Stomach, gut and digestion: a functional overview

The way to the heart is through the stomach, the way to well-being is through the gut. This overview explains how digestion works, what the bacteria in the gut do for us, what happens when this coexistence loses its balance, how we assess it and what helps the gut.

Digestion: from food to nutrient

In a life of 75 years, the gut comes into contact with 30 tonnes of solid food. In that time our gut digests on average:

• 40 cattle
• 200 sacks of potatoes
• 11,764 tins of “peas and carrots”

It washes all this down with about 50,000 litres of fluid. That corresponds to the capacity of a small swimming pool.

A good diet is without doubt a prerequisite for good health. But it is not enough on its own. We must also be able to digest the food, break it down into usable components and absorb it through the intestinal mucosa. Without these prerequisites, even a nutrient-rich and balanced diet is of little use.

Most foods are of no use to us in their natural form. We have to break them down in the digestive tract to the point at which our organism recognises them as a possible component of itself. This final phase of digestion takes place on the intestinal mucosa itself. It is a very complex process, because the mucosa must be able to distinguish between good micronutrients and bad toxins.

The path of food

• Mouth: Digestion begins with chewing and mixing the food with saliva. With the saliva comes the first contact with our immune system, which locates and destroys bad bacteria even before they enter the organism.
• Stomach: This is where what we usually understand by digestion begins. Up to two litres of gastric juice a day, made up of hydrochloric acid and various enzymes, begin to break down fats and proteins. Just as important: the stomach contents are disinfected as if in a quarantine airlock. Stomach acid also helps with the absorption of certain vitamins and trace elements.
• Liver, pancreas and small intestine produce 2 to 3 litres a day of an alkaline digestive juice, which passes into the upper small intestine. It contains countless further enzymes that break down protein, fats and starch.
• Small intestine: This is where most of the food components that are usable for us are absorbed.
• Large intestine: What is left over, including the dietary fibre, passes into the large intestine, where the extremely intensive metabolism of our 100,000,000,000,000 gut bacteria sets in. They continue the digestion, but in their own way. Dietary fibre, cellulose and further undigested carbohydrates, proteins and fats are processed partly into useful and partly into toxic substances. The useful ones are above all the short-chain fatty acids, an important source of energy for the mucosa of our large intestine.

If digestion is poor and incomplete, or if there is even an advanced intestinal disorder and abnormal colonisation, a wide variety of acute and chronic diseases can arise from this. Usually it is a combination of several disorders that reinforce one another. In the long term, diseases can also be triggered or made worse that at first sight have nothing to do with the gut, such as skin rashes, chronic fatigue or rheumatism.

How long foods stay in the stomach

How long the stomach contents remain depends, among other things, on the “thickness” (viscosity) of the food. No further food should be eaten until the stomach has emptied completely, because this can lead to increased putrefaction processes.

We are not alone: the gut flora

The gut provides a habitat for more than 400 different species of bacteria. Their number is 1600 times the number of people on our planet; the intestinal tract alone harbours 1 to 3 kilograms of bacteria.

Anyone who believes that their body is a closed, uniform and “sterile” system set apart from the living environment is being deceived by their coarse sensory perception. In truth we are “open systems”, networked with the world of microbes (viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites) in a dynamic that is hard to imagine, and indeed so dependent on certain of them that without them life in the form we know would not have been possible at all.

Over the past millions of years, a coexistence has developed between humans and microbes that is astonishingly constant and stable and should be left as undisturbed as possible. This fundamental principle of evolution is symbiosis, the living together of different life forms for mutual benefit. In humans it finds its strongest expression in the intestinal tract, with its contact surface of almost 400 m², the size of a tennis court (the skin: about 1.7 m²).

It is remarkable that, out of the incalculable number of genera and species of germs, only very particular ones were selected for humans. It is always the same main groups of bacteria that are found in the gut, regardless of whether one was born in Siberia or in Australia. This gives an idea of the immense importance of this flora for our health. Unfortunately, we are finding disturbances of this flora more and more often today, and bitter experience so far shows that they can profoundly impair our health.

“Good” and unwanted bacteria

The gut bacteria and their significance for health

• 1: stimulate the body’s defences
• 2: inhibits the immune system, breaks down IgA
• 3: inhibit pathological bacteria and fungi
• 4: neutralise bacterial toxins
• 5: possible cause of infection outside the gut
• 6: toxins place a burden on the gut, liver and brain
• 7: formation of carcinogenic substances
• 8: may produce large quantities of hydrogen and carbon dioxide (bloating, cramps) or putrefaction products, depending on the substrate available and the pH of the surroundings

The gut bacteria and their properties

• 1: require oxygen
• 2: do not require oxygen
• 3: indispensable inhabitant of the large intestine
• 4: indispensable inhabitant of the small intestine
• 5: pathological inhabitant of the large intestine
• 6: contributes to colonisation resistance
• 7: colonisation resistance disturbed
• 8: utilisation of protein
• 9: utilisation of carbohydrates
• 10: utilisation of fat
• 11: form short-chain fatty acids
• 12: pH neutral
• 13: lower the pH, acidify the milieu
• 14: raise the pH, alkalise the milieu (putrefaction)

What the gut flora does for us

• Building up and maintaining a microbial barrier against foreign germs
• Promoting the metabolism and blood supply of the intestinal mucosa
• Influencing the immune system
• Stimulating intestinal motility
• Sealing the intestinal wall against bacterial invasions
• Production of vitamins (B12, biotin, folic acid, pantothenic acid, precursors of vitamin K and others)

The normal gut flora forms a microbial barrier against the settlement and multiplication of disease-causing pathogens such as salmonella. This defensive strength is called “colonisation resistance”; it expresses how many foreign germs are needed to trigger an infection in the gut. An observation that is as interesting as it is worrying: in the 1960s, at least 100,000 germs were needed for a salmonella infection. Today it takes only 100!

How do the bacteria fend off the intruders? They occupy the possible attachment sites on the intestinal wall (niche occupation). They produce natural antibiotic substances, such as short-chain fatty acids, degraded bile acids, hydrogen sulphide and hydrogen peroxide. They compete for nutrients, vitamins and other growth factors, use up the sought-after oxygen themselves and lower the pH of the milieu by releasing lactic acid and acetic acid from carbohydrates. This acidification also prevents putrefaction processes and the absorption of toxins such as ammonia from protein digestion. The more pathological the metabolism in the gut, the more the organism is flooded with toxic products, which the liver, as the first filter station, has to render harmless.

For its energy balance, the mucosa of the large intestine depends on the short-chain fatty acids produced by the resident flora. Acetic and butyric acid above all cover up to 50 per cent of its energy requirement. They also stimulate bowel movement and promote the absorption of important trace elements. The beneficial effect of dietary fibre is also attributed to this: in laboratory animals raised germ-free, dietary fibre has practically no effect.

The immune system of the newborn experiences its first intensive contact with the microbial world via the gut. It is the most important first stimulus for our defences and has an effect throughout life: about 80 per cent of the immune system is found in the small and large intestine. It is only thanks to this constant immune training that not every trivial cold puts us in danger.

The germ or the milieu?

The scientist Claude Bernard (1813 to 1878) held the conviction: “No, gentlemen, the microbe is nothing. The breeding ground is everything.” Louis Pasteur (1822 to 1895), by contrast, held the microbe alone responsible for the development of a disease. Who was right? Both, but only together. It is always the dynamic interaction between the milieu and the germ. The microbe produces a disease, and every disease brings forth its microbes. The balance between milieu and microbe decides between friendly symbiosis and hostile dysbiosis.

When the balance tips: dysbiosis

What favours dysbiosis, a damaged gut flora, is for the most part a product of our civilisation and of the belief that our actions are superior to nature. Many medicines are not only a blessing for humanity, they also impair the natural coexistence with our fellow inhabitants in a worrying way.

