampered pets of our rich -society ladies. They would bring him their overfed dogs, and he would -shut them up in an old brick-kiln, with a tub of water, and leave them -there to howl until they were hoarse. In addition to the water he would -put in each cell a hunk of stale bread, a piece of bacon rind, and an -old boot. He would go back at the end of a few days, and if the bread -was eaten he would write to the fond owner that the dog's recovery was -assured. He would go back in a few more days, and if the bacon rind -was eaten would write that the dog was nearly well. And at the end of -another week, he would go back, and if the old boot was eaten he would -write to the owner that the dog was now completely restored to health.</p> - -<p>Several people wrote me who were in the last stages of some desperate -disease. Of course<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> they had always been consulting with physicians, -and the physicians had told them that my article was "pure nonsense"; -and they would write me that they would like to try to fast, but that -they were "too weak and too far gone to stand it." There is no greater -delusion than that a person needs strength to fast. The weaker you are -from disease, the more certain it is that you need to fast, the more -certain it is that your body has not strength enough to digest the food -you are taking into it. If you fast under those circumstances, you will -grow not weaker, but stronger. In fact, my experience seems to indicate -that the people who have the least trouble on the fast are the people -who are most in need of it. The system which has been exhausted by the -efforts to digest the foods that are piled into it, simply lies down -with a sigh of relief and goes to sleep.</p> - -<p>The fast is Nature's remedy for all diseases, and there are few -exceptions to the rule. When you feel sick, fast. Do not wait until the -next day, when you will feel stronger, nor till the next week, when -you are going away into the country, but stop eating at once. Many of -the people who wrote to me were victims of our system of wage slavery, -who wrote me that they were ill, but could not get even a few days' -release in which to fast. They wanted to know if they could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> fast and -at the same time continue their work. Many can do this, especially if -the work is of a clerical or routine sort. On my first fast I could not -have done any work, because I was too weak. But on my second fast I -could have done anything except very severe physical labor. I have one -friend who fasted eight days for the first time, and who did all her -own housework and put up several gallons of preserves on the last day. -I have received letters from a couple of women who have fasted ten or -twelve days, and have done all their own work. I know of one case of a -young girl who fasted thirty-three days and worked all the time at a -sanatorium, and on the twenty-fourth day she walked twenty miles.</p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Fasting and the Doctors</span></h3> - -<p>A most discouraging circumstance to me was the attitude of physicians, -as revealed in the correspondence that came to me. Mostly I learned of -this attitude from the letters of patients who quoted their physicians -to me. From the physicians themselves I heard practically nothing. We -have some one hundred and forty thousand regularly graduated "medical -men" in this country, and they are all of them presumably anxious to -cure disease. It would seem that an experience<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> such as mine, narrated -over my own signature, and backed by references to other cases, would -have awakened the interest of a good many of these professional men.</p> - -<p>Out of the six or eight hundred letters that I have received, just two, -so far as I can remember, were from physicians; and out of the hundreds -of newspaper clippings which I received, not a single one was from any -sort of medical journal. There was one physician, in an out-of-the-way -town in Arkansas, who was really interested, and who asked me to let -him print several thousand copies of the article in the form of a -pamphlet, to be distributed among his patients. One single mind, among -all the hundred and forty thousand, open to a new truth!</p> - -<p>In the <i>English Review</i> for November, 1910, I find an article entitled -"Bone-setting and the Profession, by Fairplay." It is a narrative of -the experience of the writer and some of his friends with Osteopathy, -being a defence of that method of treatment in cases of bruises and -sprains. I quote the following paragraph:</p> - -<p>"Harvey's statement about the circulation of the blood was met with -scorn by the doctors, who called him in derision the 'Circulator.' -Simpson's discovery of the use of chloroform was scouted by them as -incredible, some even declared it to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> 'impious,' and a 'defiance of -the will of God.' Elliotson's use of the stethoscope called forth the -rage of the protected society as a body: the <i>Lancet</i> described him as -a 'pariah of the profession.' The ignorant scorn and slander broke his -heart; but to-day the stethoscope is in constant use, and is recognized -as one of the most important aids to a correct diagnosis."</p> - -<p>It might also be of interest to quote the note which one finds appended -to this remarkable article: "The Editor was amused to find that the -<i>Lancet</i> refused the advertisement of the above article, thereby -confirming what the writer alleges against the ring."</p> - -<p>Of course I realize what a difficult matter it is for a medical man -to face these facts about the fast. Sometimes it seems to me that we -have no right to expect their help at all, and that we never will -receive it. For we are asking them to destroy themselves, economically -speaking. We do not expect aid from eminent corporation lawyers when -we set out to overthrow the rule of privilege in our country; and it -must be equally difficult for a hard-worked and not very highly paid -physician to contemplate the triumph of an idea, which would leave no -place for him in civilization. In an article contributed to <i>Physical -Culture</i> magazine for January, 1910, I stated that in the course of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> -my search for health I had paid to physicians, surgeons, druggists and -sanatoriums not less than fifteen thousand dollars in the last six or -eight years. In the last year, since I have learned about the fast, -I have paid nothing at all; and the same thing is true, perhaps on a -smaller scale, of every one who discovers the fasting cure. As one man, -who wrote me a letter of enthusiastic gratitude, expresses it: "I have -spent over five hundred dollars in the last ten years trying to get -well on medicines. It cost me only thirty cents to use your method, and -for that thirty cents I obtained relief a million-fold more beneficial -than from five hundred dollars' worth of medicine."</p> - -<p>Not so very long ago I saw a report in some metropolitan newspaper to -the effect that the medical profession was greatly alarmed over the -decrease in its revenues—it being estimated that the income of the -average physician to-day was less than half of what it had been ten -years ago. All this, I think, is directly attributable to the spread of -knowledge concerning natural methods in the treatment of disease—and, -more important yet, of natural methods in the preservation of health. -Only the other day I was talking with a friend who was a teacher in -a small college in the Middle West. There was a physician regularly -employed to attend the girl-students, but several<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> of the teachers -became interested in the fasting cure, and whenever they learned of -any illness they would go to the girl and start her on a fast; as a -result, the physician lost considerably more than half his practice. In -the same way, I myself recently started several people in a small town -to fasting, and every time I saw the local physician driving by in his -carriage I marvelled at the courtesy and cordiality he displayed; for -before I had left that place I had cured half a dozen of his permanent -customers—people to whom he had been dispensing pills and powders -every few weeks for a dozen years.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p> - -<h2>THE HUMORS OF FASTING</h2> - -<p>At the time of writing these words, it has been just six months since I -published my first paper upon fasting, and I am still getting letters -about it at the rate of half a dozen a day. The tent which I inhabit -is rapidly becoming uninhabitable because of pasteboard boxes full of -"fasting-letters"; and the store-keeper who is so good as to receive my -telegrams over the 'phone, is growing quite expert at taking down the -symptoms of adventurers who get started and want to know how to stop. I -could make quite a postage-stamp collection from these letters—I had -one from Spain and one from India and one from Argentina all in the -same day. I am sure I might have kept a sanatorium for those people who -have begged me to let them come and live near me while they were taking -a fast. One woman writes to ask me to name my own price to take charge -of a case of elephantiasis which has been given up by all the experts -in Europe!</p> - -<p>Also, I could fill an article with the "humors" of these letters. One -woman writes a long and anxious inquiry as to whether it is permissible -to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> drink any <i>water</i> while fasting; and then follows this up with a -special delivery letter to say that she hopes I will not think she is -crazy—she had read the article again and noted the injunction to drink -as much water as she can! And then comes a letter from a man who wants -to know if I really mean it all; do I truly expect him to eat nothing -whatever—or would I call it fasting if he ate just nuts and fruit now -and then? Quite recently I was talking with a physician—a successful -and well-known physician—who refused point-blank to believe that a -human being could live for more than four or five days without any sort -of nutriment. There was no use talking about it—it was a physiological -impossibility; and even when I offered him the names and addresses of a -hundred people who had done it, he went off unconvinced. And yet that -same physician professes a religion which through nearly two thousand -years has recommended "fasting and prayer" as the method of the soul's -achievement; and he will go to church and listen reverently to accounts -of a forty-day fast in the wilderness! And he lives in a country in -which there are sanatoriums where hundreds of people are fasting all -the time, and where twenty or thirty-day fasts occasion no more remark -than a good golf-score at a summer hotel! </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span></p> - -<p>If you have any doubt that such fasts are taken, you can very quickly -convince yourself. Less than a year ago I saw a man completing a -fifty-day fast; I talked with him day by day, and I knew absolutely -that it was all in good faith. The symptoms of fasting are as distinct -and unmistakable as are, for instance, those of smallpox; you could -no more persuade an experienced person that you are fasting when you -are not fasting, than you could persuade a bacteriologist that you had -sleeping-sickness when you were merely lazy.</p> - -<p>When I was a very small boy, I recall that a Dr. Tanner took a -forty-day fast in a museum in New York; and I recollect well the -conversation in our family—how obvious it was that the thing must be a -fake, and how foolish people were to be taken in by so absurd a fake. -"He gets something to eat when nobody's looking," we would say.</p> - -<p>But then what about his weight? Here is a man, going along day by day, -year in and year out, weighing in the neighborhood of a hundred and -fifty pounds; and now, all of a sudden, he begins to lose a pound a -day, as regularly as the sun rises. How does he do it?</p> - -<p>"Well," we would say, "he must work hard and get rid of it." </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p> - -<p>But how can a man do that, when he had no longer enough muscular tissue -left to support his weight? And when his pulse is only thirty-five -beats to the minute?</p> - -<p>Then, says the reader, perhaps he goes to a Turkish bath, and sweats it -off.</p> - -<p>But ask any jockey how he'd like to take a Turkish bath every day -for fifty days! And how he would stand it when his arms and thighs -were so reduced that you could meet your thumb and forefinger around -them, and could plainly trace the bones and the blood vessels! And -then again, there is the tongue. If you take a fast and really need -the fast, you will find your tongue so coated that you can scrape it -with a knife-blade. And if you break your fast, your tongue will clear -in twenty-four hours; nothing in the world will coat it again but -several days more of fasting. How would you propose to get around that -difficulty?</p> - -<p>Such ideas have to do with fasting as seen by the outsider. I recollect -reading a diverting account of the fasting cure, in which the victim -was portrayed as haunted by the ghost of beefsteaks and turkeys. But -the person who is taking the fast knows nothing of these troubles, -nor would there be much profit in fasting if he did. The fast is not -an ordeal, it is a rest; and I have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> known people to lose interest in -food as completely as if they had never tasted any in their lives. I -know one lady who, to the consternation of her friends and relatives, -began a fast three days before Christmas and continued it until three -days after New Year's; and on both the holidays she cooked a turkey and -served it for her children. On another occasion, during a week's fast, -she "put up" several gallons of preserves; the only inconvenience being -that she had to call in a neighbor to taste them and see if they were -done. I myself took a twelve-day fast while living alone with my little -boy, and three times every day I went into the pantry and set out a -meal for him. I was not troubled at all by the sight of the food.</p> - -<p>The longest fast of which I had heard when my article was written -was seventy-eight days; but that record has since been broken, by a -man named Richard Fausel. Mr. Fausel, who keeps a hotel somewhere in -North Dakota, had presumably partaken too generously of the good cheer -intended for his guests, for he found himself at the inconvenient -weight of three hundred and eighty-five pounds. He went to a sanatorium -in Battle Creek and there fasted for forty days (if my recollection -serves me), and by dint of vigorous exercise meanwhile, he got rid of -one <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>hundred and thirty pounds. I think I never saw a funnier sight -than Mr. Fausel at the conclusion of this fast, wearing the same -pair of trousers that he had worn at the beginning of it. But the -temptations of hotel-keeping are severe, and when he went back home, -he found himself going up in weight again. This time he concluded to -do the job thoroughly, and went to Macfadden's place in Chicago, and -set out upon a fast of ninety days. That is a new record—though I -sometimes wonder if it is quite fair to call it "fasting" when a man is -simply living upon an internal larder of fat.</p> - -<p>It must be a curious experience to go for three months without -tasting food. It is no wonder that the stomach and all the organs of -assimilation forget how to do their work. The one danger in the fasting -treatment is that when you break the fast, hunger is apt to come back -with a rush, while, on the other hand, the stomach is weak, and the -utmost caution is needed. If you yield to your cravings, you may fill -your whole system with toxins, and undo all the good of the treatment; -but if you go slowly, and restrict yourself to very small quantities of -the most easily assimilated foods, then in an incredibly short time the -body will have regained its strength. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p> - -<p>My experience has taught me that it is well not to be too proud at such -a time, but to get some one to help you. And it ought to be some one -who has fasted, for a person at the end of a fast is an agitating sight -to his neighbors, and their one impulse is to get a "square meal" into -him as quickly as possible. Quite recently there was one of my converts -camping on my trail in New York City, and he called at the home of a -relative of mine, an elderly lady, who does not take much stock in -my eccentricities. I shall not soon forget her description of his -appearance—"I thought he was going to die right there before my eyes!" -she said. And no wonder, since the poor fellow had climbed four flights -of stairs to the apartment. "I know you'll get into trouble," added my -relative, "if you don't stop advising people to do such things!"</p> - -<p>I was interested enough in the question of fasting to spend some time -at a sanatorium where they make a specialty of it. One can see a sicker -looking collection of humans in such a place than anywhere else in the -world, I fancy. In the first place, people do not take the fasting -cure until they are looking desperate; and when they have got into the -fast they look more desperate. At the later stages they sometimes take -to wheelchairs; and at all times they move with <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>deliberation, and -their faces wear serious expressions. They gather in little groups and -discuss their symptoms; there is nothing so interesting in the world -when you are fasting as to talk symptoms with a lot of people who are -doing the same thing. There are some who are several days ahead of you, -and who make you ashamed of your doubts; and others who are behind you, -and to whom you have to appear as an old campaigner. So you develop an -<i>esprit de corps</i>, as it were—though that sounds as if I were trying -to make a pun.</p> - -<p>All this may not seem very alluring; but it is far better than a -life-time of illness, such as many of these people have known before. I -never knew that there was such terrible suffering in the world until I -heard some of their stories; they would indeed be depressing company, -were it not for the fact that now they are getting well. The reader may -answer sarcastically that they <i>think</i> they are. But every Christian -Scientist knows that this comes to the same thing; and I have talked -with not less than a hundred people who have fasted for three days or -more, and out of these there were but two or three who did not report -themselves as greatly benefited. So I am accustomed to say that I -would rather spend my time in a fasting sanatorium than in an ordinary -"swell"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> hotel. The people in the former are making themselves well and -know it; while the people in the latter are making themselves ill, and -don't know it.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span></p> - -<h2>A SYMPOSIUM ON FASTING</h2> - -<p>Recently I published a request that those who had tried the fast as the -result of my advocacy would write to advise me of the results. I stated -that I desired to hear unfavorable results as well as favorable; that I -wanted to get at the facts, and would tabulate the results exactly as -they came. The questions asked were as follows:</p> - -<blockquote><p>1. How many times have you fasted?