The Noonday Devil

Fr. William P. Clark, OMI

The ninety-first psalm speaks of “the scourge that wreaks havoc at high noon.” It also expresses confidence in God’s protection from that scourge, as well as other evils. Based on that psalm some spiritual writers speak of the “Noonday Devil.” The Noonday Devil stands for the trials and temptations that assail us after our youthful fervor has faded and before we reach the age of peace and resignation.

There are temptations peculiar to that in-between period — fear, guilt, lack of fervor, loss of conviction, discouragement. And that period may be very lengthy. The boundaries are not well defined. It is more a question of a mental or emotional state than of chronology. That peace and resignation of old age may well prove elusive and we may struggle to attain it for a long time.

Bernard Basset, in a little book entitled The Noonday Devil, speaks of various fears to which we may be subject: fear owing to past sins, fear that God will prove stricter than we think, fear that our standards are too low, fear that we will never get things exactly right, fear that we are unprepared for death.

Many of our fears are imaginary and can be safely discarded. We would do well to set aside all fears that are based on the past or on the future. Why? Because such fears are concerned either with facts that cannot be altered or with imaginings that may never see the light of day. We cannot change the past, however much we worry about it. We cannot foresee the future with certainty. The second-worst thing about such fears (fears based on the past and on the future) is that they are useless. The worst thing about them is that they can be damaging to our peace of mind and our spiritual well-being.

Among the things that are commonly experienced in one’s later years are feelings of guilt and regret over past failures. We become more conscious of our sinfulness. Sins from long ago surface anew in our memory. We may experience the anguish of feeling unable to pray and of our sins seeming to multiply and overwhelm us. This is very discouraging, even frightening, but it is not necessarily bad.

St. John of the Cross has said that one of the surest signs of interior growth, of progress in prayer, is a growing awareness of our own sinfulness. An example of this is the phenomenon of saints speaking of themselves as the world’s greatest sinners. How can that be? Are they serious? We need to understand they are not comparing themselves with others, but expressing their heightened sensitivity to the way God sees us, as sinful but at the same time loved and redeemed.

St. Gregory the Great offered a good analogy to illustrate this idea. He wrote: “The sun turns brown him whom it touches closely; so the Lord when he comes, darkens him whom he touches by his grace, for the closer we come to grace, the more we recognize that we are sinners.”

Everyone is subject to the aforementioned fears. There are other fears to which priests are subject. To put this a bit differently, the Noonday Devil has some distinctive ways of plaguing priests. They relate especially to celibacy, obedience, and faith.

It can be very troubling for priests when they discover that advancing age does not free them from temptations against chastity. A story to illustrate that point: A young priest, greatly troubled by temptation, sought the advice of an elderly priest. He asked, “When can I expect these temptations to cease or at least to become less severe?” The elderly priest replied, “I’d say about seventy-five.” A week later the elderly priest called and said, “Make that seventy-six!” The elderly priest would do well to also remind the young priest of that reassuring passage in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians (10:13): “None of the trials which have come upon you is more than a human being can stand. You can trust that God will not let you be put to the test beyond your strength, but with any trial will also provide a way out by enabling you to put up with it.”

Obedience is the second virtue on which the Noonday Devil focuses attention when dealing with priests. In our contemporary culture, in which individual liberty is highly prized, obedience can present a serious challenge. The practice of obedience can become more difficult as one grows older. For the younger person, what is resented is typically the object of a directive or the refusal of a request. It is not so much that someone commands. That is accepted as natural. The real challenge, and consequently, the real opportunity for perfection of obedience, presents itself to a conscience that has already achieved a certain maturity. It is then that the fact of command, more or less independently of the object, is difficult to accept. It is when a person is equal to or above the competent authority (bishop and/or religious superior) in everything: intelligence, experience, work accomplished, everything — except the fact that the other is the lawfully constituted authority, that one must proceed in faith, faith to see what remains hidden from a human point of view, faith to recognize Christ in the person of the authority.

Appropriate as the conclusion of any prayer of petition, the prayer of Jesus in Gethsemane is surely appropriate when one is challenged to submit to legitimate authority in obedience. “Let it be as you, not I, would have it” (Mk 14:36).

