Today we live in a convenience age. You can save time by eating fast food and you can get better by taking a quick acting pill. But chronic diseases are on the upsurge and there appears to be a veritable epidemic of cancer. It seems in this age of McDo nald’s health is degenerating. Could there be a connection I wonder? If we were to take a minute to look back at history we would see that something altogether not convenient has been around for several thousand years, and that is fasting. Fasting or forgoing food is the world’s most ancient and natural healing procedure. When animals feel unwell they stop eating and rest. They know something that humans appear to have forgotten and that is by ceasing eating the body triggers a very powerful cleansing process. This ‘cleanse’ reaches down into every cell and produces truly remarkable therapeutic results.

What happens when you fast? After 24 hours of zero food intake the digestive system no longer has anything to do. Thus digestive enzymes that usually drain a lot of the body’s energy to accomplish their task travel not to the stomach but to the intestines and into the bloodstream where they gobble up waste matter which comprises decaying and moribund cells, metabolic refuse and other pollutants. At the same time as this cleanse is taking place organs and glands get an unaccustomed holiday and this break gives them an opportunity to purify and rejuvenate. Altogether this operation results in enhanced immune system function which at the end of the day means that health is restored and illness killed off. Benjamin Franklin said long ago “the best form of all medicines are rest and fasting.”

Main stream opinion today tends to dismiss this health-promoting trend.

as “faddy and New Age”. As we have already said that is nothing new age about it at all as it has been around for a very long time. Hippocrates according to some claims to be the father of modern medicine. His sensible motto provides the backbone to the ‘The Hippocratic Oath’ to which all doctors swear. This is “do no harm”. He prescribed abstinence from food while a disease was on the increase and particularly so as it approached the healing crisis. Moreover another piece of wisdom from the same source was ‘eat sparsely at all times”. Unlike some pharmaceutical medicines none of these practices do harm. Essentially it is a good idea to leave the table with room for a little more, and follow the very sound advice recommended by our grandmothers “feed a cold and starve a fever.”

More recently both Dr. Kelly and Dr. Roderigo suggested that all disease began in the intestinal tract. By cleaning the intestines you get rid of the toxins which are the main constituents of all disease. Fasting and cleansing with the help of enemas and colonics have become increasingly more popular with those truly anxious to bring their health up to speed. Such treatments have been heartily embraced by people like the Swedes and more and more clinics are popping up in the United States.

Back in the early 1990s a centre specialising in this form of cleansing took root on the Thai island of Koh Samui which was at the time a much favoured destination of back-packers. In 1997 the the Health Oasis Resort Resort. came into being and offers a de-tox programme at a reasonable price in a very beautiful and peaceful setting. If this powerful form of health care interests you perhaps you should check it out!

His name is Pete; he is thirty something and comes from Middlesex, which is really that part of West London that lies out towards Heathrow Airport. In the past couple of years he has made four visits and has completed 2 de-tox fasts at “The Health Oasis Resort” on the Thai tropical island of Koh Samui.

Originally he finished what the “Resort” describes as a Nurture Fast. This is a comprehensive de-toxification programme. In essence you forgo food for nine days. This is not as austere as it sounds as participants like Pete are allowed fruit juices, unlimited fluids and enjoy two bowls of vegetable broth on a daily basis. Once the digestive system shuts down in this manner it is in a position to eliminate the toxins that have accrued due to a less than ideal diet, poor lifestyle habits and of course the pollutants that are found in the environment and in food itself. To assist in the elimination process guests at ‘spas’ like Health Oasis Resort cleanse with the help of colonic irrigation, magnesium oxide and experience a liver flush at the end of the treatment. To many this sounds like a harsh regime. Pete, however, disagreed. He found the experience easy. Although he did not eat solid food for nine days, he says he was not in the least hungry. He did admit, however, that he did miss the varied flavours of food during his fast. As for the colonics he said,”they were just OK”.

Over the nine days he lost an amazing 7 kilos in weight. At the end of his stay he said that he looked better; he felt relaxed and rested and above all felt clean both inside and out. Pete is a single guy and he is certain his de-tox made him much more attractive to women.

Moreover he admits that his major achievement was going without food for nine days for which he feels proud of himself. The programme recommends a morning yoga class on a daily basis. Pete attended the class on his first day but discovered “yoga was not really for him”, so instead swam regularly in the pool and worked out in the gym which is attached to the Resort.

After it was all over he says he had learned a lot about health and fitness. He saw the advantages of exercise and grasped the importance of healthy eating. Before he was quite content to eat fast convenience foods but after his visit to Koh Samui he saw how important it is to include at least five portions of fruit and vegetables in the daily diet.

Overall he was so impressed with the results of the fasting and cleansing programme at the Health Oasis Resort

he has returned three more times in the intervening two years. He feels the place keeps him on track for good health. The fasting and cleansing programme reminds him to eat healthily and exercise regularly when he leaves the lush paradise of Koh Samui and returns to the real world. Pete is not alone in this experience, talking to other guests at the Resort it quickly became clear that they all returned each year for what they described as a health promoting inner and outer cleanse.