Possible causes

• Medicines: antibiotics (above all repeated courses), cytostatics, the contraceptive pill, immunosuppressants, cortisone and acid suppressants (stomach acid also serves to disinfect the food pulp!)
• Poor diet, food allergies
• Malabsorption syndromes, weakness of the pancreas
• Chronic constipation, irritable bowel, inflammation of the bowel
• Organic changes to the intestinal wall such as diverticulosis or fistulas, the condition after surgical procedures (the appendix, as an organ, prevents pathological bacteria from rising out of the large intestine into the small intestine!)
• Infections with bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites
• Environmental influences: heavy metals (lead, cadmium, mercury from amalgam), pesticides, chemicals, colourings and preservatives, fungal toxins (aflatoxins), X-rays and other ionising radiation
• Immune diseases and immune deficiency: AIDS, cancer, autoimmune diseases, multiple sclerosis, arthritis
• Stress, normal ageing, poor hygiene

Antibiotics save lives, but their side effects must not be neglected. Because the gut flora is fundamentally stable, antibiotics can be used in the short term without consequences where the indication is correct and compelling. It becomes dangerous with repeated courses of different and broad-spectrum antibiotics (“if one does not help, we will try another”). In hospitals above all, the associated development of resistant germs is feared. These “hospital germs” do not arise in the damp niche by the washbasin, but in the gut of the patients!

Possible consequences

• Deficiency of vitamin B12, biotin, folic acid, pantothenic acid and precursors of vitamin K
• Digestive disorders, fatty stools
• Irritable bowel with bloating, cramps and slimy discharges
• Inflammations of the bowel
• Joint inflammation
• Psoriasis, acne, atopic dermatitis
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Migräne
• Colon and breast cancer

Further possible connections:

• Bacteria, disturbed gut flora
  • Surface structures similar to those of our organs
    • Autoimmune processes (“molecular mimicry”)
      • Rheumatism, diabetes, meningitis, thyroid disease, ulcerative colitis and lupus
• Bloating
  • Diaphragm pushed upwards
    • Displacement of the heart
      • Localised reduction in blood flow in the coronary vessels
      • Angina pectoris or cardiac arrhythmias.

What the pH of the stool reveals

The pH of the stool is an important indication of the state of the milieu in the gut. What matters above all are lactic and acetic acid, which neutralise the toxic alkaline metabolic products, in particular those of the clostridia and the Proteus bacteria. To neutralise one unit of “toxin”, 10 units of lactic and acetic acid are needed!

High, alkaline pH (above 6.5):

• Lack of short-chain fatty acids
• Dysbiosis
• Lack of stomach acid
• Constipation with a risk of poisoning of the body from the gut
• The gut’s detoxification capacity may be overstretched

Low, acidic pH (below 5.5):

• Of hardly any significance
• Rarely abnormal bacterial colonisation
• Disorder of carbohydrate absorption
• Intestinal transit too rapid

In the case of complaints such as burning at the anus during bowel movements or soreness, the carbohydrates may need to be reduced.

Lack of stomach acid: heartburn is not always too much acid

Heartburn need not be a sign that there is too much stomach acid. On the contrary: heartburn mostly occurs in old age, at the time when the normal production of stomach acid declines. Digestion then deteriorates, and the food remains in the stomach for longer. In this way a little acid may get into the oesophagus, and even this small amount can be very unpleasant there.

Treatment: If there is damage to the mucosa, acid suppression is necessary. If that is not the case, digestion must be supported. Acid blockers do exactly the opposite! Warming spices such as ginger or pepper are beneficial and should be used generously. Stomach acid replacement preparations can also be taken. Chronic heartburn that occurs independently of meals needs specialist medical care in the longer term.

Signs of a lack of stomach acid

• Bloating in the upper abdomen and a feeling of fullness directly after a meal
• Diarrhoea or constipation
• General physical reactions after eating
• Anal itching
• Fingernails weak, flaking or split
• Widened capillaries of the cheeks (“rosy cheeks”)
• Acne in adulthood as well
• Iron deficiency
• Chronic gastrointestinal infections, parasites, fungi

Diseases associated with a lack of stomach acid

• Adrenal weakness
• Asthma
• Coeliac disease
• Immune diseases
• Skin diseases
• Diabetes
• Allergies
• Gallbladder diseases
• Stomach cancer
• Inflammations of the stomach
• Thyroid disorders
• Hepatitis
• Osteoporosis
• Anaemia
• Psoriasis
• Urticaria
• Vitiligo

From a patient’s letter

“Thanks to your medicine Stomach Digest, I have had no more problems with excess stomach acid or its symptoms for 2 years and have been able to live without expensive medicines such as stomach acid blockers, which never really helped anyway. At the same time I am writing to my health insurer to ask why your product is not covered by it, although it would actually have saved a great deal of money.”

Bacterial overgrowth of the small intestine

One abnormal colonisation of the stomach that is well known today is the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, which is being found more and more often and is linked to the development of stomach ulcers. It can easily be detected by gastroscopy or in the stool.

Examining the small intestine, by contrast, is still a challenge even today. With gastroscopy one reaches at most the uppermost section (duodenum); the remaining 5 to 6 metres stay hidden. Yet it is precisely in the small intestine that the actual digestion and absorption of our food, our “means of life”, takes place, which requires a healthy milieu. Normally hardly any microorganisms are to be found there, because stomach acid destroys most bacteria (beware of acid suppressants!). If they nevertheless multiply in the small intestine and develop an appreciable metabolism there, this can lead to various health disorders.

Symptoms

• Abdominal cramps, bloating, diarrhoea
• Fatty stools (bile acids are split by bacteria)
• Typical: complaints shortly, about one hour, after eating
• Enzyme preparations bring no relief
• Intolerance of carbohydrates and dietary fibre
• Anaemia (bacteria split vitamin B12)
• Weight loss (gases prevent the necessary intensive contact of the food with the mucosa)
• Symptoms of an excess of oestrogen such as premenstrual disorders or an increased risk of breast cancer (bacteria cause more of the excreted oestrogen to be reabsorbed)
• Joint inflammation
• Chronic fatigue
• Osteoporosis
• Vitamin K deficiency
• Risk of bowel cancer (formation of toxic nitrosamines)

Causes

• Too little stomach acid
• Chronic inflammation of the pancreas with underactivity
• Milk sugar intolerance (lactose intolerance)
• Unbalanced diet, fast food, junk food
• Diabetes
• Immune deficiency (above all IgA deficiency in the gut)
• Slowed bowel movements (the bacteria are transported downwards too slowly, or have time to “migrate upwards”)
• Chronic inflammations of the bowel such as Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis
• Age
• Radiotherapy
• Parasites
• Abdominal operations with adhesions
• Autoimmune diseases such as scleroderma, lupus erythematosus
• Chronic skin conditions

The breath test

The principle of this non-stressful method: bacteria can break down certain types of sugar. The breath gas test measures hydrogen and methane, which, where there is bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine, can be produced by the bacterial breakdown of lactulose, a sugar that humans cannot digest.

The permeable small intestine

Our small intestine, with its active surface, is the actual zone of contact with our environment. The mucosa and the intestinal wall, as thin as an eyelid, have an enormously important but also vulnerable dual function: they make it possible to absorb our vital nutrients, and they must protect us from harmful contents. The small intestine contains, above all in its lower sections, plenty of bacteria as well as metabolic and breakdown products that can make us ill if we absorb them. Both functions, absorption and sealing, can be disturbed individually or together.