The third and most dangerous temptation presented by the Noonday Devil relates to faith. With the passing of the years a priest typically begins to realize more fully what faith involves. He learns that scholarship does not always serve to support faith. In fact, current biblical scholarship sometimes seems to undermine what he learned many years ago in his seminary course in Sacred Scripture.

He begins to see more clearly that his faith is not a once-in-a-lifetime thing. To believe does not mean there is something fixed and finished which is simply to be perceived and accepted. Faith is not a matter of intellectually assenting to a set of propositions. It is dynamic. It is never fully complete in this life. It must be constantly renewed and nurtured. It is like a trail. The best way to keep a trail open is to walk on it, because every time you walk on it you create it anew. The Noonday Devil knows very well that if faith is not constantly renewed and nurtured it will wither and weaken. Consequently, it is there that the Noonday Devil focuses his attention, i.e., on subverting any efforts to renew and nurture one’s faith.

Challenges to one’s faith can take many forms. There are relatively small challenges, challenges to accept in faith particular difficulties that come into one’s life from time to time. A much greater challenge arises when one reflects on the enormity of evil, of pain, and of suffering in the world, especially of the innocent and of children. How is that compatible with the existence of a loving and powerful God? The alternative to meeting that challenge is atheism or deism.

It is only in the light of faith that we can accept Jesus and his message. Inevitably, however, to turn on a light is to create shadows. Even with the light of faith there are things we do not see, do not understand. It is then that we would do well to emulate the prayer of the man who approached Jesus requesting that his son be cured. When Jesus told him all things are possible for those who have faith, he replied: “I have faith. Help my lack of faith!” (Mk 9:24–25)

Years ago, a commentator on the evening news, Eric Sevareid, made an observation which could be very helpful when one encounters the Noonday Devil. Sevareid stated: “What counts in the long haul of adult life is not brilliance, or charisma, or derring-do, but rather the quality the Romans called gravitas — patience, stamina, weight of judgment. The prime virtue is courage because it makes all other virtues possible.” For a priest, it would be good to add another virtue of still higher importance: the virtue of hope.

Brother of cop murdered by illegal immigrant over Christmas thanks police, weeps uncontrollably

December 29, 2018  Samantha Chang

While Democrats weep for illegal aliens, Reggie Singh (left) grieves for his brother Ronil Singh, who was murdered by an illegal.

Reggie Singh, the brother of murdered police officer Ronil Singh, broke down in tears while thanking law enforcement for arresting illegal immigrant Gustavo Perez Arriaga using Ronil’s handcuffs.

“Please bear with me. This is not easy for me,” Reggie sobbed at a press conference yesterday. “Ronil Singh was my older brother. Yes, he is not coming back.”

Reggie continued: “There are a lot of people out there that miss him. And a lot of law enforcement people that I don’t know who worked days and nights to make this happen.”

Even in his lowest moment, Reggie expressed his gratitude to the police officers who worked around the clock to apprehend his brother’s murderer.

“I’d like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for making this happen. I wish I could thank all of the law enforcement agencies, Homeland Security in San Francisco, everyone.

I was waiting for this to happen. I’d like to thank you — working day and night to make this happen.”

As BizPac Review reported, Officer Ronil Singh, 33, was a legal immigrant from Fiji who was shot to death the day after Christmas by illegal immigrant Gustavo Perez Arriaga during a routine traffic stop.

Arriaga — who was a member of the violent Sureños gang — was suspected of driving under the influence. He opened fire on Singh after the officer called in the stop.

Gustavo Perez Arriaga  (photo below, on right) entered the US illegally through Arizona several years ago. He has two previous DUI arrests.



Gustavo Arriaga’s brother Adrian Virgen (left) and co-worker Erik Razo Quiroz (middle) were also arrested for lying to cops about Arriaga’s whereabouts.

Police also arrested Arriaga’s brother Adrian Virgen, 25, and co-worker Erik Razo Quiroz, 32 — both of whom were in the US illegally — for allegedly helping  Arriaga escape police.

“We had them in custody (on Dec. 27) and asked for their cooperation and they lied to us,” Sheriff Adam Christianson said at a press conference.

Ronil Singh’s tragic death could have been prevented had there been a wall in border state Arizona, where Arriaga jumped the fence to enter the United States illegally.

Democrats refuse to fund the wall, calling it “immoral and expensive” while blithely ignoring that illegal immigration costs US taxpayers $113 billion every year.

