14 days to a flatter stomach and a younger you
The VIVA Mayr DIET
DR HARALD STOSSIER &
Helena Frith Powell

Copyright

HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

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First published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2009

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© Harald Stossier and Helena Frith Powell

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Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction Eating your way to a healthier, thinner you

Day One The first day of the rest of your life

Day Two Viva eating

Day Three The art of chewing

Day Four Getting active

Day Five Breakfast like a king

Day Six Raw before four

Day Seven Stop when you’re full

Day Eight The early bird

Day Nine Water works

Day Ten Enhancing digestion

Day Eleven Eating stress-free

Day Twelve Hello alkaline, goodbye bloating

Day Thirteen Looking and feeling younger

Day Fourteen The Viva Mayr way and you

Recipes

Useful contacts

Acknowledgements

About the Publisher

Introduction EATING Your Way to a HEALTHIER, Thinner YOU

Congratulations. This is the first step to a healthier, thinner, younger-looking and gorgeous you. I know what you’re thinking: All diet books say that. Some of them even tell you that you’ll get healthier and thinner just by picking up the book and paying for it. ‘Buy this book, it will change your life,’ they boast.

We all know they can’t be telling the truth, but just as when we buy extortionately expensive face creams that claim to take years off our appearance, we want to believe them. We are desperate to believe that our lives can be changed – or, at least, that our hips can be slimmer – by reading a book, smearing on some cream or buying some new knickers.

The bad news is that most of the time it simply isn’t that simple. There is no magic wand to make most of the changes that we want to see. But the good news is that the Viva Mayr Diet is as close as you can get to a miracle cure-all. It is, quite simply, the best diet there is – and the easiest one to follow. There is no calorie-counting, no weighing your food, and no living off cabbage soup for weeks on end. It is simply an approach to eating that will totally transform you. I guarantee that if you follow the Viva Mayr Diet, you will not only lose weight but you will also feel and look better than you have done in years.

This is because the Viva Mayr Diet is not only about what you eat, it is about how you eat and live. It is about making small changes to your everyday habits that will make a huge difference to your well-being. Some changes are so small you won’t notice them. Others are more challenging. But once you have lived the diet for the 14 days outlined in this book, you will be converted, I promise.

Think about what you want to achieve. Why are you buying this book? You want to lose weight? You want to feel better? To look better? Improve your health? I would guess that 99 per cent of you opted for losing weight as your number-one priority. Almost every woman I know thinks she should lose weight. But the fact is, as you will see from the Viva Mayr Diet, that weight loss is inextricably linked with all the other factors I mention. Like health and looks. One thing leads to another. Why not do it all at once and save time? Talk about multi-tasking …

Forget all fads; the raw-food diet, the blood-group diet, the ‘whatever we haven’t tried yet to convince people to part with their money’ diet. Go for the Viva Mayr Diet, which is sustainable, logical, simple and extremely do-able.

Where to begin to be thin

So how to begin? This book is divided into 14 days, with one crucial Viva Mayr point of focus for each day. For example, the focus of Day Three is chewing, one of the most important elements of the Viva Mayr Diet. It’s something we all obviously do – it’s just that most of us don’t do enough of it.

You can either read the whole book in one go and then go back and re-read the points on which you want to concentrate, or you can take it one day at a time for the 14 days, starting with the first chapter on getting prepared, and then progressing to when and how to eat. You’ll also find all of the recipes you need for a new, thinner you at the back of the book, to help support you through your first 14 days and the beginning of your new lifestyle.

The Viva Mayr Diet is not over after 14 days; this programme simply gets you started. In reality, the Viva Mayr lifestyle is something you will want to carry on with for the rest of your life. Once you’ve changed the way you eat, you won’t want to go back to your old habits. Viva Mayr is so different from other diets because it is about totally changing the way you think about food, and making food work for you to help your body reach its optimum state.

What is Viva Mayr?

Ironically, Viva Mayr hails from Austria, the country of Sachertorte – possibly the most fattening cake ever invented. It all began with the Austrian physician Dr Franz Mayr (1875–1965), a medical legend. He was the first person to prove a direct link between digestive health and overall health and attractiveness. He developed the famous Mayr Cure, which thousands of people still follow to this day. Dr Harald Stossier, the man behind Viva Mayr, was head physician at the original Mayr Clinic for ten years before setting up on his own.

Dr Stossier is an extraordinary man. If he ran the world, there wouldn’t be an overweight person in it. This is a man with a mission to change the world. Not through politics or good deeds, but by teaching us how to eat properly. Dr Stossier’s theory is that to live a long, healthy and constantly slim life, all you need to do is make a few changes to the way you eat. He began his career as an electrical engineer, but after four years he understood his true vocation was elsewhere. At his wife’s suggestion, he began to study medicine. However, early on he felt very strongly that traditional medicine was too narrow for him.

‘I quickly realised I wasn’t one of those typical medical students who just read the books and learned by rote. I felt very strongly my place belonged in complementary medicine,’ he tells me, sitting at a table in the afternoon sunshine at the Viva Mayr Clinic on the shores of Lake Wörthersee in Austria – the clinic he has created based upon his philosophy of health and well-being.

‘When I left medical school I had the opportunity to work with Dr Erich Rauch, who had studied under Dr Mayr. Dr Rauch talked about intestinal cleansing as a real health issue. It seemed so perfectly logical to me and I quickly realised how important this message was for everyone.’

I’m not sure I’m ready to talk about intestinal cleansing with someone I hardly know, but apparently it is an issue that is paramount to good health. And a lot of people pay good money to come here to Austria and discuss it in great detail. Are they all slightly weird or should I let my inhibitions go?

Dr Stossier’s clinic is an oasis of calm. Clients lie on sun-loungers watching the boats go by and only need to get up for consultations with Dr Stossier, treatments or meals. It is not the most luxurious or the most expensive clinic in the world, yet while I was there I met several people who could well afford to go anywhere they chose. They have chosen Dr Stossier and his clinic in Austria because they believe that he can change their lives, and for the vast majority of people I met, he has.

I arrived at the Viva Mayr clinic one Thursday afternoon in August, starving hungry. I don’t know what it is about clinics or diet places – or, indeed, just the thought of a diet – that makes me hungry. I can have just eaten Christmas lunch and start thinking about that diet I’m going to begin on New Year’s Day and before I know what’s going on, I find myself grabbing another roast potato to add to the 17 I’ve just eaten.

