CHAPTER I
FASTING
In order that a clear grasp of the subject matter of the text may be obtained, a short explanation of the fast and of the principles upon which its efficacy in the treatment of disease is based is essential. It will also be necessary, for the purpose of defining the distinction that exists between Fasting and Starvation, to discuss in a following chapter the physiological changes developed in the progress of the latter, since, in the popular mind, the two processes involved are vaguely considered as one and the same.
Fasting is defined as follows:—The voluntary denial of food to a system, which is diseased, and which, because of disease, does not require nourishment until rested, cleansed, and eager again to take up the labor of digestion. Then, and not till then, is food supplied; then, and not till then, does starvation begin.
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