Rudolph Ballentine, M.D. Founder and Director of the Center for Holistic Medicine in New York City:

"Perhaps the most universal of the all-out cleansing techniques is fasting. Its efficacy is probably based on fundamental body rhythms. You are designed to alternate nourishing and cleansing. Like inhalation and exhalation, they work in tandem. When you are taking in and processing nutrients, you are not geared to pulling out and discarding wastes... but, when the input of nutrition is stopped for a while, then a flurry of cleansing starts up. The rugs are lifted and the dirty dishes are brought out of the cabinet where they were stashed. Cleaning begins in earnest."
"The destruction of starvation, and the cleansing and repair that happen in a well-managed fast are polar opposites. Unfortunately today, when the average person is overburdened with wastes and environmental toxins, and when reserves of essential nutrients are low because of the ubiquity of 'empty calorie' foods, what is intended as a fast may well end up as starvation. Your best insurance against such a catastrophe is to do a juice-fast. Juices can eliminate much of the trauma of fasting. . ."

"Freshly squeezed and extracted fruit juices and vegetable juices contain a wealth of vitamins and organically complexed minerals. They will also supply the 400 calories or so that is your minimal fuel requirement. Without that, your body begins to break down protein structures to get it. What's more, fresh juices have a cleansing effect of their own and, as an added bonus, if they are taken immediately after being made, they are energizing and exhilarating. A balanced regime of juices should be made from a spectrum of fruits and vegetables."

"RADICAL HEALING: Integrating the World's Great Therapeutic Traditions to Create a New Transformative Medicine" (1999): pp. 311-314

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