I shared a taxi from the airport with a lady called Brenda, from London. She had come to lose weight.

‘I just need to stop eating,’ she told me, as we sped through the Austrian countryside.

‘Can’t you do that in London?’ I asked.

‘No, I need to be forced to. I practically need a straitjacket and a cell. This is the only thing that works for me.’

‘Well, if you get desperate, I’ve got some organic shortbread biscuits with me,’ I smiled conspiratorially.

Brenda went pale. ‘Please promise you won’t give me any,’ she pleaded, grabbing my hand.

I promised I wouldn’t. Goody, all the more for me.

It was four o’clock when we arrived, and I was relieved to see from the timetable I was handed that dinner was at six o’clock. Not long to wait before I got some scoff. I said goodbye to my new friend and headed off to explore the place. My room overlooked the lake; it was a balmy afternoon, and there were people sunbathing. In the distance there was someone water-skiing.

The furniture in my room was modern and comfortable. There was a reclining chair that I could see myself becoming very familiar with, as I ploughed through all the books that Dr Stossier had given me to read as background research. I leafed through my welcome pack. Here I found a full of explanation of when and how to take Epsom salts (something about that made me feel rather nervous; aren’t they a substance your grandmother used to punish you with?), something called base powder, and a list of my various consultations. My first one was in half an hour, with the ‘friendly werewolf’ – as Dr Stossier has been called by various journalists because of his prominent molars. I slipped into my bathrobe and flannel slippers in preparation. Such a good look. Still, I was there for a reason, and I was going to embrace it.

The clinic is possibly the cleanest and most pristine place I have ever stayed in. It is on the shores of a beautiful lake in southern Austria. The rooms are all large with balconies, the staff super-smiley and friendly. Dr Stossier will not be drawn on the famous people who go there, but I get the impression from him and his wife, who also works there, that there are many.

‘We have to respect their privacy,’ he says. His wife is responsible for some of the treatments offered there, such as personality tests based on colours, and stomach massages. She is one of the warmest, most welcoming people you could ever hope to meet; she positively radiates good health and happiness.

If only we all lived the Viva Mayr way …

I had first met Dr Stossier in London, at a meeting to discuss writing this book. The publisher had chosen me for the job because I have written two books in a similar vein – that is, with a mission to appeal predominantly to women. One was called Two Lipsticks and a Lover, which is all about how to get in touch with your inner Frenchwoman, and the other, To Hell in High Heels, is all about how not to age – from which staying thin, healthy, young and gorgeous is, of course, a natural progression. I also write a lot about beauty, health, women and diets in international magazines and newspapers, so I am a seasoned expert when it comes to knowing what works and what doesn’t.

Dr Stossier and I bonded immediately in the canteen at HarperCollins HQ in London, where we discussed the central theme of the book. For years I have been convinced about the profound link between digestion and just about everything else – from how well we feel to how good our skin looks. I have suffered from digestive problems since I was a little girl, and have never really managed to cure them. In Dr Stossier and this project, I saw a way of finally understanding the whole process and changing the way I live to become thinner and healthier. I think he was happy to find a writer who was so in tune with the sorts of issues he has been working so hard to convey to people for so many years.

I first arrived at Viva Mayr with an open mind, ready to take everything on board. One of the great perks of my job is that I get to test everything for the reader. When I wrote my book about ageing, I travelled around the world testing anti-ageing techniques. At Viva Mayr, I was ready to test my own personal theory that if I started digesting properly, a whole myriad of problems, such as insomnia and bloating, would vanish. They did, and what was most incredible was the speed at which they vanished. What’s more, I was not alone in being impressed with the results.

One man had been suffering from chronic diabetes for 15 years before he came to the clinic; since his first visit, he has suffered no symptoms at all. A lady I met had tried every weight-loss programme from Atkins to that well-known ‘eat nothing until you are practically hospitalised’ diet. The Viva Mayr method is the only thing that has worked for her. She had planned to stay for two weeks, and went on to book in for another three. In fact, everyone I met under Dr Stossier’s care raved about his method and how good they looked and felt. These were people with a wide range of ailments, including obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure. But, according to the doctor, they all have one thing in common: irritated intestines. Dr Stossier estimates that around 90 per cent of us are wandering around with irritated intestines, which, if left to develop, can result in any number of chronic health conditions and diseases. In fact, he believes that almost every chronic illness we suffer from is related to problems in our intestines.

So how come everyone isn’t hot-footing it over to Austria? Could it be that most people try to avoid thinking about their intestines too much?

‘The reason people don’t believe that diseases are caused by problems in our gut is that they live perfectly happily for, say, 20 years doing the same thing. And then suddenly they are taken ill with, say, diabetes. They assume this is something new but it’s not; it’s a slow process that has been building up for years and years, and which culminates in the disease, even though they seemed healthy before. If you look at a tree, for example, its health and strength does not come from its leaves; these are only a reflection of its health and strength. This comes from its roots, and you can’t see if the roots are sick. Our intestines are our roots; they are not visible, but crucial to our health and strength. If they are weakened, so is the rest of the organism.’

Rather like a house that has a fault in its foundations, we go on for years thinking we’re fine until one day we collapse. The point is you are not either healthy or unwell. The road from health to disease is long and full of small imbalances that do not yet constitute real illness. We don’t often think about the impact of our behaviour on our health, or how we either undermine or support our natural desire to be healthy. Staying healthy requires a certain mind-set and a certain attitude, as well as a certain lifestyle. In practice this means having your own health in mind as a priority when you make all those small, everyday decisions.

Dr Stossier’s theory is that we can avoid almost every disease and live a healthy, slim and happy life if we just learn to eat properly.

‘We don’t really think about eating,’ he says. ‘We just throw some food in and carry on with our busy lives. We have to re-learn this most basic human action.’

It is true that until I met Dr Stossier, I just ate. It didn’t really matter to me what I ate, although I did avoid deep-fried Mars bars and other things that were guaranteed to make me fat. In fact, that was my one criterion for food – that it didn’t make me fat. Apart from that, I didn’t really care what I ate or when. And yet, I considered myself quite a healthy person. I exercised regularly, I didn’t get drunk too often, I ate well (or so I thought) and I never drank caffeine. Surely that was enough to secure me a slot as a good person who looks after herself well? Apparently not.

