Johann Georg Schnitzer

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Johann Georg Schnitzer (born June 1, 1930 in Freiburg im Breisgau ) is a dentist , non-fiction author and describes himself as a researcher. Schnitzer is also the developer of various grain mills with stone grinders . Since the 1970s he has been propagating the Schnitzer diet named after him . Schnitzer combines this raw , vegetarian diet with a promise of prevention and cure for various diseases . As a justification, he represents alternative theories about the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of these diseases and at the same time formulates criticism of established medicine . Schnitzer is an opponent of amalgam fillings and fluoridation and was u. a. about it in a dispute with professional organizations.

Life

Johann Georg Schnitzer is the son of the dentist Otto Schnitzer. He attended school in St. Georgen and Villingen in the Black Forest . From 1950 Schnitzer studied dentistry at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg . The course disappointed him insofar as he learned little about the connection between diet and the occurrence of dental caries . He finished his studies after four years with the state examination . In 1955 Schnitzer began his assistantship in Zweisimmen , Switzerland , from where he moved to Solothurn . The doctorate to " Dr. med. dent. “He finished in 1956 with the work investigations into the abrasion and cleaning effects of different coarse tooth cleaning agents . At the request of his father, Schnitzer joined his father's practice in St. Georgen in 1958. However, he did not find this position satisfactory: he had too little freedom in the treatment of patent clients and received only a small salary. Thereupon Schnitzer started developing dental model and impression materials. He successfully sold them through the company "Val S. Gallé" founded in 1958. Schnitzer was married to Waltraud Gallé for the first time.

He received numerous suggestions on the relationship between diet, dental caries and health in general. His father owned the book The Whole Value of Nutrition by Werner Kollath , published in 1950, and had already dealt with aspects of dental caries in his own doctoral thesis in 1925 . There was a lively exchange of letters with the Swiss dentist Adolf Roos, who, like some others, researched the connections between diet on the one hand and tooth decay and general health on the other. In the years that followed, Schnitzer made contact with people and organizations that, in the broadest sense , can be attributed to the life reform movement . Among other things, Schnitzer took part in a conference in the autumn of 1961 where he heard a lecture by the President of the International Society for Research on Nutrition and Vital Substances (IVG), Hans Adalbert Schweigart . In January 1962 he became a member of the IVG and from then on took part in its conferences. In the same year he took over his father's second practice in the neighboring town of Mönchweiler . As part of his dental work, he was confronted with tooth damage caused by caries in small children. According to Schnitzer, among the three-year-olds there was “hardly a child without tooth damage”. He attributed this to the “gourmet life” of that time, to which he included “fine food, white bread, sweet pastries, sweets, ice cream, chocolate, etc.”. He didn't want to accept that.

Due to the poor dental condition of the village youth, Schnitzer carried out an educational study from 1963 to 1969 in cooperation with the mayor of the Mönchweiler community - which he himself called "Aktion Mönchweiler" or "Mönchweiler Experiment". At the suggestion of the mayor and after a lecture by Schnitzer, the municipal council approved the addition of information sheets in the local municipality gazette. However, the district dental association of Südbaden (Freiburg) saw this as unauthorized advertising for Schnitzer's dental practice. Almost four weeks after the first sheet of health for our youth was distributed , the chamber initiated a professional court case against Schnitzer. After the media reported on the "Mönchweiler Action" and the reaction to it, several life reformers turned to Schnitzer. There was an exchange of letters for years with IVG member Werner Kollath. At the main hearing before the professional court in November 1963, Kollath appeared as an expert. Even Max Otto Bruker , standing with his blunder since the beginning of 1963 in written contact, and Helmut Mommsen were present to support him if necessary in the process. Schnitzer received a reprimand because some of his published statements were offensive to the board. A punishment for the “Mönchweiler Action” was rejected by the professional court. However, the District Medical Association appealed the decision because it found the sentence to be too low. The regional professional court rejected this application in March 1964.

