Helena Frith Powell - The Viva Mayr Diet

Over the next 14 days, you’ll need the following foods in your store cupboard and fridge. Most of the recipesare designed to serve about four, so if you are cooking for your family, this is probably ideal; however, if you are going solo, you will need to purchase smaller quantities of the ingredients. Read through the recipes before heading off to the shops, so you know what you’ll need. It’s also a good idea to purchase your fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs daily (if possible), and, unless you have a very good deep-freezer, your meat and fish, as well.

Green tea

Pomegranate juice

Spring water

Stevia

Vegetable stock cubes, organic

Rock salt

Extra-virgin olive oil

Cold-pressed linseed oil

Cold-pressed hemp oil

Cold-pressed walnut oil

Cold-pressed pumpkin-seed oil

Coconut oil

Truffle oil (optional)

Balsamic vinegar

Honey

Maple syrup

Cider vinegar

Blackcurrant purée

Baking powder

Cream of tartar

Organic soya sauce

Raisins or sultanas

Green olives

Black olives

Dried fruit, such as apricots and prunes

Organic eggs

Butter

Soft goat’s cheese

Soft sheep’s cheese

Sour cream

Soya milk

Single cream

Double cream

Parmesan cheese

Cottage cheese

Rice milk

Oat milk

Live sheep’s, goat’s or cow’s milk yoghurt (avoid the latter if you have any allergies or intolerance to milk, milk proteins or lactose)

Goat’s milk or sheep’s milk (full-fat cow’s milk is OK, if you have no allergies)

Apples

Berries (such as strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries; whatever you can get)

Pomegranates

Oranges

Lemons

Limes

Bananas

Papaya

Mangoes

Spinach

Onions

Radishes

Celery

Carrots

Fennel

Potatoes

Kohlrabi

Ripe vine tomatoes

Baby plum tomatoes

Pumpkin or butternut squash

Salad (various lettuce leaves; anything goes)

Garden cress

Mixed sprouts, such as fenu greek, alfalfa, mung bean, radish, soya

Courgettes

Parsnips

Avocados

Artichokes (globe)

Broccoli

Celeriac

Rocket

Aubergines

Turnip

Shallots

Fresh beetroot

Fresh horseradish (or shop-bought horseradish sauce)

As well as any fruits and vegetables in season …

Trout fillets

Smoked trout fillets

Skinless, boneless turkey breasts

Slices of turkey ham

Loin of lamb

Salmon fillets

Slices of smoked salmon

Fillet of beef

Organic silken tofu (or hemp tofu if you can get it)

Char caviar

Walnuts

Pumpkin seeds

Almonds

Whole linseeds

Chickpeas (dried)

Sesame seeds

Amaranth seeds

Ground oats

Buckwheat flour

Millet

Corn flakes

Spelt flour

Rice flakes

Soya flour

Polenta

Potato flour (an Italian deli should sell this)

Risotto rice

Note: some of the dried herbs can be found at your local health-food shop

Fresh ginger

Fresh lemon verbena

Fresh dill

Fresh chervil

Fresh tarragon

Fresh lovage

Fresh coriander

Fresh thyme

Fresh rosemary stalks

Fresh marjoram

Fresh mint

Fresh parsley

Fresh or dried fennel

Fresh lemongrass

Fresh basil

Cinnamon sticks

Ground cloves

Ground ginger

Ground cinnamon

Nutmeg

Vermouth

Dried caraway seeds

Dried yarrow

Dried horsetail

Dried birch leaves

You may also want to consider getting some crystals to energise and purify your water; rose quartz is a great choice, if you can get it.

So no doughnuts and no deep-fried Mars bars – funny that. If the list looks sadly lacking in sugar hits, just remember that your taste buds will change in a few days and you will no longer crave all those sweet things. You are perfectly capable of living without them, and you will start to feel and look better very quickly as a result of eating the kinds of foods listed above, which actually have some nutritional value.

It’s perfectly acceptable to create your own meals rather than following the suggested menu plans, although you may want to try them for a few days first, to get the hang of the way food is prepared at Viva Mayr. Here, you’ll find hints for cooking the Viva Mayr way, and a little later in this section you’ll find out what foods you need, and why you should be eating them. By all means experiment with the foods listed above, or choose some of your own. The key words are fresh, organic (if possible), varied and whole. So get plenty of different whole grains, fresh, brightly coloured fruits and vegetables, a little fresh, lean meat and fish, some good-quality seeds and nuts, plenty of fresh herbs, organic eggs and some dairy – sheep and goat’s, if you can; otherwise, cow’s milk dairy produce will be fine, too. The most important things you can and should purchase are cold-pressed oils, which feature every single day on the Viva Mayr Diet (see here).

When I ask Dr Stossier what type of sugar is best for us to eat, he is very firm when he responds.

‘No sugar – that’s the best sugar you can have.’

But that’s totally and utterly impossible. How can anyone possibly live without sugar? I mean, even if you wanted to, how could you avoid it? Is there such a thing as sugar-free shortbread biscuits?

‘I know it’s difficult,’ he concedes, ‘but the fact is that you don’t need any more sugar than you get from the food you already eat. We get so many different forms of carbohydrates that it is not necessary to add more.’

I ask him if brown sugar is better. Apparently it is not. How irritating is that? I have spent the last 20 years taking brown sugar lumps instead of white ones because I think they are healthier. I don’t even have any white sugar in the house; I do everything with brown sugar, even baking – which is not easy if you’re trying to bake a white fluffy sponge.

‘Brown sugar is very often only white sugar that has been coloured brown to give it the appearance of natural, healthy sugar,’ explains the doctor. ‘In fact, natural sugar wouldn’t even taste like sugar. If you have a sweet tooth then use the plant Stevia instead.’

I have tried Stevia in its raw form and also in a chocolate mousse. It is delicious and sweet enough for anyone. You can buy it online or in health-food shops. But be aware that a craving for sweet things is a sign that your cells are asking for sugar because they need energy to digest your food. This means you have not given your body the best chance to digest, and is not good news. You are either eating the wrong thing at the wrong time, not chewing enough (see here), eating too much protein (see here) or eating when you are stressed (see here).

Fruit is a better option than sugar. Instead of sugar, sprinkle fruit on your cereal. An ideal breakfast would be muesli and some fruit followed by eggs (preferably not fried, sadly, which will upset my daughter who likes nothing better than to start the day with one or even two fried eggs), and some raw vegetables. While I was at the Viva Mayr Clinic, I had an avocado with linseed oil for breakfast – surprisingly delicious and one of the most nutritious ways to start the day. But if you can’t imagine going on without your daily fix of doughnuts, Mars bars or fizzy drinks, please do me a favour and just give it three days; that’s all it will take to break your nasty habits, for your taste buds to mellow, and for those things to seem like sugary, unhealthy and fattening blasts from the past.