Fasting for three days can regenerate entire immune system, study finds

originally posted by: Barcs
...


10 common myths about fasting

Here's a good article that everyone should read. It clearly explains many of the misconceptions that you have brought up in this thread. Specifically check out #1, #2, #4, #8, #9, and #10.

Wow... and you post a blog by Loren Lockman?... You are OUT OF YOUR MIND...

From the link you provided...

Loren Lockman

Loren Lockman is the founder and director of the Tanglewood Wellness Center,

www.cosozo.com...

You are posting a blog from a fraudster whose water fasting programs has caused organ damage, diseases like beriberi as well as others and even the death of some people as proof for your arguments...

That's how illogical and insane you are...

For those people who haven't seen my other posts that show evidence that people like Loren Lockman and associates are not only fraudsters, but because of their water fasting programs people have acquired diseases like beriberi, organ damage and even death while doing Lockman's water fasting.

Unlicensed Practitioners Cited
after Death of Diabetic Patient

Stephen Barrett, M.D.

The Maryland Board of Physicians has issued cease-and-desist orders against Loren Lockman and Timothy Trader for practicing medicine without a license and representing to the public that they were authorized to practice medicine. Lochman was fined $320,000 for seven violations, each of which reflected what had happened to one client. Trader was fined $70,000 for two violations related to two of the clients.

Documents in the case indicates that Lockman founded the Tanglewood Wellness Center, which operated first in Bethesda and then in Thurmont, Maryland. In 2005, he fled to Panama and relocated his facility. Lockman employed Trader in 2003 and 2004. The pair advocated a raw food diet and administered water-only fasting for lengthy periods for people whose health conditions were worsened or could have been worsened by such fasting. They also discouraged the use of prescribed medications. Both conducted themselves in a manner that suggested that they were trained health professionals, even though they were not [1].

Documents in the case further indicate that Trader referred to himself as a "retired" naturopath. In the fatal case, he advised a 22-year-old woman with insulin-dependent diabetes to stop taking her insulin and undergo a water-only fast. After she became acutely ill with diabetic ketoacidosis, he administered huge amounts of insulin, but she lost consciousness and died soon afterwards. (Insulin alone is not sufficient treatment for diabetic ketoacidosis.) Three other clients appeared to have suffered impairment of their memory as a result of prolonged fasting. Another patient became emaciated and developed beriberi (a severe B-vitamin deficiency) as a result of severe fasting. Two other clients were dissatisfied with their experience and left within a week. One was a man with severe heart disease who could have been heading for disaster as a result of stopping his medications [2].

Lockman still operates the Tanglewood Wellness Center in Panama, which offers treatment for $900 for the first week and $500 to $700 for subsequent weeks, depending on the length of stay. His Web site claims that his methods can enable people to lose weight, never be sick again, have abundant energy and mental clarity, and look younger —"all with no side effects, safely, easily, naturally."

Trader has relocated to California. Recent autobiographical sketches states that he obtained a naturopathy degree from Clayton College and in 1991 got a "Ph.D." from the Life Science Institute. Clayton College is a nonaccredited correspondence school [3]. The Life Science Institute was a correspondence school that was never accredited or legally authorized to grant degrees. In the mid-1980s, a Texas Court prohibited it from marketing itself as a "college" and from granting academic credits or degrees [4].
...

www.quackwatch.com...

That was in 2007, since then Lockman has moved some of his wellness centers to countries such as panama, and to places like Costa Rica in which many other people have suffered similar fates in developing diseases, organ damage and even death because they did water fasting for weeks at a time while Lockman and associates claimed "it is safe" , which of course it's not true."

There is the recent death of a man who died on March 2014 while doing the 2 week water fast promoted by Lockman and under his supervision.

loren lockman tanglewood HAZARDOUS.


tanglewood loren lockman "wellness" fasting retreat


sexta-feira, 30 de Maio de 2014


RECENT UPDATE - ANOTHER DEATH


RECENT UPDATE


My condolences to the family of Jonathan, who recently died at tanglewood.

I do sincerely hope, that the FBI´s investigation culminates in the complete eradication of loren lockman´s defrauding activities.
...

lorenlockmantanglewood.blogspot.com...

