Bircher-Benner 26 Healthy and slim Manual for treatment of weight problems, overweight and anorexia

Dr. med. Andres Bircher grandson of Dr.med. Maximilian Bircher-Benner. Medical studies in Zürich and Geneva, ten years practice as a hospital physician in anaesthesiology, intensive care, emergency medicine, surgery, paediatrics, psychosomatics, haematology, geriatrics, psychiatry and psychotherapy, medical specialist(Facharzt) in an administrative position at Zürich university hospitals, teaching analysis with Brian Kenny, chief physician (Chefarzt) of a hospital for internal medicine in Zurich and later in Western Switzerland, medical specialist (Facharzt) in TCM and acupuncturist in Vienna; studies of neural therapy, manual therapy and traditional homeopathy, successful completion of medical specialist (Facharzt) training in balneology, climatology and physical medicine in Germany, scientific work on food energies, dietetics and the effects of regulatory medicine. Dr. med. Andres Bircher is the medical manager of the Centre for Scientific Natural Medicine Bircher-Benner.

Table of Contents:

Preface. 10
Assessment of Body Weight 15
Tables for Ideal Weight 17
The Ideal Weight of Adult Men. 17
The Ideal Weight of Adult Women. 19
Target Weight for the Dietary Treatment 21
Weight Table for Children. 21
Weight Table for Men. 25
Weight Table for Women. 27
Relevance of Body Weight for Health and Life Expectancy, Various Forms of Overweight 29
Abdominal Girth at the Waist 29
Neurobiological Control of Appetite, Energy Consumption, Hormone Levels and Growth 30
Satiation. 30
Hormones that Regulate Satiation and Energy Balance. 31
Changes in the Sense of Taste in Obesity and Anorexia Nervosa. 35
Emergency Regulation of Eating Behaviour 36
Complexity of Appetite, Body Weight and Energy Consumption Regulation. 37
Relevance of the Intestinal Milieu and the Intestinal Flora. 39
The Intestinal Flora in Underweight and Anorexia. 42
The Gut-Brain Axis. 46
Overweight and Obesity. 49
Causes of Obesity. 50
Genetic Factors. 50
Prenatal Factors. 50
Epigenetic Imprinting. 50
Prevention Begins in the Womb. 52
The Influence of Nutrition in Early Childhood. 53
Malnutrition and Lack of Exercise. 54
The Mitochondria, the Power Plants of the Cells. 56
The Influence of Food on the Blood Glucose Level and Health. 57
Glycaemic Index and Glycaemic Charge. 57
The Glycaemic Index (GI) 57
The Glycaemic Load (GL) 57
Oxidative Stress at the Centre of the Causes of Degenerative Diseases. 59
Food Energy. 62
The Problem of Food Energy. 62
Two Kinds of Food Energy. 63
The Basic Regulation of the Soft Connective Tissue (Matrix) 66
The Significance of Food Economy. 67
The Integral Law of Nutrition. 69
Vibrancy of Food. 70
Secondary Plant Substances (Phytochemicals) 71
The Significance of Movement 73
Sleep is Essential 74
The Relevance of the Emotions in Overweight and Eating Disorders. 75
Pregnancy and Body Weight 76
Secondary Diseases from Obesity. 77
Metabolic Syndrome, Obesity, Hypertension and Diabetes Mellitus. 77
From Obesity to Diabetes Mellitus. 77
From Obesity to Hypertension and Cardiovascular Diseases. 78
The Metabolic Effects of Exercise and Rest 79
General Directives for Order Therapy for Obesity. 80
The Cornerstones of the Therapy. 80
Regarding the Diet 80
Fasting Reactions and their Treatment 83
The Weight Curve. 84
Typical Weight Curves. 84
Progress of Average Body Weight with Alternating Juice, Raw Food and Whole Food Diet According to Bircher 85
Cholesterol 85
Influence of Bircher’s Dietary Treatment on Serum Cholesterol in Obese People 85
Influence of Bircher’s Dietary Treatment for Obese People on Blood Pressure 86
Blood Pressure. 86
Eating Disorders, Binge Eating and Anorexia Nervosa. 88
Diagnostic Criteria of Anorexia Nervosa. 89
Treatment of Eating Disorders and Anorexia Nervosa. 95
Medical Consultation. 96
The Dietary Approach to Treatment of Eating Disorders and Anorexia Nervosa 96
Family Therapy. 97
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. 97
Group Therapy with the Parents. 98
In-patient Treatment of Anorexia Nervosa. 98
Nutritional Therapy for Bulimia Nervosa. 100
Psychoeducational Guidance of the Bulimic Patient 101
The Therapy Contract 101
Individual Therapy. 101
Constitutional Slimness. 104
Cachexia, Emaciation Caused by Severe Illness or Hunger 105
Diet to Counter Underweight, Anorexia Nervosa and Cachexia. 107
Infusion Therapy. 109
Implementation of the Diet 110
Treatment Plans for Weight Reduction. 110
General Rules for the First Week. 113
General Advice for One Year after Completion of the Treatment 113
Basic Forms of Diet for Overweight and Obesity. 115
Various Dietary Stages and their Use in Slimming. 115
Implementation of the Diet for Curing Underweight 117
Diet for Anorexia Nervosa. 117
The Diet for Constitutional Underweight 119
Diet in Advanced Age and in Case of Disease-related Cachexia. 120
Water Applications. 121
Spruce Needle Bath. 121
Long Light Bath. 121
Light Sweating Bath. 121
Hay Flower Bath or Hay Flower Thigh Bath. 121
Kuhne’s Friction Sitz Bath. 121
Arm Bath (according to Hauffe) 121
Alternating Foot Bath. 122
Treading Water 122
Alternating Warm Wash. 122
Alternating Shower 122
Dry Brushing. 122
Sun Bath. 122
Nutritional Values of Vegetables and Fruit by Nutritional Content 124
Vegetables. 124
Fruit 124
Menu. 125
Principles of Selection in Dietary Composition. 125
One Week for Each Month of the Year 126
One Week Diet to Maintain a Slim Figure. 126
January to March. 126
April to June. 127
July to September 128
October to December 128
A Week of Strict Diet to Maintain a Slim Figure. 129
Dietary Recipes for the Healthy, Slim Figure. 132
Preparatory Explanations for the Fresh Juice Diet 133
JUICES. 133
Fresh Juices. 133
Gruel to Added to Juices. 134
Vegetable Juices. 135
Very Easily Digestible Juice Recipes for Mixed Juices. 135
BIRCHER MUESLI 137
RAW VEGETABLES. 138
SALAD DRESSINGS. 141
MILK TYPES. 143
Butter, health food store vegetable fats and oils. 144
SOUPS. 145
COOKED VEGETABLES. 148
SALADS OF COOKED VEGETABLES. 155
SANDWICHES. 156
GRAIN DISHES. 158
DESSERTS. 161
HEALTHY TEAS. 163
BEVERAGES. 165
Gymnastic Exercises to Maintain a Slender Line. 166
Training for the Spine and Trunk Muscles. 166
Training for Abdominal and Back Muscles. 166
Training for Shoulder Girdle and Chest 167
Training from the Shoulder Girdle Stance. 167
Training for the Elasticity of the Joints. 168
Appendix and Tables Diet for Weight Issues. 169
Calculated Daily Menus for the Diet (1,200—2,100 calories) 169
Table of Glycaemic Index and Glycaemic Load. 186
List of Recipes and Treatment Plans. 192
NOTES. 193

