The Complete Guide to Fasting is a controversial book written by Dr. Jason Fung. Dr. Fung is a nephrologist from Toronto, Canada. The concept of this book is to educate people about fasting in order to promote better health while overcoming a number of myths that are heavily associated with the term.
To create the book, Dr. Fung worked with Jimmy Moore, a popular author and health podcaster. The book was based on Dr. Fung’s experience in recommending various different forms of fasting strategy to over 1,000 different patients whom he claims experienced strong successes as a result of the protocol.
Right from the start of the book, Dr. Fung made it clear that the idea that fasting involves starving yourself is a myth. He feels it is important to stress this, as all too many people interpret the word in that way and, as a result, may not be practicing the technique properly. Within the book, he describes what the practice is truly about and how it can be used, in his opinion, for the improvement of health.
The Complete Guide to Fasting does live up to its name in that it works to cover a full range of topics on the matter. These include: what it is and the impact it has on health, who will and who will not benefit from fasting, the history of the practice, the different ways that it can be practiced (including extended, intermittent and alternate-day fasting), what to expect when getting started with a protocol, how to track your progress, what type of weight loss can occur during fasting and what to expect from it, and how to prevent certain possible unwanted effects from a fast.
Beyond that, the guide also goes on to give readers a number of getting started tools as well as some to keep them going throughout the length of the practice. This includes several healing liquid recipes and a 7-Day Kick-Start Fasting Plan.
It is important to note that while Dr. Fung is a well respected doctor and while many do celebrate his recommended strategy, the practice of fasting remains, in many ways, highly controversial. This is particularly true of self-guided fasts as opposed to those that have been designed by doctors for the individual needs of the patient and that involve check-ins with that doctor to ensure that everything is going as planned and to adjust the effort to improve it over time.