Fasting to cure mental illness

I think the idea of the East Asian approach (at least the one that I know of) is for fasting to be accompanied by meditation. The meditation part will let you clear your mind and therefore help with your mental illness, whereas the fasting part just serves as a reminder that food (as opposed to enlightenment) gives you only temporary satisfaction.

Also, "fasting" here doesn't mean not eating anything at all - it just means skipping (red) meat and other indulgences you normally enjoy. It's also supposed to be temporary, so comparing it to a caveman's or a supermodel's diet isn't really fair.

That being said, fasting for the sake of fasting isn't something I would personally recommend.

No, it's not going to cure mental illness.

But having a day or two without food is O.K. especially as a detox if you been eating unhealthily or whatever.

When I am fasting or am underweight, I keep having strange experiences at night. I don´t actually think it´s only hallucinations. As Paul Brunton wrote in his notebooks: "Psychical dangers usually don´t occur except of fasts longer than 3 and a half day. The greatest danger is negative state or mediumity which opens the mind to the influence of other people and body to the control of not incarnated beings. No aspirant who already manifests medial tendencies should fast for more than 2-3 consecutive days."

This seems to be exactly what I am having. It is as if I was leaving my body or was manipulated by some strange energy, sometimes flying. (Several times it happened to me that I flew out through closed window). My body gets actually manipulated and posessed by that strange energy. It moves it, pushes, makes me walk or fly or I am stone paralyzed and tortured by strange beings. Sometimes i don´t even see them, only feel them as energy. They crawl on my blanket while I´m paralyzed, or I am being touched by disgusting hands. Once one monster told me: "you say no and we say yes" and grasped with hand, but I couldn´t do anything because I was paralyzed.

Once I had a dream when I was on the hill in town and I joined a group of young people on motorbikes dressed in black. We went to the church. On the stage there was some lunatic leader dressed in white, jumped around like mad and it was evident he had serious mental illness. I felt something evil in him and in the church. I somehow woke up to the fact that I was actually there and asked the people: and you, who are you at all? Suddenly the evil feeling got so strong that it was almost palpable, I tried to run away but could not move, only very slowly like running in water and eventually I took off the ground. Then I woke up, dizzy head, psychedelic feeling but it was so strong that I felt asleep again. There was one girl from the church kneeling on my chest and saying: "So here we are again, aren´t we" and touched my face, eventually tried to squeeze my nose to suffocate me.

When I´m dieting or underweight, I have these experiences once every few nights, but it´s strongest by full moon. I can almost feel its energy and once I even woke up because there was such a powerfull blast through the window of the moon energy. At times like this I am absolutely certain that this is something "out of this world" (or how to describe it). I also hear voices, once I heard some man laughing and once even one whole sentence, I can remember word by word. Usualy the dreams accompanied by this "energy" are evil or have some occult symbolism in them. I have plenty interesting stories but it would be too long and unfortunately I have forgotten a lot because I don´t write it down.
I want to add yet, I don´t feel the energies of the moon when is wet or raining, as if there was no conductivity in the air.

(sorry for my english, I know it´s horrible)

im pretty sure its what you put into your body that cleanses it, not the amount. its like fuel for your car. if you dont put any fuel in it, it wont run at all. If you put diesel in it, its like us eating a cheeseburger. If you put unleaded, its like eating a spinach salad...so what you put in is surely more important than the amount.

Riiya said:

May I please have the titles and the authors of these books?

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'healing with whole foods' by paul pitchford was one of them, i don't have the other to hand.

Maybe it would be useful to open up your unconscious mind. That's what primitive and religious people used it for. Like going on a vision quest or something. In that sense maybe it could be helpful. Or just really weird!

From what i have read on this, western medicine is slowly coming around to the idea of fasting to prevent and cure illness. Studies on this have shown that while on a water fast some nutrient levels have stayed constant throughout. also, while fasting the body will metabolize dead cells and abnormal growths first. Just a few points i thought were most impressive.


