Page:Linda Hazzard - Fasting for the cure of disease.djvu/111

 sensations of taste and of smell, need never know disease.

It is sometimes the policy of good judgment to break the fast before the system is completely cleansed, to return to it after an interval of dieting; but this is so, solely because of the wide-spread ignorance of the human body and its care, and because of the advantage that orthodoxy has taken of this fact for commercial and other reasons. The mind of the patient thus becomes imbued with groundless fear of death, and more harm than good results on account of the mental strain. From the same motive, policy may indicate shortening the period of abstinence when the certainty of the presence of organic disease exists, or when preparation has been carelessly performed or entirely omitted. But, even though organic defects are present, the body in disease is more certain of recovery when the fast is applied, since the labor of the organs is in process of gradual reduction, and progressive relief is afforded the system as a whole. The only hope of partial recuperation or of permanent cure lies in the rest given to overworked or defective organs, permitting them, if possible, to recover and to resume their functions.