Fasting for Life: Medical Proof Fasting Reduces Risk of Heart Disease, Cancer, and Diabetes - Francis E. Umesiri (2016)

Epilogue

A WORD OF CAUTION

IF YOU ARE SUFFERING FROM A CHRONIC DISEASE SUCH as diabetes, cancer, stroke, or heart problems, you must discuss your health with your primary care physician or other specialist before embarking on any kind of fast. You assuredly do not want to follow a protracted fast in hopes of curing yourself of any chronic disease without the supervision of a medical doctor. I have presented fasting not as a disease management program but as a disease prevention practice. I do not recommend fasting for disease management unless your doctor approves and supervises such a plan.

I am not a medical doctor, but a biomedical research scientist. No segment of the foregoing discussion about fasting should be interpreted as any kind of medical prescription. I have done my best to document scientific evidence in support of the health benefits of fasting, as well as a call for a more balanced approach to spiritual fasting. Still, I do not intend to offer any form of medical advice. Fasting is a spiritual discipline that happens to also offer immense health benefits. I highly recommend that you approach fasting from that perspective.

Fasting is beneficial as a lifestyle change for healthy people. It is a disciplined, lifetime habit of reducing your energy intake. The results will be seen through such benefits as the delayed onset of age-associated diseases. As a healthy person, overweight or not, you can benefit—even in small measures—from practicing fasting as defined in this book. However, if you are an individual with major health problems, you are best served by consulting your doctor before initiating any form of fasting.

For all individuals, whether healthy or not, you must consult with your doctor before embarking on any kind of protracted fasting program. In the very least, your doctor will be able to monitor your progress as you fast.