Starvation begins where fasting ends, which is when real hunger begins.  If the return of hunger is ignored whenever it takes place, whether it is in 30, 60, or 90 days depending upon body weight and type of fast, at that point exactly, not a day before, starvation begins very slowly.  Usually it takes a considerable period of time after that before death occurs.  It is important to note that this discussion applies only to the abstention from food, not water.  Death takes place very quickly in the absence of water.

The chart on the previous page shows numerically the phenomenal ability of the body to protect the most essential tissues of the body right up to the time of death.  If a person fasted for 30 days, the average time it takes for the return of hunger in a person that is not overweight, and then ignored the return of hunger, and continued to abstain from food—­if the person could avoid forced exercise, keep warm, and had enough hydration, it could take as much as an additional 20 to 60 days to die of starvation!  At death the body would have experienced losses of 40 to 60 percent of its starting body weight. (Ancel Keys et al, 1950) A emaciated person can not afford to lose nearly as much weight as an obese person, and death under conditions of starvation will occur earlier.  In all cases of starvation the brain, nerves, heart, lungs, kidneys and liver remain largely intact and functional to the very end.  During a fast, it is almost impossible to damage essential organs, unless of course the person creates the damage by fears about the process, or by internalizing the fears of others.  If those fears are present, the fast should not be attempted.

Weight Loss By Fasting

Loss of weight indicates, almost guarantees, that detoxification and healing is occurring.  I can’t stress this too much.  Of all the things I find my patients seem to misunderstand or forget after being told, it is that they can’t heal in a rapid manner without getting smaller.  This reality is especially hard for the family and friends of someone who is fasting, who will say, “you’re looking terrible dear, so thin.  Your skin is hanging on your bones.  You’re not eating enough protein or nutrient food to be healthy and you must eat more or you’re going to develop serious deficiencies.  You don’t have any energy, you must be getting sicker.  You’re doing the wrong thing, obviously.  You have less energy and look worse every day.  Go and see a doctor before it is too late.”  To succeed with friends like this, a faster has to be a mighty self-determined person with a powerful ability to disagree with others.