</p> - -<p>2. How many days on each occasion?</p> - -<p>3. From what complaints did you suffer?</p> - -<p>4. Were these complaints ever diagnosed by regular physician? If -so, give the names and addresses of these physicians.</p> - -<p>5. Do you consider that you were definitely benefited by the -fasts? If so, in what way?</p> - -<p>6. For how long did the benefit continue?</p> - -<p>7. Do you consider that you were completely cured?</p> - -<p>8. Do you consider that you were definitely harmed? If so, in what -way?</p> - -<p>9. Have you ever been examined by any regular physician since the -cure? If so, give name and address. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p> - -<p>10. Are you willing that your name and address should be quoted -for the benefit of others?</p></blockquote> - -<p>The total number of fasts taken was 277, and the average number of days -was 6. There were 90 of five days or over, 51 of ten days or over, -and 6 of 30 days or over. Out of the 109 persons who wrote to me, 100 -reported benefit, and 17 no benefit. Of these 17 about half give wrong -breaking of the fast as the reason for the failure. In cases where the -cure had not proved permanent, about half mentioned that the recurrence -of the trouble was caused by wrong eating, and about half of the rest -made this quite evident by what they said. Also it is to be noted that -in the cases of the 17 who got no benefit, nearly all were fasts of -only three or four days.</p> - -<p>Following is the complete list of diseases benefited—45 of the cases -having been diagnosed by physicians: indigestion (usually associated -with nervousness), 27; rheumatism, 5; colds, 8; tuberculosis, 4; -constipation, 14; poor circulation, 3; headaches, 5; anćmia, 3; -scrofula, 1; bronchial trouble, 5; syphilis, 1; liver trouble, 5; -general debility, 5; chills and fever, 1; blood poisoning, 1; ulcerated -leg, 1; neurasthenia, 6; locomotor ataxia, 1; sciatica, 1; asthma, 2; -excess of uric acid, 1; epilepsy, 1; pleurisy, 1; <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>impaction of bowels, -1; eczema, 2; catarrh, 6; appendicitis, 3; valvular disease of heart, -1; insomnia, 1; gas poisoning, 1; grippe, 1; cancer, 1.</p> - -<p>There follows a brief summary of some of the most interesting cases. A -number of longer letters will be found in the Appendix.</p> - -<p class="space-above">Mrs. Lulu Wallace Smith, 324 W. White Oak Ave., Monrovia, Cal. Age 28. -Fasted 30 days for appendicitis and peritonitis, diagnosed by four -physicians. "Yes, indeed, I have definitely been benefited by fasting. -My stomach is not distressed after meals, I have regular evacuations -of the intestines, which I had not had since I was seventeen. I feel -perfectly healthy and look the same."</p> - -<p>William N——. Syphilis, with advanced ulcers in throat. Physicians -declared the case hopeless. Complete disappearance of symptoms after -four day's fast, but they gradually reappeared, and longer fast -intended.</p> - -<p>Dora Jordan, Connersville, Md. Indigestion, extreme nervousness, -neuralgia in its worst form. Fasted thirty days; did most of cooking -for a family of five, was at no time tempted to eat. "I am no longer -troubled with the old diseases, and weigh more than ever before. After -my fast I felt as happy and care free as a little child."</p> - -<p>C. L. Clark, Greenville, Mich. Nervous, poor digestion. Fasted nine -days. "I have been <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>wonderfully benefited, and am a rabid convert. -Alas, for the poor mortal who shows the faintest spark of interest in -my fast—I hand him the whole works, lock, stock and barrel! I feel -a new power and new incentive in life. Whenever I see a sick person, -I feel like telling him that for all he knows to the contrary, good -health has been and may be only eight or ten days away and waiting for -years for him to claim it."</p> - -<p>T. S. Jacks, Muskegon, Mich. Twenty days, followed by shorter fasts, -for stomach trouble, diagnosed by Dr. M—— as cancer. "He advised -me to be operated on. Since my fast, three years ago, I have had no -trouble with my stomach. I am entirely cured, and am enjoying fine -health."</p> - -<p>Gordon G. Ives, 147 Forsythe Bldg., Fresno, Cal. "Have fasted a good -many times since 1899, to cure catarrh of stomach, constipation, -deafness of four months' standing, neuralgia, etc. Duration, from -one to sixteen days. Never failed in accomplishing a cure. Benefit -continued until I had over-eaten for a long time. Complaints were never -diagnosed by regular physicians, as I got on to them in 1894. Use my -name if it will help the truth."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Maria L. Scott, Boring, Ariz. Reports case of husband, who fasted -seven days for constipation and deafness; had been obliged to take -enema daily for several months. Complete cure.</p> - -<p>Mrs. A. Wears, De Funiak Springs, Fla. "Age forty-two, subject to -severe colds and sore<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> throat all my life, chronic catarrh of head and -throat, in bed two winters with bronchitis and asthma. Did not take -complete fast. My catarrh is much improved. I feel perfectly well and -enjoy life so much more than I did before the fast."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Mae Bramble, Alba, Pa., R. F. D. 70. One fast of thirty days, -another of three days; nervous prostration the first time, appendicitis -the second time. "The first complaint was diagnosed, the second was -not; as I am a professional nurse, I understood the symptoms myself." -Complete and permanent cure. "I have never had a return of the nervous -trouble, and am well of the other complaint. It is five years since the -first fast."</p> - -<p>M. E. Beard, Corning, Cal. Fasted nine days for scrofula. Had been -diagnosed. Complete cure, permanent since 1908. Age forty-seven. "Five -years ago I broke down. Physicians never could tell me what ailed me. I -kept busy during my fast physically and mentally; worked over the cook -stove and outdoors. Felt no weakness."</p> - -<p>Joseph L. Lewis, Hatfield, Ark. Fasted three days, and then four days. -"During the last ten days have felt better than at any time during the -last seven years."</p> - -<p>Monroe Bornn, Port of Spain, Trinidad. Fasted seven days on three -occasions, for liver trouble. "I had been treated by three physicians. -I consider that I was completely cured. I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> have been examined by -regular physicians since the cure."</p> - -<p>E. B. Bayne, White Plains, N. Y. Sends record of fasts taken by two -people, Mr. and Mrs. A. Mr. A. fasted for rheumatism, which had caused -kidney and bladder trouble of years' standing, and iritis; fasted five -days and then four days and was completely cured. Mrs. A. Neuralgia and -catarrhal deafness. Completely cured. "Finds that exposure to draughts -has no effect upon her whatever, heretofore she would catch cold upon -the least exposure."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Charles H. Vosseller, Newark, N. J. "I don't agree with you or -Bernarr Macfadden in not recommending fasting for tuberculosis. My case -was diagnosed by Dr. B. G——, New Brunswick, N. J. I fasted nineteen -days and was completely cured; I received no harm, and have been -examined since by a physician. I weigh 114 lbs. now and before my fast -weighed 100 lbs. I never felt better in my life than I do at present. -Do not know that I have a pair of lungs."</p> - -<p class="space-above">In connection with the above tabulation of results, it should be -specified that it does not include any of the cases quoted elsewhere in -the book; it includes some of the letters given in the Appendix, but -not all. Thus it will appear that there are many more than 277 cases of -fasting recorded in this volume. The reason that I did not <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>summarize -in the tabulation all the letters I have received is, that I wished to -give only those which were sent to me in answer to my definite series -of questions, so that I might be sure of getting the unfavorable as -well as the favorable reports. Recently a well-known physician who -edits a magazine of health came out in vehement opposition to the -fasting cure, maintaining that we hear only of the cases which are -successful, and do not hear of the disastrous failures. In reply to -this, I wrote to him suggesting that he publish my series of questions -in his magazine, thus giving his readers an opportunity to make me -acquainted with the unsuccessful cases. This, however, the physician -declined to do.</p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Death during the Fast</span></h3> - -<p>There was much newspaper discussion of my fasting papers—most of -it being sarcastic. The most biting comment that I recall came from -somewhere out West, and ran about as follows: "A Seattle man fasted -forty days for stomach trouble. His stomach is troubling him no -longer. He is dead." I set to work to find out about this case, and -I give the facts on page 137. I also saw a report from the London -<i>Daily Telegraph</i> to the effect that a man had died in South<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> Africa -as a result of trying my "cure." How many thousands of people tried -it and lived, I do not know; but horrified relatives and enterprising -newspaper writers would see that the public was informed about any that -died.</p> - -<p>As to the possibility or probability of death during a fast, I have one -or two points to note:</p> - -<p>First, a good many sick people are dying all the time. It would be an -argument for fasting if it saved any of them. It is no argument against -fasting that it fails to save them all. No one would think of bringing -it up against his surgeon or his family physician that he occasionally -lost a patient.</p> - -<p>Second, people might die very frequently, without that being an -argument against the cure. It might simply be a consequence of the -desperately ill class of people who were trying it. A doctor who had a -new method of healing, and was permitted to use it only upon those whom -all other doctors had given up, would be considered successful if he -effected even an occasional cure. I would wager that of the people who -read my article and set out to fast, practically all had been suffering -for many years, and had given the "regular" physicians unlimited -opportunity to work on them.</p> - -<p>Third, it may be set down as absolutely certain<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> that no one ever died -of starvation while fasting. The essential feature of the fast is that -after the first two or three days all hunger ceases; and that any one -could die of lack of food without feeling a desire for food, is absurd -upon the face of it. Nature simply does not work that way. It reminds -me of a young lady who once told me that she would not go to sleep with -a mouse in the room, because she imagined the mouse might nibble off -her ear without waking her!</p> - -<p>As to the possibility that you might starve, during those first days -while you <i>are</i> hungry—the answer is simply that you <i>don't</i>. It is -perfectly true that men have died of starvation in three or four days; -but the starvation existed in their minds—it was fright that killed -them. That they did not truly starve is proven by my letters from -several hundreds of people who have fasted over that time, and who are -alive to tell of it.</p> - -<p>There are conditions in the human body which lead to death inevitably; -and some of these conditions are beyond the power of the fast to -remedy. When a person so afflicted sets out to fast, and dies in spite -of the fast, the papers of course declare that he died because of -the fast. Dr. L. B. Hazzard of Seattle has published a very useful -little book, "Fasting for the Cure of Disease," in which she tells -of two cases of "death from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> fasting," where the autopsy revealed -conditions with which the fast had no connection, and which made death -certain. Chances of that sort one has to take in life. You may have -a blood vessel in such a state that when you run after a street car -the increased pressure will cause it to burst; but you do not on that -account declare that no man ought to exert himself violently.</p> - -<p>As an example of the part that mental disturbances may play in the -fast, I will cite the case of a woman friend who started out to fast -for a complication of chronic ailments. She was rather stout, and did -not mind it at all—was going cheerfully about her daily tasks; but her -husband heard about it, and came home to tell her what a fool she was -making of herself; and in a few hours she was in a state of complete -collapse. No doubt if there had been a physician in the neighborhood, -there would have been another tale of a "victim of a shallow and -unscrupulous sensationalist." Fortunately, however, business called -the husband away again, and the next day the woman was all right, -and completed an eight-day fast with the best results. Bear this in -mind, so that if you wake up some morning and find your temperature -sub-normal and your pulse at forty, and your arms too weak to lift you, -and if your friends get round you and tell you that you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> look like a -mummy out of a sarcophagus of the seventeenth dynasty, and that I am a -Socialist and an undesirable citizen—you may be able to smile at them -good naturedly and tell them that you will never again eat until you -are hungry.</p> - -<p>I have thought over the cases of failure of the fast, where I have been -able to inquire into all the circumstances, and I think I can make -the statement that I do not know a case which might not be attributed -either to the influence of nervous excitement, or to unwise breaking of -the fast. In the last batch of letters was one with a printed account -of the disastrous results of a three weeks' fast taken by a woman. -It is an example of about all the blunders that I can think of. She -describes herself as occupying "a responsible office position," which -taxed her strength to the utmost; and she tried to do this work all -the time she was fasting. She would get up and go to work when she was -"scarcely able to drag one foot after another." On about the nineteenth -day her mother arrived, and then I quote: "She almost dropped at sight -of me, for I had not given a hint as to my condition; but despite my -protests, she sent for the doctor at once. My! Didn't he scold, and -tell me what was what! Mother's heart was so torn with sorrow and pity -that she hadn't the heart to reproach me for my three weeks' orgy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> of -fasting. She thought I had paid dearly for my folly." I don't think -it necessary to say anything more, except that I feel sorry for the -victim, and that I am glad to know this happened two years ago, so that -I am not to blame for the results.</p> - -<p>By way of contrast with this case I will quote the following letter, -which will show the reader the kind of experience that makes fasting -enthusiasts: "My wife and I have each nearly reached our seventy-second -year. I was born a physical wreck. A dozen years ago we began taking -short fasts, from three to eleven days' duration, for all our ills -of the flesh. But each of us had chronic troubles of forty years' -standing, which seemed growing no better. And finally, two years ago -last July, my wife said she was going to take a 'conquest fast' if -it killed her, for she was tired of living with her present ills. I -thought it a good time to try a little conquest fasting on my own hook. -I had no fear of the result. I knew that nature would tell me when I -had fasted long enough. So we began an absolute fast from all food -except distilled water and fresh air. We lived in fresh air night and -day. We took copious enemas daily, and I took a cabinet sweat, followed -by a cold plunge every other day. I knew that I must have many years of -filth accumulation in my bowels. And the amount of putridity that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> came -from my bowels the first twenty-five days of the fast was amazing.</p> - -<p>"After fasting twenty-eight days I began to be hungry, and broke my -fast with a little grape juice, followed the next day with tomatoes, -and later with vegetable soup. My wife began to be hungry after fasting -thirty-one days, and broke her fast in a similar manner to myself.</p> - -<p>"It is now two years since we took the conquest fast, and my wife has -no return of her former troubles. And I am enjoying all the mental -and physical pleasures which come from clean bowels. We think we -have learned how to live that we will never need another fast. Soon -after the fast I was examined by Dr. S——, the leading surgeon of -Los Angeles and Southern California, who pronounced me as being the -most wonderful person he ever met regarding softness of arteries, and -suppleness of body, for my age."</p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Fasting and the Mind</span></h3> - -<p>The reader will observe that I discuss this fasting question from a -materialistic view-point. I am telling what it does to the body; but -besides this, of course, fasting is a religious exercise. I heard -the other day from a man who was taking a forty-day fast, as a means -of increasing his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> "spiritual power." I am not saying that for you -to smile at—he has excellent authority for the procedure. The point -with me is that I find life so full of interest just now that I don't -have much time to think about my "soul." I get so much pleasure out -of a handful of raisins, or a cold bath, or a game of tennis, that I -fear it is interfering with my spiritual development. I have, however, -a very dear friend who goes in for the things of the soul, and she -tells me that when you are fasting, the higher faculties are in a -sensitive condition, and that you can do many interesting things with -your subliminal self. For instance, she had always considered herself -a glutton; and so, during an eight-day fast, just before going to -sleep and just after awakening, she would lie in a sort of trance and -impress upon her mind the idea of restraint in eating. The result, she -declared, has been that she has never since then had an impulse to -over-eat.</p> - -<p>There are many such curious things, about which you may read in the -books of the yogis and the theosophists—who were fasting in previous -incarnations when you and I were swinging about in the tree-tops by -our tails. But I ought to report upon one fasting experiment which -resulted disastrously for me. Earlier in this book I told how I had -been able to write the greater part of a play<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> while fasting. Shortly -afterwards I plunged into the writing of a new novel, and as usual I -got so much interested in it that I wasn't hungry. I said that I would -fast, and save the eating time, and the digesting time as well. So I -would sit and work for sixteen hours or more a day, sometimes for six -hours at a stretch without moving. After two or three days of this I -would be hungry, and would eat something; but being too much excited -to digest it, I would say, "Hang eating, anyhow!"