There is something much more crucial than all of that put together, something that I had been neglecting: how I eat.

The right way to eat

To stay alive, we need to eat. Humans take in food, process it and then get rid of the end product. However sophisticated we are, the fact remains that the human species is part of a natural order. The types of food we eat and how we eat needs to reflect this. In other words, our eating habits need to reflect our biological roots and needs, and not just whatever happens to be convenient as we rush from home to work to the pub or the gym. There is a right way to eat and a wrong way, and, according to Dr Stossier, the vast majority of us are eating the wrong way.

Just what is the ‘right way’ to eat? There are endless books, arguments and theses on this subject. But the one thing we all agree on is that nutrition has a huge impact on our health and well-being. Most would agree that eating well plays a major part, if not the major part, in disease prevention. We were all told to eat our greens as children, and we all know why. Doctors are forever telling us to cut down on cholesterol and saturated fats. But Dr Stossier argues that it’s not quite that simple. As well as eating those greens and avoiding saturated fats, you need to be aware of how and at what time of day to eat them, in order to help them to support your body to stay slim and healthy in the most effective way.

Nutrition influences our bodies in a number of ways. To live, we need a certain amount of energy, which we get from our food. We generally measure the type and quantity of food in the number of calories. But most people know from bitter experience that counting calories alone does not lead either to good health or even optimum weight. Whether we are calorie-counting or not, the vast majority of us manage to nourish ourselves more or less successfully throughout our lives. Most of us think that the majority of eating choices we make are good for us. Obviously we know when we’re being ‘naughty’, but we let it pass and promise to be better tomorrow.

If we don’t manage to be better tomorrow, we end up fat, and then go on a diet. I have read almost 100 diet books – not only in an effort to lose weight, but also to try and sort out digestive problems like IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), from which I am convinced I have suffered since childhood. I haven’t found a single one that gave me a solution that was sustainable, logical and do-able.

What is missing from all the diet books I have read is logic, clearly defined guidelines and tangible results. In addition, I have yet to come across one diet book that is based on real medical and scientific knowledge. Most of them drone on about what to avoid, but they don’t actually tell you how to optimise your health and lose weight at the same time. They just tell you about all the things you can’t eat, which makes for pretty dull reading.

We all know that if we cut out dairy, sugar and wheat from our diets we lose weight. But is this actually good for our health, and how sustainable is it? How many times can you go out for lunch with your friends and eat nothing but a lettuce leaf before they stop asking you to join them? How many times have you struggled to lose weight by denying yourself just about everything you want to eat, only to put on every painfully lost pound within a few weeks? The Viva Mayr Diet is not about cutting things out of your diet and starving yourself. The Viva Mayr Diet is about changing the way you view food and eating, changing bad habits for good ones, thus ensuring weight loss and good health as well. Better still, it is also about ensuring that those pounds don’t just pile back on again. It is a life-long way of eating, and if you follow the Viva Mayr philosophy, you will never be overweight again; it is simply physically impossible.

The Viva Mayr philosophy embraces good nutrition, and good nutrition is the best form of preventive healthcare there is. Luckily, we alone are responsible for our nutritional choices – put simply, we are responsible for what we put into our mouths. Good health is an ongoing daily aim and every day is the right day to start.

Taking responsibility

Health is created by our own actions and efforts, and we are solely responsible for it. Of course, accidents happen for which we cannot be blamed, but on an everyday level, you choose how well you’re going to feel or how healthy you’re going to be. You know, for example, that drinking 14 Tequila Slammers is not going to make you feel good. But it’s your choice. Sometimes you just need those 14 Tequila Slammers (OK, maybe just a couple …).

The Greek philosopher Hippocrates noted that ‘health arises when we actively seek it’, and this premise is an important feature of the Viva Mayr philosophy, which defines the search for health as a positive thing. Health is quality of life in all its dimensions, which may vary from one individual to the next. We need to look at health as a natural and positive force that we each carry within us, and understand that it is within our own power to nurture. Quality of life as a parameter is attracting growing interest among scientists. There are even ‘how to be happy’ classes at Harvard University.

The word ‘diet’ comes from the ancient Greek term diaita. But, interestingly, this word didn’t mean to the Greeks what it does today; rather, it meant ‘way of life’ or ‘lifestyle’. In antiquity, living a health-conscious life was the obvious thing to do. This meant a disciplined approach to eating, including regular periods of fasting. Physical exercise and spirituality were also considered an important part of a healthy life. Diaita was far more than just a way to help people shed a few pounds, which is what the term ‘diet’ tends to mean now. This is also in keeping with the Viva Mayr approach to dieting. It is not a quick-fix to help you shed pounds (although it will do that), but an approach to adopt for life, to ensure that you not only stay thin, but also – more importantly – healthy.

Dr Mayr, the Austrian physician and Viva Mayr namesake, said: ‘Nutrition is the result of the food we eat and our digestive system.’ In other words, what matters is what we make of the food we eat.

When we eat a certain food – fish, meat, vegetable or potato – its nutrients do not go directly to the cells of our bodies. Our cells would not know how to make use of nutrients in this form. Instead, our digestive systems turn the food we eat into nutrients that our bodies can absorb and assimilate. Only then can we really make use of the energy and nutrients contained in food. Rather than saying ‘you are what you eat’, Dr Stossier and followers of Mayr would say ‘you are what you digest’.

I am really excited about this book. It will provide the logic that I and so many others have been looking for, and explain the essential principles behind a thinner, healthier life. My aim is to take Dr Stossier’s vast knowledge and expertise and present it to you in an easily digestible (pardon the pun) form of 14 main sections, set out as days of the plan. I will explain the reasons why it is so crucial that you overhaul your eating habits, and also how you can do so – easily and without too much pain, and for an enormous amount of gain.

Dr Stossier tells me that just by changing my eating habits I can put an end to my on-going digestive problems, lose weight, age better, feel better, sleep better, have more energy and clearer skin, concentrate on my work more effectively, and avoid major illnesses and disorders such as heart disease and asthma.

It seems a small price to pay for such a huge reward. I am keen to find out more.

