Lesson #5 - The Mucusless Diet

The Mucusless Diet was pioneered by Professor Arnold Ehret back in the early 1900s. He sought a diet that would cure his disease (Bright’s Disease). Ehret visited two dozen doctors and seven sanitariums. He study naturopathy, mental healing, Christian Science, magnetic healing and other therapies of the time, all to no avail.

Then on a trip to North Africa, Ehret began fasting and eating only fruit. He had dramatic results. While on this diet he bicycled 800 miles from Algiers to Tunis. He hiked through Italy for 56 hours straight. He proved to himself and the world that what we eat determines how healthy we feel.

Ehret then opened and ran his own sanitarium in Ascona, Switzerland for 15 years. Thus he was part of the FIRST hippie movement, in Europe, just after the turn of the century. Please refer to the book “Children of the Sun”, or the article “Hippie Roots and the Perennial Subculture” for more information about the original German Hippies and their influence upon America’s hippie movement.

Ehret, like other original German hippies, then moved to California where he began to write books about his discoveries. In California he influenced the “Nature Boys” who spread the gospel of raw fruits and vegetables and the back to nature/health food movement in America took off.



Professor Arnold Ehret, taken shortly after his 49 day fast in Cologne, Germany, circa 1905. Ehret later migrated to southern California and helped to spawn a new sub-culture in America, based upon his natural philosophy and lifestyle. His books have never been out of print in over 70 years. (Photo courtesy of Fred Hirsch)

So what is this Mucusless Diet?

Ehret developed a dynamic theory of health which almost parallels that of Eastern Medicine. He found the human body to be a delicate system whose energy should flow unimpeded. Improper diet, especially the highly processed, meat and dairy heavy Western diet clogs our digestive system, and therefore impedes the flow of energy through our body. This is similar to the Eastern concept of Chi, or life force that flows in channels through our bodies.

Ehret also categorized food according to whether it was “harmless, natural, healing and real nourishing foods, or into harmful, disease-producing ones.” This concept is similar to Ayurvedic teachings which likewise categories foods into various types which are recommended for different constitutions.

But Ehrets biggest contribution to the health food movement are the ideas that what you eat determines your health, and fasting as a part of a healthy lifestyle can keep your body free of toxins.

His concept of a mucusless diet was, and still is revolutionary and controversial. Ehret believed that mucus is the product of an improper diet, and by removing the cause of mucus from the diet will result in dramatic improvement in one’s health.

The only foods that Ehret defined as non-mucus causing are fruits, nuts and leafy green vegetables (raw or cooked). So a diet based upon those items and occasional fasting can restore one’s health and keep one healthy indefinitely.

Ehret also introduced the concept of food combining, which states that certain foods can be eaten together while others should be eaten alone. He suggested the benefit of eating one type of food at a time to ensure proper digestion. We call those mono-meals.

The Mucusless diet is very clear on the benefits of fasting and details when to fast and for how long. At one time, Ehret held the world record for fasting, 49 days. So he knows what he’s talking about.

You can read more about his diet in his books “Rational Fasting” and the “Mucusless-Diet Healing System.” You can read a very condensed version of the latter book for FREE, right here: http://www.arnoldehret.org/healthclub/trilogy_1.html

Professor Ehret emphasizes how our body works as a system to remove toxic wastes, and understanding this system is the key to taking control and restoring the healthy balance we require.

So the Mucusless diet takes vegetarianism and veganism one big step further. By focusing on the healing aspect of diet, Ehret gives everyone the necessary tools for health, without needing a doctor, a sanitarium, prescription medications, or surgery.

So basically by going mucusless, you’re adopting the Vegan diet, meaning no meat (obviously), no dairy products, no eggs, nothing that produces “mucus”. Eliminating such items from your diet will result in immediate, noticeable health benefits.

One of the first things you might notice is a clearing out of the sinuses and lungs (within days) due to the elimination of dairy products and meats. So anyone suffering from related illnesses will benefit.