This manual is based on long experience in the treatment of patients who have been healed by Bircher’s order therapy. The earlier editions have been supplemented with many notes from basic research and the new results of clinical gastroenterological research, and the dietetic section has also been slightly revised without losing the high quality of Bircher’s recipes. The manual gives the patient or person with a weakness of the liver the required knowledge and the indispensable practical instruction to enable him to stop progression of his disease and initiate continuous healing steps. The book can be a valuable aid for the doctor practicing holistic treatment, helping him or her to provide patients with instructions for changing their lifestyles towards the order therapy. Since its establishment by Dr.med. Max Oscar Bircher-Benner, the order therapy for liver and gall diseases has been researched for more than one hundred years at the Bircher-Benner clinic and in private practices under careful observation of its healing effects. Throughout these years, the many thousands of desperate patients who recovered from their rapidly worsening diseases have been our best teachers. With a strong will to be healed, they successfully followed the instructions of the order therapy and enabled great insights whose confirmation is only now slowly being reflected in general medical research. In the change to a more healthful lifestyle, nutrition is of primary importance! It leads to regeneration of the large regulation systems, a new opening towards the outer world and oneself that permits the healing forces of the organism, body and soul to begin their work. Let me finally quote a section of Bircher-Benner’s book “Vom warden des neuen Arztes” (The physician of the future): “The wonders of the soul remain closed to those who continually ignore the laws of nutrition. Power and depth of inner experiences depend on nutrition-this is their actual meaning. Taking care of one’s body and nutrition is useless unless a new development and awakening of inner powers results from it” Dr.med. Andres A. Bircher

This manual is based on long experience in the treatment of patients who have been healed by Bircher's order therapy. The earlier editions have been supplementedwith many notes from basic research and the new results of clinical gastroenterological research, and the dietetic section has also been slightly revised without losing the high quality of Bircher's recipes. The manual gives the patient or person with a weakness of the liver the required knowledge and the indispensable practical instruction to enable him to stop progression of his disease and initiate continuous healing steps. The book can be a valuable aid for the doctor practicing holistic treatment, helping him or her to provide patients with instructions for changing their lifestyles towards the order therapy.Since its establishment by Dr.med. Max Oscar Bircher-Benner, the order therapy for liver and gall diseases has been researched for more than one hundred years at the Bircher-Benner clinic and in private practices under careful observation of its healing effects. Throughout these years, the many thousands of desperate patients who recovered from their rapidly worsening diseases have been our best teachers. With a strong will to be healed, they successfully followed the instructions of the order therapy and enabled great insights whose confirmation is only now slowly being reflected in general medical research.In the change to a more healthful lifestyle, nutrition is of primary importance! It leads to regeneration of the large regulation systems, a new opening towards the outer world and oneself that permits the healing forces of the organism, body and soul to begin their work. Let me finally quote a section of Bircher-Benner's book "Vom warden des neuen Arztes" (The physician of the future): "The wonders of the soul remain closed to those who continually ignore the laws of nutrition. Power and depth of inner experiences depend on nutrition-this is their actual meaning. Taking care of one's body and nutrition is useless unless a new development and awakening of inner powers results from it"Dr.med. Andres A. Bircher