Apart from all the physical damage and death Lockman and associates have caused, there is the fact that he has also stolen money from people.

Such as.

...
Reply by Maria Paula Estela on April 10, 2012 at 7:14am


Just wanted to let you know my latest experience with loren lockman. To whom it may concern, this is one of the latest updates on this man and his center. I'm the student cited on this article....and yes I lost my money as well! It's almost 9 months now I've been trying to get a hold of this guy but it wasn't until things were made public that he came up with a bible long email explaining why he was missing with a lot of crap. I wonder why we still do a search on google on his name but none of the bad stuff comes out. We need to inform people about this guy.


If anyone else bought a package for Tanglewood in Panama, not knowing that they had moved or were going to move, please let us know as I would like to talk to you..thanks.

Cynthia Allf - www.facebook.com...
Maria Estela - www.facebook.com...

Read the article posted below.

Loren Lockman Bait & Switched Locations of the retreat and then did not honor the fasting package I had purchased and trade agreement.
www.ripoffreport.com...
...

www.30bananasaday.com...


There are other people who have been robbed by fraudsters like Lockman, some of which you will find in the link I provided above.

This isn't ground breaking news really. The benefits of short term fasting have always been known. This might add a little more evidence, specifically as it relates to the immune system. It's the samething with the ketogenic diet. There are a lot of benefits to doing a ketogenic diet once in a while and get your body into fat burning mode. In fact ketosis is a pretty interesting subject. Medically it is used to treat seizures and epilepsy. People think glucose is the preferred fuel for the brain but scientifically speaking it is actually fat. Same thing with cardiac muscle. It runs on fatty acids. Skeletal muscle has unique properties of which the preferred fuel is fatty acid. Hence why L carnitine of which red meat is very high, is very important for the heart.

This brings me back to the most important point….EVOLUTION……….as a species our body was used to three things back when we evolved or were evolving:

1) Eating RED MEAT and animal products
2) Going in and out of ketosis due to the availability of game
3) Going through periods of fasting due as well to the availability of game

So it makes perfect sense in moderation fasting could and should be healthy for the body.

originally posted by: GreenMtnBoys
...

This brings me back to the most important point….EVOLUTION……….as a species our body was used to three things back when we evolved or were evolving:

1) Eating RED MEAT and animal products
2) Going in and out of ketosis due to the availability of game
3) Going through periods of fasting due as well to the availability of game

So it makes perfect sense in moderation fasting could and should be healthy for the body.

Yeah in moderation, as in half a day, or a day water fasts and even the 3 day water fast as long as you don't have certain health problems that would not allow you to fast.

BTW, ALWAYS consult with a real doctor, not with fraudsters like Loren Lockman and insane people who don't know what they are talking about.

When people do water fasting for a week and weeks at a time, that is not moderation. That is asking for trouble and putting your health more and more at risk of contracting a disease due to starvation, organ damage and even death.

Also, water fasting is not a guaranteed cure, but if done in moderation it can help in certain circumstances and if done properly.

Hello. I stumbled on this conversation and needed to chime in. I have not, nor would I ever, write for Before It's News. The article you're seeing is one I wrote for Skepti-Forum. It was then reposted by GMO Pundit, and reposted from there by Before It's News. It was a series of aggregation and nothing more. Otherwise, carry on!

-Robert Sacerich

I really didn't want to come back to this thread, but I see the crusade continues.

Honestly, this is getting old, and you are beginning to resort to primarily personal insults. There's no need to be upset with the fact that I showed you how your examples are from people fasting under the wrong conditions / procedures. Are you trying to tell me that the proper way to fast, is to do it while underweight or dependent on insulin? If you can't provide an example of somebody dying or suffering permanent organ damage while fasting properly, then I have no reason to take your claims seriously.

You haven't posted ONE iota of evidence to back your claims. All you do is make up the meaning of definitions, such as the meaning of "starvation" and you twist what the evidence and people like me say.

I didn't make up anything. You keep saying that fasting = starvation. It's not true. An article that YOU posted clearly stated that. The problem is that you refuse to respond to any of my counterpoints and essentially just keep falling back on the original arguments, despite the amount of times I've responded to them. You are the one twisting definitions.