At Kollath's suggestion, Schnitzer propagated whole-grain nutrition as part of the Mönchweiler campaign. In November 1963, Schnitzer wrote about the grain mill as the “most important kitchen appliance”. Its importance is based on the fact that wholemeal flour “can be ground in the kitchen directly before further processing so that all the valuable ferments , minerals and vitamins are retained.” At the same time, Schnitzer published recipes for the production of “fresh-grain dishes”, “wholegrain porridge”, “wholemeal cakes” and "wholemeal biscuits". Instructions for the “Kollath Breakfast” and the “ Bircher Muesli ” were added later. From 1966, Schnitzer developed his own grain mills that used a stone mill instead of the steel grinder . This should reduce the oxidation of the fatty acids and ferments contained in the grain . Under the name "Gallé grain mills", an electric and a hand grain mill for domestic use were created, as well as a larger electric floor mill for bakeries. In 1971, a license system for partner bakeries in Germany, Austria and Switzerland was introduced under the label “Wir bake Schnitzer”. Since then, Schnitzer has licensed the brand and recipes to independent craft bakeries, which undertake to freshly grind grain on their own stone grain mill. In 1975, Schnitzer accepted an offer from Bosch-Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH to develop a grain mill for their kitchen machine . This is how the “Bosch Grain Mill System Schnitzer” was created, which grinds 100 g of fine flour per minute.

Schnitzer has been working as a non-fiction author since the 1960s. He also appeared as a co-author and editor of publications. Schnitzer-Verlag, founded in 1969, mainly sells its own books, but also some works by other non-fiction authors. Among them was Bruker's book Our Food - Our Fate , which appeared for the first time in 1970 under the title Fate from the Kitchen by Schnitzer Verlag. Max Otto Bruker left the Schnitzer-Verlag after Schnitzer published Bruker's books as "Schnitzer books" and Bruker's " whole foods " as "Schnitzer food", and also made text additions and changes without prior consultation. Schnitzer claims to have derived his nutritional recommendations from 1963 onwards from decades of studies and observations of the patient's tooth condition. In 1974 he defined the "Schnitzer-Kost" as a " vital substance- rich wholefood diet based on freshly ground whole grain, which is designed so that teeth and gums remain completely healthy as the most sensitive indicators of proper nutrition and health." The main work first published in 1975 Schnitzer intensive food, Schnitzer normal food: 14-day timetable for both types of diet has so far reached 16 editions .

In 1982 Schnitzer achieved an annual turnover of almost 8 million  DM with the marketing of his ideas for health and nutrition . The company had around 60 employees. Over half of the turnover was generated with the sale of flour mills. Several hundred doctors and alternative practitioners supported the marketing in their waiting rooms by displaying advertising brochures and order slips for the "Schnitzer system" - for a 10% commission . Around 600 bakers could be won over to Schnitzer's license system. In their advertising, they committed themselves to using “only germinable, gently and ready-to-grind, naturally-grown Schnitzer whole grains” in the production of wholemeal pastries. This grain was around a third more expensive than that of other organic suppliers.

In 1984 Schnitzer sold part of his business to an entrepreneur from Offenburg. In the spring of 1986, proceedings initiated against Schnitzer in 1981 for misleading advertising in connection with food were discontinued in exchange for a fine of DM 10,000.

In 1989 Schnitzer founded a private dental clinic which he managed until 1997. Since the late 1990s he has been using the World Wide Web to disseminate his ideas and positions and to advertise and sell Schnitzer publishing products.