—and go on for -another period of work. I kept that up for some six weeks, and I turned -out an appalling lot of manuscript; but I found that I had taken off -twenty-five pounds of flesh, and had got to such a point that I could -not digest a little warm milk. I cite this in order that the reader may -understand just why I take a gross and material view of fasting. My -advice is to lie round in the sun and read story-books and take care of -your body, and leave the soul-exercises and the nervous efforts until -the fast is over. But all the same, I know that there will be great -poetry written some day, when our poets have got on to the fasting -trick—and when our poets care enough about their work to be willing to -feed it with their own flesh.</p> - -<p>The great thing about the fast is that it sets you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> a new standard of -health. You have been accustomed to worrying along somehow; but now you -discover your own possibilities, and thereafter you are not content -until you have found some way to keep that virginal state of stomach -which one possesses for a month or two after a successful fast. It -must mean, of course, many changes in your life, if you really wish -to keep it. It means the giving up of tobacco and alcohol, and a too -sedentary life, and steam-heated rooms; above all else, it means giving -up self-indulgent eating.</p> - -<p>A couple of years ago my wife and myself made the acquaintance of -a young lady patient in a sanatorium, who was in a much run-down -condition, anćmic and nervous. We persuaded her to take a fast of -five or six days, and afterwards take the milk diet, as the result of -which she went back to her home in Virginia with what she described -as "smiles and dimples and curves and bright eyes." She was so -enthusiastic about the cure that she proceeded to apply it to all her -family and her friends; and some time afterwards she wrote my wife -a most diverting account of her adventures. After some persuasion I -secured her permission to quote her letter, having duly omitted all the -names. It makes clear the thorny path which the fasting enthusiast has -to travel in this world. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote><p>I will try in a very limited space of time to tell you what -keeps me a slave here at home. I got Mr. X—— down from —— -to put papa and mamma on the fasting cure—papa had a bad case -of grippe—mamma had indigestion. My oldest married brother is -in dreadful health, and his wife and baby are not well. I wore -myself nearly out trying to get them well, and at the same time -trying to pick up some threads of long neglected social duties. -People were beginning to call me "stuck-up" (horrid vulgar term), -so unless I wanted to make enemies of the wives and daughters -of papa's and brother's business friends, I had to go to a few -parties and pay some long-neglected calls. I did it all, and then -decided to have Mr. X—— come to help me. I got papa and mamma -and M—— and <i>her baby</i>(!) on a fast—and then woe is me—I had -to get them off again! They had various and alarming symptoms due -to their ignorance of the methods, and the wild interest of the -town medicine-men. The family doctor gave me a "straight talk" and -asked me if I was going to try <i>to kill my father and mother</i>. -Papa would not give up his cigarettes, and a "toddy" now and then. -M——'s baby lost four pounds while his mother was fasting. All -the doctors' wives came to call, and beset me with questions—and -I had the d—— of a time. But I stood by my guns. When the -overfed, self-indulgent family all got to vomiting at once, my -hands were full, and I nearly had nervous prostration before I got -order out of the bedlam I had stirred up. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span></p> - -<p>Well, they got over the fast and on to the milk. Then I had to -tend to the milk myself or they refused to drink it. Finally mamma -got to feeling so well that she sat up, and planned big course -dinners and invited people to eat them. She began to order new -clothes for the kids, new furnishings for the house, and started -in to live her disorderly, ungodly "Southern hospitality" life all -over again. Our senator died and mamma got into politics in the -new election; and Cousin J—— got drunk, and I had to go with him -to the Keeley Institute, etc., etc. Surely there is a heaven for -saints like me. I did not fly the roost as I was tempted to do, -but I answered midnight calls of the spoiled, nauseated ones, and -fixed hot-water bags, quelled riots among the meat-eating servants -and hungry children—and swore I'd win! I did. Well, I got things -going in fine order at last, with papa cured of his grippe and an -old case of kidney trouble. Mamma is now comfortably eating boiled -ham and stuffed peppers, and fruit cake and cherry pie, and green -olives and what not at the same meal. She is well, though. But -of course she will get sick again. Papa, the only sane member of -our family, is still holding on to the milk, taking four quarts -of buttermilk a day, and he is flourishing, thank heaven! M—— -is still bilious, having broken her fast with hard-boiled eggs -and pork chops. And I am still living, in spite of having been to -Keeley, and incidentally having danced all night (with a low-neck, -short-sleeved gown on!) at the —— Club ball, sat through several -dinners and bridge parties<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> into the "wee sma' hours," and had -two men propose to me with the prelude, "You are the nicest, -most refined, and most lovable girl in the world if you <i>are</i> a -crank." Wasn't that a nice beginning for a proposal of marriage? -I accepted them both on condition that I be allowed to remain a -crank.</p> - -<p>Well, the next chapter began with an old lover who had married -another woman. He came to see me and said he had a tape-worm! Ye -gods—such romance! His wife had stomach and intestinal trouble. -I turned Mr. X—— over to them, and them over to Mr. X——. The -lady got along, but the poor man with a wild beast inside him -got so sick after an eight-day fast that he wanted to have me -mobbed, sent for two trained nurses and four doctors—this is no -exaggeration—the doctors looked at me, and looks were as plain as -words—"You little devil! You did it for pure meanness." For three -days my poor friend had the doctors giving him hypodermics, and -he never stopped vomiting until we were all nearly dead. Then he -quieted down, got well, ate a beef-steak with a few dozen oysters -and mushrooms, and took me riding in his new automobile. The grim -humor in the whole thing is that if I had not gotten my roses and -dimples and curves and bright eyes back by fasting, this man would -never have taken me riding in his new automobile. Take a tip from -me—all the good nursing and friendly efforts in behalf of the -health of my friends did not endear me to them one half as much -as the plump, rosy smile I wore with my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> new silk gown. The first -day our sick friend went out in his car—alas for the ways of -human nature—masculine human nature, I mean—I told him so. And -he agreed with me and ended by saying, "Darn an ugly woman—I'll -forgive a pretty one <i>anything</i>."</p></blockquote> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Diet after the Fast</span></h3> - -<p>Many people write me, begging me to outline for them the ideal diet. -I used to do that sort of thing, but I have stopped; having come to -realize that we are still at the beginning of our diet-experiments. -I have done a good deal of experimenting myself, and have made some -interesting discoveries. I have lived for a week on fruit only, and -again on wheat only; I have lived for three weeks on nothing but -milk, and again on nothing but beef-steak. I have lived for a year -on raw food, and for over three years I professed the religion of -vegetarianism. For the last two months I have lived on beef-steak, -shredded wheat, raisins and fresh fruit; but by the time this book -appears I may be trying sour milk and dates—somebody told me about -that the other day, and it sounds good to me. Some of my correspondents -object to my willingness to try new diets; they write me that they find -it bewildering, and think it indicative of an unstable mind. They do -not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> realize that I am exacting in my demands—I want a diet which will -permit me to overwork with impunity. I haven't found it yet, but I am -on the way; and meantime I make my experiments with a light heart, for -I always know that if anything goes wrong, I can take a fast and start -afresh.</p> - -<p>The general rules are mostly of a negative sort. There are many kinds -of foods, some of them most generally favored, of which one may say -that they should never be used, and that those who use them can never -be as well as they would be without them. Such foods are all that -contain alcohol or vinegar; all that contain cane sugar; all that -contain white flour in any one of its thousand alluring forms of -bread, crackers, pie, cake, and puddings; and all foods that have been -fried—by which I mean cooked with grease, whether that grease be lard, -or butter, or eggs or milk. It is my conviction that one should bar -these things at the outset, and admit of no exceptions. I do not mean -to say that healthy men and women cannot eat such things and be well; -but I say that they cannot be as well as they would be without them; -and that every particle of such food they eat renders them more liable -to all sorts of infection, and sows in their systems the seeds of the -particular chronic disease that is to lay them low sooner or later. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p> - -<p>There are a number of other things, which I do not rate as quite so -bad, but which we bar in our family—simply because they are not -so good. For instance, I am inclined to regard beans as being too -difficult of digestion and too liable to fermentation to be eaten -by any one who can get anything better. And I personally do not -eat peanuts, because I have found that I do not digest them; and I -do not use milk (except in the exclusive milk diet), because it is -constipating, and I have a tendency in that direction. Almost everyone -will discover idiosyncrasies of that sort in his own system. One person -cannot digest cheese, another cannot digest bananas, another cannot -stand the taste of olive oil. You may read a glowing account of some -diet system by which some other person has worked miracles, and you may -try it, and persist in it for a long time, and finally come to realize -that it was the worst diet you could possibly have been following. I -have always counted orange juice as the ideal food with which to break -a fast; yet a friend whom I was advising broke his fast with the juice -of half an orange, and had a violent cramp. He had been so confiding in -my greater knowledge that he had omitted to tell me that any sort of -acid fruit had always made him ill.</p> - -<p>Such things as this are of course not natural;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> but a perfectly normal -and well person is, under the artificial conditions of our bringing up, -a very great rarity; and so we all have to regard ourselves as more or -less diseased, and work towards the ideal of soundness. We must do this -with intelligence—there is no short cut, no way to save one's self the -trouble of thinking.</p> - -<p>I used to think there was. I would discover this or that wonderful new -diet-wrinkle, and I would go round preaching it to all my friends, and -making a general nuisance of myself. And some one would try it, and it -would not work; and often, to my own humiliation, I would discover that -it was not working in my own case half so well as I had thought it was.</p> - -<p>By way of setting an ideal, let me give you the example of a young lady -who for six or seven months has been living in our home, and giving -us a chance to observe her dietetic habits. This young lady three -years ago was an anćmic school-teacher, threatened with consumption, -and a victim of continual colds and headaches; miserable and beaten, -with an exopthalmic goitre which was slowly choking her to death. She -fasted eight days, and achieved a perfect cure. She is to-day bright, -alert and athletic; and she lives on about twelve hundred calories -of food a day—one half what I eat, and less than a third of the -old-school<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> dietetic standards. Occasionally she will eat nut butter, -or sweet potato, or some whole wheat crackers with butter, or a dish of -ice-cream; but at least ninety per cent of her food has consisted of -fresh fruit. Meal after meal, day after day, I have seen her eat one -or two bananas and two or three peaches, or say, a slice of watermelon -or canteloupe; at some meals she will eat only the peaches, and then -again she will eat nothing. A dollar a week would pay for all her food; -and on this diet she laughs and talks, reads and thinks, walks and -swims with my wife and myself—a kind of external dietetic conscience, -which we would find it hard to get along without. And tell me, Dr. -Woods Hutchinson, or other scoffer at the "food-faddists," don't you -think that a case like this gives us some right to ask for patient -investigation of our claims? Or will you stand by your pill boxes and -your carving-knives and the rest of your paraphernalia, and compel us -to cure all your patients in spite of you?</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span></p> - -<h2>THE USE OF MEAT</h2> - -<p>I am asked many questions as to my attitude toward the question of -meat-eating. I was brought up on a diet of meat, bread and butter, -potatoes, and sweet things. Four years ago when I found myself -desperately run down, suffering from nervousness, insomnia, and -almost incessant headaches, I came upon various articles written by -vegetarians, and I began to suspect that my trouble might be due to -meat. I went away on a camping-trip for several weeks, taking no meat -with me, and because I found that I was a great deal better, I believed -that the meat had been responsible for my trouble. I then visited the -Battle Creek Sanitarium, and became familiar with all their arguments -against meat, and thereafter I did not use it for three years. I called -myself a vegetarian; but at the same time I realized that I differed -from most vegetarians in some important particulars.</p> - -<p>For instance, I had never taken any stock in the arguments for -vegetarianism upon the moral side. It has always seemed to me that -human<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> beings have a right to eat meat, if meat is necessary for their -best development, either physical or mental. I have never had any -sympathy with that "humanitarianism" which tells us that it is our duty -to regard pigs and chickens as our brothers. I was listening the other -day to one of these enthusiasts, who had been reading aloud one of the -"Uncle Remus" stories, and who went on in touching language to set -forth the fact that his vegetable garden constituted one place where -"Bre'r Rabbit" was free to wander at will and to help himself; and he -described how happy it made him to see these gentle animals hopping -about among his cabbages, having lost all their fear of him. That sort -of thing will work very well so long as it is confined to one farm, -and so long as there is a hunting season upon all the other farms in -the locality; but let the humanitarians proceed to apply their regimen -in a whole state, and they will soon have so many billions of rabbits -hopping about among their cabbages that they will have to choose -between shooting rabbits or having no cabbages.</p> - -<p>The reader, I presume, is familiar with calculations which show -the rate at which rabbits multiply, how many tens and hundreds of -millions would be produced by a single pair of rabbits in ten years. -It should be quite obvious that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> time would come when all human -beings would be spending their energies in planting gardens to support -rabbits; and that if ever they stopped planting gardens, there would -be a famine for the rabbits, with infinitely more suffering than is -involved in the present method of keeping them down. Also, even though -the humanitarians might have their way with men, the hawks and the -owls and the foxes would probably remain unregenerate. I remember, -when I was a small boy, being sternly rebuked by an agitated maiden -lady who discovered me throwing stones at a squirrel. Not so many -days afterwards, however, the lady discovered the squirrel engaged in -carrying off young birds from a nest outside her window, and she found -her theories about "kindness to dumb animals" rudely disturbed.</p> - -<p>The same thing, it seems to me, is still more true of domestic animals. -Domestic animals survive on earth solely because of the protection -of man, and for the sake of the benefits they bring to him. If it is -necessary to human health and well-being to slaughter a cow rather than -to wait and let her die of old age and lingering disease, it seems to -me that nothing but mawkish sentimentality would protest.</p> - -<p>It is pointed out to us what places of cruelty and filth our -slaughter-houses are; the reader may<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> believe that I learned something -about this in my preparations for the writing of "The Jungle." But -then this is not necessarily true about slaughter-houses—any more -than it is necessarily true that railroads must kill and maim a couple -of hundred thousand people in this country every year. In Europe they -have municipal slaughter-houses which are constructed upon scientific -lines, and in which no filth is permitted to accumulate; also they -have devised means for the killing of animals which are painless. In -the stockyards I have seen a man standing upon a gallery, leaning over -and pounding at the head of a steer with a hammer, and making half a -dozen blows before he succeeded in knocking down the terrified animal. -In Europe, on the other hand, they fit over the head of the animal a -leathern cap, which has in it a steel spike; a single tap upon the -head of this spike is sufficient to drive it into the animal's brain, -causing instant insensibility.</p> - -<p>And it must be borne in mind also that the sufferings of dumb animals -are entirely different from our own. They do not suffer the pains of -anticipation. A cow walks into a slaughter-house without fear, and -stands still and permits a leathern cap to be fitted over its head -without suspicion; and while it is placidly grazing in the field, it -is untroubled by any consciousness of the fact that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> next week it will -be hanging in a butcher's shop as beef. I recall in this connection -an observation of that wise philosopher, Mr. Dooley, concerning the -inhumanities of vegetarianism. He said that it had always seemed to -him a very cruel thing "to cut off a young tomato in its prime, or to -murder a whole cradle full of baby peas in the pod."