BTW, to someone like you facts doesn't matter. You keep claiming "fasting for weeks at a time is the same as eating peanuts, or driving a car everyday"... That's how IRATIONAL you are... To someone like you who makes asinine and illogical arguments all the time facts don't matter...

I'm a man of science. I spend the majority of my time on this site defending science and evolution from irrational attackers. Now I choose to defend fasting, because even though it isn't widely known or encouraged, I've seen very positive results from it, based on my personal experience and the experiences of others I know. Fasting is not something that's well understood in the mainstream. Many doctors aren't big fans of it, because they do not like the idea of people being able to help heal themselves without buying medicine that they prescribe and get commission from. Many are genuinely concerned because they do not understand it well, and equate to starvation as you have. I'm not saying fasting is the answer for everybody, or that's it's completely risk free. Everybody is different, but fasting is not nearly as risky or dangerous as you make it out to be.

You are suffering major hunger pangs,

Once again, this is not true except in the very beginning of fasting, and at the end when you are supposed to stop.

you will feel pain in organs which are WARNING SIGNS and people like you think "it's just normal and part of the cleansing".

I have never used that argument. A healing crisis can be part of recovery, but I have always stated that you must listen to your body and your doctor.

Not to mention the fact that even thou I showed evidence that way BEFORE you run out of fat reserves your body is already using muscle for proteins, including from your heart and lungs you want to claim the contrary.

You didn't show this evidence. You showed evidence of lab rats losing heart muscle while being force fasted. You showed evidence that the heart and lungs depend on muscles to function. That's 3rd grade science stuff. You didn't show any evidence at all of significant muscle loss caused by proper fasting in humans. You burn primarily fat (google ketosis), but you do lose some muscle near the beginning until Ketosis kicks in, and the rest is negligible.

Because you are not eating any proteins what the body does is reduce the size of your heart and other muscles to reserve energy and use protein, which makes your heart work twice as hard and it is part of the reason why people can die from heart arrest when doing such prolonged fasting.

Do you have evidence that the heart is reduced in humans while fasting or are you talking about force fasting lab rats again? Please provide this without citing an article on "starvation". Thanks. I'm willing to accept it if I'm wrong. You've mentioned this several times, so I'd like a source that doesn't turn it into semantics.

When fasting your body is in survival mode, and you shouldn't be exercising or doing physically demanding activities. That kind of stuff is exactly what leads to muscle loss. The body is saving energy by not fully utilizing the digestive process, and that's part of the reason you don't need the regular amount of nutrients.

You have brain damage already, go see a doctor. Either that or you are one of those people selling programs to water fast which is why you are so defensive about it, and it might be why you are making such illogical and asinine arguments...

More insults. Please explain why you hate fasting so much. Do you know somebody that was negatively affected? I've never seen some one go through so much trouble try to push an agenda like this, such as equating fasting to starvation. It's a nonsensical comparison. Move to Ethiopia and then we'll talk about STARVATION. Even the article YOU posted said that starvation and fasting are physiologically different. You used it to support your argument, are you now denying it?

Also the body can easily go a couple weeks without much protein, especially while in survival mode and not doing physical activities. The muscle loss is negligible. I've compared it directly before and after. You don't lose much, and what you do lose you gain back rather quickly when the fast is over and you resume normal eating and exercising. Now if you do physically demanding activities while fasting, YOU WILL burn muscle and you DO risk heart problems. Don't forget your entire metabolism slows down significantly, so nutritional requirements also go down significantly.

originally posted by: ElectricUniverse
You are posting a blog from a fraudster whose water fasting programs has caused organ damage, diseases like beriberi as well as others and even the death of some people as proof for your arguments...

That's how illogical and insane you are...

For those people who haven't seen my other posts that show evidence that people like Loren Lockman and associates are not only fraudsters, but because of their water fasting programs people have acquired diseases like beriberi, organ damage and even death while doing Lockman's water fasting.