Schnitzer fare

Schnitzer recommends to the prevention and cure of various diseases and to increase the life expectancy of people two rohkost emphasized diet variants:

  • the "Schnitzer intensive food ": only vegan raw food is permitted here. The diet consists of a morning “Schnitzer muesli ” in the form of a fresh-grain porridge with fruit and nuts. At lunchtime and in the evening, various leaf and root vegetable salads with sprouted legumes and other seeds as well as flavored preparations made from crushed grain are eaten. Heated foods, rice, potatoes and bread are prohibited, as are all foods of animal origin. According to Schnitzer, the “intensive food” can be used indefinitely. One will feel full and fully nourished and at the same time have "the vitalizing, health-enhancing, healing effect of the exclusively raw, living form of food that can never be achieved with only partially raw food".
  • the "Schnitzer normal food ": corresponds to an ovo-lacto-vegetable diet with a high proportion of raw vegetables . The diet contains all the elements of the raw vegetable “intensive food”, supplemented by mostly heat-treated side dishes made from wholegrain dough , potatoes , fruit, milk products and eggs.

Coffee, alcohol and other luxury foods are rejected.

In support of this, Schnitzer claims that “prehistoric indigenous peoples ” and also the “peoples of the early advanced civilizations ” were “essentially healthy”, “of a beautiful shape and equipped with splendid, well-formed teeth”. This can still be seen today from skeletal finds, for example from Pompeii , which was buried by an eruption from Vesuvius in 79 AD. Also in the “very precise reports of the Roman emperor Caesar about his campaigns” one finds “no diseases mentioned”. Health was "taken for granted". Some “primitive peoples” could have preserved their “natural health” until the first half of the last century. In this context, Schnitzer refers to the research results of Weston Price who, on his travels between 1924 and 1936, found the cause of the “ degeneration of today's civilized people” in the “change in diet” . The early civilizations - China, India, Egypt, Ethiopia, Rome, Greece, Incas, Aztecs - were all based on grain, according to Schnitzer. In his 1964 book Getreide und Mensch, ein Lebensgemeinschaft , Werner Kollath showed which “special properties of grain” made this possible . Only when this “community” was terminated did chronic diseases and “degeneration” find their way. The human dentition shows that the human being is a frugivore . As early as 1938, the Hamburg dentist Richard Lehne backed this up with “hard facts” in an article for the Zahnärztliche Rundschau . A frugivorous diet is therefore “ species-appropriate ” for humans . “Today's food , which is predominantly denatured and partly contains alien animal components”, does not correspond to the “ genetic program of humans”, which is why his metabolism cannot cope with it, but has to “derail”. The "genetic program" was developed through evolution only for raw food, "that is, for living, non-heat-denatured, non-cooked, non-grilled, non-sterilized and non-extracted, natural and natural food". According to Schnitzer, higher organisms such as humans are dependent on “constantly taking in 'life' in order to keep themselves 'alive'”. Only lower, single-celled organisms "like soil bacteria" are able to "convert dead minerals into organic, 'living' active ingredient complexes".

In addition to a lack of vital nutrients through the usual "denatured civilization food" and fast food are deposits of protein surplus, which came mainly from animal products (including milk and milk products), a chronic major cause lifestyle diseases such as hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases , diabetes Type II and its long-term effects such as bleeding in the fundus (blindness), diabetic gangrene , kidney failure ( dialysis ), also rheumatism and arthrosis and impairment of the immune system . Also, obesity is not only by fatty deposits, but also by the subcutaneous connective tissue caused embedded protein surpluses with because the increased connective tissue fibers like a sponge will save significant amounts of water. For the skin disease acne , Schnitzer initially claims that it is a result of "constipation and toxic putrefaction" in the rectum , in order to then assume an excretion of hardened dietary fats through the "skin pores ", which together with dietary proteins of animal origin for "constipation" and Inflammation of the "pores" is responsible.

For the change from the "disease-causing" civilization diet to the "civilized original food" propagated by him, Schnitzer recommends a grain soup diet for a short transition period, then an intensive diet for several weeks and finally - for an unlimited period - his normal diet. The intensive diet provides for a daily energy supply of approx. 6300  kJ (1506 kcal ), whereby 5030 kJ (1202 kcal) should often be sufficient for satiety. Allegedly, raw foodists are less hungry . The normal diet, on the other hand, has around 9200 kJ (2199 kcal). Schnitzer propagates his diet recommendations for the nutrition of children. A so-called “wholegrain bottle” is recommended for this.

