[PDF]Fasting Can Save Your Life By Herbert M. Shelton

13th Printing


The all-time bestseller on fasting!


HERBERT M. SHELTON




Here is a book on an amazing new
approach to health and happiness. It
does not discuss theories...

It deals with facts!

New Foreword by
Alec Burton, M.Sc., D.O., D.C.













FASTING

CAN SAVE
YOUR LIFE


Other books by Herbert M. Shelton published by the NHA


Health for The Millions

The Science and Fine Art of Natural Hygiene

The Science and Fine Art of Food and Nutrition

The Science and Fine Art of Fasting

Exercise!

The Hygienic Care of Children

To order

Call the National Health Association: 330-953-1002
or order online: www.healthscience.org


3



HERBERT M. SHELTON

FASTING

CAN SAVE
YOUR LIFE



National Health Association

formerly the American Natural Hygiene Society


www.healthscience.org


Fasting Can Save Your Life


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July 1964
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All rights reserved.

Foreword ©2009 National Health Association
(also known as American Natural Hygiene Society, Inc.)

Introduction ©1991 American Natural Hygiene Society, Inc.

Main Text ©1978 American Natural Hygiene Society, Inc.

This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part by any means without permission.
For information, contact: National Health Association

Print ISBN 978-0-914532-42-2
ePub ISBN 978-0-9903616-8-8
Mobi 978-0-9903616-9-5
Library of Congress Catalog Number: 78-70060


Mailing Address:

National Health Association
P.O. Box 477, Youngstown, Ohio 44501-0477
www.healthscience.org


PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA


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Publisher’s Note


Founded in 1948 as the American Natural Hygiene Society, many of the principles upon which
the National Health Association (NHA) * is based were devised as long ago as the 1800s — the
advantages of following a plant-based diet, the importance of avoiding unnecessary drugs and
surgery, the self-healing powers of the human body, and the role fasting can play in the recovery of
health.

A small movement began among some physicians who observed that patients who adhered to
their unconventional concepts generally experienced better health than those patients who did not.
Further investigations led these physicians, including Herbert M. Shelton, to a powerful concept
— health is the result of healthful living.

The National Health Association is committed to bringing the timeless principles of its founders
as well as the most accurate and up-to-date information about healthy living to people all over the
world. At a time when millions of people are suffering needlessly because of unhealthy lifestyle
choices, the voice of the NHA offers much needed hope.

This book describes the concept of fasting as an approach to health care that has had beneficial
effects for thousands of people who fasted under Herbert M. Shelton’s care for a variety of health
problems.

Nothing in this book is intended to constitute medical treatment or advice of any nature.
Moreover, as every person responds differently to fasting, it is strongly emphasized that any
person desiring to fast, even for a short duration, should consult his or her doctor, and should
remain under the doctor’s close medical supervision and advice throughout the fast and the entire
period of adjustment thereafter.

In publishing and reprinting Fasting Can Save Your Life, it is the intention of the National
Health Association to keep information about the work of Herbert M. Shelton available to the
reading public. Dr. Shelton’s theories and teachings are his own and are not necessarily consistent
with those of the National Health Association.


*In 1998 the American Natural Hygiene Society also became known as the National Health Association to better reflect the
organization’s mission that health results from healthful living. The new name places the focus on health.


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Dedication


To the millions of sufferers who are agonizing through their lives in search of health and not
knowing where or how to find it, in the firm conviction, born of years of practical experience in
the application of fasting to the problems of health, that fasting and a Hygienic way of life will
lead to vigorous health, this book is dedicated by the author.


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Foreword


Dr. Herbert Macgolfin Shelton was born on October 6, 1895, in a small farmhouse in Collin
County near the small town of Wylie, near Dallas, Texas. The population in 1890 was 500, today
in excess of 25,000. Dr. Shelton told me, “I was born in a storm and it seems I have lived in a
storm ever since.”

Dr. Shelton’s academic background followed naturally from his keen interest in Hygiene which
developed early, as a teenager (1911), when he read Dr. Russell Trail’s True Healing Art based
on a lecture Trail delivered to the Smithsonian Institute in Washington in 1862. From what Dr.
Shelton told me, his constant companions during these years were the writings of Russell Trail,
Sylvester Graham, Isaac Jennings, Robert Walter, Charles Page et al. He was fired with
enthusiasm when he discovered the logical principles of Hygiene and their implacable
consistency. He looked forward to the day when he, too, could use this invaluable knowledge in
the care of the well and the sick.