The information is correct in the blog, regardless of what you say about Lockman. He's fasted over 4000 people successfully and you cherry pick the handful of folks where mistakes were made. You've also cited 1 of the same cases twice and one of them 3 times, acting as if you are posting new information to make it look like more people have died there. If we round UP to 10 deaths (and that's being very generous considering you've only mentioned 3 or 4), that's still a success rate of 99.7%. I don't agree with everything the guy does, but that is very high success rate. But I'm just illogical and insane.

When people do water fasting for a week and weeks at a time, that is not moderation. That is asking for trouble and putting your health more and more at risk of contracting a disease due to starvation, organ damage and even death.

Yeah totally. There's that .3% chance that you WILL DIE!!! BE AFRAID! BTW based on statistics if you drive a car there is a 1% chance you will one day die in an accident, which doesn't seem like much but is still higher than the risk of fasting. Too put that in perspective the chances of a person dying from heart disease is 20%, and cancer is 14%. If you fast and it helps you become healthier the risks of those 2 things goes down, so that .3% chance is well worth the risk.

This is Nothing new at all, but I thank the Op for sharing.

There is a science called Natural Hygiene that uses nutrition for stimulating the body to heal itself. This has been around in America for at least the past 200 years. They knew back then that fasting can cure by allowing the body the tools to heal itself.

I started studying this years ago when I sold Herbalife supplements and noticed when peoples level of nutrition got better symptoms of disease disappeared. This lead me to the excellent website called Soil and Health (www.soilandhealth.org...) which has tons of free books on these and similar subjects.

I highly recommend the books by Herbert Sheldon, Isabelle Moser, Jack Goldstein and Upton Sinclair found here: www.soilandhealth.org...

Funny to me how these KNOWN things get "re-discovered" .....

Fasting = neural stem cells to regenerate

news.usc.edu...


USC Stem Cell researchers share a vision of the future
Faculty discuss recent progress made in the field of stem cell biology as a whole
by Cristy Lytal
May 7, 2014


What do former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and singer Will.i.am have in common? They both attended this year’s Milken Institute Global Conference, where USC Stem Cell researchers offered a glimpse into the future of regenerative medicine.

Held from April 27 to April 30 in Beverly Hills, the conference brought together leaders in the fields of science, health, government, finance, entertainment and philanthropy from more than 50 nations. A nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank, the Milken Institute aims to solve urgent social and economic challenges and improve lives by creating jobs, widening access to capital and enhancing health.

During a well-attended panel session about regenerative medicine, Paula Cannon, associate professor at the Keck School of Medicine and principal investigator with USC Stem Cell, talked about genetically modifying hematopoietic or blood-forming stem cells to cure HIV/AIDS.

[Stem cell biology] is going to provide amazing and different ways to treat diseases.
Paula Cannon

“To me, thinking about curing HIV in people is aspirational at this point, but this is a very important goal,” she said. “And there are some glimmers of hope.”

Her innovative approach is inspired by the “Berlin patient,” a man cured of both HIV and leukemia through a bone marrow transplant from a donor with a mutation in a gene called CCR5 that confers natural immunity to HIV. The first human clinical trials will take place late this year in collaboration with the City of Hope and Sangamo BioSciences.

‘We’ve been doing really good science’
She also emphasized the recent progress made in the field of stem cell biology as a whole.

“In 10 years, we’ve been doing really good science,” she said. “We’ve laid the groundwork not just for this state, but for the rest of the world. This is going to provide amazing and different ways to treat diseases.”



One such way might be through fasting, according to preliminary data from Valter Longo, professor of gerontology and principal investigator with USC Stem Cell. He shared evidence that fasting “turns on” hematopoietic stem cells, which can regenerate the immune system and possibly protect against cancers. Fasting also appears to encourage neural stem cells to regenerate, protecting against the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

“We think — and we have a lot of evidence for this — that you need to push the body into being in a ketogenesis mode [during which fats are broken down to produce energy-storing molecules called “ketone bodies”], and this happens after about two days of fasting,” said Longo, Edna M. Jones Professor of Biogerontology at the USC Davis School of Gerontology. Longo has a joint appointment at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. “So that’s what you need to reach to have this reprogramming,” which appears to activate stem cells.

Fellow USC Stem Cell principal investigator and USC Davis Dean Pinchas Cohen discussed how new tools to predict life expectancy can help people make the most of their remaining years.