Increased permeability of the small intestine (intestinal permeability) inevitably burdens our organism with inflammation-promoting molecules and bacteria. This condition is promoted above all by inflammatory changes in the mucosa of the small intestine, by food intolerances, by the continuous use of certain medicines, above all anti-rheumatic drugs, and by recreational toxins such as smoking and alcohol. This can become a vicious circle, for instance when a food intolerance increases the permeability, which in turn promotes the intolerance.

Diagnostics

The analysis of small intestine permeability measures how well two types of sugar that cannot be metabolised and that differ in size cross the intestinal mucosa: lactulose and mannitol. The “large” lactulose is normally absorbed only a little, but more so when the mucosa is pathologically altered. It therefore shows how intact the mucosa and the connections between the cells are. The comparatively “small” mannitol is easily absorbed through the villi and serves as a marker of normal absorption.

For the test, the patient drinks a set amount of lactulose and mannitol. What is measured is how much of these sugars is excreted in the urine in the following hours. You carry out the test yourself at home.

Treatment

• Leaving out the foods for which an intolerance has been demonstrated
• Avoiding irritating medicines such as anti-rheumatic drugs
• Promoting the normal gut flora
• Supporting digestion with enzymes
• If need be, additionally ruling out lactose intolerance (milk sugar)
• L-glutamine (amino acid)
• Unsaturated fatty acids
• Zinc, selenium
• Pantothenic acid, vitamin C, E, A, beta-carotene
• Glycyrrhiza (liquorice), aloe vera, Ginkgo biloba

Candida and other fungi in the gut

A significant health problem of our time is the increase in diseases that are caused by fungi or go hand in hand with them. In recent decades yeasts above all have gained in importance, among them primarily the genus Candida. Yeasts are today the most common and most aggressive causes of fungal diseases. The widespread use of antibiotics and immunosuppressive treatments (cortisone!) promote yeast infections, as does a weakened defence against infection in chronic diseases, tumours or advanced age. A diet rich in sugar and carbohydrates also plays a not inconsiderable role. The gut serves as the reservoir for fungi.

Possible symptoms of illness

• Headaches
• Poor concentration
• Psychological disorders
• Chronic fatigue
• Muscle weakness
• Rheumatism
• Attacks of dizziness
• Heightened sensitivity to smells
• Eczema conditions
• Itching in the anal region, vagina
• Discharge
• Poorly healing wounds
• Athlete’s foot
• Urinary tract complaints
• Gastrointestinal complaints
• Allergies

If “merely” fungal colonisation of the gut is found, this does not automatically mean that a fungal disease is present. The finding should nevertheless be questioned, because it points to another disorder or abnormal colonisation of the flora in the digestive tract. It would be wrong to have only the fungus in one’s sights without treating the barrier function of the gut and the condition of the host. Even so, it makes sense to eliminate certain yeasts and moulds, because they burden the body with toxins, other metabolic products and possible allergens.

Fungi cannot be “eradicated” by diet alone

Like all fungi, yeasts need an organic source of carbon. Most easily accessible to them are simple sugars such as glucose and fructose, which they ferment into alcohol. The more sugar is available to them, the better they thrive; in a single night they can double their number several times over. What is decisive is an excessive supply of usable carbohydrates: sugar of all kinds, honey, sweets, chocolate, sweetened drinks, flour-based dishes, rice, pudding, jelly and jam.

Nevertheless, dietary measures are anything but uncontroversial. Antimycotics (antifungal agents) only work when the fungi are dividing. If one tries at the same time to starve them out with an antifungal diet, they rest and are spared by the medicine. Yeasts and moulds are, moreover, outstanding survival artists, and every diet still contains traces of carbohydrates. More recent studies even indicate that a severe lack of carbohydrates positively stimulates Candida albicans to change into the invasive filamentous form in order to open up new “sources of food”. The widespread “anti-candida diet” is therefore to be rejected in principle.

Its place should be taken by a simply “healthy”, wholefood diet with dietary fibre. It is important to clear out the yeast nests with plant fibres. Vegetables and salads can also be given finely chopped for this purpose. Particularly beneficial are sauerkraut raw and cooked, all types of cabbage, broccoli, savoy cabbage, celeriac, carrots, leeks, asparagus, green beans, crispbread, wholemeal rye bread, rolled oats and wheat bran.

Further treatment strategies

• Causal therapy: treat the underlying disease (gut? liver? diabetes?). If necessary, antimycotics in the short term, then rebuild the protective flora in the gut. Colon hydrotherapy.
• Oral cavity: All efforts to get the gut free of fungi are in vain if the oral cavity, carious teeth, tartar, gum pockets and dentures are forgotten as a reservoir of fungi. Remedy: change the toothbrush often, restoration of oral hygiene, dentist, removal of fungi from the dentures. Besides antimycotics that are effective against yeasts, such as nystatin or amphotericin B, fungicidal mouthwashes are also suitable.
• Amalgam likewise promotes fungal growth. Sometimes the fungi can only be eliminated successfully after the amalgam fillings have been dealt with.
• Suitable clothing: no synthetics, underwear that can be boil-washed.
• Cosmetics: no allergenic soaps, deodorants, bubble baths, fabric softeners, intimate sprays, no tampons. Dry body powder is good.
• Treat the partner as well, to avoid a “ping-pong infection”. Stop ovulation inhibitors. Reservoirs of fungi: pressure points caused by a pessary.
• Non-specific stimulation: exercise, breathing, air and sun, sea baths or brine baths.
• Specific stimulation: increasing resistance by autologous blood injection.

Further fungi in the gut:

Gut flora and body weight

Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes are the main bacterial colonisers of the intestinal tract. The ratio of the two groups is related to body weight: in slim people the ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes is about 4:1, in overweight people about 8:1. The stool of slim people also contains more residual energy and fewer breakdown products of long-chain carbohydrates. So they really do exist, the good and the poor converters of food!

The key is the Firmicutes. Various members of this group can break down long-chain carbohydrates, for example indigestible dietary fibre. They do it for themselves, but at the same time make the resulting short-chain carbohydrates and fatty acids available to their host as additional food. In the animal model, animals with a larger proportion of Firmicutes absorb 8 to 10 per cent more energy from the same food. Applied to humans, at 2300 kcal per day that is about 200 kcal extra, which in the long term is reflected in body weight.

The “Firmicutes Ratio” test measures this ratio and thus a possible cause of overweight. It is indicated:

• In cases of unexplained weight gain, for example after antibiotic therapy
• When losing weight does not succeed despite a “healthy diet”
• As part of our holistic nutritional counselling

Assessment: the comprehensive stool analysis

The “Basic gut profile” is an important examination for everyone who suffers from chronic digestive and intestinal disorders. It assesses a wide variety of parameters:

• Bacteria: good and bad, putrefactive and fermentative flora
• Fungi
• Digestion and absorption
• IgA immune status
• Stool pH

The digestive system must not only absorb food adequately, it must also prevent toxic molecules from entering the organism. Malfunctions in these areas can promote the development of diseases. Acid suppressants, laxatives or remedies for diarrhoea only suppress the symptoms and do not treat their causes. The comprehensive stool analysis provides detailed information on this.

In addition to digestive and absorptive performance, the gut flora is examined: the concentration of health-promoting bacteria such as lactobacilli and bifidobacteria, which protect against dysbiosis, as well as burdensome bacteria and yeasts such as Candida albicans. To make treatment easier, the possible disease-causing germs are automatically tested for what they are sensitive to, both medicines and natural substances.

Depending on the question, the breath test for bacterial overgrowth of the small intestine, the analysis of small intestine permeability and the “Firmicutes Ratio” test are added; they are described in the sections above.

