Doctrine Birher-Benner

As an independent trend in raw food vegetarian food system has emerged in Europe in the late XIX century. Its founder is a Swiss physician Max Birher-Benner. He created the doctrine that raw-foodists hold today. This doctrine is not to be confused with other types of non-traditional food, which also contain diets to include a raw food - fruits, berries, vegetables, nuts, and sprouted grains.

Doctrine Birher-Benner based on the belief that the plants concentrated solar energy. According to the theory Birher-Benner in plants solar energy is converted into electromagnetic, which is transmitted by the human body only if he uses the herbal products in the raw state, because cooking and frying cause it to dissipate.

Different foods he regarded as solar batteries and attributed them to the three groups.

   1. The highest possible - solar batteries of the first order - greens, fruits, berries, nuts, raw milk, cream, sour cream, fresh raw eggs.

   2. The group of order batteries included boiled milk, butter, cottage cheese, cheese.

   3. Produce affected by prolonged boiling, roasting and other types of high temperatures, Birher-Benner took the third group.

So, according to this theory, the most nutritious, health and medical value are raw plant foods, especially fruits, berries and vegetables.

Traditionally, the nutritional value of the product was determined as the amount of heat (measured in calories) released by splitting it in full body.

Birher-Benner proposed to replace the concept of measuring caloric food (calorie) notion of its nutritional value, depending on its content of "solar energy." However, the fact that the content of the "solar energy" in the diet can not be measured by laboratory tests.

All products of plant and animal origin that scientist broke the so-called "food systems" created by nature and contain everything necessary for life and human development. Food systems have "life energy", proteins, carbohydrates, mineral salts, which are included in the metabolism in the body. The most valuable are the "food systems" is used in its raw form. If they are cooking or industrial processing, the split, and the "solar vitality" with leaking. For example, a whole apple is a kind of "food complex," but if it is rubbed on a grater, this complex will disappear. Proceeding from this premise, raw-foodists have made them conclude apple to eat whole - with seed crust and its contents.

Special attention raw-foodists - followers of this doctrine - peel and attach the outer shell of fruit, berries and vegetables: in them, as in a rainbow collected solar energy in its various forms.

Indeed, modern nutritional science confirms that vegetable pigments of red, blue, purple color (anthocyanins) are involved in the oxidation-reduction processes, are extremely important to the human body. Such pigments are most rich beet, eggplant, tomato. Yellow and orange pigments (carotenoids) are indispensable components of the food, because they are not synthesized in the human body. Their biological significance is also large: they are involved in the formation of light-sensitive compounds providing night vision. Orange-yellow carotenoid - is vitamin A. It is particularly many in carrot varieties karotel. The brighter the color of it, so it is useful for routine and diet. Many carotenoids in tomatoes and their relatives pigment - hypoxanthine - in sweet pepper. It should be noted that the pigments of fruits and vegetables are very sensitive to high temperatures.

Birher-Benner used the diet of raw fruits and vegetables in combination with other treatments for patients with gastric ulcer, asthma, with circulatory failure and many other diseases. His resort to the success of the treatment cycle - from power for a few days alone juices and vegetables to use diet of raw fruits, berries and vegetables with the addition of rye bread and milk (in a few weeks or months). Scholar urged his patients not to stop the consumption of raw fruits, vegetables, roots, nuts and bread and not a culinary food cooked on the fire, that is, become rawfoodist.

The main provisions of the teachings of M. Bihner-Benner were outlined in his book "Principles of treatment on the basis of energy supply" (1903). For professionals in the field of raw food, this book has not lost its significance in our day:

    * Diet consisting of plant products is the best supplier of "solar energy", vitamins, hormones, enzymes, mineral salts;

    * "Life energy" is found only in raw food, so it must be the mainstay of the diet;

    * Cooked food is poor, "solar energy", and vitamins and other valuable substances in it denatured, prolonged heat treatment is particularly harmful to preserve vitamins and minerals;

    * Cooking will in the form of cooking, roasting causes a person to eat a lot of unnecessary ingredients (spices) contained in these dishes, not to mention tea, coffee, chocolate, sugar, resulting in impaired appetite, and people are affected;

    * Useful only to those products that are in their original form, any of their industrial processing results in loss of "food industry", white bread is better not to have, replacing it with rye, the same applies to the normal sugar, instead of which it is necessary to use the cane;

    * Meat food is poor "solar energy" and vitamins, so it is like a fish, slowly destroys critical tissues of the body;

    * Especially dangerous meat rich broth, as they contribute to excessive absorption into the blood acids, most of which are junk - uric acid, meat does not give the body vitality, but rather weakens them;

    * Fresh raw eggs can be eaten, but their composition meets the needs of the embryo bird, not the person. Therefore, even with the limited use of eggs can cause metabolic disease and putrefaction in the digestive tract;

    * Fruits, berries, vegetables, leaves and stems of plants to provide an alkaline diet focus, which must prevail over acidic (it in small quantities given cereals, legumes and seeds), the ideal diet - raw fruits, berries, vegetables and green leaves contain both lye and "solar energy", vitamins, mineral salts;

    * Rejection of hot food has a positive effect on well-being, as only "solar energy" contained in the products is in good blood circulation;

    * Necessary to minimize the frequency of meals: thoroughly to eat only once a day, and little by little - two times, it is - the limit, all of the above - is harmful, should abandon the habit of snacking between the three meals, is about to slow as raw fruits and vegetables require thorough mastication, otherwise there stomach and intestinal disorders.

These are the basic principles of nutrition abstracts Birher-Benner.