Just like to say, I am in noway an expert on this. My only first hand experience of fasting was that I did a 7 day juice fast. This was for the purpose of healing a skin condition that western medicine couldn't cure (only made worse actually) pleased to say that my skin was the best ever for months afterwards. So i am interested to see what effects fasting has on my mental health. As the conventional treatment really isn't working at all.

TheLoneWolf said:

im pretty sure its what you put into your body that cleanses it, not the amount. its like fuel for your car. if you dont put any fuel in it, it wont run at all. If you put diesel in it, its like us eating a cheeseburger. If you put unleaded, its like eating a spinach salad...so what you put in is surely more important than the amount.

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Got to agree with the above!

As someone who used to have an eating disorder (and still struggles sometimes with food) this thread worries me a bit. Eating more healthily will definitely have a positive affect on your mood but I'm not convinced that eating nothing at all will do any good. I used to regularly live on nothing but water for three to four days at a stretch and it made me exhausted, unhappy and physically ill - I didn't get any positive mental effects out of it unless you count the floaty, spaced-out sensation I got from my low blood sugar!

Here are a couple of articles I found on the health effects of fasting:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasting

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Famine_response

I agree that the idea of abstaining from food for a while to fix your problems sounds alluring, but I just don't think it works that way, and the people who tell us it does are usually trying to sell us detox pills or books on various spiritual beliefs.

I like the thread and I think it's a very interesting point.

Fasting does not equal starvation. Fasting just gives your body a much needed rest. Sometimes it is very beneficial. Think about someone who sprained their ankle. Would it make much sense to walk on it 24 hours a day or just rest it so it has a chance to heal? Sometimes your body is overburdened and just needs a rest too. And btw, sleeping is not considered rest in this sense because you body is processing the foods all night long.

I can see how it could help with mental illnesses. If we are backlogged with difficult foods and a toxic environment, our body and brain will be overburdened which can certainly lead to mental illness. An occasional fast sometimes can help clear things out and do a type of reset. Nothing cures by itself though - But can help when used in conjunction with many other things like exercise, proper eating and stress reduction.

cosmosis said:

Fasting does not equal starvation.

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True, but week-long and month-long fasts were getting mentioned and that's what worried me. I don't think a very short fast would do any harm, but I'm not an expert on the subject! Maybe people should ask their doctors about the effects of it if they're interested.

I have a book about fasting and there are examples of people who got healed from long term diseases during war blockades etc., or one hopelessly ill woman decided to starve herself to death. The result was, she didn´t die but got cured .

princess_haru said:

As someone who used to have an eating disorder (and still struggles sometimes with food) this thread worries me a bit. Eating more healthily will definitely have a positive affect on your mood but I'm not convinced that eating nothing at all will do any good. I used to regularly live on nothing but water for three to four days at a stretch and it made me exhausted, unhappy and physically ill - I didn't get any positive mental effects out of it unless you count the floaty, spaced-out sensation I got from my low blood sugar!

I agree that the idea of abstaining from food for a while to fix your problems sounds alluring, but I just don't think it works that way, and the people who tell us it does are usually trying to sell us detox pills or books on various spiritual beliefs.

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Fasting has absolutely nothing to do with starving! In fact our bodies are designed and happy to take a break once in a while. Please don't confuse the two. Try doing some research on a proper fast before saying such silly things. Yes, continual bad eating and lack of food can lead to terrible health and malnourishment without a doubt. But a fast is when you eat normally and then voluntarily take a break and then continue to eat normally after that. Comparing that to a eating disorder is absolutely absurd.

cosmosis said:

I like the thread and I think it's a very interesting point.

Fasting does not equal starvation. Fasting just gives your body a much needed rest. Sometimes it is very beneficial. Think about someone who sprained their ankle. Would it make much sense to walk on it 24 hours a day or just rest it so it has a chance to heal? Sometimes your body is overburdened and just needs a rest too. And btw, sleeping is not considered rest in this sense because you body is processing the foods all night long.

I can see how it could help with mental illnesses. If we are backlogged with difficult foods and a toxic environment, our body and brain will be overburdened which can certainly lead to mental illness. An occasional fast sometimes can help clear things out and do a type of reset. Nothing cures by itself though - But can help when used in conjunction with many other things like exercise, proper eating and stress reduction.