He graduated from the International College of Drugless Physicians, Chicago (1920) founded by
the famous physical culture exponent Bernarr Macfadden. He was awarded the degree of Doctor of
Physiological Therapeutics, (D.P.). Bernarr Macfadden was a successful business man who
owned a publishing company that included a newspaper, The New York Evening Graphic. After
graduation Dr. Shelton wrote a regular column on health care, in that paper. In the publishing
world, he wrote several books but only as a “ghost” writer. His writing skills were already
developed and well known.

He graduated from the American School of Naturopathy (1922) whose founder and president
was the illustrious Dr. Benedict Lust. He later taught at the school.

During his life, Dr. Shelton wrote almost forty books dealing with all aspects of health, disease
and healing. After graduation, he was the editor of How to Live magazine and teacher of “Dietetics
and Naturopathic Principles” at the American School. Later he was editor and publisher of Dr.
Shelton s Hygienic Review, a monthly magazine devoted to teaching Hygiene and exposing the
many fallacies, dangers and errors of the conventional medical system. That publication had a
unifying influence on all doctors, throughout the world, who had an affinity with Hygienic
principles and practices. During this time several outstanding Hygienists, among them, Drs.
Christopher Gian-Cursio, William Esser, Gerald Benesh and, latterly, Dr. Virginia Vetrano joined
him in his educational work and contributed regular articles that appeared in the Hygienic Review.
Today, there are many people teaching and practicing Hygiene. All of them are indebted to Dr.
Shelton’s legacy, whether or not they acknowledge or even concede their acquisition of the basic
principles which were assembled and logically presented by him. Although Dr. Shelton, himself,
always gave due credit to those who preceded him in the history of Hygiene, this demonstrates the
enormous impact that he had through his teachings. The International Association of Hygienic
Physicians was formed some years after his death with the intention of establishing a genuine
organization of appropriately educated practitioners, who would faithfully pursue the basic
principles established.

Over the years since the early 20th century when Dr. Shelton commenced his work much of the
knowledge that he amassed and the claims he presented have been validated by scientific studies
over and over again. In fact, even in the popular media, more of the tenets of Hygiene are
becoming commonplace.


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I first encountered the writings of Dr. Shelton in 1949, the same year the Hygiene Society was
inaugurated and when one of his very important works was published: The Basic Principles of
Natural Hygiene. What a refreshing experience it was to awaken from my delusions about health,
disease and healing to a vision of health care that was gentle, positive and gave control to the
sufferer. It had been my habit then to read, assiduously, as many health books as I could find in the
libraries. Those were both medical and non medical. I had been exposed to a demanding medical
education for three years and felt uncomfortable in the therapeutic nightmare in which I lived.

Shortly after my richly deserved revelation, interesting text books began to appear, opening
cracks in the secure edifice of medical science. The first was the initial volume of Dr. Meyler’s
Side Effects of Drugs (1952) followed soon after by Dr. Robert H. Moser’s Diseases of Medical
Progress (1959). It seemed even then that in the discipline of health care any change is progress!
Even today, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association for December 2006,
medicine is now the third leading cause of death in the United States, behind heart disease and
cancer.

One of his major works, Human Life Its Philosophy and Laws, a copy of which he gave me on
my first visit to him, was written when he was just past thirty years old, a monumental work of
scholarship and erudition. His final chapter, “A Criticism of the Hypothesis of Therapeutics” had a
profound and lasting impact on me.

In introducing the reader to Fasting Can Save Your Life, it is important and appropriate for me
to stress that fasting, the subject of this work, is not a “therapy.” It is not a treatment, nor is it a
cure; although it is often described as all of these. The word “therapy” is clearly defined as “a
treatment of or pertaining to the remedial treatment of disease.” This is a conceptual error of the
most fundamental type. Animals fast, some for considerable periods of time. Fasting is a part of
life and has always been so. Health and disease are aspects of the same biological continuum; they
are processes in continuous operation. Fasting is merely a period of abstinence from food. It may
be viewed as a type of rest, a cessation of eating. It has nothing to do with treatment or therapy. It
is not what the fasting does but what the body does while fasting. Fasting provides the body with
the opportunity for its remedial processes to perform more efficiently and effectively. Fasting
removes obstructions to recovery.