</p> - -<p>These things will convince the devotee of the religion of vegetarianism -that I am a lost soul, and always have been. Perhaps so. I try to -guide my conduct by scientific knowledge; what I ask to know about the -question of meat-eating is the actual facts of its effect upon the -human organism—the amount of energy which it develops, the diseases -which it causes, or, on the contrary, the immunity to disease which it -claims to confer; also, of course, its cheapness and convenience as -an article of diet. Some evidence of this sort we possess; but very -little, it seems to me, in proportion to the importance of the subject. -Professor Fisher has conducted some thorough experiments as to the -influence of meat-eating upon endurance, which seem to develop the -fact that vegetarians possess a far greater amount of endurance than -meat-eaters. These experiments are what we want, but they seemed to me, -when I read them, to be weak in one or two <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>important particulars. They -did not tell us what the vegetarians ate, nor what the meat-eaters ate. -Those who are vegetarians at the present day are very apt to be people -who have given some thought to the question of diet, and have attempted -to adopt sounder ways of life; while, on the other hand, meat-eaters -are generally people who have given no thought to the question of -health at all—they are very apt to be smokers and drinkers as well as -meat-eaters. Also it is to be pointed out that endurance is not the -only factor of importance to our physical well-being.</p> - -<p>There have been numerous expositions of the greater liability of meat -to contamination. Dr. Kellogg, for instance, has purchased specimens -of meat in the butcher-shops, and has had them examined under the -microscope, and has told us how many hundreds of millions of bacteria -to the gram have been discovered. This argument has a tendency to appal -one; I know it had great effect upon me for a long time, and I took -elaborate pains to take into my system only those kinds of food which -were sterilized, or practically so. This is the health regimen which -is advocated by Professor Metchnikoff; one should eat only foods which -have been thoroughly boiled and sterilized. I have come, in the course -of time, to the conclusion that this way of living is suicidal, and -that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> there is no way of destroying one's health more quickly. I think -that the important question is, not how many bacteria there are in the -food when you swallow it, but how many bacteria there come to be in -food after it gets into your alimentary canal. The digestive juices -are apparently able to take care of a very great number of germs; -it is after the food has passed on down, and is lodged in the large -intestine, that the real fermentation and putrefaction begin—and these -count for more, in the question of health, than that which goes on in -the butcher-shop or the refrigerator or the pantry.</p> - -<p>Do not misunderstand what I mean by this. I am not advocating that -anyone should swallow the bacteria of deadly diseases, such as typhoid -and cholera; I am not advocating that anyone should use food which -is in a state of decomposition—on the contrary, I have ruled out of -my dietary a number of foods in common use which depend for their -production upon bacterial action; for instance, beer and wine, and -all alcoholic drinks, all kinds of cheeses, sauerkraut, vinegar, etc. -My point is simply that the ordinary healthy person has no reason for -terrifying himself about the common aërobic bacteria—which swarm -in the atmosphere, and are found by hundreds of millions in all raw -food, and in cooked food which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> has not been kept with the elaborate -precautions that a surgeon uses with his instruments and linen; also -that the real problem is to take into the system those foods which can -be readily digested and assimilated, and which afford the body all the -elements that it needs to keep itself in the best condition for the -inevitable, incessant warfare with the hostile organisms which surround -it.</p> - -<p>So far as meat is concerned, of course no sensible person would use -meat which showed the slightest trace of being spoiled, nor any meat -which had been canned, or ground up and made into messes, such as -sausage. If one uses reasonably fresh meat, the bacteria which may -be on the outside of it will be killed by proper cooking. And so the -question is, it seems to me, what does meat do after it gets into the -stomach? And that is a matter for practical experiment, which very few -people have made, so far as I have any information. Innumerable people -are eating meat, of course; but they are eating it in combination with -all other kinds of destructive foods, and they are eating it prepared -in innumerable unwholesome ways. So far as I know, no scientist has -ever taken a group of normal men and kept them for a certain period -upon a rational vegetarian diet, and then put them for another period -upon a diet containing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> broiled fresh meat, and made a thoroughly -scientific study of their condition, as, for instance, Professor -Chittenden did for his "low proteid" experiments.</p> - -<p>For about a year previous to reading about Dr. Salisbury's "meat diet," -I had been following the raw-food regimen. I had gained wonderful -results from this, and I had written a good deal about it; but I had -got these results while leading an active life, and not doing hard -brain-work. I found continually that when I settled down to a sedentary -life, and to writing which involved a great nervous strain, I began to -lose weight on raw food; and if I kept on with this regimen, I would -begin to have headaches, and other signs of distress from what I was -eating. As an illustration of what I mean, I might say that quite -recently I plunged into a novel in which I was very much absorbed, and -I lost twelve pounds in sixteen days; and this, it must be understood, -without changing my diet in the slightest particular. I went on with -the work for about six weeks, and by that time I had lost twenty -pounds. In explaining this to myself, I was divided between uncertainty -as to whether I was working too hard, or whether I was eating too much. -Finally I took the precaution to weigh what I was eating, and to make -quite certain that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> I was eating no more than I had been accustomed -to eat during periods when I had remained at my normal weight. I then -cut the quantity of my food in half, and found that I lost much less -rapidly. This served to convince me that the trouble lay in the fact -that I had not sufficient nervous energy left to assimilate the food -that I was taking.</p> - -<p>And I have known others to have this same experience. Bernarr -Macfadden, in particular, told me that he could not get along upon -the nut and fruit diet while closely confined in his office, and that -he found the solution of his problem in milk. Inasmuch as there is -nothing that poisons me quite so quickly as milk, I had to look farther -for my solution. As a matter of fact, I had been looking for this -solution for more than ten years, though it is only quite recently that -I had come to understand the problem clearly. It is a problem which -every brain-worker faces; and I am sure, therefore, that there will -be many who will find the report of my experiments and blunders to -be of interest to them. I have tried, under these circumstances, all -kinds of the more digestible foods—toast, rice, baked potatoes, baked -apples, milk, poached eggs, and so on; always I have found that these -foods digested perfectly, but they poisoned my system because of their -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>constipating effect; and this was a dilemma which I was never able to -get around.</p> - -<p>I now read Dr. Salisbury's book, "The Relation of Alimentation to -Disease." Many of his experiments I found extremely interesting. Dr. -Salisbury described the consequences of the ordinary starch and sugar -diet as making a "yeast-pot" of one's intestinal tract. I found in my -own case many of the symptoms which he described, and I determined to -see what would be the effect of the meat diet in my case.</p> - -<p>I began the experiment with reluctance. I had lost all interest in the -taste of meat, and I had a prejudice against it; I hated the smell of -it, and I hated the feeling of it, and I was prepared for the direst -consequences, according to the prophecies of my vegetarian friends. I -should not have been at all surprised if I had been made very ill by -my first meal. I was prepared to allow for that, supposing that after -three years I had perhaps forgotten how to digest meat. To my surprise, -however, I found no difficulty at all. I soon gave up preparing the -meat according to the elaborate prescription of Dr. Salisbury, and -contented myself simply with eating good lean beef-steak. I continued -the experiment for two weeks, living upon meat exclusively. I found -that all my symptoms of stomach trouble disappeared, and I had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> no -headaches whatever. I got quite weak upon the exclusive diet, but this -was according to Dr. Salisbury's statement; just as soon as I added a -little shredded wheat biscuit and dried fruit to the menu this trouble -disappeared, and I gained in weight with great rapidity, and was soon -back where I had been before.</p> - -<p>I did not continue the diet, owing partly to distaste for it, and -partly to the inconvenience of it. I had accustomed myself to the -raw food way of living, and any one who knows what this means can -understand my distaste for washing plates and scraping frying-pans, and -going to the bother of getting fresh meat and keeping it and cooking -it. Also, of course, there was the item of expense. Upon the raw-food -diet I had been able to live for ten cents a day. I am never accustomed -to spending more than thirty or forty cents a day, even when indulging -in abundant fresh fruit.</p> - -<p>Perhaps I ought also to specify that a good deal of the success of the -diet may have been owing to the hot-water regimen which is a part of -it. An hour or two before every meal one is supposed to sip at least -a pint of very hot water, which has the effect of cleansing out the -stomach, and stimulates peristaltic action to a remarkable degree. I -had been accustomed to drink hot<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> water while fasting, but I had never -taken it systematically, as I did at this time. It is a trick well -worth knowing about.</p> - -<p>I ought also to mention the fact that I suggested to several others -that they try this meat diet. One of them, a friend who had been -eating raw food at my suggestion, with the very best results, began -the experiment and continued for three days, and the results were -most disappointing. This friend, a woman in middle years, became very -ill, with all the symptoms of stomach trouble, diarrhoea, and general -poisoning. She wrote me that she gave up the diet at the end of three -days, because she saw no use in making herself desperately ill. She -added: "I followed the regimen in every smallest detail, precisely -according to Dr. Salisbury's direction. You know me, and you know that -when I do a thing I do it thoroughly, so there is no need to say any -more about that." Which only goes to show that, as the proverb has it, -"One man's meat is another man's poison."</p> - -<p>Dr. Salisbury recommends the meat diet especially in cases of -tuberculosis. He finds that the predisposing cause of this disease -is "vegetable fermentation." He declares that the excessive starch -and sugar diet leads to the production of yeast spores and other -ferments in the intestinal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> tract, and that these are absorbed into -the circulation and ultimately clog the small capillaries in the -lungs. Dr. Salisbury's theory was set forth over thirty years ago, and -that was before Koch had made his discovery of the tubercle bacillus. -This discovery would seem to put Dr. Salisbury's theory out of court -altogether; but as we physical culturists are inclined to suspect, -there are causes of disease lying behind the attack of the specific -bacillus. These causes are a depleted blood supply and a weakened -system; and it seems to me, from what I have observed of consumptives -and their diet, that Dr. Salisbury's theories fit in very well indeed -with the Koch theory.</p> - -<p>I wrote recently to Professor Chittenden to ask him what, in his -opinion, would be the effects of the meat diet upon tuberculosis. -He replied that he knew no reason for believing that it would be of -special benefit but that the whole subject of diet in tuberculosis -seemed to him to be one concerning which there was urgent need of -experiment and investigation. This is unquestionably the case. I know -no two physicians who seem to agree in the diets they prescribe to -consumptives, and I have never met two consumptives who followed the -same regimen. The general idea seems to be to stuff as much food in -your system as you possibly can, especially milk and raw eggs; and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> it -seems to me quite certain that, whatever system may be correct, this -system is incorrect.</p> - -<p>This much seems to me to be clear: tuberculosis is a disease brought -about by under-nourishment. It is a disease to which the poor are -especially liable; and while this is undoubtedly in part due to bad -air, it is also due to bad feeding. And when ignorant people wish to -live cheaply, the foods they eat are the sugar and starch foods. I -remember in Thoreau's "Walden" he sets forth how he lived for many -months upon five or six dollars' worth of food. He does not give the -amount of the food by weight, so of course we cannot tell exactly; but -he gives the prices he paid, and the leading articles in his diet were -flour, rice, corn-meal, molasses, sugar and lard. One is, therefore, -perfectly prepared to learn that Thoreau died of consumption. And -the same thing, I believe, will happen to a good many enthusiastic -vegetarians of my acquaintance. They have given up meat, and they have -made up for it by increasing their consumption of bread and crackers, -rice and potatoes, and prepared and predigested cereals, which they eat -with cream and sugar. Even when they use high proteid food, it is in -some form such as beans, which contain a great deal of starch, and in -a form which is difficult of digestion. As a result of this, they are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> -thin and anćmic looking—they do not seem to be able to put on flesh by -means of intellectual fervor and an optimistic philosophy. The result -of my meat-diet experiment has been to convince me yet more firmly -that the cooked-vegetable diet is the worst diet in the world for -myself. (I am content to phrase it that way, and leave it for others -to find out about their own case.) There has been some agitation in -vegetarian circles since the report has gone around that I have become -a backslider, and have gone back to the flesh-pots. I state the facts -here for what they may be worth to others. I shall never call myself a -"vegetarian" again—though I shall be a vegetarian the greater part of -the time.</p> - -<p>For it should be noted, of course, that the objections which I have -brought against the cooked vegetarian diet do not apply at all to the -raw-food diet, which is entirely a different matter. If one lives upon -nuts, whole grains boiled or shredded, salad vegetables and fruits, -he does not get an excess of either starch or sugar, but a perfectly -balanced dietary, every article of which is rich in natural salts—in -which the starchy foods, and especially the prepared cereals, are -fatally deficient. Such a diet can be followed by any person in normal -health, who is leading a physically active life. I have known a number -of people, old and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> young, to start out upon this way of life without -any preliminaries, and they have noted a great gain in health and -efficiency, and have had no trouble of any sort. This diet is as cheap -as the bean and white flour and rice diet of the ordinary "vegetarian," -and it is, by all odds, the simplest and most convenient diet in the -world.</p> - -<p>I have been accustomed all my life to think of meat as a very "heavy" -article of food, an article of food suited for men doing hard physical -labor; it is a curious fact that the view I am setting forth here is -precisely the opposite. So long as I am doing hard physical labor, -whether it is walking ten miles a day, or playing tennis, or building a -house, I get along perfectly upon the raw food; but when I settle down -for long periods of thinking and writing—often sitting for six hours -without moving from one position—I find that I need something else, -and nothing has answered that purpose quite so well as beef-steak. It -appears to be, so far as I am concerned, the most easily digested and -most easily assimilated of foods. And because the work that I am doing -seems to me to be important, I am willing to make the sacrifice of -money and time and trouble which it necessitates. My diet at such times -will consist of beef or chicken, shredded wheat biscuit, and a little -fruit. If any one is disposed to follow my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> example and make this -experiment, I beg to call his attention especially to the fact that I -name these three kinds of food, and none others; and that I mean these -three kinds and none others. The main trouble with advising anybody to -eat meat is that he proceeds to eat it in the everyday world, where -it means not the eating of broiled lean beef, but also of bacon and -eggs, and of bread and butter, and of potatoes with cream gravy, and of -rice pudding and crackers and cheese and coffee. Please do not proceed -to eat these things and then hold meat-eating responsible for the -consequences.</p> - -<p>I do not for a moment wish to give the impression that I believe that -meat-eating is necessary to a normally active person, or that humanity -will always continue to eat meat. No invention of science can ever make -meat as cheap a food as nuts and fruit, and nothing can ever make it -as beautiful or attractive a food, nor as clean a food, nor as easily -prepared a food. I believe that children can be brought up without -knowing the taste of meat, and can be trained to lead normal and active -lives from the very beginning, and can live on the raw-food diet and -thrive. What I am discussing here are my own experiences, and I do not -regard myself as a normal specimen of humanity, because I work a great -deal harder than<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> anybody has a right to work. I do that because there -are so many idle and useless people in the world at present—and some -have to make martyrs of themselves, until conditions of injustice and -cruelty have been done away with.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span></p> - -<h2>APPENDIX</h2> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Some Letters from Fasters</span></h3> - -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">London, Ontario</span>, May 2, 1910.