Whichever of these you have, try to make each mouthful a meal in itself, chewing it thoroughly, even when in a liquid state. Take a long time eating this first 'meal', and then rest. An hour or so later have another of the choices offered on the list, in a slightly larger quantity.

Say that so far you have had some stewed apple at 4 pm, and a bowl of yogurt at 5:30 pm. Now, at around 7:30 to 8 pm have a slightly more substantial intake of food, but only if you feel like it. If you are hungry have either a small mixed salad with cottage cheese, or a lightly boiled egg, or a slightly more substantial (thicker) soup. As before, chew each mouthful for as long as you can. If you are not hungry, wait until breakfast the next morning, at which time resume your normal food intake, although you will probably want a little less than usual.

How often should you fast?
It is an excellent idea to introduce a two day fast as a quarterly part of your programme. Two days of fasting, every three months, is not going to place any great strain on your leisure or social time, and offers a magnificent method of regularly 'spring cleaning' yourself.

Some people increase their frequency of fasting to every six weeks, and this is a matter of personal choice. The truth is that the more often you fast, within reason, the less obvious are the symptoms of nausea etc. and the greater are the benefits of clarity of mind and sense of abundant energy and well-being which follow.

What about one day fasts?
A 24 hour fast achieves something, but not nearly as much as the 48 hour version, and the benefits from a one day fast take a lot longer to show. Nevertheless, 24 hour fasts are better than no fasts at all, and they can certainly be applied on a six-weekly or even monthly basis. All other guidelines are the same as for the 48 hour fast given above.

Monodiets
A variation of the fasting technique is the introduction of periodic days, or several days at a time, on one food only - a monodiet. The foods involved are open to personal taste, and among those most successful and popular are grape diet (a period during which grapes only are eaten), rice diet (said to be ideal for helping reduce high blood pressure) and potato diet (like the rice diet, often used for specific health purposes, such as treatment of rheumatic disorders). However, for the purposes of our life extension programme the monodiet is not being suggested as a therapeutic measure, but as an alternative to complete fasting aimed at encouraging general well-being, and preventing health problems rather than trying to deal with them.

If a monodiet is decided on, then all the same rules apply as for fasting. A weekend is ideal, following the monodiet for 48 hours. Less care is needed in breaking the monodiet than would be the case for a fast, so that in a weekend setting the Sunday evening meal could simply revert to a normal one, rather than going through the various gentle stages required to safely break a fast.

Effects such as headache etc. are possible on a monodiet, but less intensely so than on a fast. Monodiets are recommended for people who wish to avoid the rigours of fasting but who want to increase the detoxification/health enhancing effects which fasting offers. They achieve the same thing as fasting but very much more slowly.

When eating whatever food has been selected, a small amount (say 6 or 7 grapes, or an ounce or two of cooked rice) should be very well chewed whenever hunger is felt, which could be seven or eight times during the day. The total amount eaten should be small (no more than a pound of cooked rice or a pound of grapes through the day). In between, drink water as required.