Ehret does caution us however that fasting will cause the release of toxins stored in our cells back into the blood stream to be eliminated. During this time one undergoes what we call a “healing crisis”. We can feel very sick for days as these toxins reappear in our blood and get eliminated.

This healing crisis is a good thing, so we shouldn’t be surprised or alarmed if fasting at some point makes us feel sick. Since everyone has ingested a different variety of toxins in their lives, the symptoms are likely to be different too.

But once the healing crisis is over, we immediately feel rejuvenated and more alive and aware. Our energy level increases and our mental attitude improves. At this point it becomes much easier to continue fasting, as a major goal and hardship has been reached and passed.

Once you have achieved all your goals in fasting (which could include weight loss, healing a medical condition or cleansing drugs from your system), you should now modify your diet, approaching fruitarianism. Ehret recommends skipping breakfasts, saying two meals daily are sufficient.

Ehret says eat your fruit first, followed 20 minutes later by vegetables. This is part of the mono-meals and the proper food combining rules he promoted.

I always eat fruit or drink fruit juice separately from anything else. This is because fruit is digested very fast. If you have fruit during a mixed meal or after other foods, it will sit and ferment in your digestive track awaiting absorption.

So the rule is to eat the fast digesting foods first, then the heavier, slower to digest foods later. Some vegetables can take up to 3 hours to digest. So you don’t want to be drinking fresh orange juice with your meal (whatever it is).

You'll notice there is no emphasis on consuming high protein in the diet. The Mucusless diet relies upon nuts and seeds (including grains like rice and wheat) for a major chunk of protein. Raw nuts, nut butters, nuts and seeds with vegetables are usually consumed every day if not every meal.

Grains are better sprouted or cooked at lower temperatures to retain more of their nutrients. Substituting nuts and seeds for meat is a challenge, but one that has been met by the many thousands who've adopted the Mucusless diet.

Professor Ehret was also adamant about avoiding excess in diet and lifestyle. He advocated moderation in all things, like the Buddha. So don’t take his diet too far, too fast. Work up to longer fasts. Break your fasts with lite meals of fruit.

As he says, until you experience with your own body the benefits and truth of his diet, you won’t fully understand it. Everyone I know who has tried his diet has improved their health, often as dramatically as Ehret did in North Africa.

His dietary concepts have become an integral part of the health food movement in the USA, and in fact kick started the movement in California in the 1920s. His books and diet have influenced several generations of hippies and health enthusiasts.

I recommend his diet to anyone looking to improve their health, cure a hard to diagnose or treat disease, or even if you’re just looking to lose weight. Your body will notice the difference, and it will insist upon keeping at least some of the diet as part of your new, healthier lifestyle.

You will become much more aware of those foods that heal you and those that poison you. You will become more aware of your body’s digestive, eliminative and healing processes and learn how to tell when something is going wrong with them.

But most importantly you will arrive at a new attitude towards everything you put in your body, with a greater awareness that You Are What You Eat!

Assignment: If you choose the Mucusless-Diet, please keep a diary of what you eat and how your body responds and your mental observations for at least the first week, especially if you begin with a fast. Then post up the diary all at once if you can.

 

Are you wary of giving up dairy products?

If so, please read this
http://www.rense.com/general26/milk.htm

It discusses many important health reasons to give up milk products.

 

No, Ehret did not take any food supplements. His philosophy is that everything the body requires is already there in the food we eat.

Certain food supplements and vitamins need to be consumed with solid food. So that would not be advisable on a fast.

If you are taking raw fruit juices during a fast you will get some essential vitamins like C, which would be important in preventing a deficiency on a long fast. That is one reason why most fasting today includes fruit and or vegetable juice.

Water fasting should be for shorter periods due to the ongoing depletion of essential nutrients.

Of course some people, like Breatharians would argue all you need is to breathe...