That’s 22.6 times more expensive than the $5 billion President Trump is asking to fund the wall.

In addition to allowing illegal immigrants, drugs, and human trafficking, the border wall enables the murders of 15 Americans every day.

Democrats shamelessly prioritize the interests of illegal immigrants over US citizens and legal residents because they want to expand their voting bloc after alienating the middle class and many minorities with their radical, anti-American policies.

While President Trump spent Christmas working in the Oval Office and visiting US troops in Iraq, top Democrats like Nancy Pelosi jetted off to Hawaii,  where she luxuriated at a posh hotel and sipped daiquiris by the beach.

Thanks, Democrats!

Rest in peace, Officer Ronil Singh. You did not die in vain.

https://www.bizpacreview.com/2018/12/29/brother-of-cop-murdered-by-illegal-immigrant-over-christmas-thanks-police-weeps-uncontrollably-707812

https://www.bizpacreview.com/2018/12/29/cop-killers-accomplices-nabbed-also-illegals-but-cant-be-reported-to-ice-sheriff-rails-against-sanctuary-laws-707809

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Our Lady’s Power at the Time of Death

Our Lady’s Power at the Time of Death

In her City of God, Venerable Maria of Agreda, a XVII Century Conceptionist nun and mystic, to whom the Blessed Mother dictated her life, writes of a marvelous event in the early Christian Church.

After the first Pentecost, one of the five thousand first converts was a girl called Lillian. One day she fell gravely ill, and the devil, capitalizing on her bodily weakness, and the fact that she had given in to a few sins, took the form of a woman, and paid her sick-calls.

Little by little, by slandering the disciples of Jesus and the Christian community, the fiend introduced doubts in Lillian’s mind about her new-found Faith. At first the sick girl resisted, speaking of the peace and kindness of the beautiful lady who was Jesus’ Mother. But the devil assured Lillian that she was the worst of all. In the end, Lillian gave up her Faith.

One of the disciples of Jesus on visiting and finding Lillian’s attitude changed, tried to win the girl back to Christ, but to no avail. Deeply concerned, he informed the Apostle John.

St. John immediately visited the young woman and was able to see legions of devils surrounding her sick bed. Though the devils recoiled at his sight, so deceived was the girl, that he could not make a difference.

He then had recourse to the Blessed Mother, who, at the time was living in Jerusalem. On hearing of the case, Mary Most Holy implored her divine Son for the welfare and salvation of this young strayed lamb. She then made ready to visit the girl with St. John.

Just then, several angels appeared, and gallantly ushering Holy Mary onto a throne of clouds, carried her to Lillian’s side.

As soon as the great lady set foot on the threshold of the sufferer’s door, the demons infesting the room took chaotic flight, tripping over each other in their haste, and seeking refuge in the depths of Hell.

With the air cleared, Holy Mary sat by the dying girl, and with gentle words sweetly brought her back into her Son’s fold. Lillian wept tears of repentance and asked for the last Sacraments, which St. John administered. Thus, with her Mother holding her hand, Lillian expired.

As if not enough, Our Lady, with her prayers, made up for the girl’s time in Purgatory, and summoning one of her angels, bid him deliver the purified soul to heaven.

So, when saying the Hail Mary, may we stress: “…pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.”

By A.F. Phillips

PEACE OF SOUL QUOTE--ARCHBISHOP FULTON SHEEN

🙏Peace of Soul’ (book) Quotes—

As all men are touched by God’s love, so all are also touched by the desire for His intimacy. No one escapes this longing; we are all kings in exile, miserable without the Infinite. Those who reject the grace of God have a desire to avoid God, as those who accept it have a desire for God. The modern atheist does not disbelieve because of his intellect, but because of his will; it is not knowledge that makes him an atheist…The denial of God springs from a man’s desire not to have a God—from his wish that there were no Justice behind the universe, so that his injustices would fear not retribution; from his desire that there be no Law, so that he may not be judged by it; from his wish that there were no Absolute Goodness, that he might go on sinning with impunity. That is why the modern atheist is always angered when he hears anything said about God and religion—he would be incapable of such a resentment if God were only a myth. His feeling toward God is the same as that which a wicked man has for one whom he has wronged: he wishes he were dead so that he could do nothing to avenge the wrong. 