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so very well illistrated

WeirdGirl said:

From what i have read on this, western medicine is slowly coming around to the idea of fasting to prevent and cure illness. Studies on this have shown that while on a water fast some nutrient levels have stayed constant throughout. also, while fasting the body will metabolize dead cells and abnormal growths first. Just a few points i thought were most impressive.

Just like to say, I am in noway an expert on this. My only first hand experience of fasting was that I did a 7 day juice fast. This was for the purpose of healing a skin condition that western medicine couldn't cure (only made worse actually) pleased to say that my skin was the best ever for months afterwards. So i am interested to see what effects fasting has on my mental health. As the conventional treatment really isn't working at all.

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I don't know how things are in Europe, but I don't think the western medicine really accepts fasting as a method to prevent or cure illness. I've never really heard of fasting as a means to cure any kind of illness, actually. Is that one of those things that originates in the East and turns into a completely different thing in the West? You know, kind of like the food at Panda Express?

I'm no expert either, but I'm pretty sure the body heals/detoxifies itself whether you fast or not. If you eat too much fat and sugar every day I can see why you would benefit from laying off all that stuff for a while, but if that is the case then a better idea would be to change your eating habits completely. Whether or not fasting is starvation, I think that's just an argument about semantics. Fasting isn't starvation in that fasting doesn't cause your body to use energy from all the wrong sources, but fasting is starvation in the sense that you go to bed hungry. Fasting for a day or two isn't going to hurt you (I don't think), but I'm under the impression that regular fasting is just going to screw with your metabolism - not something I would voluntarily do to myself.

Just my seven cents. (I threw in a dime because I'm feeling generous.)

cosmosis said:

I like the thread and I think it's a very interesting point.

Fasting does not equal starvation. Fasting just gives your body a much needed rest. Sometimes it is very beneficial. Think about someone who sprained their ankle. Would it make much sense to walk on it 24 hours a day or just rest it so it has a chance to heal? Sometimes your body is overburdened and just needs a rest too. And btw, sleeping is not considered rest in this sense because you body is processing the foods all night long.

I can see how it could help with mental illnesses. If we are backlogged with difficult foods and a toxic environment, our body and brain will be overburdened which can certainly lead to mental illness. An occasional fast sometimes can help clear things out and do a type of reset. Nothing cures by itself though - But can help when used in conjunction with many other things like exercise, proper eating and stress reduction.

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Rest? rest of what exactly? What is resting when you're fasting?

Food is BAD for you? Give me a break. A top level endurance athlete might consume and burn 10,000-15,000 calories a day. They will eat more before noon than you will the whole day.They will woof a Big Mac or two just to keep their calories up.

You think fasting will make you healthier than this guy?



Of course not

Difficult foods? What does that mean?

Toxic environment? Are you joking? Should we fear evil spirits as well?

Our brains run 24/7, as well as our body. Starving it sends it in to panic mode, it doesn't make it peaceful...a peaceful body is a dead body

Lea said:

I have a book about fasting and there are examples of people who got healed from long term diseases during war blockades etc., or one hopelessly ill woman decided to starve herself to death. The result was, she didn´t die but got cured .

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Crazy. Insane. Beyond all rational thought.

You know people die every year from the belief that they don't need to eat food anymore. There are people that claim if you meditate and do some chanting that your body ceases to need food. Of course this is pure insanity, but still a few people believe it. After a few weeks of chanting and meditating, they of course fall over dead.

I beg you to really question what you read.

WeirdGirl said:

Does anyone know any more about fasting as a cure to mental illness??

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I've heard before that it is. I tried it, and it's true, you're less self conscious, but you're tired as hell so it kind of evens out.

Thelema said:

Rest? rest of what exactly? What is resting when you're fasting?

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Oh come on Thelema. This isn't some wacky theory. In a normal day your body is working hard for you at night digesting the days food, your liver and kidneys are hard at work processing the foods. They don't stop. Unless you give it a small break.

