Helena Frith Powell - The Viva Mayr Diet

It makes sense to eat food that is as natural as possible. Not only is it healthier, but it also mirrors our own natural state. Unfortunately, some production processes either prevent the food’s energy from being created (for example, if it has no access to natural sunlight) or destroy it (for example, by irradiating food to preserve it or cooking food in a microwave oven).’

There are a multitude of other reasons to eat organic, including supporting sustainable farming, ensuring we aren’t consuming unhealthy pesticides, herbicides, growth hormones, and other chemicals in our food, and avoiding GMOs (genetically modified organisms), which may contain little or no vitality at all.

Having said that, eating organic is not the most important aspect of the Viva Mayr philosophy, and if you don’t have access to organic food there are many things you can do to compensate. ‘Apart from the really obvious things like junk food and sweets with no nutritional value, there is nothing you have to avoid as long as you chew it properly,’ says Dr Stossier. ‘Food is not good or bad, food is food; it is neutral. It is always a question of what we can get out of the food, so we have to look at our eating habits. The quality of the food is not the most important thing, but if we can reduce the intake of industrially prepared foods then it’s a good thing.’

So I guess shortbread biscuits are out? Unless they are homemade? ‘They lack nutritional value,’ says Dr Stossier, smiling. All very well, but they have many other things going for them.

The Viva Mayr Diet is not about depriving yourself, but about eating the right thing at the right time and optimising your digestive capacity, which in turns leads to a healthier, slimmer, less-prone-to-ageing you. In fact, what you eat is not nearly as important as when you eat it. But do try to stick to the menu plans outlined on each day of the programme, or investigate some of the alternative recipes at the back of the book (see

• Eat less – we all eat much more than we need to.

• Focus on eating more fats (choosing cold-pressed oils), and fewer carbohydrates, which will lead to healthier digestion, and overall good health.

• Eat animal proteins – meat and fish – only every second day.

• Remember that good eating begins in the supermarket – don’t think for even one second that if you buy a packet of jaffa cakes you won’t eat them.

• Avoid ‘empty’ foods – there is no point in eating white bread and then taking a fibre supplement.

• Only fry food in warm-pressed oils. Virgin or cold-pressed oils become toxic when heated at high temperatures.

• Go organic whenever you can, but don’t get overly stressed about it.

• Remember it only takes a few days to break bad habits forever.

Rachel, 28, Stevenage

I used to be a junk-food junkie. I couldn’t walk past a McDonald’s without salivating. I would start the day with breakfast on the run – either a doughnut or almond croissant or something similarly sweet. I always needed a sugar rush. And, of course, I would drink coffee to help wake me up, too. Lunch would normally be McDonald’s or Pizza Hut. By the end of the day I felt faintly sick, but I sort of got used to it, and then I would go out and have lots of wine after work. This way of eating and drinking started when I was 18 and a student. I guess at that age your body can almost handle it, but the older I got the more unhealthy I started to feel. I also, understandably, put on weight. I couldn’t face doing any exercise because I felt so dreadful.

New Year’s last year was a turning point. I tried on every dress in my wardrobe but had the most awful VPL with every one. Then I realised it wasn’t the VPL that was the problem – it was my bum that was the problem. I went out and got drunk, but made one big resolution: to change my eating habits and do some exercise. A friend of mine had been to the Viva Mayr Clinic and told me about the diet, about eating a big breakfast, chewing well, eating organic and avoiding all the things I had been eating.

The first week was the worst. I swear I was in withdrawal. I longed for some stodge, but I had promised myself to totally avoid anything like that. I started with muesli and thought I was going to throw up. I had to chew it about 40 times to be able to swallow it! I ate fruit in the morning, too, which tasted bitter to me, used as I was to sugar-coated doughnuts. For lunch I would buy a salad or something. By mid-afternoon on the second day I had headaches and felt faint, as well as hungry! I kept motivating myself by thinking about how I would soon fit into my clothes and start to feel better. In fact, I started to look better almost straight away. My skin became clearer almost overnight and my eyes sparkled.

On the third day I woke up full of energy and almost (not quite!) looking forward to my muesli. I didn’t feel depressed at the thought of not eating a doughnut on my way to the office. I actually enjoyed eating rocket salad and parmesan with a piece of grilled chicken when I went out for lunch. Actually, I think day three was a turning point. I really was amazed at how quickly it had all happened – how ten years of bad eating had been changed almost overnight. OK, so I wasn’t totally off junk food – I still had enormous cravings for it – but the results I had seen already made me go on and made me strong. It’s true that when I went to the supermarket I practically had to shut my eyes when going past the Pringles, but I made it and was very proud of myself.

Almost like a drug addict, I told myself I had to have a whole month off junk food to really clean out my system. At the end of that month I would allow myself a treat. During those first few days that treat was the only light in a dark tunnel. But, oddly enough, at the end of my month I had totally and utterly lost the craving for junk food. I even went to McDonald’s the day after my month was up and the smell, which used to get my gastric juices going, made me feel sick!

I am not a saint and I am still not quite as healthy as I would like to be, but that excess weight fell off. This all happened four months ago and I am still going strong. I am happier, healthier, thinner and more determined than ever to keep eating the Viva Mayr way.

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