What helps the gut

Wherever possible, the causes must be identified and remedied. Depending on the type of abnormal colonisation, a short course of antibiotics may be necessary; thanks to the other options of functional medicine, however, it is a rare exception. The most important measures:

• Chewing well
• Changing to a healthy, wholefood diet that is kind to the gut flora
• Dietary fibre, wheat bran
• Regulation of bowel movements
• More exercise in the fresh air, a healthy way of life
• Bacterial preparations that build up the gut flora (probiotics with lactobacilli, bifidobacteria and coli bacteria)
• Healthy yeasts such as Saccharomyces boulardii
• Colon hydrotherapy (see the page Colon Hydrotherapy)
• Digestive enzymes and, if required, replacement of stomach acid
• Garlic, bearberry
• Antifungal agents in the case of fungal infestation
• Stimulation of the immune system
• Leaving out allergenic foods and medicines that burden the gut (not without the doctor!)

A diet that is kind to the gut flora

• Pan-fried dishes should only be fried lightly, and the fat should not be overheated. Food fried dark and fat heated to a high temperature promote the flow of bile. Because some gut bacteria utilise bile, the resulting breakdown products can trigger diarrhoea.
• Fats: good, cold-pressed vegetable oils such as corn germ, groundnut or sunflower oil (rich in unsaturated fatty acids), stored in a cool place. Heated oils are practically worthless for health. Butter is well tolerated but not suitable for frying; browned butter is not advisable. A piece of fresh butter over cooked vegetables improves the taste and supplies easily tolerated fat. Avoid hardened fats (margarine), because utilising them takes a lot of bile; unhardened vegetable margarine from the health food shop is permitted. Use fats sparingly in general and preferably add them only after cooking, for example as a salad dressing.
• Vegetables should be eaten mainly steamed or boiled. Raw vegetables, especially when they are woody, cannot be broken down by the digestive juices; only the putrefactive flora in the lower section of the gut digests these coarse parts of plants, and large quantities of gas arise from the carbohydrates, which lead to bloating. Cooked vegetables, by contrast, are a form of dietary fibre that is gentle on the gut. Some types of cabbage cause bloating even when cooked; cauliflower is the best tolerated. A proportion of raw food is nevertheless to be recommended, for instance leaf salads (round lettuce, lamb’s lettuce, endive and chicory), which contain no woody parts. The proportion of raw food depends on the individual’s digestive strength.
• Fruit may be eaten raw or cooked, according to taste and tolerance. It is free of components that are hard to digest, with the exception of bananas, which can cause bloating because of their high content of ungelatinised starch and are therefore preferably eaten steamed. Raw apples are sometimes poorly tolerated and should be grated if possible.
• Drinks: everything that is free of sugar and sweetener. Avoid diet juices and diet lemonades, because they may contain sorbitol, which causes severe bloating. Avoid coffee and alcohol as far as possible; out of consideration for the bile and the pancreas, small amounts are permitted. Alcohol speeds up the passage through the stomach, at the expense of pre-digestion. Hard spirits are forbidden.
• Cereals: fresh-grain porridges (soak for a few hours before eating) and coarsely ground wholemeal bread according to tolerance; like raw vegetables, they can only be broken down by the putrefactive flora. Fresh-grain porridges also carry bacteria and fungi foreign to the body, which multiply even in the refrigerator. Fine wholemeal bread made from wholemeal flour contains no coarse parts and is to be recommended as a gut-friendly source of dietary fibre. For muesli, soak the cereal (preferably rolled oats) in the refrigerator for at least a few hours; natural yoghurt or cream, grated nuts, seeds or kernels (chew well!) are permitted. No white flour products.
• Rice and potatoes are among the most gut-friendly sources of dietary fibre and are as a rule well tolerated even in severe disorders. Brown rice according to tolerance. Potatoes are versatile and are an excellent source of protein, carbohydrates and minerals. Chips only to a limited extent (too much fat and too many roasting products).
• Meat: prefer tender kinds. Coarse-fibred meat is merely crushed during chewing and therefore only partly digested; the rest is metabolised by the putrefactive flora. To be avoided: mutton, game, coarse-fibred pork and beef. Permitted: veal, young beef, chicken, turkey. Use little fat. Meat and fish no more often than three times a week.
• Dairy products according to taste and tolerance (allergies, bloating). They are to be recommended as a valuable source of protein and minerals.
• Sweetening: only a little pure natural honey, fruit juice concentrates, maple syrup.
• Salt: little, only sea salt or herbs.

Despite these restrictions, you can make your meals tasty. Only food that tastes good and is eaten with enjoyment promotes the flow of the digestive juices and so makes good use of the food possible. Take your time over eating! In haste and tension, the digestive juices flow only inadequately. The food is then poorly broken down and insufficiently disinfected by the stomach acid, which leads to bacterial overgrowth of the small intestine. Chew for long enough: in doing so you increase the surface area of the food, and through thorough mixing with saliva digestion begins already in the mouth. Only a little should be drunk with meals, so that the digestive juices act at full concentration; drinking is done between meals. And bear in mind: our body as a rule needs considerably less food than is often assumed. Spare your organism excessive digestive work and overfeeding!

Muesli for regulating the bowel in constipation

• 1 pot of natural yoghurt
• 3 tablespoons of wheat bran
• 1 tablespoon of linseed
• 1 tablespoon of rolled oats
• 2 dried figs, finely chopped

Wait 24 hours (store in the refrigerator!) and eat in the evening. The muesli can be thinned with a little milk and its taste improved with fruit; bananas and apples are forbidden here.

Diet in inflammatory bowel diseases

• Abstention from food for 2 to 3 days; with haematocrit values above 40 per cent, fasting can continue for longer. In this phase there is only herbal tea, 1 to 2 litres daily as very weak camomile, peppermint or fennel tea, plus about 0.5 litres of Breuss juices.
• Slow build-up with an alkaline soup: cut celery, green beans (instead of beans, lentils or potatoes if need be) and courgettes in equal parts into medium-fine pieces and simmer gently for 10 to 20 minutes. Strain off the vegetables; only the broth is drunk, 3 to 5 dl in the morning, in sips.
• After 3 to 6 days mashed potato, carrot soup, if need be hard bread rolls, which must be thoroughly mixed with saliva, or, with caution, soured milk products, also oat soup.
• Slow build-up of the diet, always predominantly alkaline and at least initially without meat; an alkaline powder is usually given alongside.
• After about a week raw food, which is kept up for a longer period, above all finely grated carrots, whose high content of beta-carotene has an anti-inflammatory effect.
• All pork products remain forbidden, because of the allergens, the histamine and the adrenaline-like substances they contain, and in order to reduce the putrefactive flora.
• Refined sugar and all foods containing sugar remain forbidden, in order to reduce the pathological Candida flora, which is usually chronically present in diverticulitis.
• Sufficient magnesium intake.

Bowel cleansing with enemas: initially up to twice daily half a litre, at body temperature, usually camomile tea or a detoxifying tea blend of fennel, aloe and juniper; if need be colon hydrotherapy. In severely inflammatory cases such as ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease, enzyme therapy should be carried out in addition.

Symbiosis: a principle of nature

From an article by Dr. med. JvLS for Vitasuisse, 2004.

Right at the beginning of the Bible stands the well-known saying: “It is not good that the man should be alone.” This necessity of belonging together applies not only to the world we perceive, but to practically all levels of being, on the large scale as on the microscopically small. Millions of years ago, bacteria already joined with the primordial cells and so made photosynthesis possible, the utilisation of oxygen and light. It is also assumed that the ossification of the fish skeleton, and with it the ability to conquer the land, is owed to a symbiosis with calcium-utilising germs.

With every breath, 100,000 bacteria enter the lungs, and the skin and mucous membranes are strewn with germs of varying origin. Conventional medicine still holds the view that the blood is sterile. This view, too, has begun to waver since chlamydia were found in arteriosclerotic changes to the vessels. The danger of infection of damaged heart valves after dental procedures is also well known. Evidently the spread of bacteria in the blood also occurs in healthy people. With dark-field microscopy according to Enderlein, moreover, further life forms can be recognised in unstained fresh blood, the significance of which cannot yet be assessed in detail.