The living body is self-constructing, self-defending and self-repairing. The whole effort and
focus of Hygiene is to enhance and facilitate these processes. Whenever action occurs, it is action
of the body and not some extraneous material or influence. Fasting per se has really nothing to do
with disease. It is not a cure, treatment or therapy. It merely affords the body an opportunity to
perform its remedial functions more effectively. When we get sick, one of the first symptoms to
appear is anorexia, loss of appetite. This is not, of course, invariable, but it is common. Should we
not respect what the body is indicating to us?

One of Dr. Shelton’s unique qualities that always impressed me was his ability to exploit
Ockham’s Razor in any argument or serious discussion. This principle that goes back to Aristotle
(384-322BC), was made famous by William of Ockham (1285-1347), a Franciscan monk who
studied and taught philosophy at Oxford University. This principle, also known as the law of
economy, states, “Entities are not to be multiplied beyond necessity.” Its application in medicine
recommends that if diagnosing a given illness or disease, a doctor should try to look for the fewest
possible causes, the simplest which will account for all the symptoms. The counter argument is
“Hickam’s dictum” which simply states that, “Patients can have as many diseases as they damn
well please.” Ockham’s Razor was the unique cognitive context in which Shelton appraised health
philosophy and exposed the rigorous precision he used when examining arguments. Truly


9



Aristotelian!

Dr. Shelton also had a keen interest in politics with a leaning towards socialism which has
never been dominant in the USA. He was motivated to run for President in the 1956 elections.
From what he told me, he spent much of his time travelling around the country delivering powerful
speeches on Hygiene. On reading the magazine, Dr. Shelton s Hygienic Review, one cannot help
but perceive the philosophical roots of his political convictions.

Following the giants of medical reform of the 19th century including Drs. Isaac Jennings,
Russell Trail and Robert Walter, Shelton coined many terms to meaningfully reflect the biological
relationship between the organism and the environment, materials, agents and influences, upon
which its health and life depend. “Orthopathy” was one such term, coined by Jennings, from the
Greek, Orthos meaning correct, upright, and pathos meaning disease, suffering, implying that
disease is right for the extant conditions. Another important term was “biogony,” bios meaning life,
agony meaning struggle. Disease represents a struggle for existence, for recovery; it is an energy
expensive process.

Dr. Shelton has gone but his writings remain. They are safe for future students, scholars,
historians and researchers to peruse and examine. Since my college days at University in London,
there is not a day goes by without my awareness of the substantial intellectual debt I owe Dr.
Herbert M. Shelton. I shall miss him and his penetrating mind often disguised by an entertaining
sense of humor.

I would like to finish with a few of his words.

He has no enemies, you say,

My friend your boast is poor.

He who has mingled in the fray,

Of duty that the brave endure
Must have made foes,

If he has none,

Small is the work that he has done.

He has hit no fraud upon the hip,

He has struck no cup from perjured lip,

He has never turned the wrong to right,

He has been a coward in the fight.


Alec Burton, M.Sc., D.O., D.C.
Director, Arcadia Health Centre
Sydney, Australia


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Introduction


As sensational as it may seem, fasting can save your life.

For those facing a major health crisis or medical treatment that involves significant risk of side
effects, fasting, under the care of a physician trained in fasting supervision, may be a safer and
more effective alternative. This is because the traditional medical approach of treating the
symptoms of a disease with medicine and surgery does not remove its causes. Left unchecked,
such causes will continue to harm the individual in time to come. By contrast, therapeutic fasting,
followed by a healthy lifestyle, does remove the causes of disease and can dramatically accelerate
the healing process.

Many books have been written about “juice fasts,” “religious fasts,” “fasts for weight loss,”
etc., but they usually do not address fasting from a complete physiological point of view. Fasting
Can Save Your Life describes the true physiological fasting process. This involves the abstinence
from all food or drink, except pure water, during a time when the person’s nutritional reserves are
adequate to maintain a vital organ function and structure. Only such a fast can maximize the body’s
healing potential.

In his own inspiring language, drawing upon his unparalleled experience of supervising over
40,000 fasts, Herbert M. Shelton reviews the major issues related to fasting. He explains how
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