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>,—Your article in a recent magazine very greatly -interested me. My sister, on her way home from a five-and-a-half-weeks' -visit in Boston and New York, where she had been endeavoring to -discover the causes of her frightful headaches, bought that number of -the magazine and read your experience, with, as you can well imagine, -a deep interest. In Boston she had consulted one of the two physicians -supposed to head the profession (as consultants) in that city. This -man told her she had Bright's disease and leakage of the heart, and -he gave her ten years to live—if she was very careful. As she has -five children under twelve years of age, this was a sad outlook. She -weighed 122 pounds when she left—and this was the lowest weight since -early girlhood—but on her return, weighed on the same scales in the -same clothing, she was only 108 pounds. She looked <i>very</i> bad, and her -spirits were at zero.</p> - -<p>Your article appealed to her, and she would have unhesitatingly tried -your remedy, but that she was pregnant, and thought it would probably<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> -mean the child's death. The Boston obstetrician, who was consulted, -said, if the other doctor's diagnosis was correct, the child would have -to be taken at eight months.</p> - -<p>After reading your experience, I said to my sister: "You cannot perhaps -follow Mr. Sinclair's example, but you can approximate to it. If you -go to your own doctor he will undoubtedly send you to some sanatorium -where the patients are fairly stuffed. Suppose you come over to my -place each noon and take dinner, having eaten only <i>a very light -breakfast</i>; then rest from two to five, take a long bath when you rise, -go for a walk from six to six-thirty, and then to your own home for -tea, taking only a shredded wheat biscuit for that meal."</p> - -<p>My sister consented, and on Saturday was weighed. On that light diet, -and in twelve days, she had gained fourteen pounds. Her color is -returning, she does not tire as she did, and we are full of hope that -she may recover.</p> - -<p>My object in writing was to thank you for your frank recital of ills -and aches and their cure, and to get from you the names of the books to -which you referred.</p> - -<p>Several of my friends have read your articles on my recommendation, and -one at least is seriously considering a lengthened fast. Reading the -article took me back to the "no-breakfast régime," which I followed for -five years, and then, for no especial reason, abandoned. Already I feel -much better.</p> - -<p class="right">Sincerely and gratefully,<span class="s5"> </span><br />M. R. T.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span></p> - -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Skowhegan, Maine</span>, May 30, 1910.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>,—I read your article in the <i>Cosmopolitan</i> with deep -interest, and am to-day on my seventh day's fast. My sensations thus -far are exactly like yours. I shall fast until hunger returns, if it -take a month.</p> - -<p>My age is forty-eight, and I have enjoyed the best of health nearly all -my life. Even now my digestion is all right, but for five years or so I -have been troubled with rheumatism, not the painful, swelling sort, but -lame joints.</p> - -<p>I tried "Fletcherism," and for the last nine months have done my best -to live up to his suggestions, but fell down, exactly as in your own -case. I can't tell what to eat, or when I have eaten enough.</p> - -<p>Whether this fast of yours does me any permanent good or not, my joints -certainly move better to-day than for six months, and I have every -confidence in the theory. The physicians here to a man all laugh at me, -likewise my friends. I had lost ten pounds in weight at the end of the -sixth day; I lost three the first, two each for the next two days, and -a pound a day for the next three days.</p> - -<p>You speak of an unmistakable appetite. I could eat, of course, now, -though I have no appetite, and I am wondering how I shall know when a -real appetite returns. Mrs. W. is as keen to try the fasting cure as -I, and her condition is very like Mrs. Sinclair's, but I thought one -member of the family was enough for the first try-out. Please pardon -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>a total stranger for encroaching upon the time of a busy man, but in -the hunt for health, without which life is not worth living, one will -do things he would not otherwise think of. For your information I will -say that I have attended to my office and business every day since my -fast began, walking to my home and back at least three times daily, for -the exercise; driving a touring-car nights and Sunday, for pleasure, -exactly as though there had been no change in my habits. The strangest -part of the experience is that I feel so well, and except for a slight -faintness, feel perfectly well to-day. Say—but I was hungry for the -first two days!</p> - -<p class="right">Yours truly,<span class="s5"> </span><br /> -<span class="smcap">Herbert Wentworth</span>.</p> - -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Clyde Park, Mont.</span>, May 17, 1910.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>,—I was much interested in your article in the -<i>Cosmopolitan</i> on "Starving for Health's Sake." For some time before I -read it I had been troubled with a coated tongue and a nasty, bitter -taste in my mouth. When I read the article my complaint was probably -at its worst. I consulted a doctor, who gave me some capsules to clean -out my intestinal canal, so he said. I asked him what I could eat -and he said, "The less you eat the better." So I ate nothing for a -week. Everything connected with my fast for that week was just as you -described it—a ravenous hunger on the second day and after that no -hunger at all. However, the coated tongue was still there, and when I -next saw the doctor I mentioned your article and said you recommended -rectal injections.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> He said he read your article and approved of it, -and said after a thorough examination that I had an impaction of the -colon. He said he would give me something to work on my colon and also -added that if I fasted long enough the impaction would move out of -itself. He also recommended injections. On the 25th day, although the -coated tongue and nasty taste were still with me, I commenced eating -again, as there was so much work to do on the ranch, and I had to do -it, as hired help was scarce. I drank nothing but tepid water and very -thin lemonade, slightly sweetened, during my fast of twenty-four days. -I dropped from 175 pounds to 143 pounds.</p> - -<p>It is a week now since I broke my fast and I am rapidly gaining weight. -Yesterday I weighed 152 pounds. However, as I said, I still have the -coated tongue, although not so bad as formerly, and when I regain more -weight, I'm going to begin another fast. I am fifty-three years of age, -and have never used tea, coffee, whisky, or tobacco. I want to read up -on the subject, so that when I begin again I'll know what to do. Your -article was all the literature I had on the subject, and it may have -been incomplete in a great many important particulars.</p> - -<p class="right">Respectfully yours,<span class="s5"> </span><br /> -<span class="smcap">Robert Aitkin</span>.</p> - -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Chicago, Ill.</span>, May 22, 1910.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>,—I think you will be interested to learn the -experience of my wife, who tried your<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> fast, with the same results as -your wife, over which we are very much delighted.</p> - -<p>Allow me to say that it was all done on the quiet, and no one knew of -it until it was all over. And then, of course, every one thought she -was raving crazy, but she has since shown her friends that it was just -the thing to do.</p> - -<p>In the first place it appealed to her, and she went into it with -<i>faith</i>. She fasted for eleven days, after the second day was never -hungry at all, and really began to take nourishment before she was -hungry.</p> - -<p>The whole thing came out exactly as in your cases and was most -interesting. She had temperature the first two days and ate crushed -ice. After that, hot or cold water as desired. The tongue was coated -very badly and her breath very bad. The tongue cleared very slowly and -was quite discouraging, but after a few days was clear again. She lost -over ten pounds, all of which has been regained and more, too, and she -is gaining all the time. Complexion very clear, and the picture of -health. Appetite great, eats everything, no aches or pains of any kind, -and, best of all, no constipation, which was what she tried the fast -for. She lost no strength to speak of and didn't have to take to bed at -all; in fact, did everything about the house as usual.</p> - -<p>Everything has been fine now for three weeks, and if the troubles -return, she is to fast again and do it right, and will take no -nourishment until the tongue clears.</p> - -<p>She took internal baths nearly every day, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> was astonished at -the results when nothing but water was being taken. While we don't -recommend it for every one, it certainly has been a godsend in this -case, and I believe because it was done right and with faith that it -was just the thing for her. You certainly have one convert, and if this -interests you, shall be pleased to know it.</p> - -<p class="right">Yours very sincerely,<span class="s5"> </span><br />C. D. F.</p> - -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Knoxville, Tenn.</span>, June 5, 1910.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>,—I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness to you for a -restoration to such health of body and clarity of mind as I have not -known since my sixteenth year, when first I entered the high school. -That was twenty years ago.</p> - -<p>I read your article, "Starving for Health's Sake," in the -<i>Cosmopolitan</i>, and, as you may recollect, asked you for information as -to certain books treating of the fast as a cure for disease.</p> - -<p>Instead of answering me fully, you referred my case to the Bernarr -Macfadden Institution in Chicago, for which I thank you, but I did not -go there because I had neither time nor money for that purpose.</p> - -<p>Through a local book-dealer I ordered a copy of "Fasting, Hydrotherapy -and Exercise," but after two weeks of waiting it failed to arrive, so -with your <i>Cosmopolitan</i> article as my only guide and sum total of -knowledge as to the fast, I quit eating on May 13 and did not take -anything except water until the morning of May 26. Even then I was not -hungry, but as I did not care to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> remain away from work any longer I -broke the fast on the morning of the 26th. I lost thirteen pounds in -weight, but was never too weak not to move around. I worked in the -office for seven days, and the balance of the time remained at home, -basking in the sunshine and reading constantly.</p> - -<p>My health and appetite are in such perfect condition I can eat anything -without fear of ulterior consequences.</p> - -<p>As a result of the fast, I have sloughed off all my impedimenta of -disease. Constipation of ten years' standing is gone as if by magic. -Piles and resulting pruritis of eight years' tearing torture are -nightmares of the past. Bronchitis and eczema of scalp have vanished. -Asthma, due to nervous sympathy with the pneumogastric nerve, is -no more. Catarrhal deafness, sore throat, intestinal catarrh, and -a general neurasthenic condition have left me. Work was never so -pleasant. I cannot get enough of physical exercise, it seems; my -muscles seem to grow stronger as the exercise proceeds, and my weight -is going upward about a pound daily. I am now three pounds heavier than -I was before my fast began.</p> - -<p>Life was never so beautiful, hope and joy never so green, the future -for me and humanity's great movement toward a better day and higher -good of existence never seemed so reasonable and possible of every -realization as now, in the full possession of physical health and -mental strength which have come back to me.</p> - -<p>Heretofore my work has been wrought out in pain. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span></p> - -<p>I am through with drugs. I graduated from allopathy long ago, then took -up homeopathy and have now discarded it. I have spent over $500 in the -last ten years trying to get well on medicines. These professional -quacks bled me for a living and knew not how to cure me. Your article -was written in the spirit of wishing to help suffering man. It cost me -only thirty cents to use your method, viz.: six feet of rubber tubing -to make a siphon to take two enemas daily. For that thirty cents I -obtained relief a million-fold more beneficial than from $500 worth of -medicine. Nay more, from your fasting idea I got rid of $500 worth of -poisoning during ten years of medical superstition.</p> - -<p class="right">Sincerely yours,<span class="s5"> </span><br /> -<span class="smcap">H. E. Hoover</span>.</p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Northwest Society Archaeological Institute of America</span></p> - -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Washington University, Seattle, Wash.</span><br /> -Nov. 5, 1910. </p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Editor</span> <i>Cosmopolitan</i> <span class="smcap">Magazine</span>.</p> - -<p>Am enclosing clipping which shows that prominent men up here in the -great Northwest are not afraid to try out certain methods of fighting -disease merely because they are thought to be "new" or "faddy" (tho' in -truth the fast cure is as old as the Old Testament).</p> - -<p>The value of Professor Colvin's fast experience seems to be that he has -given to the world<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> the best method of breaking the fast and getting -on to a solid-food diet. Upton Sinclair said the breaking of the fast -is the most important part of it, and would be the most dangerous were -it not for the great natural food, milk, which tides you over. But he -fails to remember there are thousands with whom milk does not agree, -sick or well.</p> - -<p>Shortly after interview noted in enclosed clipping from Seattle -<i>Times</i>, Professor Colvin attempted to begin to break the fast with -orange juices and utterly failed. He then tried milk and was made so -sick that he had to fast for three more days to get into a condition -to break the fast. He then started in with a very light veal broth -(not soup, nor tea). He soon got so he could take a cup of it every -hour and a half. To get on to solid food he tried a few crackers with -the broth, but found too much soda in the crackers and abandoned their -use. Finally he hit upon the very thing that fitted the condition of -his body, dry whole-wheat bread toasted. This toasted whole-wheat bread -he had his cook crush with a rolling pin into a powder and each day -mixed more of it with the cup of broth. After this he filled the cup -three-fourths full of this toast powder and only poured in as much -broth as the dust would absorb, making a solid gruel, which was very -appetizing and nourishing (so much so that the professor continues to -use it for breakfast food though his fast is closed). Now to this gruel -he added mashed baked potato from time to time (more each time) until -he virtually <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>supplanted the toast dust. From this he went to baked -apple, thence to raw eggs, thence to macaroni, thence to pigeon squab, -and thence to solid earth.</p> - -<p>It seems to me that his discovery of the broth-toast-gruel method is -a great discovery. Especially so for those who live in the cities and -cannot be sure as to the absolute purity of their milk. Even when the -milk diet can be used it does not afford a solution for getting off of -a liquid diet on to a solid food basis.</p> - -<p>In your July number appears a letter from Mr. Buel of New York in which -he says that it would be almost criminal to permit any one advanced -in years to enter upon the dangerous folly of the "fast cure." I am -enclosing you a clipping from the <i>Oregonian</i>, telling of the fasting -experiences of Professor Colvin's friend, Rev. J. E. Fitch. Rev. Fitch -is 81 years of age and a year ago took it into his head to out-fast -Moses. Holy Writ says that Moses fasted 40 days, and to prove to his -congregation that one did not have to be superstitious to believe some -of these Old Testament tales, Rev. J. E. Fitch, at the age of 80, -fasted fifty days; and instead of losing flesh towards the last part of -his fast actually gained in weight. He is as vigorous to-day as he was at 21.</p> - -<p>Your Mr. Buel spoke of fasters as cranks and faddists and intimated -that your solid citizen would not thus be led astray. Professor Colvin -is not a crank but one of our best citizens, being well known both in -this country and Europe, and spoken<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> of as the probable president of -the Pan-American University to be located in Porto Rico.</p> - -<p class="right">Very respectfully,<span class="s5"> </span><br /> -<span class="smcap">Thos. F. Murphy</span>.</p> - -<p class="right">210 Merriman Ave., <br /><span class="smcap">Asheville</span>, N. C., 9/11/10.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Upton Sinclair</span>,<br /> - <span class="smcap">Arden, Del.</span></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>,—After fasting for ten days I went off for ten days. -Then on for seventeen days, during which time I got rid of a long list -of troubles, except a cough, for which I underwent examination by a -specialist. I found I had tuberculosis. The entire upper right lobe of -my lung and about half of the left upper lung being affected. Now I -am up here making a very rapid recovery. I consider that the fasts I -took were the best things that could have happened for me, since they -eliminated a bunch of troubles that are nearly always present with -tuberculosis, such as indigestion, sore throat, rheumatism, etc. All of -these left me, and I never felt better in my life than since fasting. -I do not believe that such a rapid recovery as I am making could be -possible had I not fasted. Fasting did not cure the tuberculosis, -but it gave me an excellent stomach, with which to fight it, and -tuberculosis will always give way to a good stomach. I did not know I -had tuberculosis when I started fasting, but I now know, since learning -more about the disease, that I had the trouble in an active state -more than nine months before I fasted. My cough got very<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> tame during -the fast and very nearly disappeared, but returned as I increased the -amount of food I took after breaking the fast, but at no time did it -get as bad as it was previous to the fast. I weighed 172 lbs. in May, -when I began my fasting and dropped to 148 lbs., and now weigh 180 -lbs. and never felt better in my life. Have but a slight spot of the -tuberculosis affection left in my right lung.</p> - -<p>While I would not recommend others affected with tuberculosis to fast, -I would ask that if you have any letters from consumptives who have -fasted I would appreciate a copy.</p> - -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Roland A. Wilson.</span></p> - -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">New Zealand</span>, Sept. 10, 1910.