 Around this time , Bernarr Macfadden , an American exponent of physical culture , popularised the use of fasting to restore health . His disciple , the osteopathic physician Hugh Conklin , of Battle Creek , Michigan , began to treat his epilepsy patients by recommending fasting . Conklin conjectured that epileptic seizures were caused when a toxin , secreted from the Peyer 's patches in the intestines , was discharged into the bloodstream . He recommended a fast lasting 18 to 25 days to allow this toxin to dissipate . Conklin probably treated hundreds of epilepsy patients with his " water diet " and boasted of a 90 % cure rate in children , falling to 50 % in adults . Later analysis of Conklin 's case records showed 20 % of his patients achieved freedom from seizures and 50 % had some improvement . 