“How we plan our retirements, how we plan our health care can now be customized, individualized and personalized to a much greater degree using combinations of genomic technologies and informatics,” he said. “And that allows us to maximize the individual benefit for each person.”

Other USC faculty members who presented at the conference included former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, professor of the practice of policy at the USC Price School of Public Policy, and Bloomberg Television correspondent Willow Bay, incoming director of the USC School of Journalism at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

Blair called the conference an opportunity to “get an extraordinary sense of what is possible, not just in the intellectual sphere, but in the practical sphere of how you make the world a different and

a reply to: Barcs

And Lockman has KILLED PEOPLE, and he has caused people to get diseases like beriberi from the lies you keep supporting. It wasn't an insult, it is the truth, you are out of your mind. Even after showing you what Lockman's water fasts have done to many people you keep claiming it is safe... Not only have people died, and gotten very ill doing Lockman's 2 week and 2week+ water fasts, but he and his associates have SCAMMED countless of people... That man does not have, and never had a license to practice medicine and he has been sued and lost many times the lawsuits because of the damage and deaths he has caused...

You might be okay with proclaiming all he says is true, but the facts say the opposite... How the heck do you even sleep well at night knowing of what that man and his associates have done and you keep saying "it's ok"?...

a reply to: nitetrain

Thanks for that updated info. If people are going to do fasts they need to be informed of the truth. Water fasts for 1 day to 3 days, as long as people consult with their doctors, should be ok. But a week and 2weeks+ of only water fast are not safe. People are playing Russian roulette when they force their bodies to starve for a week and longer.

a reply to: ElectricUniverse

Why do you take everything to absolute extreme? I don't care about Lockman, I don't proclaim that every single thing he says is right. I just know a thing or 2 about fasting based on personal experience of myself and others. You have ignored every point I've made, and you keep pigeonholing my position. I was reading a lot of the negative reviews of his fasting program, and even though many of them had money issues, most of them admitted that he is very knowledgeable when it comes to fasting. You still haven't demonstrated a single case where somebody was harmed while properly water fasting. The challenge is still open. If you can do it, I will reconsider my views. It's not even close to Russian Roulette, you are just sensationalizing everything and heavily exaggerating the risks. What is your motivation behind your attack on fasting? Did Lockman do you wrong or something? Why do you constantly put words in my mouth that I have never said like , "It's ok". You cited like 4 cases total from situations where the proper precautions were not taken out of the 4000 successful fasts. You have no response to any counter point or anything at all, only repetition, but I'm out of my mind!!

You are the one spreading lies, and your agenda here is obvious, especially when you say he KILLED PEOPLE!! There are plenty of licensed doctors that have KILLED PEOPLE as well. I mean, did he intentionally grab a gun and shoot them? Or did he make a mistake? Let me tell you about Russian roulette. Depending on the gun you use, there is a 1 in 6 to 1 in 12 chance of death. 4 deaths out of 4000 people is 1 in 1000. I know which odds I'd rather play.

a reply to: Barcs

Nothing but more rhetorical claims with no supporting evidence. What are you going to claim now? That I am getting paid to write against Lockman?... lol... For crying out loud, when people post EVIDENCE that goes against your CLAIMS when you can't provide any real evidence whatsoever, it doesn't mean "that person must have some dark motive, because he doesn't want us to fast..." I guess "we must accept your word" instead of the factual the reports and evidence ...

Humm, should I trust the people who keep posting links to frauds like Lockman and associates who have been responsible for deaths of people and causing diseases like beriberi with their long water fast programs? Or should I see reason, and side with the argument that actually presents factual evidence which contradicts your "claims"?... I guess for you that's a very tough argument to comprehend...

originally posted by: ElectricUniverse
a reply to: Barcs
For crying out loud, when people post EVIDENCE that goes against your CLAIMS when you can't provide any real evidence whatsoever, it doesn't mean "that person must have some dark motive, because he doesn't want us to fast..." I guess "we must accept your word" instead of the factual the reports and evidence ...