For most people this isn't an issue of course if you are already strong and healthy. Your body can handle the continual load.

Thelema said:

Food is BAD for you? Give me a break. A top level endurance athlete might consume and burn 10,000-15,000 calories a day. They will eat more before noon than you will the whole day.They will woof a Big Mac or two just to keep their calories up.

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Please don't put words in my mouth. I never once said food is bad or evil.

Thelema said:

You think fasting will make you healthier than this guy?

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I hope you do realize that there are MANY athelete that fast all the time. Many even do it right before competition. I wouldn't recommend that though.

Thelema said:

Difficult foods? What does that mean?

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Ha! I really shouldn't even be responding to this. It honestly feels like a troll, even though you are a moderator?

You seriously don't know what difficult food are? Have you ever had a greasy pizza or gone to carls jr? Have you ever had a night of indigestion, acid reflux, diarrhea, upset stomach? As you get older you get more and more of these issues because your internal organs arn't as fast and strong as they used to be.

Thelema said:

Toxic environment? Are you joking? Should we fear evil spirits as well?

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Wow. Just wow. Funny and offensive at the same time. Have you ever put on the news and seen them talk about pollution? Yeah, that's a bit toxic for people Have you ever heard them talk about how overstressed we all are with our jobs and livestyles? Yeah, stress is also toxic for people Where were you in your health class?

Ooo yeah, fear the evil spirits! Just look at those mythical pollution spirits that light up LA's sunset /end of sarcasm.

Thelema said:

Our brains run 24/7, as well as our body. Starving it sends it in to panic mode, it doesn't make it peaceful...a peaceful body is a dead body

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Spoken from a person who has NEVER done a fast in his entire life.

Do you realize that when you do a PROPER FAST you don't feel any hunger at all? That is the biggest confusion people have with fasts.

When I eat normally, I have incredible hunger between meals because of the fluctuations of blood sugar levels. If I go on a fast, the blood sugar and other processes stabalizes and you don't even feel the slightest bit of hunger. And yes of course, if you do an extended fast, you eventually will feel true hunger. But it's a lot longer than you think.

For Thelema: I don´t see anything illogical on what I said, that people get cured through fasting is pretty logical and there is evidence for it. I have my own positive experience with fasting or severe restriction of food. When I was about 20 I stopped eating and was eating only as little as I could. Gradually my hunger diminished until almost totally disappeared. I could do with only one sachet of milk shake a day, or a bowl of cereal. I was in England and spent around 5 pounds a week for food. I went on like this 4 month. I admit I lost 10 kg but my digestion complaints almost disappeared, all pain was gone. I felt so wonderfully like never before or after. It is true I looked like anorectic and people were scared and telling me I need to eat, but I felt so great and pain free, I was happy with that. Unfortunately after the 4 month I couldn´t resist any longer and started bingeing.. all my problems were right back.

Once I was 3 weeks eating only 2-3 buns a day + 250 ml of fat free buttermilk, drank mineral water. I thought I would be hungry on that but surprisingly wasn´t at all and didn´t loose almost any weight. (I did this in order to heal my stomach complaints, which didn´t suceed). I wasn´t hungry but towards the end I was very tired, probably due to lack of nutrients.

Then I did 7 day complete fasting, only drinking water. I was hungry the whole time and that´s why I didn´t manage more than 7 days. However, there are people who fast around a month without any hunger. This is no fiction or illogical, it´s simply a fact. I even have one acquaintance who said she did it and I have no reason not to believe her. In our country we have a proverb: what doesn´t kill you, will save you. I would say fasting is a strong and unpleasant medicine but can achieve results like anything else. It is like fire - fire can be helpful if used wisely or very damaging if it gets out of hand.

There is nothing wrong with fasting!!!! If is done properly, so where do people get the assumption that fasting is bad?. It isn't it!!. I heard people who have done it and then start eating healthy once their body detox all of the toxic they had in their bodies etc. I believe that the people who are saying that fasting is bad is because they are just concentrating on the EATING ASPECT. People have been doing this for centuries!!