The principle of living in community reaches deeper still, right into our personal blueprint, the chromosomes. Over the last 30 million years, viruses have developed an incredible ability to smuggle themselves into our cells. To do so they use certain docking sites on the cell surface, the integrins. It is remarkable that the same receptors are meanwhile also used for other important vital functions: for healthy wound healing, bone growth and even embryonic development.

Various viruses, once we are infected, we carry within us for life, for instance herpes, hepatitis, Epstein-Barr or measles viruses. Certain viruses can also smuggle their genetic material into cells that later become egg cells and sperm. The offspring then carries this viral information in every single one of its cells and passes it on to its children. So it is not surprising that about 3 per cent of our genetic material consists of viral genes. In addition, a viral enzyme has been discovered, reverse transcriptase, which is repeated so often in our genome that it makes up about 15 per cent of our chromosomes.

Evidently we must get used to the idea that just under 20 per cent of our genetic make-up consists of viral components and that we carry more bacteria within us than cells of our own body. Are they stowaways in our organism, or part of a gigantic plan of nature whose purpose we do not yet understand? And who knows, perhaps symbiosis will one day reveal itself as the actual model, as the engine and goal of evolution, on the large scale as on the small, entirely in keeping with the saying: “Love your neighbour as yourself.”

Mayr cure

“Whoever wishes to stay strong, healthy and young should be moderate, exercise the body, breathe pure air and heal his ailments by fasting rather than by medication.” Hippocrates 460 to 370 BC

It cannot be emphasised enough how fundamentally important the cleansing of the body’s fluids and cells is for recovery and health. Our body is accordingly equipped with a rich arsenal of detoxification mechanisms. The lungs breathe out the harmful carbonic acid and other gaseous breakdown products, the kidneys filter off the toxins that can be excreted in the urine, and the skin also eliminates waste deposits through skin respiration (perspiration) and sweat. The gut cleanses by excreting solid waste. This consists of food residues that have remained unused, the secretions of intercellular metabolism that stem from the cleansing of the blood, the gut bacteria and cells of the mucous membrane. However, the gut is also responsible, as an organ of absorption, for taking up the necessary nutrients and is, so to speak, the soil for us “human plants”. If the soil is poor, we will not thrive, or will even fall ill. Our basic state of well-being is severely disturbed.

How do we know whether our gut is working properly?

The stools produced by a healthy digestive system should have the following characteristics: sausage-shaped, with rounded ends, and smooth on the surface owing to a coating of mucus. Because it contains no gas and no excessive fat, the stool sinks in water and has only a slight characteristic odour. It must smell neither strikingly foul nor sour (a sign of putrefaction in the gut). Passing the stool should not soil the anus, just as infants and small children remain unsoiled after passing a stool into the nappy. The consumption of toilet paper is a measure of the digestive damage within us and of our “civilised” society. Healthy animals do not soil themselves when passing stools either. This is how the vet recognises a disease of the gut!

When the gut is sluggish, food remains in the gut for too long. We always pay attention to the use-by dates on food packaging. Who cares if the food stays even longer in our gut.... And the temperature there is not that of a refrigerator but that of an incubator! Meat, sausage, fish, fruit salad etc. spoil, are decomposed and can become so toxic that, in the form of an injection, they are capable of killing a laboratory animal. In us they lead to irritation of the mucous membrane, formation of gas, distension of the abdomen and flatulence, especially when blockages occur in the onward transport of the food pulp and the mixing with digestive juices, which digest and prevent spoilage, is disturbed. The belly can be hard and taut like a drum (gas belly, Fig. 1) or flabby and hanging down (faecal belly, Fig. 2).

Unfortunately, in contrast to many other diseases, chronic functional disorder of the gut remains silent for a long time, provided one ignores, or “remedies” with medication, symptoms such as belching, heartburn, a feeling of fullness, flatulence, stool problems, but also (when the toxins enter the bloodstream) headaches, dizziness, mouth, sweat and body odour, low mood, rheumatism, exhaustion, heart complaints, and so on.

Fasting

It goes without saying that the car has to be serviced every 10,000 km. For that we spare hardly any effort, time or money. What about our health? We go on holiday, and out of boredom and because of the heat we lie around or drink beer, eat ice cream and nibble sweets, drink coffee and help ourselves generously at the lavish buffet. No, this is not a recovery for the organism, at most (and even this rather rarely) for the soul. Anyone who also wants to recover in terms of health must seriously consider the possibility of a fasting cure. When we are ill, we have no appetite either. The body cannot cope with the additional burden of digestion. Voluntary abstention from food for a limited time holds an incredible healing power. There is hardly a major religion that does not recommend that its believers cleanse body and soul every year by fasting. Fasting is the prevention of disease par excellence. Fasting is not to be confused with “starving”. The latter denotes a harmful undersupply of nutrients, for example through hunger strike, famine and considerable functional disorder of the gut in processing food (for example cancer).

Mayr cures

are individually designed cures of fasting, diet and gut regeneration. They comprise tea fasting and therapeutic fasting, the milk diet cure with bread rolls, and extended forms of light diet. As strict tea fasting and therapeutic fasting should be carried out under inpatient conditions at a health resort, we limit ourselves to the classic Mayr bread roll cure, which is excellently suited to being carried out at home on an outpatient basis as well. What does this cure achieve?

• TRAINING Education in eating correctly. That is, always take only small bites, chew them into the tiniest particles and almost liquefy them in the mouth through conscious, intensive mixing with saliva. Eating correctly also brings about better mechanical cleaning of the teeth and better blood flow to the gums and the roots of the teeth.
• REST and CLEANSING of the digestive organs: appropriate use of milk and bread roll.
• Long-lasting SATIETY at least twice a day. You do not have to go hungry.

The fasting crisis

As a consequence of the cleansing, decomposition products may be abruptly absorbed into the blood. This “re-poisoning” of the organism with the waste deposits that have been set in motion triggers the crisis. It may show itself as headaches, loss of appetite, nausea, drowsiness, dizziness, bad mood, irritability, tiredness, weakness, visual disturbances and others. The crisis usually begins suddenly and lasts minutes to hours, occasionally days. During the crisis in particular, plenty of fluid must be drunk. Giving alkalising preparations to neutralise the acids that arise can also end the crisis.

Criteria of recovery according to Mayr

Tightening of the face, regression of signs of poisoning, reduction of double chin and wrinkles, normalisation of posture and with it of the neck in shape and length, reduction of the distance between the shoulder blades, narrowing of the lower parts of the chest and of the hips, the belly becoming smaller and softer, re-formation of the waist, drawing in of the protruding buttocks through reduction of the abnormal pelvic tilt, reduction of increased curvatures of the spine, and in general an increasingly well-formed body. The skin improves its firmness and sagging areas of the body recede. These results of treatment sometimes become fully apparent only a few months after the end of the cure.

Important: the so-called epigastric angle

The more space the belly takes up, the wider the central angle becomes that is formed by the rib cage towards the breastbone. The larger the belly, the less space is available to the heart and the lungs, which means an increasing strain on the circulation.

Note how the neck also becomes shorter as the angle increases.

Belly shapes according to Mayr

Literature

Published by Haug Verlag:

• Leitfaden zur F. X. Mayr-Kur, Dr. med. Bodo Werner
• Die Darm-Reinigung, Dr. med. Erich Rauch
• Blut- und Säfte-Reinigung, Dr. med. Erich Rauch
• Die F.X. Mayr-Kur... und danach gesünder leben

Procedure: introduction

The milk

It contains all the essential sources of calories and micronutrients and is a protective food. Milk should not be regarded as a drink for quenching thirst. It is liquid food. It should be taken as an infant takes it, sipping and sucking (in order to stimulate saliva), only in the smallest portions and thoroughly mixed with saliva.