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Dear Mr. Sinclair</span>,—Your article "The Truth about Fasting" in -August <i>Physical Culture</i> to hand this week has much interested me. -The questions you ask at end of article will, I hope, receive many -replies, and give much information regarding the fasting cure. I, -personally, can supply a considerable amount of just such information -as you require, but the fact that I am a druggist in business precludes -the giving of such for publication until drugs and I part company. -Let me explain. A little under four years ago I came upon a copy of -<i>Physical Culture</i>. It interested me and I followed up the reading -by subscribing, and obtaining various books—Dewey's, Hazzard's, -Carrington's, Desmond's, Eales', Bell's and others. I became quite -convinced that about 99 per cent of usual medical treatment was wrong,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> -and, in fact, actually detrimental, and often death-dealing to those -who were in search of health. More and more I felt that I was doing a -big injustice to those who applied to me for help, and an accessory -in bad practice by the dispensing of physician's prescriptions. Yet I -know that, like myself, the great bulk of the doctors and chemists were -acting innocently and even conscientiously when recommending drugs and -practicing the accepted drug and surgical treatments. The belief that -drugs cure disease is so deeply rooted in the average human mind, and -the teachings in medical and druggists' colleges so universal, and even -thorough, that doctors and druggists can hardly be blamed for holding -to their mother-loves.</p> - -<p>However, I had an open mind, and a desire to hand out a square deal, -and decided to make a practical test of the new teachings that had come -my way.</p> - -<p>I started by carefully selecting my patients—those who I believed had -a fair amount of intelligence, and whose ailments had supplied them -with a fairly long course of pain, worry and expense. Being a druggist -in business, it would have been a very foolish thing for me to have -wholly condemned drugs. And that is one reason why I selected chronics -for a start—I was able to use the argument that as drugs had had a -long and faithful trial, and had proven valueless in curing, a fast of -nine or ten days would be, at least, worth a trial. My first case was a -lady about thirty-five years of age. Complaint, badly swollen, highly -inflamed and ulcerated leg, extending from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> two inches below knee to -one inch above ankle, and more than half way around. She proved a good -patient. The leg had been bad with more or less severity for fourteen -years, and had been treated by several doctors, druggists, and others. -She started on an immediate fast. Within twenty-four hours after fast -commenced, the inflammation decreased; by the end of the fourth day it -had entirely subsided, and by the end of the eighth day not a vestige -of the trouble remained. This fast took place over two years ago—she -has held reasonably well to the simple foods I advised, and so far -there has been no return of the ailment. Her general health has very -considerably improved.</p> - -<p>Since then I have treated, perhaps, fifty cases by fasting, and many -others by simple dieting. Many complete cures have been effected that -ordinary medical methods had entirely failed to benefit. My list -comprises many ailments, ranging from one to forty-five years in -evidence, while the patients themselves have ranged in age from one -year to eighty-five years.</p> - -<p class="right">X. ——</p> - - -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Hastings, Mich.</span>, Sept. 11, 1910.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Editor, the</span> <i>Cosmopolitan</i>.</p> - -<p>Every reader of your magazine owes you a vote of thanks for the Upton -Sinclair article on fasting.</p> - -<p>Mr. Sinclair said, "There are three dangers attending the fast." In my -case there were four—the danger of being sent to the Insane Asylum. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p> - -<p>All my neighbors and relations had the utmost contempt for what they -termed "my craziness." But notwithstanding all this, I fasted fourteen -days, and stomach trouble, heart trouble, kidney trouble, chronic -catarrh, and rheumatism, which for years had made life a burden, are -no more. I do not have to tell my friends, at this date, that it was a -success, they know it. My family physician has since said that it was -probably the best thing I ever did in my life.</p> - -<p>I consider myself greatly indebted to you for furnishing me so -efficient a remedy, free of cost.</p> - -<p class="right">Gratefully yours,<span class="s5"> </span><br /> -<span class="smcap">Mrs. E. L. Raymond</span>.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Upton Sinclair.</span></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>,—Yes, you may use my name in connection with my -experience.</p> - -<p>As I did not take a complete fast the first time, I began again Sept. -4th, and fasted thirteen days, when natural hunger returned. Had none -of the unpleasant experiences of the first fast. Was able to be on my -feet and work more than at any time in years.</p> - -<p>Chronic rheumatism had caused sinewy swelling of my knee joints, that -in turn had caused numbness of the feet and lower limbs, making it -impossible for me to be on my feet. What I have suffered with them from -jar of people walking across the room, or brushing against them, cannot -be told. The first fast removed all the pain and soreness. The last -fast has brought them down to normal or nearly so. I am confident that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> -I shall soon be able to walk any reasonable distance.</p> - -<p>You are certainly entitled to a place among the public benefactors of -the age for giving to the people the knowledge you had gained by the fast.</p> - -<p class="right">Gratefully yours,<span class="s5"> </span><br /> -<span class="smcap">Mrs. E. L. Raymond</span>.</p> - -<p class="right">20 Bowdoin St., <span class="smcap">Boston, Mass.</span><br /> -Aug. 1, 1910. </p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>,—I have just read with much interest your article -in <i>Physical Culture</i> and am minded to send you a brief account of my -experience, which has been in some respects more full than your own. -In speaking thus, I refer to the fact that my fasts, though not of so -long duration as many reported, were complete in this: that my blood -and tissue had cleaned up, my mouth was sweet, tongue moist, and there -were plenty of the digestive fluids and a call for good plain wholesome -food, which was slowly eaten and perfectly digested, and my appetite -was perfectly satisfied with a very moderate amount.</p> - -<p>I suffered severely from indigestion and rheumatism, and made up my -mind to try the effect of complete abstinence from food till I was -better. I was familiar with the writings of Dr. Dewey and was well -convinced that he was correct in his views. I was in my office the -morning of Jan. 1st, and the bookkeeper remarked as to how ill I -looked. Seven days after that (the first seven days of my fast) I was -in again, and he spoke of my greatly improved appearance, said<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> I -looked very much better. He did not know nor did I tell him the reason -for the improvement. On the 12th day—the first after I had broken the -fast—he said I looked much better, which was also true, but when I -gave him an explanation of the reason, he would not believe in it at all.</p> - -<p>In none of the four fasts which I have taken have I set any time limit -or taken it as a stunt at all, but only have been guided by conditions -as they developed. In no instance have I failed, and in no case was -food a temptation to me until natural hunger returned. It seems to me -an error to attempt to gauge the length of the fast. We ought to be -governed by nature's direction. A "wise dog" knows when he needs to -fast, and fasts till he wants food. It seems to me when we get to that -point of wisdom, to know as much as the dog, we will know enough to go -by intelligent needs instead of the clock.</p> - -<p>My experience is not in accord with the view expressed in your article -as regards weakness of stomach and lack of peristalsis after fasting. -It is my experience that after a complete fast any plain food desired -can be taken without harm. I do not favor imprudence, of course, but I -do not think that there is any good reason for being compelled to take -fluid foods unless one desires to. My longest fast was nineteen days.</p> - -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">C. D. Norris.</span></p> - -<p class="right">39 Rue Singer, <span class="smcap">Paris, France</span>.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>,—I read your article in the May <i>Cosmopolitan</i> and -was very much impressed with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> the ideas you advocated. I had for twenty -years been troubled with constipation, which caused colds and grippe, -besides making me very sluggish. Being a singer and teacher, these -things were great handicaps on my work, so after reading your article -I decided to try it. I was in Paris studying singing with Oscar Seagle -and Jean de Reszke, and of course I needed to be at my very best all -the time, but I wasn't. I couldn't keep from taking cold, which always -knocked me out of a week or two of work. So when my teachers went away -for their vacation, I decided to start the fast, and on July 31 I did -so. Being a coffee "toper," it made it very hard for me to give up my -breakfast cup of strong black coffee, but I did it and the first three -or four days I nearly lost my mind. Never experienced anything in my -life that required so much will power. However, I stuck to it, but I -was very hungry and had a splitting headache for four days, after which -it got a little better. Then about the fifth day, as my hunger began to -leave me, I began to break out as if I had measles—this kept up for -five or six days. To add to that, my mouth and throat became inflamed -and very sore, and that didn't cure up until about the twelfth day of -the fast. I was exceedingly miserable all these days, but I realized -how much I needed something of the kind to get the terrible poison out -of my system, so I just held on and drank much water, and walked in -the sunshine all I could. My tongue had a thick coat on it and I had a -terrible bilious taste in my mouth for twelve days. I believed it would -take about<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> twenty days to fix me up just right, so I was going ahead -when I suddenly decided to make a hurried business trip back to Texas; -so on the fourteenth day I sailed from Cherbourg without having broken -my fast.</p> - -<p>I carried a dozen oranges on board with me to make sure. When I began -to breathe the salt air I got hungry, so on the fifteenth day I began -to eat oranges and kept it up for a day and a half and then tried to -get some milk, but could get none that was good, and most of what I got -was of the condensed variety. I did the best I could for four days, -when my system rebelled and became clogged up and I took another cold -as usual. So I decided not to eat another mouthful on that ship, and I -kept the fast up until I got to Ft. Worth. Then I went at the matter -according to your instructions, and the results were perfect. I took -up oranges for two days, then went on the milk diet for two days, then -began on the boiled wheat. The results have been highly satisfactory. -Going from a cold climate like Paris into a veritable inferno like -Texas in summer made it very hard on me, but the wheat diet did -everything for me and gave me unusual strength and vigor even in that -hot climate where vigor doesn't abound much in hot weather. All my -troubles seemed to disappear. I had not sung a tone since I began the -first fast in Paris, so I began to practice again, and I never realized -such a change in anything. Everything went so easy and all my friends -said that they never saw such improvement in a human voice. I have -never even desired to taste coffee.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> I am living on wheat, nuts, all -kinds of fruit and vegetables, and the result is everything you said it -would be. I have completed my business in Texas and will start back to -Paris to-day. I am preparing myself for the journey this time. I have -a large "thermos" bottle which I have filled with wheat and will carry -plenty of fruit and nuts.</p> - -<p>I thank you very much for your information along the line of health. -You have been a great blessing to me, and I am sure you have been also -to thousands of others.</p> - -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Andrew Hemphill.</span></p> - -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Omaha, Neb.</span></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Dear Mr. Sinclair</span>,—I was so fascinated with the story of your -fast that I immediately made the experiment for myself, abstaining -entirely from food of any kind for five days.</p> - -<p>I had no particular ailment which seemed to need the fast cure, but -felt impelled to do a little investigating on my own account.</p> - -<p>I kept a diary in which I recorded each day's experience, including -loss in weight, effect of cold bath, amount of exercise taken, etc. -Without going into details, I can simply say I was astonished by the -results. While in one respect my experience differed from yours, in -that the desire for food did not entirely cease at any time, I was -surprised to find how easily it could be controlled after the first -day. Since the fast I have kept on drinking large quantities of pure -water—resulting in a gain in weight of twelve pounds, increased<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> -digestive powers and a wonderfully improved appetite.</p> - -<p>I am frank to say I was never so pleased with, nor so greatly benefited -by anything ever previously extracted from a magazine article.</p> - -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">R. E. Wheeler.</span></p> - -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">750 Penobscot B'ld'g, Detroit</span>,<br /> -Oct. 19, 1910. </p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Dear Mr. Sinclair</span>,—Complying with your suggestion, will -hurriedly and briefly group my experiences through a fast which I took -largely because of your persuasive article on that subject. I absorbed -the information you gave as well as I could, and having been a great -sufferer for over twenty years with stomach and bowel troubles, began -a fast which I continued for nearly eleven days, adhering scrupulously -to the program outlined by you, in so far as I could practically do -so, except I took only one bath (tepid) daily before retiring and -omitted the enemas after the fifth day. Am fifty-seven years of age, -powerfully built and athletic in habit and practice. Normal weight -around two hundred pounds, height six feet one and one-half inches. -Various causes reduced my weight some four years ago to about one -hundred and eighty-five pounds, and almost constant non-assimilation -of foods prevented my regaining normal weight. Weight an hour previous -to my last lunch prior to the fast, one hundred and eighty-six pounds; -lost fourteen pounds during the fast, eight of which fell off me the -first three days. My<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> indigestion had for years been accompanied by -distressing, persistent constipation. This did not yield until the -afternoon of fourth day of fast, when my entire intestinal functions -seemed to become normal, and although I had taken no food, solid or -liquid, no fruit juices, coffee, tea or milk, absolutely nothing in -fast except Detroit River water, hot or cold, as fancy suggested, after -the fourth day the bowels inclined to movement at least twice during -each twenty-four hours. Lost strength gradually throughout fast, but -looked after essentials in my office from six down to three hours the -last day. I had no pronounced desire for food from first to last. -Tongue remained heavily furred throughout the fast, breath offensive, -even to myself. I sat at table at breakfast and evening meals, serving -same, but using only a cup or two of hot water as my portion. Voice -lost resonancy and timbre, and I finally felt so enervated that I broke -the fast—juice of an orange first evening, and of five oranges the -second day; of six oranges the third day, during which I also sipped a -quart of rich milk, hot. Fourth day ate six oranges, two quarts milk, -slice of old bread and about three-fourths pound juicy steak, after -which I soon began to eat more than the usual quantity of wholesome -food. For over four months had no indigestion, bowels regular and -normal.</p> - -<p>I am hoping to see my way clear to fast again soon, for am needing -a brace physically.... I owe you grateful thanks for inciting me to -undertake the remedy. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p> - -<p>With best wishes for your continued success, usefulness and happiness.</p> - -<p class="right">Sincerely,<span class="s5"> </span><br /><span class="smcap">M. E. Hall</span>.</p> - -<p>In my discussion of the question of what to eat, I have referred to the -meat diet, and also to the raw-food diet. By way of throwing further -light upon the problem, I reprint here two letters, one by a follower -of Dr. Salisbury, and the other by a man whom I was instrumental in -starting upon raw food. The latter article is reprinted from <i>Physical -Culture</i>, by courtesy of Mr. Bernarr Macfadden. The reader may find it -difficult to understand how two people can have had such apparently -contradictory experiences. I myself, however, have no doubt of the -literal truth of their statements, for I know dozens of people who are -thriving upon each of these diets. It is to me only a further proof of -the fact that our knowledge of this subject is as yet in its infancy, -and that all one can do is to experiment, and find out what system best -agrees with his own organism.</p> - - -<p class="right">504 West Second St., <br /> -<span class="smcap">Los Angeles, Cal.</span>, July 28, 1910.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>,—As you say in the August <i>Physical Culture</i> that -you would like to hear the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>experiences of fasters, I will tell you -of mine. In 1889-1890 I was very sick with catarrh of the stomach and -bowels, which developed into consumption of the bowels accompanied by -inflammatory rheumatism. On May 1st, 1890, I went to the office of Dr. -James H. Salisbury and treated with him for one year. During the first -nine months I ate nothing but Salisbury steaks, beginning with one -ounce per meal and increasing gradually as I could assimilate it to -one pound per meal, and drank a pint of hot water an hour and a half -before meals and at bedtime. Salisbury steak, as you probably know, -is beef pulp,—round steak with all fat and fibres removed. I dropped -weight rapidly, going from 140 pounds to 90 pounds as this loss was -diseased flesh. I then gained as rapidly on beef alone and this was -good hard flesh. During the next three months he allowed me a slice -of toasted bread at two meals daily in addition to the meat. For the -past twenty years I have eaten meat three times a day with other foods, -consequently have not needed a physician in that time. I have foolish -spells occasionally and indulge in fruit, vegetables and cereals, and -destroy the proper ratio, viz: 2/3 of meat to 1/3 of other foods, -then I begin to get out of shape and this brings me to my fasting -experiences,—about eight of them in the last seventeen years and -lasting from five to fifteen days according to the time it took for my -tongue to clear off. I find that the more hot water I drink the quicker -it clears; during the last fast three years ago I drank one quart every -two hours<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> through the day. I got my stomach so clean that the water -tasted sweet—this is the test of a clean stomach.