Day One The FIRST day of the REST of your LIFE

You are about to discover:

How to prepare yourself practically and emotionally to begin the Viva Mayr Diet

How to make the famous Viva Mayr spelt bread

The shopping list you’ll need to stock your cupboards with everything you’ll need to get started

Breakfast

Green tea, and fruit muesli with nuts (see here)

Lunch

Vegetable salad with chicken strips, and fresh berry cream (see here)

Dinner

Soft polenta with steamed vegetables and herbs (see here)

This is the first day of the rest of your healthy, slim life. It’s an exciting day. There are challenges ahead, but the rewards are huge. At the end of the 14 sections that comprise this book, you will be healthier and slimmer, and you will look and feel better. If you ever feel as though you can’t go on, remember that these first few days are the toughest, but they are worth it. You are changing a lifetime of bad habits in order to hit your ideal weight, and also stay healthy and young-looking. That’s a lot of reward, so of course there has to be some effort – even if it’s minimal.

If you can, try to pick a weekend for the beginning of the diet, so you can prepare yourself and begin eating well on Saturday, and then launch into the body of the diet itself on Sunday.

So here is how you begin. You go shopping. Great start, eh? But sadly not for Louboutin shoes; rather, you’ll be shopping for food that will enhance your health and keep you slim. During the 14 days that this book guides you through, you will be shown what to eat, how to eat it, when to eat it, and how to cook it. At the end of the book we provide recipes for every menu, designed to help you to take on board the focus of that section. So, for Day Three, which is all about chewing, you’ll find a menu, with recipes at the back of the book, to encourage you to chew properly. Today we will look at the sorts of foods you need to stock up on to eat the Viva Mayr way. We will also be looking at how best to prepare yourself in other ways – such as mentally and physically.

If you’re anything like me, the minute you know you’re going on a diet you eat and drink everything you know you shouldn’t. This is a mistake. Starting on a hangover is not a good idea. If you are hungover and tired, your body craves quick fixes like sugar and carbs to boost your energy levels, so starting a diet becomes doubly difficult. The ideal way to start would really be to fast the day before, so you would enjoy the taste and texture of all the healthy new foods. But I know this is not feasible for everyone, and fasting should never done without the supervision of a doctor. So give the fasting a miss and, for now, use this preparation day as a day to eat well (the recipes for today should be easy to make without too much extra shopping and effort), make the famous Viva Mayr spelt bread and think about the task ahead.

It’s worth every ounce of effort

This is not something insignificant you have chosen to do. This is a huge undertaking that will transform the way you look and feel. I’d like you to think about exactly what it is you want to achieve and make a note of it. This would be my list:

• Lose weight.

• Sleep better.

• Have more energy.

• Look and feel better.

• Get rid of a pot belly and digestive complaints that have been plaguing me for years.

You can achieve this and more by sticking with me through these 14 days of the Viva Mayr cure. Remember that people pay thousands of pounds to go to the clinic – to learn all the things you are about to learn, and to eat the way you are going to eat for the next 14 days. What’s more, you’ll find that after your 14 days, your habits will have changed dramatically, and you’ll be embracing a new way of eating, and a new way of thinking about what, when and how you eat. Viva Mayr is not a quick fix; this is permanent change we are talking about here. With this book, you have the opportunity to acquire all this knowledge and all those secrets for a fraction of the price and in the comfort of your own home. This is a great opportunity, and one I think you will be really happy that you took.

Make that list and keep it somewhere safe; look at it now and again to remind yourself why you are doing this. I promise that the rewards are huge compared with the actual effort. The Viva Mayr Diet is all about making subtle changes in your lifestyle that will result in huge gains both in terms of weight loss and your general health. This is something you need to keep in mind at all times. You have to be a little like a child waiting for Christmas; just a few more days and you’ll see some results, another week and you’ll have lost another few kilos. But when Christmas Day comes, you will be so hooked and happy with the new you that you won’t want to stop.

As I said, there will be challenges. If you are a coffee and tea addict, you may get headaches as your body purges itself of toxins. I know this might sound silly, but look upon those headaches as a good sign. Headaches equal progress. A lot of people I met at the clinic said that the toughest day is Day Three, when you are really starting to feel the effects of what is effectively a deep cleanse. You feel headachy, tired and perhaps a little depressed, too. But then you come out the other side feeling incredible. Whatever side-effects you experience, they can never be as bad as feeling fat and unhealthy. So persevere and you will make it, I promise.

Re-read your list of aims, remind yourself why you are here and what you are doing. Remember that you bought this book with an aim in mind and a goal to reach – and you will reach that goal. There is no one stopping you. You have it within your grasp to become whatever you want.

Stocking up

So how best to prepare for the Viva Mayr journey? Today is not only a day to stock up on all the good things you are going to feed your new-look body, but also a great opportunity to throw out all those crisps and Mars bar ice-creams you have been saving for a special treat. You are going to prepare yourself both mentally and practically.

Your essential shopping list

Over the next 14 days, you’ll need the following foods in your store cupboard and fridge. Most of the recipes are 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.

Drinks

Green tea

Pomegranate juice

Spring water

Store cupboard

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

Dairy & eggs

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)

Fruit & vegetables

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 …

Fish & meat and meat substitutes

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

Grains, pulses, nuts and seeds

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

Herbs & spices

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.

Going off-piste?

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).

What about sugar?

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.

Roll up your sleeves …

Once you have all your ingredients stashed away, then it’s time to make spelt bread. Spelt bread is one of the things for which the Viva Mayr Clinic is famous – or even infamous! Everyone who goes there, from film stars and property magnates to professional football players is put on a diet that includes spelt bread.

The first time you eat it, you may well be horrified. The bread tastes, well, stale. I can imagine the great and the good who visit the clinic – and are used to the better things in life – being rather shocked when they are presented with a bowl of vegetable broth and some, um, stale bread. But the point is that it teaches us to chew properly. Actually, I grew rather fond of the taste while I was at the clinic. Freshly baked, it is delicious, once you have learned how to chew properly.

Spelt bread is easy to make. You will need to prepare it the day before you want to eat it. I find it easiest to do the first part of the preparation when I get up in the morning and the second part when I get home from work. Here is the recipe:

Spelt bread
Makes about 15 pieces

Ingredients for the sourdough

Part one

125g sheep’s or goat’s milk yoghurt

125ml water

125g spelt flour

Mix all the ingredients together using a food mixer and leave to stand for 8 hours in a warm place (an airing cupboard is a good choice, or above an oven that has been previously heated). The dough is quite liquid at first but it will firm up as it stands.

