In the _Cosmopolitan Magazine_ for May, 1910, and in the _Contemporary
Review_ (London) for April, 1910, I published an article dealing
with my experiences in fasting. I have written a great many magazine
articles, but never one which attracted so much attention as this. The
first day the magazine was on the news-stands, I received a telegram
from a man in Washington who had begun to fast and wanted some advice;
and thereafter I received ten or twenty letters a day from people
who had questions to ask or experiences to narrate. At the date of
writing eight months have passed, and the flood has not yet stopped.
The editors of the _Cosmopolitan_ also tell me that they have never
received so many letters about an article in their experience. Still
more significant was the number of reports which began to appear in
the news columns of papers all over the country, telling of people who
were fasting. From various sources I have received about fifty such
clippings, and few but reported benefit to the faster.
As a consequence of this interest, I was asked by the _Cosmopolitan_
to write another article, which appeared in the issue of February,
1911. The present volume is made up from these two articles, with the
addition of some notes and comments, and some portions of articles
contributed to the _Physical Culture_ magazine, of the editorial
staff of which I am a member. It was my intention at first to work
this matter into a connected whole, but upon rereading the articles
I decided that it would be better to publish them as they stood. The
journalistic style has its advantages; and repetitions may perhaps be
pardoned in the case of a topic which is so new to almost every one.
I have reproduced in the book several photographs of myself which
appeared in the magazine articles. Ordinarily one does not print his
picture in his own books; but when it comes to fasting there are many
"doubting Thomases," and we are told that "seeing is believing."
The two photographs of myself which appear as a frontispiece afford
evidence of a really extraordinary physical recuperation; and the
reader has my word for it that there was nothing in my way of life to
account for it, except three fasts, of a total of thirty days.
There is one other matter to be referred to. Several years ago I
published a book entitled "Good Health," written in collaboration
with a friend. I could not express my own views fully in that book,
and on certain points where I differed with my collaborator, I have
come since to differ still more. The book contains a great deal of
useful information; but later experience has convinced me that its
views on the all-important subject of diet are erroneous. My present
opinions I have given in this book. I am not saying this to apologize
for an inconsistency, but to record a growth. In those days I believed
something, because other people told me; to-day I know something else,
because I have tried it upon myself.
My object in publishing this book is two-fold: first, to have something
to which I can refer people, so that I will not have to answer half
a dozen "fasting letters" every day for the rest of my life; and
second, in the hope of attracting sufficient attention to the subject
to interest some scientific men in making a real investigation of it.
To-day we know certain facts about what is called "autointoxication";
we know them because Metchnikoff, Pawlow and others have made a
thorough-going inquiry into the subject. I believe that the subject of
fasting is one of just as great importance. I have stated facts in this
book about myself; and I have quoted many letters which are genuine and
beyond dispute. The cures which they record are altogether without
precedent, I think. The reader will find in the course of the book
(page 63) a tabulation of the results of 277 cases of fasting. In this
number of desperate cases, there were only about half a dozen definite
and unexplained failures reported. Surely it cannot be that medical men
and scientists will continue for much longer to close their eyes to
facts of such vital significance as this.
I do not pretend to be the discoverer of the fasting cure. The subject
was discussed by Dr. E. H. Dewey in books which were published thirty
or forty years ago. For the reader who cares to investigate further,
I mention the following books, which I have read with interest and
profit. I recommend them, although, needless to say, I do not agree
with everything that is in them: "Fasting for the Cure of Disease,"
by Dr. L. B. Hazzard; "Perfect Health," by C. C. Haskell; "Fasting,
Hydrotherapy and Exercise," by Bernarr Macfadden; "Fasting, Vitality
and Nutrition," by Hereward Carrington. Also I will add that Mr. C. C.
Haskell, of Norwich, Conn., conducts a correspondence-school dealing
with the subject of fasting, and that fasting patients are taken
charge of at Bernarr Macfadden's Healthatorium, 42d Street and Grand
Boulevard, Chicago, Ill., and by Dr. Linda B. Hazzard, of Seattle,
Washington.