Once Benjamin Franklin said, 'The best of all medicines are rest and fasting'. In recent times researchers have started saying about scientific reasons to go on occasional fast. A series of studies from Dept of Neuroscience Research at the National Institute of Ageing (NIA), USA, suggest that people can gain significant health benefits both physical and mental by occasional fasting throughout the year. On the basis of their study on animals, they found that there is also lower risk of developing age-related brain disorders which includes Stroke to Alzheimer's disease. A healthier brain is just one of the benefits of this kind of eating i.e., occasional fasting. This seems to be also like exercise. It sharpens the body's ability to respond to stress. Exercise is associated with lower heart attack -- in their studies it has been found that intermittent fasting is more effective at lowering heart rate and blood pressure. The benefits of fasting are imperative in improving a number of physical diseases, including those of the digestive systems, such as chronic stomachache, inflammation of the colon, liver diseases, indigestion, and conditions such as obesity, high blood pressure and many other problems.

In fact fasting is the world's earliest natural healing process. Knowing when and how long to fast is also important. It activates an amazing cleansing process which reaches to each and every cell in the body. There are obviously a number of common metabolic changes during fasting. After restricting food intake for many hours, enzymes stop entering the stomach and travel instead into the bloodstream, where they demolish all sorts of waste matter. Physiologically, all organs and glands of the body get a much-needed rest and cells are not only purified but also revitalised, especially the stomach, small and large intestines, pancreas, gallbladder and liver. This ultimately means that the entire gastro-intestinal tract is swept clean. 'Liver , the large metabolic factory', one of the most important organs of our body, can also spend more time cleaning up and producing its many new essential substances during this period. Immunity is being upgraded and health is naturally re-established. If health is carefully maintained after that, you will be in a good shape.

From Socrates to Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, all believed in fasting therapy. Most spiritual teachers also recommend fasting as a constructive and useful device. Fasting is a way to increase our natural resistance to disease. When animals are sick, they fast. Armenian doctor, Dr.Grant Sarkisyan, had treated many patients effectively with fasting therapy. There are some physicians who advise their patients to skip meals, sometimes for a few days, before prescribing them a controlled diet.

According to Dr. Barsilus,a Swiss physician, 'The advantages of hunger as a remedy exceed those ingesting medicine several times'. Dr. Mark Mattson of NIA,USA and his colleagues have found occasional fasting (eating freely one day and refraining from eating the next) offers even greater benefits than radically cutting back on calories on a daily basis.

Undoubtedly, fasting is a multidimensional experience. Throughout the centuries, many doctors have treated different types of patients with fasting, realising that ignorance may be our greatest disease. This is also true that fasting is not appropriate for many ailing people; but for the rest it's going to be a good habit. In the near future, certainly one of the most overlooked but most valuable modes of healing that will be rediscovered will be fasting.