Part two

750g spelt flour

250ml warm water

1½ tablespoons cream of tartar

½ teaspoon rock or sea salt

½ teaspoon ground coriander

½ teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon ground aniseed

½ teaspoon ground fennel seeds

Sourdough (see above)

Mix all of the ingredients together with the sourdough and stir for 8 to 10 minutes. You might find it easier to use a food processor, or a mixer with a dough hook, rather than mixing by hand. The dough should be quite firm now.

Form flatbreads of approximately 70g each from the spelt dough. They must be very flat. Leave them to rise on a lightly floured baking tray for approximately 45 minutes, then prick and bake in the preheated oven at 190°C (375°F/Gas mark 5) for approximately 15 minutes. The breads should be golden brown and firm to the touch.

Leave them to rest for a day. That way they’ll be a little harder. You can also freeze the bread until you need it. It will last for several days; in fact, Dr S encourages you to eat it after a day or two so that it is tougher to chew.

No time for baking?

If you don’t have time, simply buy a packet of Ryvita, a rye or wholemeal loaf from the supermarket, or pick up some spelt bread at your local health-food store. I’d really recommend this recipe, though, as taste-wise it beats any bread you can buy hands down. Please do make the time today – in between reading – to make your first batch of spelt bread. You also need to make it well in advance because when it comes to learning how to chew properly, the bread should be a day or two old.

Cooking the Viva Mayr way

Once you know what to eat, how are you meant to cook it? The goal of cooking the Viva Mayr way is to create a dish that tastes good, while at the same time preserving the food’s nutrients. Some methods are better than others because they make foods easier to digest. In many cases, food preparation is essential for us to be able to digest a food at all. Have you ever tried eating raw dried pasta?

By far the best way to cook vegetables is to steam them, and the best way to cook meat is to grill it. Fish can be poached, steamed or grilled. If you do end up frying, use only warm-pressed oils. Palm oil and coconut oil are especially suitable, because they have a very high smoke point of between 160°C and 180°C (320°F and 350°F), which means they can be heated without destroying the valuable nutrients. Heating cold-pressed oils turns them into trans fats – the very worst type of fats you can eat. If you do choose to cook with olive oil, or vegetable or seed oils, choose warm-pressed varieties. The fatty acids they contain will not be altered by cooking.

Contrary to what most other diet books will tell you, butter is fine. Butter contains milk fat, which has high levels of essential fatty acids, required for the brain and immune system. But don’t heat butter. At the most, butter can be melted gently and used to coat vegetables. Heating any more than this destroys butter and robs it of its health benefits, by destroying the healthy fatty acid chains.

Dr Stossier suggests we all cook using more herbs. They are excellent for supporting the digestive system, they taste great, and they can add flavour to just about anything you eat. Think about using herbs in a more Mediterranean way. For example, use fresh mint in a salad, as you would in Greece, or make fresh pesto sauce with basil. Basil is extremely versatile and perks most things up; add it to some steamed vegetables with some olive oil to finish off, and suddenly you have a tasty and nutritious meal. Any boring salad can be spiced up with a bit of coriander. Next time you eat salmon, pop some dill on top.

In terms of equipment, the only kitchen appliance in which you need to invest is a steamer. If you’re not yet convinced about the benefits of steaming food, just use a colander over a saucepan. But bear in mind that steaming preserves essential nutrients in food, such as the antioxidants, flavonoids, vitamins and minerals in vegetables.

You will also need a food processor or mixer for some of the recipes; if you don’t have one and don’t want to buy one, then do what your great-grandmother would have done and use a fork – and some wrist power!

What not to eat

So what foods should we avoid? Dr Stossier is pragmatic.

‘I can’t say this is best or this is better than others; we need them all. Each food has a different ingredient that our bodies crave,’ he says.

I ask Dr Stossier if he would ever eat a doughnut. ‘Not if there are other options,’ he smiles.

‘What about dark chocolate?’ I ask him hopefully, ‘and red wine – they’re full of antioxidants aren’t they?’

Dr Stossier looks at me with a wry smile. ‘You would be drunk before you were able to reap any of the antioxidant benefits of red wine,’ he says. ‘Which would then of course outweigh any benefits. As for dark chocolate, if you want to enjoy a piece of dark chocolate now and again, then go ahead. But don’t kid yourself that it is full of antioxidants.’

Prepare yourself emotionally

So are you ready for Viva Mayr? This has been a day of preparation for the new you. In terms of physical preparation it is fairly simple. You need to buy the food on the list (without succumbing to any doughnuts or bottles of beer) and also invest in a steamer if you can. You are easing into the diet with recipes made up from food you are likely to have at home. Begin and end the day with a cup of hot water with a slice of lemon in it.

Although we have not been through them all yet, there are some Viva Mayr rules you will need to follow today and from now on. They are:

• Chew as much as you possibly can.

• Eat nothing raw after four.

• Take at least 15 minutes of exercise a day.

• Eat more early on in the day, reducing portions in the evening.

Take some time for yourself on Day One. I have three children and know how difficult that can be. It is important that you have a chance to prepare both mentally and physically. Having said that, the Viva Mayr, unlike other diets, has an easy-to-follow menu that can be served to the whole family. There is no need to cook separately for anyone.

This is not a difficult diet in terms of what you eat, and you most certainly won’t be horribly hungry, so throw yourself right into it. There are a few adjustments to your routine that will have to be made, such as eating a big breakfast and having dinner earlier in the evening. Start this diet with an open mind, and for 14 days I’ll guide you through the ins and outs of the optimum way to eat.

Once you have been shopping, have a quiet night and end the evening with a cup of hot water, or herbal tea such as lemon balm, chamomile, or St John’s wort. If you wish, add a slice of lemon. You need to begin to cleanse your system in preparation for the new you. Tomorrow is a big day.

In summary …

• Preparing yourself emotionally, physically and practically will help to ensure your Viva Mayr experience is a success.

• Spelt bread is an essential on the diet, and making it can be a therapeutic experience, not to mention great practice for chewing properly.

• Make sure you have all the right foods at your fingertips as this will help to get you through periods where you run out of steam.