</p> - -<p>Fasts have benefited me and I recommend them, as few people will -live on beef till their blood gets pure; that an exclusive diet of -beef <i>will</i> make pure blood I saw demonstrated in New York at Dr. -Salisbury's by microscopic tests of my own blood and that of others. -When you are in this condition you can expose yourself as much as you -like without danger of taking cold. If people suffering with stomach -and intestinal troubles, Bright's disease, diabetes, rheumatism, -sciatica, or tuberculosis, would eat nothing but beef pulp and drink -hot water before meals they would be cured in nine cases out of ten, -as this was Dr. Salisbury's average of cures when they stuck to the -treatment. I acknowledge that one gets rid of a lot of diseased tissue -while fasting, but not more rapidly than on the beef diet, and the -latter has the advantage that one is making good blood all the time. I -consider that you are doing a great work in recommending the fast cure, -and agree with you that <i>Hamburg</i> steak is not the best food to break a -fast with, as it contains ¼ to 1/3 of fat and "animal fat is a lower -form of organization, in fact is often a process of degeneration." I -have seen several Salisbury patients have slight bilious attacks from -eating over-fat beef, but they quickly recovered by eating leaner beef. -Beef pulp is the best thing to eat after a fast as it is absorbed -quickly into the circulation and I never saw a patient whose stomach -was too weak to digest it in small <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>quantities, well broiled. I believe -in dry foods, well masticated,—no slops.</p> - -<p>Dr. Salisbury said to me "a man whose food is beef can live in a hole -in the ground and be healthy." His last words to me were, "Stick to -beef and hot water the rest of your life and nothing but old age will -kill you barring accident." I asked him how long he had lived on this -diet, he replied, "thirty years."—"Do you expect to die of old age?" -"Sure." He died August 23rd, 1905, at the age of eighty-two from -the result of an accident. He was a most scientific and successful -practitioner; but nearly all physicians, aside from those he cured, -called his treatment a farce and a delusion because his teachings if -generally followed would put the majority of them out of business. One -New York doctor told me while I was on the diet "unless you give up -beef and hot water you will not live five years—you will wear your -kidneys out." I replied, "you doctors say I am going to die anyway, so -I might as well die clean." I immediately increased my hot water from -one pint to one quart before each meal and have kept it up ever since. -When I began drinking hot water I had a slight kidney and bladder -trouble; this has disappeared; the constant flushing has strengthened -these organs,—I am now sixty-four.</p> - -<p>Cold water before meals is better than none, but is not as good as hot -water, as the latter does not chill the stomach or gripe one, and acts -as a tonic on the internal organs; is more quickly absorbed and starts -perspiration, causing the skin to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> share with the kidneys the work of -eliminating waste matter. If a person is not very sick he can eat his -round steak (after removing the fat) ground without removing the fibre. -For a regular Salisbury steak leave the knife loose and clean the -grinder frequently.</p> - -<p>You have a large contract in trying to force medical men to recognize -the fast cure. They even told me, "while we think you are honest, you -are mistaken; you did not see Dr. Salisbury perform the cures you think -you saw." The Doctor considered me one of his star patients; he said I -was as far gone as any man he ever saw cured by the treatment, and that -he would rather have three cases of tuberculosis of the lungs than one -like mine, my disease being in the last stage.</p> - -<p>You can do as you like with this letter. I write simply to strengthen -you. Persist, you are on the right track at last. You are no "shallow -sensationalist." I like your writings.</p> - -<p class="right">Very sincerely,<span class="s5"> </span><br /> -<span class="smcap">Jas. Y. Anthony</span>.</p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">The Fruit and Nut Diet</span></h3> - -<p>From early childhood until January 9, 1910, or about twenty years -in all, I had been a sufferer from asthma, and chronic catarrh in -addition. As a child I was sick a great deal of the time, having -regular attacks every few weeks, of such little troubles as bilious -fevers, chills and la grippe, with pneumonia, typhoid, measles, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>whooping cough and the like sprinkled in at times. I have taken -gallons of castor oil, and pounds of calomel and quinine, I think. I -don't believe I ever had more than one cold, but I was never really -free of that.</p> - -<p>The first attack of asthma came shortly after the disappearance of a -severe case of eczema, and from that time on throughout the entire -twenty years, I did not pass a single moderately cold night without -having at least one, and more often, two and three spasms of asthma -during the night. These were relieved temporarily, only after sitting -up in bed and inhaling, for several minutes, the smoke from a green -powder which I burned for that purpose. Frequently attacks would last -continually for three and four days or a week, during which time -I was not able to draw a single free breath, and would suffer so -intensely that on many occasions I felt as if I was breathing my last. -I mention all this for fear some Salisbury followers may doubt that -mine was a real genuine case of asthma. In that case, I think I can get -satisfactory evidence from our family physician and others who were -with me a great deal during that time.</p> - -<p>As I grew older, and about the time I went to work for myself, I began -to be interested in physical culture methods, and noticed a great -improvement by exercising and cutting down my diet, and afterwards -adopting the two-meal-a-day plan. However, there was one thing which is -strongly emphasized in these methods that did not work with me at the -time, but seemed to make the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> asthma worse; and that was the fresh air -idea. I always had better results, and the attacks were less frequent -and not so severe, when I closed the windows and doors, and filled the -room with the smoke and fumes of the remedy I used. That was due mostly -to the narcotic effect of the remedy when breathing the smoke and fumes -continually. I mention this for fear some one may suggest that the -ultimate permanent relief was brought about simply by breathing fresh -air continually when I did begin to open the windows.</p> - -<p>During all this time, I ate meat with each meal, or twice daily.</p> - -<p>I began to notice that nuts and especially pecans, of which I am -particularly fond, and which are quite plentiful in that part of the -country in which I live, seemed to have a decidedly bad effect on my -asthma, and a greater part of the time I would not touch them on this -account. At that time, however, I had the impression that generally -prevails among a large majority of people, that nuts or fruits were -only good for eating between meals, or as a dessert at the end of a -meal, and in addition to the regular food that was eaten; and that was -the way I had eaten them.</p> - -<p>Mr. Upton Sinclair's first article in the <i>Physical Culture</i> magazine -on the fruit and nut diet was the first hint I ever had that fruit -and nuts eaten alone as a diet had any real substantial food value. -From this time on I began experimenting with short fasts of one meal -or one day, and also began substituting fruit for some meals, and at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> -the same time cut down my meat eating from twice daily to two or three -times a week. I noticed a great improvement in both asthma and catarrh, -although I continued having attacks of asthma almost every night, as -this was during the winter and most of the nights were quite cold.</p> - -<p>After the appearance of his second article, I determined to try this -diet out in my own case, hoping to lessen the attacks of asthma at -least, never dreaming of the real surprise that was in store for me. I -fasted the last two days of December, 1909, and started in January 1st, -eating mostly acid fruits, such as lemons, oranges, grape fruit, etc. -(This in order to relieve the constipation that I was then, and had -been troubled with more or less for the past two or three years.) As a -result of the fast, and of what might be termed a partial fast for a -few days after, I lost several pounds in weight, which I did not regain -until after I had been eating other fruits for several days, such as -dates, figs, bananas and apples, also all kinds of nuts, including the -much dreaded pecan, which seemed to cause so much trouble before.</p> - -<p>On the night of January 8, 1910, I had my last attack of asthma, and -have had none since. By that time my bowels were perfectly free, and -all traces of constipation gone. The night of the 9th I spent in -peaceful, dreamless sleep, my head perfectly clear of any cold or -catarrh, enabling me to breathe freely through my nose during sleep, -which had never been possible before this.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> Although the temperature -outside was a little above zero, and stood close around there during -the greater part of January and February where I was, two windows in -my room were wide open all of the time, and I slept between them; also -there was no stove or other heating appliances in the room to warm me -on retiring and arising.</p> - -<p>I stuck rigidly to the fruit and nuts, living on them alone until -the weather began to grow warmer. I then grew so confident, that I -gradually lapsed into a general raw-food diet, and later on, to a -partly raw and partly cooked diet, but no meat at all, save at times, -when it was necessary in order to avoid unpleasant controversies and -explanations among people who knew nothing on the subject, and were -therefore sceptical, and often inclined to ridicule me.</p> - -<p>With the return to cooked foods, came a return of constipation, and -with it, traces of the old cold or catarrh. This is one thing I noticed -in particular; that when my bowels were moving freely, then and only -then was I free of catarrh or cold. I am situated at present where I am -away from the influences of kind-and-well-meaning friends and members -of my own family, so am living on a raw-food diet entirely, doing heavy -gymnasium work every day, also quite a bit of study and other brain -work besides, which in all keeps me quite busy most of the day. I am -enjoying the best of health in every particular all the while.</p> - -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">H. Mitchell Godsey.</span></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">The Rader Case</span></h3> - -<p>Mr. L. F. Rader of Olalla, Wash., died at 12.15 <span class="smcap">P. M.</span>, May 11, -1910, at 123½ Broadway North, in the forty-seventh year of his age. -Mr. Rader's physical history is one of intermittent suffering. As the -result of an accident in childhood in which he was internally injured, -his youth and early manhood were filled with a succession of most acute -attacks of painful illness. About fifteen years ago he deserted the -orthodox means of treatment and turned to what is now known as the -natural or drugless method, with the consequence that he experienced -the first relief he had ever known. Three years ago he lay ill for -three months, and after again submitting to medical treatment he turned -to the fast and to me. In fourteen days he was up and about, and in a -month he was able to attend to his ordinary business. Since then he had -no return of acute symptoms until March 31 of this year, when, after -unwonted physical exercise and a heavy meal, he was seized with severe -pains in the intestines, which compelled him to take to his bed. His -stomach rejected food, and within a week the taking of water brought -nausea. I was then called to diagnose the case and to direct treatment. -I made the statement at that time to Mrs. Rader that there seemed but -little chance for his recovery, but tried the administration of fruit -juices and light broths.</p> - -<p>The point was soon reached, however, when Mr. Rader refused any -sustenance, since it <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>resulted only in nausea and excruciating pain. -In the meanwhile the patient came to Seattle, and went to the Hotel -Outlook with every symptom showing the relief that is the logical -sequence of removing food temporarily from a system struggling to -right abnormal conditions. Things progressed smoothly until meddlesome -outsiders interfered and caused the city health officials to take -cognizance of the fact that a man was "starving" in the hotel. Without -warrant Mr. Rader's rooms were entered, and he was confronted by -Drs. Bourns and Davidson, who endeavored to persuade him to return -to orthodoxy and to the care of the orthodox physicians. Mr. Rader's -indignant repudiation is of record, as is also the result of the -attempt to declare him insane.</p> - -<p>In connection with the latter, after his removal to a quiet, -comfortable room in the upper part of the city, an order of the court, -obtained in some manner by the health officials, sent the humane -officers to the rescue, and the house was watched and guarded while the -faithful nurses prevented forcible entry attempted by these servants -of the people. The latter even went so far as to raise ladders to -the window of Mr. Rader's room, and with display of weapons tried to -force the catches in the vain effort to serve the writ which was their -excuse. To prevent their seeing the patient and to save him as much -as possible from the noisy disturbance, I carried him to the bath and -locked the door. I then climbed from one window to another across a -court into the next flat in order to call the attorney for the humane -society, who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> took the needful steps that eventually recalled the writ. -In the meanwhile Mr. Rader had suffered mentally to such an extent that -his life was despaired of for many hours, and he never fully recovered -from the nervous shock, which undoubtedly hastened his end. Until the -coming of these officers he was able to walk from his room to the bath, -but afterwards he continually begged to be protected from outsiders and -to be permitted to die, if need be, in peace.</p> - -<p>When the death of a patient under my care occurs I am most anxious that -no stone should be left unturned to exhibit the cause. In this, my -seventh death in four years' practice in Seattle, I find my diagnosis -and prognosis completely corroborated. I was assisted in the autopsy by -two old-line physicians and by the deputy coroner. The results of the -post-mortem examination were as follows:</p> - -<p>Mr. Rader's viscera showed the most abnormal characteristics it has -been my fortune to observe in years of post-mortem work. The lungs -were adherent at every point to the pleural cavity as well as to the -diaphragm in places. The heart in fair condition. Stomach dilated and -prolapsed. Gall bladder in three distinct pouches, any one of which was -the size of the normal sac, and two of these sections were filled with -126 gall stones of one grain to half an ounce in weight; the largest -was 3 inches in circumference one way and 4 inches the other way. The -small intestines collapsed to the pelvis and midway intussuscepted -so that a section of two measured<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> yards occupied but five inches in -length; portions of these were of infantile development. The transverse -colon lay anterior to the descending colon throughout its extent, -while the ascending and descending colon showed infantile size and -cartilaginous structure. The sigmoid bend and rectum were of diameter -not larger than the adult thumb and in advanced cartilaginous state. -The kidneys fair; the liver enlarged and badly congested.</p> - -<p>The conditions exhibited were such that the wonder in any mind -practised in the care of the human body lies in the thought that nature -was able to preserve under these handicaps this man's life until the -forty-seventh year. To me this is proof positive that "man does not -live by bread alone."</p> - -<p>The facts given may easily be verified. Mr. Rader fasted because he -had to fast. He could not take food in any sort or in any manner, and -his death occurred because of organic disease beyond repair. He was -never without water and fruit juices; vegetable broths and prepared -foods were given whenever the occasion seemed to present itself, but -always with painful consequences. During the month of April he was -virtually fasting, although food was supplied as mentioned. It is not -at all remarkable in my work to have patients abstain from food for -thirty, forty, and fifty days, although by far the greater number do -not require this length of time.</p> - -<p>Criticized as I have been for my methods, and realizing that the -combined efforts of the old<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> schools are aimed at what it eventually -means, perhaps a definition may not prove amiss:</p> - -<p>Starvation consists in denying food, either by accident or design, to a -system clamoring for sustenance.</p> - -<p>Fasting consists in intentional abstinence from food by a system -non-desirous of sustenance until it is rested, cleansed, and ready for -the task of digestion. Food is then supplied.</p> - -<p>The conduct of the health and humane officers in the Rader case is not -the first instance of their methods of procedure that it has been my -fate to experience. In the latter part of January, 1908, I had under my -care Mrs. D. D. Whedon, a young married woman in a critical state of -health, mother of one child and about to become the mother of another. -Officious neighbors complained to the authorities that the child was -being subjected to the fasting method and was slowly starving. Without -warrant these creatures of authority entered the apartments of Mrs. -Whedon, subjected her to a bodily examination against her will and -protests, took her child from her by force, and when her husband -attempted to regain possession of his daughter, they arrested him for -resisting an officer and had him placed in the city jail. I also was -charged at this time with practising medicine without a license, an -accusation that was quashed on appeal to the superior court.