The betrayer of friendship knows his friend exists, but he wished he did not; the post-Christian atheist knows God exists, but he desires He should not.

Fulton J. Sheen, Peace of Soul: Timeless Wisdom on Finding Serenity and Joy by the Century's Most Acclaimed Catholic Bishop

Fr. Rutler's Weekly Column December 23, 2018

Fr. Rutler's Weekly Column December 23, 2018

The darkening that comes with the year’s shortest hours of daylight is like the lowering of the lights in a theatre as the play is about to begin. But in the “Drama of Salvation” by which the human race is offered the promise of restoration to its original glory, “all the world’s a stage,” and the acts and actors are real. The creation of the world was not a mere myth, otherwise we would not be here. Nor are good and evil abstractions, for they always have had real consequences.      One of the most dramatic events in the progress of man, to which Saint Jude would later allude (Jude 1:7), was the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah about 1,700 years before the birth of Christ. He knew that the story of that destruction was not the sheer theatrics of fiction. Until recently, it was convenient for some scholars to pass it off as an instructive legend. Archeologists in a symposium this past month concluded that those cities north of the Dead Sea were utterly destroyed, and their land became uninhabitable for the next six hundred years. The substantial theory is that upwards of 60,000 inhabitants were wiped out by a meteor exploding at low altitude with the force of a ten-megaton bomb, dropping platinum and molten lava on the larger area called Middle Ghor, and unleashing a temperature the same as the sun.     Wise ones interpreted this as punishment for the corruption of that culture. There is a symbiosis between matter and morality. When souls are disordered, there are consequences in all creation. So it was, that at the climax of the Drama of Salvation, when Christ died on the cross, the sky grew black.      It has been quipped that if God does not punish our culture for its decadence and contempt for natural law, He owes Sodom and Gomorrah an apology. It was to save us from total destruction that the Word, whose utterance brought all things into being, became flesh and then appeared on a day now called Christmas.     Twice did our Lord speak of Sodom, saying that its fate was less severe than that of anyone who by an act of willful pride, rejects Him and all that He requires in the way of obedience to His truth (Matthew 10:15; 11:24). Such severity is the outcry of the Christ who wants that none be lost and that all be saved. This is a reminder never to infantilize the Babe of Bethlehem for, while He may whimper in the manger, this is the Voice that made all things and judges all at the end of time. And in His humility by making Himself frail and fragile in a stable, He reveals a mercy more powerful even than an exploding meteor.      “For their sake He remembered His covenant and showed compassion according to the abundance of His steadfast love” (Psalm 106:45).

Donald Trump and Huckleberry Finn

http://www.theimaginativeconservative.org/2018/10/donald-trump-huckleberry-finn-chuck-chalberg.html

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/vigano-blames-homosexual-clergy-for-sex-abuse-and-corruption-in-the-ch

Intermittent Fasting and Weight Loss and Fasting for Spiritual Awareness

Intermittent Fasting and Weight Loss

Intermittent Fasting and Weight Loss
A form of calorie restriction, intermittent fasting may help you lose those extra pounds.

By Jennifer Marano, D.C.

For many people, following a whole-food, plant-based diet is the key to maintaining optimum weight and health. However, for some of us, strictly adhering to a health-promoting diet as well as engaging in a regular exercise program is not enough to keep us where we want to be weight-wise. We just like eating too much; or perhaps we have extremely efficient digestive systems; or our internal calorie counters are a bit off. Whatever the reason, I and many others tend to maintain a body weight 5 to 10 pounds heavier than what would make us look and feel our best. I have been trying various tricks for years—decades, really—to get rid of those final pounds, and I think I have finally found the answer: intermittent fasting.

I have been involved with fasting for over 30 years as co-founder of TrueNorth Health, a fasting and health center in Northern California, and I am very familiar with the tremendous benefits of fasting for maintaining or restoring optimum health. But we have never recommended fasting as a solution for weight loss. It may jump-start a weight-loss program by resetting our appetite so that we enjoy health-promoting food; but maintaining optimum weight is done by consuming a proper diet every day, not by prolonged fasting followed by a return to bad dietary habits.