Case Study

Sally, 49, London

I have four boys, and have basically been overweight since the birth of the first one. Then things just got worse. I have been on more crazy diets than you can imagine. One involved nothing but celery (the idea being that you use more calories chewing it than you consume), and another involved eating nothing but boiled eggs and grapefruit. I was starving hungry all the time, and had to cook scrummy food like macaroni cheese for the children, which just added to my misery. As soon as I heard about Viva Mayr I thought I would try it because it sounded more realistic than anything else I had tried. I also realised there was no need to torture myself with cooking for the children, because they could just eat what I did and so could my husband.

I started on a weekend. The children and I made the spelt bread, and we stocked up on all the food. Actually, it was a bit of an adventure – a challenge – and we all got into it. They didn’t like the spelt bread, but I did. I also tried to get them all to chew slowly, which with four boys was not easy. I have stuck to the diet and am steadily losing weight. I feel a lot better, too, mainly because I am finally doing something constructive about the state of my body – something that I feel is more sustainable and long-term than anything I tried before.

Day Two VIVA Eating

You are about to discover:

How to eat the Viva Mayr way

How to prepare yourself mentally for the Viva Mayr Diet

The good foods with which you can now fill your kitchen

How to put the famous Viva Mayr spelt bread to good use

Breakfast

Green tea, spelt bread, and fresh vegetable sticks with herbal spread (see here)

Lunch

Leafy salad with walnuts, apples and linseed dressing, and potato and vegetable gratin with spinach sauce (see here)

Dinner

Poached trout with vegetables and lemongrass (see here)

By the time you’ve finished this chapter and inwardly ‘digested’ all of the information it contains, you will have the tools you need to change your eating habits for life. This is not a complicated process. Even I managed it and I have spent most of my life just eating whatever happens to come my way. I am not the kind of person who really thinks about what I am putting into my body. Until now, that is. Meeting Dr Stossier has made me realise that leaving my body’s nutrition to fate or convenience – or whatever you like to call it – is close to criminal. How can I expect my body and face to stay healthy and young if I don’t even feed it properly?

Although the Viva Mayr Diet is very much focused on how we eat (which we will deal with in the subsequent chapters), before you can think about that, you need to decide what to eat.

This is where good digestion begins and, as good digestion equals slimness, youthful looks and a healthy lifestyle, it’s extremely important. We are all masters of what we put in our mouths. In other words, we all have choices. No one is force-feeding us. As Dr Stossier puts it; ‘If you want to go down the junk food route, then that’s your decision. If you decide to opt for a healthier life that’s your decision, too.’ And we both know which one he would prefer us to choose.

Years ago, one nutritionist said to me that ‘healthy eating begins in the supermarket’. Pretty basic, but something we tend to ignore as we pop a few ‘treats’ into the trolley. We all have our weak points. I have a total thing for shortbread biscuits, which I obviously don’t tell Dr Stossier about, for fear of being sacked before I even begin to work on his book. But as I prepare to go for a stay at his famous Viva Mayr Clinic to research this book, I wonder if I will be searched on my way in and what may be the consequences of hiding one packet of M&S Organic shortbread fingers in my luggage. They are organic, after all.

Food provides our bodies with nutrition. Different foods provide the body with the substances it needs to live; in other words, they convey life. In order for them to give us life and health, they need to contain nutrients as well as their life force and vitality. These nutrients are defined by the quality of the food we choose to eat. So what should we be eating? Probably not shortbread biscuits. Even organic ones.

Our nutrition is divided into three groups: proteins, carbohydrates and fats. I have heard this countless times, but have no idea what it means or what I am supposed to do with this knowledge. I have also been told that we should be eating around 50–55 per cent carbohydrates, 15 per cent protein, and 30 per cent fat. Also important is fibre. So what does this all mean?

Counting carbs

‘We have been told to eat more carbohydrates so that we produce energy,’ says Dr Stossier. ‘But really these guidelines are misguided. If we eat a lot of carbohydrates, the pancreas needs to produce a great deal of insulin to bring them into our cells. Insulin is required to metabolise carbs, and to use the energy with which they can provide us. So basically, when you eat a lot of carbs, your body converts them into sugars. In order to control your blood-sugar level, your body produces the hormone insulin. But if there is insulin in our bodies, it tell us, ‘there is energy – we have enough, so use it’. So our body turns any excess energy from the carbs into fat, which is effectively a ‘store’ of energy for later use. It’s not a great situation. As long as insulin levels remain high in the body, we will also store the other components of food, such as protein or fat. This has a massive influence on our weight, and affects the way that we should exercise as well (see here).

Dr Stossier suggests that we should eat about the same amount of protein but increase our intake of the right kinds of fats (making sure we make the right choices between saturated and unsaturated fatty acids; more on that later) and cut down the carbs, as well as the amount we eat overall. ‘Some people eat up to 3,700 calories or more a day,’ says Dr Stossier. ‘This would be ideal for an active sportsman training for a competition, but it is way too much for most normally active people. There is no mystery to losing weight; cut down on carbohydrates and increase your intake of unsaturated fatty acids.’

If you think about the fact that a Krispy Kreme Caramel Kreme Crunch doughnut, or its cousin the Apple Fritter, each contains almost 400 calories a pop, you’ll see how easy it is for the calories to add up. After all, who can stop at one when they sell them in handy boxes of a dozen?

The fact is that we do all eat way too much. I know I do. There is no reason at all to eat a huge breakfast and three-course lunch, and then repeat the ritual in the evening. We will go into eating in a later chapter, but it’s worth noting now that since I met Dr Stossier, I sometimes skip dinner altogether and make do with a snack like some oatcakes and cream cheese. And you know what? I don’t die of starvation during the night …

Not surprisingly, Dr Stossier recommends we avoid the likes of the Caramel Kreme Crunch and try to stick to organic food (see here). I suddenly feel quite smug about my organic shortbread biscuits.

Dr Stossier doesn’t like to break our diet down into percentages. He believes that if we focus on fresh fruit and vegetables (some of them raw, and at the right time), and good-quality proteins and fats, we really won’t be hungry enough to fill ourselves with carbohydrates – and, in particular, the unhealthy types, such as those made with white flour and lots of sugar. When you are eating the Viva Mayr way, it’s important simply to cut down on carbs by taking much smaller portions, and choosing wholegrain varieties which fill you up.

