Controlled Fasting Treatment for Schizophrenia

The application of various modifications of fasting for its therapeutic value has been well documented during many different periods of our civilization. In the earliest eras of recorded civilization, humans found in fasting not only a method of treatment and prevention of some diseases, but a potent weapon for self-discipline and moral education. For this reason the fast became an integral part of many religious doctrines and occupied the thinking of physicians and philosophers of Ancient Greek, Tibetan, Indian, and Middle Eastern cultures. Fasting is not starving, and the synonymous use of the two indicates a lack of understanding of the principles of the fast or its meaning. The word "starvation" is derived from the Old English "sterofan," a form of the Teutonic verb "sterb" to die. The word "fast" means to abstain from food. In modern usage; "starvation" is used to designate death from lack of food. Whenever fasting is mentioned to the average person and even to many professionals, the immediate response is to think of the dire consequences of going without food for even a few days. If "fasting" is used interchangeably with