</p> - -<p>I rather court an investigation of my work and its results, successful -and unsuccessful. Thus far the methods pursued by those antagonistic -have been the very ones that have succeeded in <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>informing the world -at large that the work is here, that it progresses, else why the -furor? It is here to stay and to do what the truth eventually always -does—prevail.</p> - -<p>The autopsies in each of the several deaths that have occurred in -my practice in the city of Seattle have exhibited organic disease, -the origin of which lay in the early years of life. In all of these -bodies arrested development of one or other of the vital organs -was in evidence, and in the majority the injured intestines showed -cartilaginous structure and deformation that must have required either -violent shock or continued functional disturbance to produce. In view -of the fact that these instances cover subjects who had endeavored to -follow orthodox methods until orthodoxy proved unavailing, and who then -turned to the fast and its accompaniments, I feel perfectly confident -in declaring that early drug treatment is responsible for later and -fatal disease. Nature had endowed each of these patients with strong -vitality; each of them had suffered from severe functional disorder in -infancy; each had been drug-drenched.</p> - -<p>Broadly speaking, there is no drug that is not a poison, stimulating -or paralyzing in result, and in infancy the latter is doubly apparent -and appalling. It needs but the parallelism between the effect of -an application of a glass of brandy upon an infant and an adult to -emphasize this statement. Consider then the consequences of repeated -dosings for fevers, colic, colds, and the varied category of infantile -disease, and conceive<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> the results upon tender, growing, human bodies. -Not one of us but has these sacred relics of the days of powdered -dried toads and desiccated cow manure to blame for organs arrested in -development or functionally ruined.</p> - -<p>The principle embodied in the intelligent application of fasting for -the cure of disease is not to be crushed by vilification. The knowledge -of it, thanks to strenuous attacks by the medical profession, has -been distributed gratis throughout the English-speaking world; and my -own part in the work of propaganda has been made more than easy by -opposition displayed. I believe that I have a cause to defend, a truth -to uphold, a principle for which, if need be, I shall die fighting.</p> - -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Linda Burfield Hazzard.</span></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Seattle, Wash.</span>, May 16, 1910.</p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Horace Fletcher's Fast</span></h3> - -<p class="right">Dec. 11, 1910.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Horace Fletcher</span>,<br /> - Care <span class="smcap">Editor of</span> <i>Good Health</i>,<br /> - <span class="smcap">Battle Creek, Mich.</span></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">My dear Mr. Fletcher</span>,—It must have been a year and a half -ago that we had our talk on the subject of fasting; you promised me -that you would investigate it. I have only just seen the copy of the -November <i>Good Health</i>, and discovered that you carried out your -promise. There are some things in connection with your account about -which I want to ask you. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span></p> - -<p>You say that you have come to agree with Dr. Kellogg, that -autointoxication continues during the fast; and that your reason -for this is that at the end of a couple of weeks you found yourself -developing weakness, bad breath, coated tongue, etc. You broke your -fast because these symptoms grew worse and worse. Now surely if a -person is going to give a fair trial to the claims of the fasters, -he should follow their instructions, and he should not proceed in -opposition to their most important advice. You say that for four days -you took no water, and that after that you took only a pint or so a -day. In this you violated the leading injunction of every advocate of -fasting with whose writings I am acquainted; I have read the books of -Bernarr Macfadden, C. C. Haskell, and Dr. L. B. Hazzard, all of whom -have treated scores and hundreds of patients by means of the fast, and -all of whom are strenuous on the point that one should drink as much -water as possible. I myself while fasting have taken at least a glass -every hour. I believe that a very great deal of your trouble may have -been caused by your procedure in this respect.</p> - -<p>Another point which you do not mention is whether or not you took an -enema during the fast. This is a very important point. It may very well -be true that poisons are excreted into the intestinal tract, and that -owing to lack of food they are re-absorbed; if we can aid nature by -washing these poisons out at once, can we not overcome this difficulty? -May not the reason for the non-success of your fast lie here? </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p> - -<p>If it be true that the fast leads to constantly increasing -autointoxication, how do you account for those phenomena which are -summed up in the phrase, "the complete fast"? I personally do not -advocate the complete fast; I only advocate the investigation of it. -I have never taken one, but I have letters from many people who have -taken them, and they are in agreement upon the point that there comes a -time during the fast when the tongue clears, the breath becomes pure, -and hunger manifests itself in unmistakable form. How can this possibly -be true if Dr. Kellogg's explanation of the symptoms of fasting is -correct? Would it not happen just to the contrary, would not the -symptoms of autointoxication increase, until death through poisoning -resulted?</p> - -<p>Dr. Kellogg's argument is a very plausible one; for many years it -sufficed to keep me from trying the experiment of the fast. I know -that it has kept many other people. His claim is, in brief, that -during the fast the body is living off its own tissue; that we are -therefore meat-eaters, and even cannibals, while fasting. We are living -on a kind of food which is over-rich in proteid, and which generates -excessive quantities of uric acid, indican, etc. This, as I say, sounds -plausible, but I found by actual experiment that the facts do not -work out according to the theory. I myself have taken a week's fast -recently, with perfect success. During this time I had not one particle -of weakness or trouble of any sort. Perhaps it may be that my body was -excreting undue amounts of uric acid and indican, but I did not know -it, and it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> did me no harm so far as I could discover. I am much less -afraid of the consequences of living from my own body tissue, since I -have tried for myself the experiment of living on the tissues of other -animals.</p> - -<p>I am trying to get at the truth about these questions, and I know that -you are trying to do it also. For three years I did myself incalculable -harm by accepting blindly statements that meat was the prime cause -of autointoxication, together with other high proteid food. I lived -on starches and sugars, grew pale and thin and chilly, and, as I was -accustomed to phrase it, was never more than fifteen minutes ahead of a -headache. I can give myself a headache at any time at present by two or -three days of eating rice, potatoes, white flour, and sugar. Apparently -I cannot give it to myself by eating any possible quantity of broiled -lean beef. So far as I can make out, beef is the one article of diet -which never does me any harm, no matter how much of it I eat. The same -thing is true, apparently, with my little boy.</p> - -<p>I wish you would tell me what you think about all this. I wish that I -could induce you to try the experiment of fasting again with the use of -the enema and the copious water drinking. Still more do I wish that you -could be induced to try it with some people who need it—some people -who are desperately ill, and who have not been able to get well by -following the low proteid diet.</p> - -<p class="right">Sincerely,<span class="s5"> </span><br /> -<span class="smcap">Upton Sinclair</span>.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span></p> - -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Norwich, Conn.,</span> U. S. A. <br />Dec. 23, 1910.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">My dear Mr. Sinclair</span>,—Your valued favor of the 14th inst. -received enclosing copy of your letter to Horace Fletcher. I have read -your letter to Mr. Fletcher with much interest, and I have also read -Mr. Fletcher's letter to Dr. Kellogg in <i>Good Health</i>.</p> - -<p>I am so crowded with work that I cannot take the time to write you on -this subject of Fasting as I would like. I have had nearly seventeen -years' experience studying and practising the "no-breakfast plan and -fasting for the cure of disease." I have followed the no-breakfast -plan all that time without a single break, and I know it has been -of exceedingly great value to me. It has also been my privilege and -pleasure to advise in thousands of cases covering nearly all forms of -disease, and where the Law of Fasting has been followed faithfully, -there have always been splendid results.</p> - -<p>Aside from the omission of the breakfast, I have fasted a great -many times from one day to four weeks, and always the results have -been beneficial. This could not have been the case if Dr. Kellogg's -contention is correct, that autointoxication continues and increases -during a fast. If his idea is correct on this point, instead of one -improving and at last overcoming the disease entirely, there would not -only be a continuation of the disease but an increase, and death would -naturally result. Should autointoxication continue and increase while -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>one is fasting, the time would not come when the tongue would be clean -and natural hunger manifest itself. On the contrary, there would be an -increase of the coating on the tongue until death finally resulted.</p> - -<p>I think if Mr. Fletcher had continued his fast until his tongue had -become clean, which certainly would be the case, he would have written -a very different letter. In the case of Mrs. Tarbox, whose letter -I enclose, on the thirty-seventh day of her fast, her tongue was -perfectly clean and she had natural hunger, and she was well on the way -to recovery from the terrible cancerous growth and condition in which I -found her. Since Mrs. Tarbox' cure, I have had several other cases of -cancer cured through fasting. You will note the case of Mrs. Hobson, -copy of whose letter I enclose, and the case of Mr. Davis is another -very interesting case as well as that of Mrs. Osborne. These persons -would not have been cured if autointoxication had been going on and -increasing.</p> - -<p>Dr. Dewey's contention I know to be true, that during a fast the heart, -lungs, and brain are supported by the predigested food stored up in -the body. These organs take the nourishment and not the poison, for -during a fast the eliminating organs work to the very limit to force -the poison out of every cell of the body, so that during a fast all -the poison in the body is growing less every hour, and when it is all -eliminated natural hunger manifests itself, the tongue is clean, and -the patient is ready to build up and have a clean physical organism. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>The use of the enema is exceedingly important during a fast. I believe -that it hastens the cure at least twenty-five per cent, and perhaps -more than that.</p> - -<p>Mr. Fletcher's own letter is to my mind a refutation to Dr. Kellogg's -claim as to the continuation and increase of autointoxication, for he -tells the benefits that he has received during his fast of seventeen -days, and those benefits would have been greatly increased if he had -continued the fast until his tongue was clean. His sense of taste had -become so refined by the fast that his food was more delicious than -ever before, which showed that the refining process had been going on -all through his body. Another benefit that he mentions is the lessening -of his desire for sugar, that he is satisfied with the sugar sweet that -is in the food itself, which is so much more healthful than the cane -sugar. Another thing that he speaks of is the reduction in his weight, -which he needed. I sincerely hope that Mr. Fletcher will fast again, -and make it a complete fast, for I think he will have a very different -story to tell from what he tells in this letter.</p> - -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Charles Courtney Haskell.</span></p> - -<p class="right">Dec. 28, 1910.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Dear Mr. Sinclair</span>,—I have your letter of the 14th inst. and -its enclosures.</p> - -<p>To those who have carefully and scientifically undergone or advised the -fast, the cause of the symptoms that Dr. Kellogg and all of the rest of -us recognize as indicating self-poisoning, is readily<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> discovered to -lie in the inability of the organs of elimination to promptly convey -from the body the products of food supplied in excess of digestion. -It is a conclusion that cannot be escaped that, when the refuse from -broken-down tissue and from food ingested beyond the needs of the -body is discharged into the intestines, and when means of removal -are not at hand, re-absorption at once begins and continues until -the canal is cleansed. Self-poisoning, autointoxication, ensues, and -all of its symptoms were emphatically shown in the fast of seventeen -days that Mr. Fletcher essayed. These results are also often observed -when feeding is in progress, and in this connection I refer to an -article written by Dr. Kellogg for <i>Good Health</i> in the summer of -1908. In it he says, "The writer's observations, extending over a -considerable number of years, have brought him to the conclusion that -the cases which are benefited by fasting are practically without -exception cases of autointoxication, generally cases of intestinal -autointoxication, though perhaps also including some cases of metabolic -autointoxication." It seems to me that the Doctor has not made it quite -clear just why, if the fast is the certain producer of the condition, -he recommends it for the cure of the condition. Perhaps "similia -similibus" or "the hair of the dog theory" is implanted in the Doctor's -ego.</p> - -<p>As we review the situation, covering in origin thousands and thousands -of years of wrong living, the facts are patent. The processes of -digestion and assimilation as functions have long since lost<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> natural -expression. Drugs and heredity have created in them an inability to -cope with their work without assistance, and have in many instances -caused a positive cessation of normal action.</p> - -<p>Dr. Kellogg would have us accept his dictum that the cause of loss of -weight during the fast is to be found in the impoverished state of -the blood, and in the fact that, food being denied, no up-building of -tissue can occur. Can he explain in this manner the wasting of tissue -in illness when food is regularly supplied? It should be readily -understood that, in either instance, the process of elimination of -decomposed excess food has at last become the predominant function of -the diseased system. Fasting is the voluntary act that permits rapid -accomplishment of the result; and disease itself is but Nature's -attempt to cleanse and purify by means of elimination. The longer -this thought is dwelt upon, and the more its details are verified by -experiment, the stronger becomes the conviction that we are facing the -truth of the matter.</p> - -<p>When coated tongue, foul breath, and vertigo appear, whether feeding or -fasting, hunger is absent. It must have disappeared many days before -these signs became acute, although Nature's warnings did not fail of -display. The sensation of hunger, the desire for food for the purpose -of restoring cell life, is the human body's greatest natural safeguard. -A sentinel of lower rank is the sense of taste, which, however, like -other outposts, often becomes debauched and valueless. But hunger never -can be turned from its protecting task, and it cannot be stimulated -into<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> action. Hunger is the one natural function that is incorruptible, -for once abused it withdraws. Its deceptive counterpart, appetite, is -the product of taste-stimulation, and, as Mr. Fletcher says, takes upon -itself the guise of habit. Or, as expressed in the text of my book, -"Appetite is craving; Hunger is desire. Craving is never satisfied; -but Desire is relieved when Want is supplied. Eating without Hunger -or pandering to Appetite at the expense of Digestion makes Disease -inevitable."</p> - -<p>Had real normal hunger been present when Mr. Fletcher broke his fast, -the demand for food would have been so great and so insistent that no -denial would have been tolerated. Mr. Fletcher states that he did not -want food until he had tasted it,—a clear case of taste-stimulation -or appetite. Even this was momentary and was but the expiring flame -of taste relish left after seventeen days free from the progressive -accumulation of excess food. Despite his care in the selection and the -mastication of his food, Mr. Fletcher must still have continually eaten -without hunger, and must, as a result, have stored within his system an -unusual amount of material beyond the needs of his body. Had this not -been true, he would not have exhibited the coated tongue, foul breath, -and vertigo. Hunger would have been ever present, and it would have -been impossible for him to fast.</p> - -<p>My only comment upon the neglect of the enema that seems to have -occurred in the conduct of Mr. Fletcher's fast is that it was a most -vital<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> error. The enema is absolutely necessary. The question of diet -also need not be discussed, for experience shows that the feeding of -the body is a matter of individual requirement. If normal physical -balance be ever reached, fixed laws to govern the diet problem could be -formulated. In its present state, argument resolves itself into mere -utterances of individual opinion and prejudice.</p> - -<p class="right">Faithfully yours,<span class="s5"> </span><br /> -<span class="smcap">Linda Burfield Hazzard</span>.</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/back.jpg" alt="back" /></div> - -<p> </p> -<hr /> -<p> </p> - -<div class ="mynote"><p class="center">Transcriber's Note:<br /><br /> -Obvious typographic errors have been corrected.<br /></p></div> - -<p> </p> -<p> </p> -<hr class="pgx" /> -<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FASTING CURE***</p> -<p>******* This file should be named 63293-h.htm or 63293-h.zip *******</p> -<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> -<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/6/3/2/9/63293">http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/2/9/63293</a></p> -<p> -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed.</p> - -<p>Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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