The “Mönchweiler Experiment” showed that the diet significantly reduced the risk of dental caries in children. Schnitzer published the results for the first time in 1965 in his book Healthy teeth from childhood to old age through proper nutrition, a measure of general health .

criticism

Nutritional Concerns

The nutritionists Leitzmann , Keller and Hahn see the nutritional and physiological advantages of a predominantly plant-based diet with a high proportion of raw food and low processing of the food for the Schnitzer normal food. However, avoiding cooked foods to a large extent and consuming very little dairy products is seen as a problem: this could lead to an insufficient supply of vitamins D and B12 , zinc , iodine , iron and calcium . Because of the low energy and protein content as well as the insufficient supply of nutrients , the Schnitzer intensive food is not recommended . Schnitzer's specifications for child nutrition, especially the “wholegrain bottle”, are also not recommended from a nutritional and hygienic point of view.

According to the German Nutrition Society (DGE), the more the food choices are restricted and the less varied the diet, the greater the likelihood of a nutrient deficiency. With a vegan diet there is the risk of a deficient supply of energy, protein, long-chain n-3 fatty acids, iron, calcium, iodine, zinc, riboflavin , vitamin B12 and vitamin D. Because of the risks, the DGE does not recommend vegan diets for any age group. She "urgently" advises against this, especially for babies, children and young people. Depending on the age and physical activity of the person, the DGE reference values ​​for daily energy intake are often well above the energy content of the Schnitzer diet, especially the intensive diet.

As part of a court opinion, the Wuppertal internist and diabetes expert Karl Jahnke complained :

  • The protein content of the Schnitzer intensive food is - as has been shown by analyzes in Jahnke's institute - so low that adolescents of growing age, women during pregnancy and competitive athletes are harmed if they only eat it.
  • Because of the lack of vitamin B-12 one could become “anemic”.
  • The low-salt, vegetarian Schnitzer diet is life-threatening for people suffering from Addison's disease .
  • The low energy content (1500 kilocalories per day) of the intensive diet has an unfavorable effect on patients suffering from diseases such as tuberculosis or cancer.

Lack of scientific justification

Terms such as “denatured food from civilization” and “fast food” in their actual meaning do not contain any statements about the content of micro- and macro-nutrients, but are undifferentiated in Schnitzer's works with a lack of “vital substances” and a high content of hardened dietary fats and animal proteins Equated with food. Compared to cooked food, raw food can lead to incomplete digestion , which can worsen the absorption of certain vitamins and trace elements as well as promoting deficiency diseases and flatulence . Edible poisons and the lectins , some of which are harmful to health, can only be rendered harmless by processing, in particular by heating. B. in legumes . Schnitzer's assertion that humans , i.e. the species Homo sapiens, belong to the frugivores (fruit eaters) and that food of animal origin is consequently "alien", contradicts the findings of paleanthropology , medicine and nutritional science . Those used in the Schnitzer diet food crops are usually cultivated plants be grown and only in the last 10,000 years (see Neolithic Revolution ). So-called "primitive peoples" that still exist do not eat vegan or according to Schnitzer's diet recommendations. Scientists blame the change in diet to cereal porridge and bread that took place during the European Neolithic period for the poor dental condition of skeletal finds from this time due to caries. Obesity is not caused by stored water. Schnitzer's claims about the pathogenesis of diabetes mellitus, high blood pressure and acne contradict scientific evidence. Among other things, he ignores the existence of fat digestion and the level of knowledge about the origin of the sebum . The claimed benefits of the diet change recommended by Schnitzer are usually not scientifically proven. According to scientific knowledge, realistic prevention and therapy goals can be achieved with less restrictive and risky diet changes.