But what is a “proper diet”? Is it the same for everyone? Over the past few years I have read a lot about the value of intermittent fasting, both for weight control and general health, and what struck me from the beginning is that the daily eating habits we follow in the developed world—three meals a day supplemented by coffee breaks, mid-afternoon pick-me-ups, and evening nibbles—is a very recent development in human history. For most of the world this abundance of food has not been available until very recently; and in undeveloped areas it is still not the norm. But just mention that you are skipping a meal here and there, and you are met with looks of horror and comments about how unhealthy that is.

But is it unhealthy? What happens when we don’t eat for a period of time? We know that when we eat more than we need to maintain our function, the excess is stored as fat. This is one of the adaptations we possess to keep us going during times of scarcity. When food isn’t available we burn our stored fat to keep us going until we can locate more food. We need certain enzymes to help us store fat and other enzymes to help us mobilize our fat stores. But if we are eating all day long there is never a time when we need to burn fat. It takes 8 to 12 hours to digest and assimilate the food from a meal, so most people in the developed world really never have to mobilize fat. And if the body doesn’t need to do something, it tends to not maintain the equipment (think enzymes) necessary to do that task. You know what happens to your muscles if you don’t exercise. And you know what you have to do to get back into shape. The ability to burn fat waxes or wanes in response to use, just as your muscles respond to use after exercise. You can develop the enzyme systems that allow you to switch easily from burning glucose to burning fat, but it takes some time. And while you are developing them you feel hungry; sometimes very hungry. And it is uncomfortable. Even after you develop these systems you still feel hungry (although it isn’t quite as uncomfortable). But it’s okay—feeling hungry is okay.

What is Intermittent Fasting?
So what is intermittent fasting (IF)? How does it apply to humans? Why do it? What can it do for you? And how do you do it?

IF is a form of calorie restriction, which has been studied for a long time, mostly in animals like rats and mice. It was observed that animals fed a restricted diet lived a lot longer than animals allowed unlimited food. There are people who are practicing calorie restriction with the hope that they will greatly extend their lives. But it is a very uncomfortable way to live, and these people can become very gaunt and weak. Not very many are successful at maintaining this lifestyle. The difference between IF and calorie restriction is the “intermittent” part. Yes, calories are restricted, but only some of the time. And recent animal studies have shown that the benefits are actually greater for the intermittent fasters than for those on a calorie-restricted diet; they both live just as long, but the intermittent fasters don’t lose muscle mass or become stunted. And that makes all the difference when it comes to applying the idea of IF to human health and weight control.

Before getting into the various types of IF, I would like to say a little about the physiological changes that occur with IF and how they impact health. One change is that the level of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) goes down. High levels of IGF-1 in adults are associated with accelerated aging and development of cancer, so lowering this factor may be one explanation for the life-extension effects seen in animal studies. In addition, genes whose function is to repair are turned on by fasting. An organism needs to be in top shape during times of scarcity in order to successfully find food, so the stress of the fast causes this activation, much as the stress of drought or insect pests causes plants to produce more antioxidants. And a third effect is increased insulin sensitivity. Insulin resistance is associated with type 2 diabetes, and high levels of circulating insulin lead to excessive fat storage. Keep these physiological changes in mind as we discuss the various forms of IF; it will increase your understanding of why IF works for weight loss and also why it can be a healthy lifestyle choice, even after you have reached your ideal weight.

The Alternate Day Fasting Plan
One popular form of IF is “alternate day fasting” (ADF, or ADMF for “alternate day modified feeding”). The modified feeding title refers to a system developed by researcher Dr. Krista Varady of the University of Illinois at Chicago. In her system the fasting days actually involve eating a small meal (500 calories for women and 600 calories for men), while feeding days allow unrestricted eating. Dr. Varady found that, contrary to expectations, her subjects did not go crazy on feeding days. They tended to eat about 110% of what they would eat on a normal day before beginning ADMF. This makes ADMF a very effective weight loss program, but it has its difficulties, particularly socially. Friends and family have a hard time keeping track of when you are feeding and when you are fasting. But it is a good choice for people who have a large amount of weight to loose.

