Not everyone can fast with safety. There are contra-indications to fasting. Here they are:
Those who are currently taking permanent medication such as Insulin, Thyroxin, Digitalis, Cortisone, Adrenalin, etc., or an anti-tissue rejection drug, should NOT fast.
Those who have had an organ transplant such as a heart or a kidney, should NOT fast.
Those who have had an artificial tissue implant such as plastic tubing, skin, etc. should NOT fast (includes an I.U.D.).
Those who have serious reservations about fasting or have a pathological fear of fasting should NOT fast. They should defer the fast until such fears and reservations have been resolved.
Those people who cannot secure a suitable environment should NOT fast. It is not advisable to fast if the environment is saturated with excessively loud noises or vibrations or if the atmosphere is polluted with impure air or noxious gases or if the temperature of the air is excessively hot or excessively cold.
Those patients who cannot achieve a state of mental poise or equanimity should NOT fast. The fast cannot proceed efficiently if people around you are negative, pessimistic or destructive in their mental attitudes.
Never fast a patient in the chronic stage of any disease. Fasting is for acutely ill patients only. If we observe this rule we will avoid the accidents which have occurred in the past through indiscriminate fasting. Just because a fever is Nature's own healing process this must not be construed to mean that we may deliberately and artificially induce a fever in order that we may then undertake a fast.
Reference: How To Fast, 7th edition, the late Kenneth S. Jaffrey, 1984, page 22, currently out of print.