Court expert Karl Jahnke found Schnitzer “misleading statements about metabolic processes, development, causes and pathophysiology of diseases”. The Federal Nutrition Report in 1984 came to the conclusion that the change in diet demanded by Schnitzer was "neither necessary nor recommended". Even diabetics could not be "cured" by the intensive diet, at best their disease should be pushed back into a "latent stage" - as is also possible with other reduction diets.

Works (selection)

  • Healthy teeth from childhood through to old age through proper nutrition, a measure of general health. Bircher-Benner- Verlag, Zurich 1965.
  • Health for our youth. Complete edition of the leaflets from Aktion Mönchweiler 1963–1969, Schnitzer-Verlag, St. Georgen 1974.
  • Healthy and vital thanks to Schnitzer food: 4702 people report on their successes. Schnitzer-Verlag, St. Georgen 1974.
  • Schnitzer intensive food, Schnitzer normal food: 14-day schedule for both types of diet. Schnitzer-Verlag, St. Georgen 1975.
  • Cure diabetes - biological treatment for diabetes and its long-term effects. Schnitzer-Verlag, 1980.
  • The alternative way to health. Mosaik Verlag , Munich 1982, ISBN 3-570-01699-4 .
  • The causal therapy of essential hypertension. Haug-Verlag , Heidelberg 1987, ISBN 3-7760-0985-3 .
  • Risk factor high blood pressure: life-threatening, but curable. Heyne Verlag , Munich 1987, ISBN 3-453-00924-X .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Johann Georg Schnitzer: Dr. Schnitzer's Secrets of Health - Prevention and Cure of Diseases through Health. Friedrichshafen 2012 ( online ).
  2. ↑ a b Heinz Scholz: Stories that Dr. Johann Georg Schnitzer's life wrote. In: Textatelier , 2005 ( online ).
  3. ↑ a b c Jörg Melzer, p. 326f.
  4. ↑ Johann Georg Schnitzer: How it came to the development of these wholemeal recipes. Friedrichshafen 2003 ( online ).
  5. ↑ a b c Jörg Melzer, p. 331.
  6. ↑ Jörg Melzer, p. 330.
  7. ↑ Company history on the website of Schnitzer GmbH & Co. KG, Offenburg. ( Memento from September 13, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  8. ↑ a b c Dr. med. dent. Johann Georg Schnitzer - biography. Friedrichshafen 2003 ( online ).
  9. ↑ Jörg Melzer, p. 378.
  10. ↑ Jörg Melzer, p. 333.
  11. ^ A b Johann Georg Schnitzer: The Schnitzer Report - 4702 people report on their successes, introduction part 2. Friedrichshafen 2003/2013 ( online ).
  12. ↑ a b c d Magic murmur. In: Der Spiegel , June 16, 1986.
  13. ^ A b Claus Leitzmann, Markus Keller, Andreas Hahn: Schnitzer-Kost In: Alternative forms of nutrition. , 2nd edition, Hippokrates Verlag, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-8304-5324-8 , p. 120.
  14. ↑ Johann Georg Schnitzer, Mechthilde Schnitzer: What is Schnitzer Kost? In: Schnitzer intensive food, Schnitzer normal food: 14-day timetable for both types of diet. 12th edition, Schnitzer Verlag, St. Georgen im Schwarzwald 1985, ISBN 3-922894-95-X , p. 41.
  15. ^ Johann Georg Schnitzer: Schnitzer intensive food - Schnitzer normal food. Friedrichshafen ( online ).
  16. ↑ Johann Georg Schnitzer: Is being sick a civil duty? Save yourself there - who can! Friedrichshafen 2004/2007 ( online ).
  17. ^ Johann Georg Schnitzer: Species-appropriate nutrition. Friedrichshafen 2014 ( online ).
  18. ↑ Johann Georg Schnitzer: Eating vegetarian - but how? Friedrichshafen 2003–2014 ( online ).
  19. ^ Johann Georg Schnitzer: Basic knowledge of health. Friedrichshafen 2003 ( online ).
  20. ↑ Johann Georg Schnitzer: Acne and pimples - healing from within. Friedrichshafen 2001–2011 ( online ).