The 5:2 Plan
A more easily followed, yet still very effective version of IF is the “5:2 plan,” which was popularized by Dr. Michael Mosley with his Horizon TV program on BBC and in his excellent book, The Fast Diet. On this plan you choose two fast days a week (perhaps Monday and Thursday) when you will eat 500 to 600 calories. The other five days you eat whatever you want, but preferably a health-promoting diet. This plan has been studied extensively. In one study by Dr. Michelle Harvie in Manchester, England, three groups of women were compared for three months. Group 1 was asked to eat 1,500 calories a day on a Mediterranean diet. Group 2 followed a 5:2 plan, eating 650 calories of low-carbohydrate food on the two fast days. Group 3 was asked to avoid carbs two days a week, but was not given any specific calorie target. At the end of three months the 1,500-calorie group lost an average of 5.28 pounds, and the 5:2 groups lost an average of 8.8 pounds!

The Restricted Eating Window Plan
A third version of IF, perhaps the easiest to follow, is the “restricted eating window plan.” This method was based on a mouse study at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies where two groups of mice were each fed an unhealthy, high-fat diet. Each group received the same amount of food, but one group had constant access to the food, while the other group had to do all their eating in an eight-hour period each day and fast for the remaining 16 hours. After 100 days the “unlimited” group had high cholesterol, high blood glucose, and liver damage, while the “fasting” group put on 28% less weight and suffered less liver damage. The fasting group also had lower levels of inflammation, which we are learning is a very important factor in heart disease, cancer, stroke and even Alzheimer’s disease.

Intermittent fasting can be a powerful weight-loss tool with a bonus of improving your overall health. You can design your own program depending on your goals: ADMF if you have a lot of weight to lose, 5:2 as you get closer to your goal, and you can try a 6:1 plan when you get to your optimum weight so you can continue to reap the physiological benefits of IF. Or restrict your eating window to six or eight hours. If you get a bit off track you can throw in a 500- to 600-calorie day here and there. This approach is endlessly flexible—you just have to figure out what works best for you! And just remember: it’s okay to feel hungry.

Jennifer Marano, D.C., is a graduate of Western States Chiropractic College and along with her husband Dr. Alan Goldhamer is the co-founder of the TrueNorth Health Center in Santa Rosa, California.

https://www.drfuhrman.com/library/eat-to-live-blog/144/fasting-rejuvenates-the-immune-system

Fasting rejuvenates the immune system

Fasting under medical supervision can have amazing healing results. The concept of therapeutic fasting is not new; the early great philosophers, thinkers, and healers used fasting for health. Hippocrates, Plato, Socrates, Aristotle and Galen all praised the benefits of fasting. Paracelsus, one of the three fathers of Western medicine, is quoted as saying, "Fasting is the greatest remedy--the physician within."

Unfortunately, as time went on fasting as a modality to heal became obsolete as pill popping became the modality of treatment. However, a small number of medical professionals kept up with its use and today we are learning of its vast benefits and in particular, how it works on a cellular level. Fasting works because the body has the capacity to heal itself and when the process of digestion stops, healing is accelerated. Eating a Nutritarian diet allows the body to heal at a faster pace. I have been using fasting as a healing strategy throughout my career as a physician for patients who need to quicken the healing process.

Fasting promotes accelerated healing and a valuable treatment for a variety of medical conditions.

In my 1995 book, Fasting and Eating For Health, I described my observations of health improvements due to fasting. In fact, my colleagues and I published a series of case reports that showed remission of autoimmune diseases following supervised fasting. ¹  Reviews of studies on fasting supported those findings, concluding that fasting (followed by a vegetarian or vegan diet) produces improvements in symptoms for patients with autoimmune diseases.^2,3

Although fasting is a powerful healing modality that has been used for many years, only recent research studies are uncovering specifically how fasting works on a cellular level. These new studies are generating more interest in fasting. To understand how fasting works, you first need to know that our bodies stores sugar in the form of glycogen and when we stop eating, the stored glycogen is used by the body. Fasting, after glycogen stores are depleted, (which occurs during the first 24-48 hours of a fast), sets off complex biochemical pathways in the body that aim to conserve energy while adequately fueling vital organs. These complex biochemical pathways have tremendous healing benefits.

