Breaking The Fast

BREAKING THE FAST

FRUIT JUICES AND VEGETABLE BROTHS:
GRADUAL.RETURN TO SOLID FOOD:
WHAT ABOUT MILK?

Milk also contains five per cent of sugar. This sugar is not like that which is used on the table, but is much less sweet, and it acts differently from ordinary sugar in the processes of digestion.

The mineral matter in milk constitutes about seven-tenths of one per cent of its weight, and it is more abundant in comparison with other nutrients than in any other common food. This is as it should be, for this material is in greater part intended for bone-building in the body of the calf. When taken into the human system, the amount of mineral matter present in cow's milk is much in excess of that needed for growth and repair, and, entering the circulation and not being available for constructive metabolism, it, like any other foreign matter, acts harmfully upon the organism.

Milk as secreted by the cow, and consumed as intended by the calf from its teats, is a food that is anti-acid in digestive reaction, but, delivered for human domestic use hours old, it is placed by fermentative changes in the acid-forming class. At the end of a short fast, almost without exception, the animal organism is in a condition of high acidity. It does not need a mind professionally trained to conceive of the result of pouring into a system in this state large amounts of protein, carbohydrates, and fat, especially in the concentrated form in which these elements occur in cow's milk. Nor is much mental effort required to comprehend the difficulties that are encountered by the eliminative organs in the attempt to rid the organism of its surfeit of waste, while both assimilative organs and circulation are forced to function with putrefaction at work at the source of supply.

Now there are cases which, after a fast, seemingly improve upon a diet of milk, but observation leads to the conviction that the benefits noted, if any, are due first, to the fast with its purifying effects, partial though they may be; second, to the one-food regimen imposed; and third, to the physical rest insisted upon. But whatever benefits accrue are in most instances temporary, and it is but natural that this should be so, for, even when the milk is handled without immediate distress, all of the organs involved in body metabolism are called upon to work to a degree that their labors are most inefficiently performed, and the possibility exists that they may break with the effort. It will be discovered that within a short time after the regimen described has been imposed upon a patient, the latter will have developed extreme congestion of the liver, high-colored, waste-laden urine, and systemic bilious saturation. And these cases always prove most difficult to bring to a purified state because of the toxic impregnation that follows milk-flooding.

In the present discussion the digestive capability under contemplation is that of a subject who has just succeeded in ridding his system in whole or in part of the toxic products of ingestion in excess of the needs of his body. In a partial fast it is deemed best to resume feeding, while in a completed fast hunger has returned and food must be supplied. If the milk of the cow is the form in which nourishment is offered, and if, in addition, not a small quantity, but, as advised, from four to eight quarts daily are imbibed, for each quart consumed, an equivalent in flesh food of about one pound is presented for digestion. The purpose of the fast is at once defeated, since the most vigorous of bodies is unable to transform and to assimilate this mass of material, however digestible it may in essence be. The excess, and it is virtually all excess, fills the alimentary tract with decomposing waste, and the system is again in the developing process of disease. And after all, the milk of the cow is intended only as food for the calf.

There are instances upon breaking a fast when some form of milk will be accepted by the digestive processes of certain individuals when those foods already indicated as suitable for the resumption of feeding are merely tolerated. In circumstances like these the milk of the goat is recommended for consumption, but in small amounts. Goat's milk in composition carries with it lesser quantities of mineral salts than does cow's milk it curds, not in masses, but in more or less separated particles when it meets the gastric juices while its fats are held in suspension, thus making them more easy of digestion. And there is this added advantage that the goat is not susceptible to tubercular infection.

When, after a fast, digestive power asserts itself, and the bowels begin naturally to respond, the enemata are gradually discontinued. Suggestions as to their use in health are given in the chapter devoted to a discussion of the internal bath, but it may here be said that natural movements of the bowels are dependent upon normal digestion; and this truth is but slightly qualified by saying that for normal function muscular tone is also a necessary condition in intestinal walls. For the attainment of the latter and for the rebuilding of general muscular quality, a system of exercise is recommended and insisted upon from the time that the fast is broken. This, like the dietetic regimen, should be entered upon in gradual manner, and should be increased and extended in proportion as the body shows progressive capability.

The procedure to be followed in breaking a fast demands both caution and care. At the end of a successfully completed period of abstinence, with hunger in evidence, weak-willed patients are almost certain to overstep the salutary limit of ingestion. In cases like these acute crises may develop because of congestion of the circulatory system. All of the organs of the body will be included in the revolt and the brain itself may suffer. When a gradual process of return to normal supply of sustenance is not pursued, the benefits of a fast are largely annulled; hence, if will power be lacking in the subject, its equivalent in supervision must be furnished by the director of treatment, and, if needful, personal watch should be established.

When there are structural organic defects in the colon, they may or may not prove shortening to life; but, when, at the end of a fast, feeding is resumed, even slight displacement in this organ may retard elimination to such degree that absorption of toxins will cause severe physical and even mental distress. This is especially liable to occur in those cases that are without guidance, in whom ignorance of the consequences of succumbing to desire exists, and will control is feeble. And, even under supervision, oftentimes, when desire impels and opportunity occurs, the patient will overeat. This tendency must be controlled, for serious results wait upon premature excessive demand upon the functions. Defective or normal in vital parts, man here learns to live within the limitations of his organs. Preparation for a fast, and the fast itself, are seen to be comparatively easy in accomplishment, but resumption of feeding after abstinence is a more difficult procedure.

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