  21. ^ Johann Georg Schnitzer: Dental caries causes. Friedrichshafen 2002 ( online ).
  22. ^ Claus Leitzmann, Markus Keller, Andreas Hahn: Schnitzer-Kost. In: Alternative forms of nutrition. , 2nd edition, Hippokrates Verlag, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-8304-5324-8 , p. 121.
  23. ↑ German Society for Nutrition e. V .: Vegan Diet: Nutrient Supply and Health Risks in Infancy and Childhood. In: DGEinfo 04/2011 - Research, Clinic, Practice , May 11, 2011.
  24. ^ German Society for Nutrition eV: Is a vegetarian diet suitable for children? In: DGE-aktuell 14/98 , July 21, 1998. ( Memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (Last accessed on: March 15, 2010)
  25. ↑ Cf. with German Society for Nutrition e. V .: Reference values ​​energy .
  26. ↑ Personalia In: Rheinisches Ärzteblatt , 4/1997, p. 7.
  27. ↑ H. van den Berg, M. van der Gaag, H. Hendriks: Influence of lifestyle on vitamin bioavailability. In: International journal for vitamin and nutrition research. International journal for vitamin and nutritional research. Journal international de vitaminologie et de nutrition. Volume 72, Number 1, January 2002, ISSN  0300-9831 , pp. 53-59. PMID 11887754 .
  28. ↑ C. Koebnick, C. Strassner, I. Hoffmann, C. Leitzmann: Consequences of a long-term raw food diet on body weight and menstruation: results of a questionnaire survey. In: Ann Nutr Metab. (1999), Vol. 43, No. 2, pp. 69-79. PMID 10436305 .
  29. ↑ MS Nachbar, JD Oppenheim: Lectins in the United States diet: a survey of lectins in commonly consumed foods and a review of the literature. In: The American journal of clinical nutrition. Volume 33, Number 11, November 1980, ISSN  0002-9165 , pp. 2338-2345. PMID 7001881 .
  30. ↑ Vogt, Mueller Nothmann, Nothmann: 10. Raw and full tale. In: Modern Food Tales. 2nd Edition. Schlütersche Verlagsgesellschaft, Hanover 2007, ISBN 978-3-89993-524-0 , p. 109ff.
  31. ↑ Ströhle, Hahn: Evolutionary nutritional science and "Stone Age" nutritional recommendations - stone of alimentary wisdom or stumbling block? Part 2: Ethnographic Findings and Nutritional Implications. In: Ernähr -Umschau 02/2006, Umschau Zeitschriftenverlag, p. 52ff. ( Summary and full text ).
  32. ↑ Ötzi had bad teeth. Media release from the University of Zurich on April 9, 2013.
  33. ↑ Broken bones and tooth decay. In: Die Zeit , No. 30, July 17, 2008.
  34. ↑ Cf. with Schnitzer: Acne and pimples - healing from the inside : “When sebum accumulates in the skin pores, the composition of the fats in the food can play an essential role. If it is animal fats ("beef tallow", mutton fat, pork fat, etc.) or chemically hardened ("hydrogenated") vegetable fats from margarines and chocolate, which with their high melting points are still solid even at body temperature, one can easily imagine How much more difficult it is for these to be excreted from skin pores than when it comes to the natural vegetable oils that are easy to excrete from the germs of the seeds, which are easily liquid at room temperature, ... "
  35. ^ Toeller et al .: Evidence-based dietary recommendations for the treatment and prevention of diabetes mellitus. In: Diabetes and Metabolism 14/2005, Georg Thieme Verlag, pp. 75–94 ( full text ; PDF; 1.5 MB).
personal data
SURNAME Schnitzer, Johann Georg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German dentist and alternative medical non-fiction author
DATE OF BIRTH June 1, 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH Freiburg in Breisgau