Fats

Fats are also important to overall health, and are an essential part of the Viva Mayr Diet. But fats are not all created equal. As you would on any healthy diet, it’s important to avoid the unhealthy saturated types – in particular hydrogenated fats or trans fats, which are now known to cause a wide range of health problems, including heart disease and obesity. Whole, fresh milk, cream and butter are fine, because they are natural products that contain healthy fats. But avoid very fatty cuts of meat (particularly those that are processed), as well as anything that has the word ‘hydrogenated’ on the label – many margarines included! The very best fats you can eat are found in cold-pressed oils, and it is these fats that can not only help to keep you healthy, but improve your overall health and well-being immeasurably. Paradoxically, they can help you to lose weight – something that we might not normally attribute to oils!

Essential oils

An essential part of a healthy diet is oil. And this is the one thing you shouldn’t compromise on. This must always be cold-pressed, preferably virgin, most definitely organic, and of the best quality you can find. And don’t worry about oil being fattening. Unsaturated fatty acids in oils taken in their pure form are not going to make you fat.

Oils, such as linseed and olive, are an essential element of the Viva Mayr Diet, and should be eaten on a daily basis. This may seem strange, as most of us were reared on the idea that fats are unhealthy and, well, fattening, but bear with me. These oils are rich in fatty acids which are crucial to good health in many ways, and they are known as ‘omega oils’. At present we have identified three of these oils, which are omega 3, omega 6 and omega 9; each is important, but it is the balance between them that is most crucial. For example, inflammatory diseases, such as arthritis, inflammation of the digestive system, and even MS, are the result of an imbalance between omega 3 and omega 6. Omega 3 oils are found in linseed oil, hemp oil, and oily fish (fish from cold, deep seas such as herring, tuna, salmon and cod) so try to add as much of those as you can to your diet. Several studies relate heart disease to a lack of omega 3. Eskimos have one of the lowest rates of heart disease due to the high levels of omega 3 fatty acids they consume. In order to benefit we need to eat them regularly.

Good sources of omega 6 oils include poultry, wholegrains, eggs, nuts, most vegetables oils, hemp and linseed oils, and even the acai berry. We tend to get enough of these in a healthy diet, which is why it’s important to bump up our intake of the omega 3s, to ensure that the balance is right. And that’s one reason why you’ll find oils, such as linseed (flax) and hemp are widely used in the Viva Mayr Diet; their omega-3 content is crucial to overall health and wellbeing.

Omega 9 is not strictly an essential oil because our bodies can manufacture a small amount, provided we have adequate omega 3 and 6 in our diet. However, omega 9 can lower cholesterol levels, reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, protect against certain types of cancer, improve blood-sugar balance, and encourage healthy immunity, so if you aren’t getting enough of the other omegas, do ensure you get some omega 9s in your diet as well. Good sources are olive oil, olives, avocados, almonds, sesame seeds (and oil) and most nuts.

These omega oils, otherwise known as unsaturated fatty acids, are also essential for keeping you slim. The more you increase your intake of them, the less saturated fatty acids you will eat, and the less weight you will pile on around your stomach and hips. The reason for this is that the body tends to store unhealthy fats around the waist, giving us the unhealthy ‘apple’ shape. Omega oils (omega 3, in particular) have been found to encourage fat-burning in our bodies. In a nutshell, if you substitute omega oils for unhealthy saturated fats (such as trans fats), you will not only avoid putting on weight around your middle and hips, but you’ll encourage your body to burn off what’s there.

Increasing fatty acids will also boost your brain power. The brain is comprised of concentrated fatty acids. In particular, there are a lot of omega 3 fatty acids in the brain; there, they create molecules which act as transmitters. The more transmitters or pathways you have firing, the more active your thinking process becomes. This is why fish is famously good for the brain. Our ability to concentrate, our energy levels, and a well-functioning nervous system are all related to the quantity of healthy oils in our diet.

‘We grew up with a teaspoon of cod liver oil,’ says Dr Stossier. ‘Now we are seriously lacking the omega 3 oils that it once provided every day.’ Personally I didn’t grow up with a teaspoon of cod liver oil, thankfully, but maybe I would be healthier if I had?

What to buy?

Oils are the first things to put on your shopping list when you begin the Viva Mayr Diet. You need three types of oils for the three types of omegas. Unsaturated vegetable oil, such as olive oil, will provide you with omega 9, hemp or linseed oil is a great source of omega 3 oils; and you can choose sunflower or other nut and seed oils for their omega 6 content. Take two tablespoons of one of these oils every day, making sure that you manage some linseed or hemp at least three times a week. If you don’t eat fish, it’s a good idea to take a good-quality fish oil supplement as well.

This is not as difficult as it sounds. Use the oils much as you do salt and pepper, and sprinkle it over whatever it is you are eating. You can swallow the two tablespoons in the morning, or mix them with some soup or even porridge. Some of them have a distinct taste, but they aren’t unpleasant. There is a recipe here for Herb spread, which is delicious blended with oil. Eaten with some bread, it is perfect for breakfast, lunch or as a snack. The only rule to follow with all of these oils is to avoid heating them. At high temperatures, these oils become toxic. You can, however, pour them over hot food, as they would have to be heated to 60° degrees Celsius to become unhealthy trans fats. If you do wish to cook with oils such as olive, sunflower or nut oils, choose the warm-pressed varieties (see here).

Cold-pressed oils need to be stored away from light, air and heat because they are extremely fragile. They should be stored in dark glass bottles, ideally in a cool place, such as a refrigerator. Olive oil will solidify when it becomes very cool; however, it will soon return to liquid form at room temperature. Some olive oils are also sold in cans to protect them from light. Pay attention to the expiry date or, even better, the pressing date if listed, to know the oil’s age. Once opened, cold-pressed oils should be used quickly, as they will become rancid and lose their nutritional value. Once oils have become rancid, they should no longer be used. They don’t taste good, and they do more harm than good to our health.

You should also stock up on nuts and seeds, because they contain omega fatty acids in their natural form and are also full of a concentrated form of antioxidants (see here). Try sprinkling sunflower seeds, sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds on your meals – anything from baked salmon, porridge and salad to sandwiches, puddings and even fruit tastes delicious with that little extra crunch. If you are prone to snacking, carry some nuts or seeds around with you instead of a KitKat (although Dr Stossier says that if you follow the Viva Mayr programme you won’t feel the need to snack any more).