What facts and evidence have you posted? You cited a study of fasting in LAB RATS, the wiki for starvation, the wiki for insomnia and a fasting site that agreed with what I said. Then, you posted a grand total of FOUR cases where fasting was not done properly and as a result, detrimental. 4 out of multiple thousands of people. You have yet to present a case of fasting that was properly done and detrimental. I'm still waiting.

I guess for you that's a very tough argument to comprehend...

You have to do better than insulting my intelligence. Give me the facts. Show me a single case where somebody fasted properly and died or suffered permanent damage. You have falsely claimed that fasting for 1-2 weeks is always detrimental and always causes organ damage and compared it to the likes of Russian Roulette which is a gross exaggeration of the risks. It is riskier to drive a car.

doesn't starvation cause a release of cortisol? That in itself is well known for impeding the immune system. I had the flu and could not eat for 4 days, I felt much sicker without food than I did with food.

There used to be studies that said smoking was good for you :rollseyes:

a reply to: miles1993
That's basically what the research in the OP story says, that fasting weakens the immune system while you're fasting, but some people can't seem to read past the catchy and misleading headline to find out that's what it says (Not referring to you).

a reply to: Arbitrageur

So you believe fasting is bad? You dont see any logic in cessation of eating for a while to let your body focus on other things than digestion? Even though it is obvious? I dont know what i should call it, narrow mindedness or unhealthy skepticism or professional denier?

One thing is sure, brainwashing and mental conditioning are damn effective...

originally posted by: theabsolutetruth
I used to fast weekly, literally not eating for two or three days at a time, I never felt healthier, rarely if ever had a cold, didn't visit a GP in years. I recommend it, as long as it is done safely.

As opposed to people who do not fast and feel the same way?

I never fasted in a way that it was a rule. Yesterday i did not eat anything at all, just because i was a little too lazy and it really does not bother me much. That is very rare and out of the ordinary for me.

A three day complete fast or however peeps be recommending is not something i am against though. Does it help in any healthy way? If you think it does then it did it's job.

These thing are fairly easy to gauge. Just ask yourself who actually does live longer and have fewer medical issues? Well, tbh, i am not aware of this occurring. As a matter of fact, illness and death strikes us all.

a reply to: Harvin
I was just looking what Edgar Cayce had to say on the subject, but it does not seem clear cut, and he ties fasting in with the mental condition as well as the physical. Overtaxing of the system by excesses is not good, but in some cases fasting could be not good too. For those who eat and live sensibly, there may be no major benefit, but a 3 day water fast for me worked wonders as my diet for some years, which I had thought to be pretty good, turned out to have been lousy. Eating good now, and feel so much better, mentally and physically, so I'd say it all depends on individual circumstances. Cayce does mention in one of his reading though:

When there is regurgitation, when there is the overloading in the system no matter whether it's just plain water - the body wouldn't starve if it fasted for forty days! It would really be good for it!

He was talking about the case of an obese woman there, so no doubt she would'nt starve in 40 days, but perhaps those who eat little most of the time might suffer if they did the same. I'm thinking about doing the three day fast again though, but perhaps more to clear the mind for meditation than for physical reasons.
www.edgarcayce.org...

a reply to: soficrow

In South Africa I used to go to a hydro for a week to lose weight. I was just slightly overweioght by about 5-8 kilos. We only ate a fruit in the morning, one at noon and one at night. During the day we did moderate exercise, everyone received an hour of good professional massage, drank unlimited water with lemon juice, and went for long group walks early in the morning and late afternoon. In addition, there was sauna, steam and swimming available. After three days a re-feeding process began with a small fruit salad, a small vegetable dish, and another small salad. Next day, we had larger salads, and on the next day we had some meat with lunch. I lost 4.5 kilos in 5 days and together with a second-week's loss the total was 8.2 kilos. By the way, there was a doctor's exam every morning, since it is not advisable to fast for three days if you are sick or in some way unhealthy. Needless to say, I felt much more vigorous and relaxed afterwards. Yet when I repeated this course two years later, I barely lost 2 kilos in a week, and the third tiem I lost virtually nothing. I was told that eventually the body gets used to such drastic diets.

a reply to: navisos

Rule of thumb: NEVER fast to lose weight. Cleanse, yes, balance chi, yes. Diet , no.