Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 7-7. Using a fire plough to start a fire.
Food
Most people can live for weeks without food, but long-term survival depends on finding and
preparing a variety of foods. If you lived in the middle of a rabbit paradise or trout heaven, you
would eventually starve to death if you just ate either rabbit or trout, since they wouldn't
provide you with all the vitamins and minerals necessary for long-term sustenance, and they
are low in fat and calories. This section gives you some basic guidelines and suggestions. If
you are stuck without food for extended periods, intestinal cleansing will help you to feel better
and to work at a surprising level of functionality. I once ran for 11 miles through the High Si-
erra Mountains on the last day of a ten-day fast, and my energy level was remarkably good.
The theory behind fasting was explained to me as follows: When a body is digesting food,
it does a poor job of cleaning toxic wastes and deposits out of its different systems. A fast gives
the autonomic nervous system, which controls digestion and other automatic processes, the
chance to focus on internal cleansing. A fast gives the body a chance to “spring clean” and
helps it to return the immune system to peak performance. In addition, the fasting body scav-
enges raw materials from places such as cholesterol deposits, tumors, and calcified deposits in
the joints for use in other parts of the body. Normally the body's natural cleansing cycle dumps
toxins into the colon in the morning. In the afternoon, if you are fasting, the body will be
hungry and will try to absorb what it can from the colon. Unless the colon is cleansed, the body
will reabsorb toxins, which may produce headaches and nausea. Because you are not eating
anything to push the toxins out of the colon, you should do an enema or drink some bulk non-
nutritive fiber, like psyllium, to cleanse the colon.
In August 1954, ten members of the Swedish Vegetarian Society marched 325 miles from
Göteborg to Stockholm to publicize the health benefits of the fast and to demonstrate its relat-
ive safety. After marching an average of 32.5 miles per day for ten days straight, eating no food
and drinking nothing but springwater, the fasters arrived in Stockholm in excellent health and
remarkable physical condition (Garten 1967, 83). If you are ever stuck without food for a pro-