Try to get into the habit of thinking about everything you put into your mouth. Is it good for you? If not, give it a miss. If you can’t hit 100 per cent, do as a friend of mine suggests, and aim for 90.

Look after your proteins

Proteins are an important part of a healthy diet, but you should avoid eating too many. In fact, Dr Stossier suggests that we should eat fish and other animal proteins, such as cheese and meat, a maximum of every second day. Better sources are vegetable proteins, such as pulses, seeds and nuts, which provide us with the amino acids we need in a more easily digested form.

‘People focus too much on proteins because they think they need them to give them energy,’ says Dr Stossier. ‘Eating too many proteins causes our bodies to store them, which means they are not properly digested in the intestine, leading to putrification.’

Putri-what? It sounds disgusting. Dr Stossier explains that putrification, or ‘toxin overload’ as I will call it, is the result of protein being metabolised more by intestinal bacterial overgrowth than by our own digestive enzymes. This is part of a maldigestive process (we’ll go into this in more detail later; see here) that leads to a buildup of toxins in our bodies. These substances have to be eliminated by our metabolic organs (such as the liver and kidneys), or else they will be stored in connecting tissues between your bloodstream and cells. If these get blocked up, then we can’t supply blood to the cells. In turn, the cells produce waste products and we can’t dispose of them, so the waste products are stored. This leads to an overload of toxins, causing heart attack, strokes, rheumatic diseases, diabetes and all sorts of dreadful things. So not only do we have more toxins in our bodies, but our detoxification organs are put under enormous pressure, which compromises their ability to do their jobs effectively. If this all seems a trifle unclear (sorry to mention trifle) then fear not, it will all be explained a little later in the book. Better still, putrification can be avoided, faster than you can learn how to spell it.

To reduce the risk of a toxin overload while eating proteins, and for better digestion, white meat is best, such as turkey, veal and chicken. Lamb follows that, then red meat and last of all pork. Game is somewhere between white and red meat. All fish is fine; eel is slightly fatty, but how often do you come across that? Also bear in mind that cream cheese is more easily digestible than hard cheese (see here for delicious cream-cheese spreads). Some people also find goat’s and sheep’s cheeses easier to digest. Why? Because all milks contain a sugar called lactose. Our bodies have an enzyme known as ‘lactase’, which is used to digest lactose. As we get older, our bodies produce decreasing quantities of this enzyme, which means that we may find it harder and harder to digest milk and milk products. Goat’s and sheep’s milk contains less lactose, so can often be more easily tolerated. And, again, other good sources of protein include pulses (lentils, dried beans and peas, for example), and nuts and seeds. In fact, many other foods, including potatoes, contain some protein, as well as whole grains. So you will be getting more than you think you are, even before you take a bite of that steak.

Don’t forget your fibre

Fibre is an essential part of your diet, as it acts like a broom in the digestive system, clearing out the debris and moving the food along. Better digestion can prevent putrificaction in the gut, and it can also ensure that toxins don’t hang around for ages, where they can be absorbed into the bloodstream through the walls of the intestines. What’s more, fibre ensures that digestion occurs at the right speed, giving the body time to absorb the nutrients from our food. Where do you find fibre? In whole, fresh foods, such as vegetables, fruit and whole grains. Nuts and seeds will provide you with some fibre as well. You’ll be getting plenty on the Viva Mayr Diet.

Many of us do not get enough fibre in our diets because we choose refined foods over the wholegrain alternatives. White bread and pasta, for example, will contain very little fibre, whereas wholegrain bread has lots. White bread is what Dr Stossier calls ‘empty food’, devoid or low in nutrients and not much use to our bodies.

‘It is insane that people will eat white bread and then take a fibre supplement,’ he says, getting almost angry. I am really beginning to see why he is nicknamed the ‘friendly werewolf’. He definitely has a wolf-like quality. I am thankful it’s not a full moon as he continues his tirade. ‘Why not just eat some brown bread and get the job done?’

Furthermore, make sure you choose wholemeal cereals, wholemeal noodles and pasta, muesli, oats and so forth, whenever possible.

Eating your greens … and reds, yellows, purples …

Other foods that you should make a beeline for when shopping are brightly coloured fruits and vegetables. The bright colour signifies a large number of antioxidants, which they will pass on to us (see here), and fresh vegetables and fruit are also rich in a variety of other vitamins and minerals, as well as being a very good source of fibre. We’ll talk about antioxidants a little later (see here); however, for now, you may want to know that they are, for one thing, the nutrients that can help slow down the degenerative effects of ageing. I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t want some of those! Remember that fruit and vegetables will contain fewer antioxidants if they are not grown in a natural environment. You’ll be getting plenty of fresh and raw vegetables and fruit on the Viva Mayr Diet. What’s more important here, however, is when you eat them.

Going organic

The reason for choosing organic food and drink is that humans take energy from food, energy that is produced by the sun. This energy was first measured by a man called Professor Fritz Popp (I promise you, that is his real name) and it is called a ‘biophoton’, from the Greek word meaning life and light. A tomato that has been exposed to plenty of sunshine has a lot more of the kind of energy we need than one that was forced in a greenhouse in winter. This is because a tomato that has been grown naturally will be full of antioxidants, which it has had to produce in order to protect it from the negative effects of the sun. These are the very same antioxidants that we can use to protect our bodies. In fact, there is some recent research that suggests that skin creams that contain antioxidants enhance the protection they give to our skin.

‘Take an orange, for example,’ says Dr Stossier. ‘It gets its nutrients from the soil; it grows and produces its fruit under the influence of sunlight and a natural environment. The life force, or ‘energy’ of a plant is contained within it, and when we eat that plant, we also take in its energy. This is measurable, and is known as a ‘bioprotein’. So, a bioprotein is, in fact, a measurement of a food’s vitality, or energy. And studies have found that organic food contains many more of these bioproteins than non-organic food. Organic food does give us much more vitality than other foods, so wherever possible you should buy organic.

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 here). Enjoy experimenting with things you may never have tried before. A shift in your eating habits is the ultimate goal, and you’ll soon find you are feeling better than you ever have before.

In summary …

• 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.

Case Study

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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