New research reveals cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy may have immune building benefit from fasting

 A recent study⁴ suggests that fasting promotes the regenerative capacity of the immune system that could benefit cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy,  as well as healthy individuals.. Previous research suggested that fasting could protect mice against toxicity from chemotherapy (without compromising the effectiveness of the chemotherapy).^5,6 Also, in a series of 10 case reports of patients who had voluntarily fasted alongside some of their chemotherapy treatments, all of the patients experienced fewer and less severe side effects during fasting cycles compared to non-fasting cycles of chemotherapy.^7,8

In an extensive series of experiments, a group of scientists found that fasting decreased DNA damage and cell death in white blood cells and bone marrow cells, and reduced chemotherapy-induced mortality in mice. Most importantly, after 4-5 cycles of fasting accompanying chemotherapy, the white blood cell count of the fasting group returned to normal, but the control group remained diminished by the chemotherapy.

The scientists also looked at fasting without chemotherapy, and found similar results: a six-fold increase in newly generated hematopoietic stem cells. Hematopoietic stem cells are those stem cells that are produced in the bone marrow and which give rise to all the other blood cells, including white blood cells that modulate immune function.  Fasting was able to provoke regeneration of the immune cells in healthy mice, and also changed the hematopoietic stem cell profile of aging mice to that of younger mice. The scientists were surprised at these dramatic results, which suggested that fasting signals the immune system to get rid of old of damaged cells and rebuild itself with new cells.^4,9 

IGF-1 and Fasting: Another fascinating finding

The scientists found that reduced IGF-1 signaling was a key player in the regeneration of immune cells that occurred in response to fasting. Lower levels of IGF-1 are associated with reduced risk of cancer and slower aging.  Mice that were given extra IGF-1 during the fasts did not have the same increase in hematopoietic stem cells.

Would this work in humans too?

Within the same publication, the scientists have begun to answer this question.  A clinical trial assigned patients undergoing chemotherapy to either 24 or 72 hour fasts prior to each chemotherapy cycle. Preliminary results were similar to what was seen in mice; the 72 hour fasting group saw an improvement in immune cell count and a shift toward the ‘younger’ cellular profile.

This promising and exciting research suggests that occasional fasting could have profound immune-boosting benefits for healthy individuals and those undergoing chemotherapy. By simulating an energy shortage with a few days of fasting, we can jumpstart the immune system’s natural self-renewing capacity, exchanging old immune cells for new ones.

What this could mean for cancer patients

The toxicity and side effects associated with chemotherapy are a major limitation for treatment of cancer.  An important research goal is to identify an adjunct treatment that could ameliorate those side effects without compromising the effectiveness of the chemotherapy. Research suggests that fasting could achieve these goals and even make chemotherapy more effective.  In other words, fasting is thought to protect normal cells while making cancerous cells vulnerable.

Depriving normal, healthy cells of energy-yielding nutrients signals them to set aside growth and go into a mode of energy conservation, protection, maintenance, and repair. It increases the capacity of these cells for stress resistance. In vitro, this resistance to stress helps to prevent oxidative DNA damage from chemotherapy drugs.

Since cancerous cells have mutations that hyper activate growth pathways, causing uncontrolled proliferation, they are unable to go into the protective stress-resistance mode like healthy cells.^5,10This is called “differential stress resistance.”  Fasting appears to induce stress resistance in normal cells but vulnerability in cancerous cells. Like the results regarding immune function, a reduction in IGF-1 levels due to fasting contributes to this differential stress resistance.^6,10

After the early series of 10 case reports noted a low rate of side effects in patients that had fasted prior to chemotherapy,⁷ additional studies in human patients were undertaken. The studies were small, but the results are positive. In one study, patients who fasted for 48 or 72 hours showed reduced chemotherapy-related side effects (including fatigue and nausea) and DNA damage in white blood cells compared to those who completed a shorter fast of 24 hours.¹¹

 A randomized controlled trial in women with breast cancer also showed evidence of attenuated DNA damage due to chemotherapy in the fasting group compared to the non-fasting group over the course of multiple chemotherapy cycles.¹²

 Future studies are needed to determine whether fasting strengthens patients’ response to chemotherapy, and also to determine the optimal fasting length for reducing side effects.  Potentially this research could lead to a widespread use of fasting as an adjunct treatment alongside chemotherapy.

Fasting and Eating for Health

My book, Fasting and Eating for Health, is still a must read for the health enthusiast, though 20 years ago we did not know about fasting’s potential to help rejuvenate the immune system and sensitize cancerous cells through a combination of reduced IGF-1, stem cell rejuvenation and stress resistance.