The bread roll

The condition of the roll (a bread roll made from fine white flour) is decisive for the success of the cure. The rolls are bought fresh and stored for about one day in a dry room. After that they should be wrapped in cellophane. After about two days they reach the right condition: firm enough to slice and only just yielding to pressure (the consistency of a rubber eraser). You must always ensure a sufficient supply of rolls and enough choice. Rolls that are too fresh and soft do not have the swelling capacity of the cure roll and cannot be chewed and mixed with saliva sufficiently. They are poorly utilised, which leads to premature hunger, distension of the abdomen and insufficient rest for the gut. Caution: rolls stored in a steamy kitchen or in containers (bread bin) remain too moist! Rolls that are too hard (“rolls for grating”) and rusks do not have the swelling capacity of the cure roll and do not stimulate the flow of saliva as much. However, they are more favourable than rolls that are too soft. Flatulence during the cure very often points to the wrong condition of the rolls or to incorrect eating.

Many followers of wholefood and healthy-eating diets believe they must reject the Mayr cure because the roll, as a white flour product, is biologically worthless. But during the cure the roll is not meant to supply biological value at all; it is meant to serve only as a trainer for chewing and mixing with saliva! Only in this way can the wasted salivary glands be got going again. In addition, the cure roll is a pure light diet. We do not want any dietary fibre during the cure. Of course, this does not mean that you should eat white flour products after the cure!

The bread roll

Roll, wrapped

Mayr trial meal at the SGK

What to do in case of yeast or wheat intolerance? Spelt flatbreads!

Recipe: 250g freshly ground spelt flour + a pinch of salt + 2.5 dl highly carbonated mineral water. Stir everything together briefly in a bowl. This batter makes 8 flatbreads (place directly on the baking tray with a spoon). Bake at 250 degrees for 10 min., then turn and leave in the oven for another 5 min.

How to eat

Before each meal, cut the roll into slices about half a finger thick. The piece is chewed until a liquid pulp of roll and saliva with a slightly sweetish taste has formed (the starch of the roll is converted into sugar). Now a small spoonful of milk is sucked in. The entire contents of the mouth are mixed by further chewing movements. In the process, the digestion of the milk already begins vigorously in the oral cavity, which is essential for the success of the cure. Only then do you swallow. Now the act of eating begins again from the start, until a slight satiety is reached. The amount is not prescribed, but as a rule one roll is sufficient. In any case, “leftovers” must be left. Never pour down the remaining milk afterwards. Without exception it is “eaten” by the teaspoonful with the pulp of roll and saliva, or not at all. Suitable as further additions are low-fat quark (lightly salted if required), a little honey with the evening tea, sheep’s milk yoghurt in case of milk intolerance and spelt flatbreads in case of wheat allergy. During the morning break, a well-seasoned bouillon and/or herbal tea can be taken. In the evening no more roll should be eaten; only tea (possibly with a little honey) and/or bouillon should be drunk.

Please note that there must be no talking while eating. Only those who remain silent during the meal and concentrate on chewing are eating correctly. There must be a pleasant and unhurried atmosphere. A wrong way of eating and a poor attitude to the cure programme hunger, irritability, sullenness and failure.

By the way... A toothless patient suffered from diarrhoea and inflammation of the gut. As soon as he had begun to purée his food, his bowel movements returned to normal!

At least 5 to 6 hours should pass between meals so that the stomach can empty completely. Do not try to “embellish” the food through variety, for example roll on one day and spelt flatbread on the next, and so on. Monotony is decisive for the right (modest) amount of food. Anyone who eats a varied diet automatically eats more than they should.

Every gut cleansing cure is also a drinking cure. Suitable are: good drinking water, herbal teas, low-carbonated (still) mineral waters. The drinks should be taken neat and neither too cold nor too warm. Drinking often, spread over the day, but less with meals(!), very substantially supports the flushing out of harmful substances. Unless otherwise prescribed, 2, 3 or 4 litres should be drunk daily, depending on body weight (up to 50 kg, up to 80 kg, above that). Depending on need, the following may be considered:

• Lime blossom: support of detoxification via the kidneys and skin
• Fennel: promotion of the release of wind and of gut detoxification
• Silverweed: relief of cramps in the gut and kidneys
• Yarrow: stimulation of the portal circulation and of the female functions
• Lemon balm: strengthening of nerves, heart and female organs
• Horsetail: promotion of excretion by the kidneys and strengthening of the skin
• St John’s wort: acceleration of mental regeneration

Herbal teas support the processes of detoxification and excretion. In addition, they contain mineral salts, vitamins, trace elements, enzymes, fragrances and flavourings.

Rest

In general, a certain amount of rest is required. Resting for half an hour, or at least a few minutes, before eating, occasional short breaks for relaxation and going to bed early regularly are absolutely necessary. No television in the evening and no baths that are too hot. This cure should also be used to reduce the rush of everyday life as far as possible.

Cleansing

At the beginning of the Mayr cure, the gut is cleansed with Carlsbad salt or Epsom salt (magnesium sulphate). If possible, this is also continued during the cure. One level teaspoon of salt is added to ¼ litre of warm water. To improve the taste, the Epsom salt can be mixed with a little water the evening before and topped up with hot water in the morning. In addition, 3 to 4 drops of lemon juice may be added. This “drink” is taken in the morning immediately after getting up. Breakfast should follow only half an hour to three quarters of an hour later, when the salt solution has already left the stomach again. A combination of this type of cleansing with colon hydrotherapy (separate information brochure) is ideal. If toxins that are particularly irritating to the gut are being excreted, frequent, watery and usually foul-smelling, discoloured evacuations may occur. Occasionally the mucous membrane of the anus also swells temporarily, reddens and feels sore. Constipation also occurs when toxins with a paralysing effect on the gut are excreted. Otherwise, a stool that stems solely from the milk and roll diet is golden yellow and almost odourless, that is, similar to that of an infant. Any other colour or a foul odour betrays the passing of poorly digested, harmful residues. In most cases the impurities come loose at the beginning of the cure. The longer and more intensively the body has been exposed to the contamination, the longer its thorough cleansing takes. Father Kneip: “You do not clean out such an old house in a single day!”

Abdominal treatment

Of eminent importance is the abdominal treatment according to F.X.Mayr, carried out at least every second day, or better still daily. In this treatment, the abdominal wall is carefully massaged with a special technique and congestion of the bowels is relieved.

As a result, the intestines begin to work better, the lungs can take up more oxygen because of the reduced pull of the bowels, the position of the heart returns to normal and with it, immediately, the circulation and the supply of micronutrients to the tissues as well as the removal of waste deposits. This becomes noticeable, for example, in the immediate improvement in the firmness of the skin (skin fold test on the back of the hand).

Liver compress

To support liver function, a warm hot-water bottle can be placed on the right upper abdomen for about 15 min. The effect is intensified by placing hay flowers underneath and covering with a towel.

Rule to remember:

“After eating you should rest, or take a thousand steps.”

Example of a daily routine

7.00 am	Taking of Carlsbad salt
07.15	Light morning exercises. Caution, no exercises with the head lowered. Dizziness and a tendency to faint during the cure
07.45	Breakfast: 1 roll, milk, 50g low-fat quark, a pinch of salt (duration of breakfast about 45 min!)
10.00	Snack during the break: 1 to 2 soup cups of bouillon, herbal tea
13.00	Lunch: as breakfast (45')
15.00	Doctor’s appointment for abdominal treatment
16.00	Snack during the break: herbal tea
19.00	Evening meal: bouillon, herbal tea sweetened with a little honey, possibly slices of orange squeezed into the tea (do not eat the fruit!)
22.00	Liver compress
22.15	Taking of alkaline powder

Drink plenty in between!

What to do when hungry and thirsty

If you eat as prescribed, satiety lasts a long time and hunger is rare. It occurs almost only when you eat hastily, carelessly or wrongly (drinking the milk instead of spooning it), or when the rolls are too fresh and too soft. When you feel hungry, you should always drink. Should the hunger nevertheless persist, a cure roll (or only part of one!) may, by way of exception, be eaten outside the set mealtimes, chewed slowly and correctly, of course, and mixed with milk. With increasing recovery, the need to eat outside mealtimes disappears of its own accord in most cases.

End of the cure

This is the most difficult time and takes place gradually. Now of all times you must not become careless; you must observe all the rules most thoroughly and mix with saliva and chew even more thoroughly than before. The smallest errors in diet and eating now make themselves felt severely. The freshly renewed mucous membranes are still delicate and react to anything that does not yet agree with them, for example “scratchy” cellulose-rich food, with an intense feeling of soreness. Remember that it is no longer the greedy consumption of larger amounts of food that should provide the desired pleasure, but the savouring and tasting of every bite. Quality should replace quantity. Dishes that used to be favourites are suddenly rejected, such as fatty roasts, bacon, pastries and complicated and elaborately composed dishes, or also chocolate, alcohol, liqueur and real coffee. A little butter or fine margarine (health food shop), honey, quark or cream cheese can be used as a spread on the roll. Suitable as an accompaniment are a soft-boiled egg, tender steamed vegetables, potato-based vegetable soups, boiled potatoes (no chips!), maize semolina, quark, cottage cheese, steamed lean veal, chicken or trout au bleu. Later, root vegetables such as carrots, parsley and black salsify, as well as fine salads, lettuce, celery, fennel and a little spinach. For breakfast and at the beginning of lunch, a little fruit is suitable: banana, peeled or cooked apple, berries, also in milk or yoghurt. Soya dishes such as tofu and cereal dishes made from easily digestible oat flakes or from maize semolina, buckwheat, millet etc., garnished with fragrant herb sauces, are usually also well tolerated. The cure roll is gradually replaced by wholemeal bread, crispbread etc.; butter and mixtures of quark, oil and herbs serve as spreads.

Mild derivation diet

80% of all risk factors, disorders and ailments that plague millions of affluent citizens in Western countries, as well as up to 80% of all causes of death, are today attributed to diet-related diseases. This enormous prevalence of damage to health through wrong nutrition can also be recognised in the belly shapes (so-called pointed, gas and faecal bellies) and postures of our fellow human beings. But it is not only the overweight; the thin who are forever tired and listless can also clearly be seen to belong to those damaged by nutrition and digestion. To all those affected in this way Dr. Mayr prescribed his fasting and diet cures and achieved outstanding results with them. The mildest form of cure that has developed from these Mayr cures is the “mild derivation cure” with its three stages, which can be individually adapted to how much strain each person’s digestion can bear. This therapeutic diet serves primarily to improve the condition of the digestive system, since good nutrition and good health can be achieved only through good digestion. This is the aim of the mild derivation cure with the mild derivation diet. It is rightly said: when the belly is purified and slimmer, one lives more lightly, more gladly, longer! The key position of the digestive organs for health as a whole results from their activity as the “root system of the human plant”.

The “mild derivation cure” is suitable:

• For the prevention of disease
• For raising the basic level of health
• For promoting the healing of the most varied disorders, diseases and infirmities

In addition, the mild derivation cure and diet is an ideal transition from fasting, diet and gut cleansing cures to a healthier, individually shaped long-term way of eating. The mild derivation diet lies midway between a strict light diet and a wholefood diet.

Guidelines of the mild derivation diet

• Mild food that rests (and heals) the digestion, as the most important guideline
• Preparation that eases digestion and preserves as much nutritional value as possible
• Use of biologically high-quality products
• Emphasis on alkali-providing foods
• Moderate monotony as a factor of rest
• Consideration of individual intolerances
• a) Eat only what, from your own experience, is well tolerated and easily digestible
• b) Avoid everything that is burdensome, hard to digest, causes flatulence and forms acid

Foods prohibited in the mild derivation diet for the duration of the cure

• Cellulose-rich food that burdens the digestion: heavy fresh breads, wholemeal breads and wholegrain dishes, coarsely ground grains, heavy vegetables, pulses, white cabbage, savoy cabbage
• All raw food: fruit in any form, including compotes, fruit juices and tinned fruit
• Fatty dishes, anything made with a roux, anything baked or breaded, pork and pork fat, sausage products, hydrogenated and refined oils and fats, animal fats, mayonnaises
• Industrial sugar, including brown sugar, Dextropur, sweets, confectionery, boiled sweets, sweet dishes, chocolates, jams
• Real coffee, including decaffeinated, all industrially produced drinks, alcohol, cola drinks; recommended: water, mineral water, herbal tea, malt coffee
• Nicotine
• Medication, unless prescribed by the doctor for other reasons

Permitted exceptions:

• 1 to 2 tsp of lemon and orange juice in the herbal tea, banana from derivation diet stage III
• Butter, cold-pressed vegetable oils
• Honey, molasses, pear concentrate

Recommendations of the mild derivation diet

Milk and dairy products, cream, Topfen (quark), easily digestible types of cheese (cream cheese and others), tender (!) steamed vegetables of all kinds, vegetable soups, boiled potatoes and potatoes boiled in their skins, egg, tender meat and fish dishes, easily digestible types of cereal, oat flakes, maize semolina, millet, rice, stale baked goods, yeast flakes, cold-pressed vegetable oils with highly unsaturated fatty acids, honey, native herbs and spices, sea salt, mineral water, herbal tea, malt coffee and others.

Practical procedure

Eating milk and roll provides the training required for this: the cure roll is cut into thin slices, on each of which a knife tip of quark can be spread. A small (!) bite of this is chewed until a liquid pulp of roll, quark and saliva forms, which finally takes on a slightly sweetish taste. Sweetish, because the salivary enzymes have broken down the starch of the roll into sugar. Do not swallow yet! Now a small spoonful of milk is “sipped” with it (taken like soup) and mixed in the oral cavity with the pulp of roll, quark and saliva, so that the salivary enzymes can also predigest the milk. Only then do you swallow. You eat in this way until slight satiety is reached. Then stop immediately.

Important! The way in which food is taken is decisive for the success of the cure! Without the prescribed eating culture no success can be achieved!

Monotony: you are free to choose among the variants listed for breakfast, but the breakfast and the evening snack of the mild derivation diet (MAD) should always be largely the same, or be changed as rarely as possible, since monotony is an important factor of rest and healing.

Anyone who correctly practises the eating culture according to Mayr at their meals achieves a pleasant, long-lasting satiety, because food that has been ideally predigested in the mouth is better utilised. Between breakfast and lunch there should, if at all possible, be a break of around five hours. If breakfast is eaten correctly, a healthy feeling of hunger usually sets in only a short time before lunch.

Cultivating hunger (appetite): a healthy feeling of hunger that is in no way tormenting or, which is the same thing, a hearty appetite some time before the next meal is the precondition for taking another meal. If this is lacking, you should definitely wait before eating, even at the “risk” of skipping a meal for once.

• Without hunger, no eating!
• Without hunger, no good digestion!
• Without hunger, no health!

Therefore cultivate the onset of your hunger!