Horrors at an abortion clinic went ignored--Dr. Kermit Gosnell

Horrors at an abortion clinic went ignored: This column contains material that is difficult to read. Dr. Kermit Gosnell's former Philadelphia facility, the Women's Medical Society, was the scene...

Horrors at an abortion clinic went ignored

Dr. Kermit Gosnell's former Philadelphia facility, the Women's Medical Society, was the scene of untold horrors for many years, involving hundreds of babies being killed after being aborted alive.

This column contains material that is difficult to read.  But for a long time it was difficult even to find material to read about the story, as major media outlets tried mightily to ignore the story of America's most prolific killer.

That may change now that "Gosnell: The Trial of America's Biggest Serial Killer" has been released in more than 600 movie theatres.  It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.

Let me explain, with apologies for the details.

Dr. Kermit Gosnell owned and operated the Women's Medical Society clinic in Philadelphia.  Well known for providing grisly lateterm abortions, the Gosnell clinic was actually raided in 2010 by the police on suspicion of illegal use of prescription drugs.  They found an unsanitary, blood-stained, cat-infested "house of horrors" in which women were found suffering various degrees of malpractice by unlicensed and unqualified personnel.  Fetal remains from late-term abortions were found in jars, in milk bags, in cat-food containers.  The severed feet of dozens of fetal corpses were preserved.

In 2011, Gosnell was charged with eight counts of murder in addition to hundreds of violations of Pennsylvania's abortion laws.  The murder charges related to an adult woman, Karnamaya Mongar, who died following an abortion procedure, and seven newborns killed by having their spinal cords severed with scissors after being born alive during attempted abortions.  In the May 2013 trial, prosecutors focused on fewer charges to obtain the necessary convictions to send Gosnell away for life.  He was convicted of murder (first degree) for three of the infants, and manslaughter for Mongar.  Gosnell is in prison for life, having waived his right to appeal in order to avoid the death penalty.

But what was introduced at trial was only the bloody tip of a massive iceberg of killing.  An unlicensed physician at the clinic, Steven Massof, 49, pleaded guilty to two counts of third-degree murder, murder conspiracy and other charges before Gosnell's trial.  He testified to a grand jury that he snipped the spines of more than 100 babies after seeing them breathe, move or show other signs of life.

"Severing the spinal cords of moving, breathing babies outside their mothers' wombs was, according to Massof, 'standard procedure'," reported the grand jury.

"Partial-birth" abortion is infanticide by another name.  "After-birth" abortion is infanticide, homicide, murder, pure and simple.  And it took place on a massive scale at the Gosnell clinic.

How then did America's most prolific serial killer get away with it for so long?  Therein lies a tale about regulators, the medical profession, police and journalists.

Gosnell had been sued dozens of times over more than three decades.  Detailed complaints on several occasions had been made to state regulators.  His clinic was found in violation by the state department of health as early as 1989.  But despite mountains of evidence that would have shut down an orthopedic practice overnight, Gosnell was allowed to operate, with abortion politics providing cover.  It went right to the top, with the grand jury finding Gov.  Tom Ridge's office responsible for regulators looking the other way, or not bothering to look at all.  That Gosnell preyed upon the poor made it easier for his victims to be ignored.

The police and prosecutors seemed deliberately lethargic, if not negligent, in following up deaths of women at the clinic, at least one of which resulted in a civil settlement.  It was, after all, a Drug Enforcement Agency investigation that finally brought Gosnell down for illegal prescriptions.  Had it not been for the DEA, Philadelphia police may have waited for the Internal Revenue Service to do its work for them.

Then came the trial.  By all accounts it should have been a notorious story locally, if not nationally.  But the major news media gave it a pass.  Only after a shaming campaign on social media built pressure on the major networks and newspapers did the Gosnell story get some of the coverage it deserved.

Abortion politics had corrupted the news media.  While a graphic sign outside an abortion clinic merits a disapproving story — to say nothing of violence at abortion clinics — the dismemberment of hundreds of babies born alive was treated as a non-story, unhelpful to the abortion cause.

And while Hollywood is eager to make movies about serial killers, the producers of the Gosnell film could not get the film financed.  It got made only after a crowdfunding campaign raised the necessary US$2.1 million, normally chump change in the movie business.

The Gosnell story is difficult to tell.  But that was not the reason that so many tried not to tell it.  Will its cinematic telling now also be ignored?