Mild derivation diet: MAD I

Breakfast

You may choose from:

Milk (+ malt coffee) + cure roll + Topfen (quark)

• Milk: if available and tolerated, raw milk briefly warmed to the desired temperature is the most favourable. Choose the type of milk that, from your own experience, agrees with you best; certified raw milk (Vorzugsmilch), baby milk or good types of soured milk (Sanoghurt, Biogarde, Bioghurt) are recommended.
• Malt coffee: causes the fresh milk to curdle into flakes, which makes it particularly easy to digest. Also proven as baby food. All types of ready-made malt coffee are permitted. Anyone who tolerates milk very well can take it on its own; otherwise the addition of malt coffee is more favourable.
• Cure roll: this is a stale white bread roll. Although it is a food of low nutritional value, it is of enormous importance for the cure as an easily digestible school of eating and chewing. After the cure it should, if tolerated, be replaced by biologically more valuable bread. The cure roll must be stale, 3 days old, firm enough to slice and hardly yielding to pressure any more, so that it forces the most thorough chewing and mixing with saliva! Rolls that are too fresh and soft are unsuitable! The rolls, which are to be bought fresh every day to keep in stock, should be stored in neat rows and air-dried in a dry room on a rack, on a cloth or greaseproof paper. Before eating, they are to be cut into 9 to 10 small slices. The cure roll is used as a school of chewing throughout the whole mild derivation cure. If the rolls are too soft, they can be cut up earlier, so that they air-dry more quickly (emergency solution).
• Quark: it is best to use 10% low-fat quark at first.

Herbal tea + cure roll + quark

Herbal tea: as you choose. Silverweed and fennel have a mild cramp-relieving effect, lemon balm and St John’s wort calm the nerves, and lime blossom is also particularly pleasant in taste.

Preparation: a pinch of tea (the amount picked up with 3 fingertips) is placed in a fine sieve, scalded with boiling water (¼ litre), left to infuse for 2 minutes and strained. If permitted and tolerated, one teaspoon (tsp) of genuine bee honey (no more) and a little lemon or orange juice are added.

Bee honey contains glucose, fructose, trace elements, amino acids, enzymes and inhibines. Keep in a well-sealed container and never heat above 50° C, as otherwise the enzymes are destroyed. Honey is to be used as a seasoning. Do not exceed the stated amount! or: oat, wheat or rice gruel

Lunch

The meal of the MAD begins with alkaline soups (puréed vegetable soups). These are made from various vegetables, mainly those in season, without fat and without flour (“right across the vegetable garden”). They contain numerous micronutrients that the body can easily absorb in this form, above all minerals and trace elements, and supply alkaline substances to the organism, which during the cure is freeing itself of harmful substances, especially of acids such as uric acid. In this way they support the healing processes. As the diet of people today consists predominantly of foods that form acid and deplete alkali, alkaline soups are also to be recommended as part of a long-term diet.

Caution! All soups, gruels or other dishes that are difficult to mix with saliva should be taken with the cure roll, which forces you to chew!

Cooking alkaline soups should always mean letting them simmer slowly in a covered pan. If the heat is too high, too much liquid would evaporate and the soups would become too thick in consistency. Alkaline soups taste best when they are puréed in a blender and served immediately. With unsprayed, fresh young vegetables, thickening is not necessary! Stage 1 offers the optimum rest; after that the diet is slowly enriched and more is demanded of the digestion. Many further variants of alkaline soups can be prepared with individual mixtures of vegetables.

These “easily digestible alkaline soups” are also to be recommended outside the MAD (mild derivation diet). Other types of vegetable can then also be used. Diced and steamed vegetables can be added to the alkaline soup as an extra garnish. A little fresh vegetable can also be blended in at the end.

The main dishes include:

• Tender, easily digestible and gently prepared vegetables
• Easily digestible cereal dishes prepared so as to agree with the digestion
• A little meat or fish about every third day.

The dishes are simple and quick to prepare. Cereal dishes are given additions of vegetables; meat and fish dishes are always served with alkaline sauces and potatoes, in order to balance the acid-providing effect of meat or fish.

Evening meal

During the mild derivation cure, no evening meal or almost no evening meal is taken, because the intake of food in the evening is the least favourable. Instead, one, two or three cups of any herbal tea, possibly with a teaspoon of honey and a little lemon or orange juice, are taken by the spoonful. Taking the hot tea by the spoonful usually produces an astonishingly good feeling of satiety. Should there nevertheless be genuine hunger, a little Topfen (quark) diluted with milk is additionally permitted, which is taken with a little cure roll for better mixing with saliva. However, you should stop eating as soon as slight satiety is reached. For the whole cure the rule is “cultivating hunger”, because: “Hunger heals!”

This means that when the body receives so little food that a healthy feeling of hunger arises some time before the next meal, the digestive system can put its interior in order, tidy up, and digest and shed old waste deposits. While the digestive system is empty, which is felt as hunger, the most important healing processes take place! In most cure patients, however, only slight hunger arises during the whole derivation cure, even in the evening, since the body is now living off its reserves that are due for breakdown, its “rubbish dump” and its fat stores. Anyone who complains of hunger at a time other than before a meal usually only has “Gusto”, the craving of the pampered palate for variety. Tormenting hunger, however, must not occur at any point in the cure. Provided the cure is being carried out correctly, this would be a sign of illness that makes it necessary to consult the treating doctor.

Mild derivation diet: MAD II

In contrast to MAD I, MAD II already offers a richer choice, in part with foods that are somewhat harder to digest. Here the use of high-quality oil-protein dishes as described by Dr. J. Budwig is also of particular importance. What applies unchanged is the eating culture, with the most thorough chewing and mixing with saliva, and stopping eating at the earliest right moment. Cultivate a good appetite!

Breakfast

You may choose from the breakfast dishes already recommended in MAD I, where, instead of the low-fat Topfen (quark), Topfen with a higher fat content (20%), also Gervais cheese, may now be used, and the following may be considered as possible additions:

• Oil and quark spreads, possibly now and then
• Soft-boiled egg (with sea salt)
• Chicken or turkey ham (no pork ham), or
• Oat, wheat or rice gruel (recipes 1 and 80), with an egg whisked in and 1 to 2 tsp of cold-pressed oil (stirred in well).

Lunch

The alkaline soups:

The alkaline soups of MAD II are prepared unchanged as in MAD I, but the finished, seasoned soups can additionally be enriched with cold-pressed oils, flakes of butter or yeast flakes.

Evening meal

The evening meal of MAD II remains unchanged as in MAD I. If the need to eat is stronger, however, the more filling quark spreads are also permitted.

Mild derivation diet: MAD III

MAD III is the derivation stage that already represents a transition to a future long-term diet. Here foods and methods of preparation that are somewhat less easily digestible come into use, such as potatoes in the form of potatoes boiled in their skins, more culinary and wild herbs (cress, dandelion), also beef, and furthermore, in modest amounts, banana, raw carrots in the oil-protein dish and easily digestible puddings (desserts). When grilling, the previous method (with foil) can be kept, or you can already proceed without foil. However, on moving to MAD III only one of the newly permitted options for eating should be tried at a time. What applies unchanged is the eating culture, with the most thorough chewing and mixing with saliva, and stopping eating in good time, as early as possible.

Continue to cultivate a good appetite!

Breakfast

You may choose from all the breakfast dishes already recommended in MAD I and II, and the following are now additionally available:

• New oil-protein spreads; or
• Linomel mixed dishes (Linomel is a mixture of linseed oil and honey available from health food shops which, because it is easily digestible and tastes good, is tolerated even by infants.)

Lunch

The alkaline soups

The vegetables used may now be sweated in butter with a little leek or onion. This makes the taste even better.

Main dishes

In addition to the recommended recipes, tender leaf salads can now be eaten in modest amounts as a small starter before the soup, dressed with pure natural cider vinegar, cold-pressed oil and sea salt.

Source

The slightly modified and abridged texts were taken from:

Dr. med. Erich Rauch / Peter Mayr: Milde Ableitungs-Diät; Karl F. Haug Verlag, Heidelberg