Whole food nutrition

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Whole food nutrition describes a nutritional concept in which fresh and untreated foods as well as whole grain products are preferred. The concept is based on the whole foods by Werner Kollath and Maximilian Bircher-Benner . In common parlance, the term is often used synonymously with whole foods ; also on whole nutrition : whole nutrition is based on the recommendations of the German Nutrition Society (DGE) and describes a mixed food concept with nutritional medical objectives.

According to Claus Leitzmann and other proponents of this theory, whole food nutrition requires a high quality of food as well as better environmental , social and economic compatibility.

history

Nutritional reformer before 1933

Although the term whole foods was first introduced by Werner Kollath in 1942, the principle was developed at the end of the 19th century, under the influence of naturopathy and the life reform movement. Most of the life reformers around 1900 were convinced that the majority of people in the age of industrialization ate completely wrong and therefore unhealthy: too much meat, too much fat, too much sugar, too much white flour, too much spices, too many luxury foods . Most of the nutrition reformers were followers of vegetarianism , which gained followers around 1850. In general, they preferred largely untreated foods. The diet reformers, almost all of which came from the German-speaking world, turned in principle to all sections of the population, but found almost exclusively in middle class interest, especially the educated middle class .

The American preacher and vegetarians Sylvester Graham developed in 1829 as an alternative to the then-popular white bread , a bread from the fine whole wheat - meal of wheat . From 1861 the naturopath and vegetarian Theodor Hahn made this so-called graham bread popular in Switzerland. Hahn saw the consumption of white, bran-free bread as a cause of various illnesses including hysteria and "mental illnesses ". The lay healer Louis Kuhne also advocated a diet that was as "natural" as possible, ie primarily raw food . Whole grain cereals are most valuable, followed by meal and breadcrumbs . The "natural nutrition" is the essential prerequisite for health.

Even Sebastian Kneipp introduced as part of its Kneipp medicine guidelines for healthy eating on. He was not a vegetarian, but he also emphasized the value of the simplest possible diet and less processed food. Among other things, he wrote:

"For all those who want to stay healthy and become strong and strong, the Creator determines the grain above all"

and

“Keep the natural as natural as possible. The preparation of the food should be simple and unaffected. The closer they come to the state in which they are offered by nature, the healthier they are. "

Kneipp recommended the use of whole grain flour containing bran and called finely ground flour "artificial flour", which lacked the most important nutrients.

The Swiss doctor Maximilian Bircher-Benner (1867–1939), who invented muesli , among other things, is considered a pioneer of whole foods . He also developed his own nutrition theory, in which plant-based food was the focus. He attributed a particularly high nutritional value to all raw edible parts of the plant, especially the leaves. Bircher-Benner spoke of sunlight nutrition, because he assumed that the plants obtained special energy from sunlight. The vitamins were not yet discovered around 1900. He considered cooked vegetable food to be less valuable. Meat was at the bottom of the scale at Bircher-Benner. He also turned down canned and highly processed foods. He spoke of an "order of nutrition". The Bircher muesli was created as an attempt to prepare an optimal diet that contains all the important nutrients in sufficient quantities. The term “wholesome food” is already used by Bircher-Benner in his writings.

National Socialism

In the phase of National Socialism in Germany, food for the population was also influenced and controlled by the state. The aim of nutrition policy was to ensure the health of the "national body". The focus of interest was the so-called “whole grain bread question”. The Reich Wholemeal Bread Committee was founded in 1939 to encourage the bakeries to mainly produce whole-grain bread instead of bread made from extract flour . The Reichsärzteführer Leonardo Conti declared:

"The fight for whole wheat bread is a fight for public health."

A quality seal for bread was introduced.

Werner Kollath (1892–1970) had contact with Bircher-Benner and published in his journal Der Wendpunkt . In 1942 Kollath published his main work The Order of Our Food . In it he used the term whole food for a diet that "contains everything the organism needs for its maintenance and for the preservation of the species". As far as the nutritional concept itself is concerned, he was primarily able to fall back on Bircher-Benner's publications. Kollath's postulate "Let our food be as natural as possible" is a modification of a Kneipp quote. Kollath divided all food into six value groups (later received as “value levels”); the lower the level of processing, the higher the value. He rates plant-based food higher than animal food, and raw food higher than cooked food. Kollath also differentiated conceptually between unprocessed or little processed “food” that was still alive, and more processed “food” that represented “dead food” for him. The head of the National Socialist “Reichspropagandaamt Mecklenburg” classified Kollath's work as important to the war effort: he still supported the printing of the second edition during the war, because he was convinced that it was a “valuable work that was in the foreground especially because of the war”.

Development after 1945

After 1945 and well into the 1960s there was little interest in special nutritional philosophies in Germany, because initially it was about ensuring that the population was supplied. Then the desire to compensate for the shortage years of the war prevailed, and the so-called "Fresswelle" followed in the 1950s. Food was rationed in England until 1954. It wasn't until the 1970s that healthy eating became a topic of public discussion again.

The German Nutrition Society (DGE), founded in 1953, introduced the term complete nutrition and essentially defines it as nutrition that contains all the necessary nutrients in sufficient quantities, in the correct proportions and in the optimal form. Meat consumption is only recommended in moderation. In 1954, Hans Adalbert Schweigart founded the International Society for Research on Nutrition and Vital Substances (IVG), whose focus also included scientific research on wholesome nutrition. She speaks in contrast to the DGE of whole-food diet and declared in 1955 that this involves also "a natural soil fertility, a biologically-hygienic fertilization with harmonious mineral fertilizers and trace element supply, with livestock in healthy stables produces healthy, antibiotic-free milk".

In the 1960s, Max Otto Bruker (1909–2001) developed a diet based on Kollath, which he called whole foods rich in vital substances from 1966 onwards. This name is a combination of the collective term " vital substances " introduced by Schweigart and Kollath's term "whole foods". Another variant is the Schnitzer diet according to Johann Georg Schnitzer .

In the late 1970s developed nutritionists to Claus Leitzmann at the University of Giessen based on Kollaths concept and based on the IVG a nutrition they whole-food diet called. Karl von Koerber was familiar with Bruker's wholefood diet from his parents, and in 1976 he founded an “Alternative Nutrition Working Group ” at the University of Giessen as a student of nutritional science; he also mediated the contact between Leitzmann and Bruker. As students, Koerber and Thomas Männle founded the Society for Health Advice together with Bruker , but left again in 1980. A year later, Thomas Männle and Elmar Schropp founded the Association for Independent Health Advice in Giessen , which is still committed to the spread of whole-food nutrition and neutral, scientifically based nutrition education.

Leitzmann, Koerber and Männle modernized Kollath's teaching and took ecological and socio-economic aspects into account in their dietary recommendations. As with Kollath and Bircher-Benner, plant foods are given greater importance than animal foods. In 1981 they published a book on whole-food nutrition , which was last published in a revised new edition in 2004.

Concepts

whole food

The bacteriologist and hygienist Werner Kollath presented the nutritional concept of whole foods in his book The Order of Our Food in 1942 . The basic idea is the postulate that food is more valuable and healthier the less it is processed. Kollath divided the food into six "value groups":

  1. unchanged, fresh food that has not been heated
  2. mechanically modified foods
  3. enzymatically modified foods
  4. heat-treated foods
  5. canned or highly processed foods
  6. isolated food substances or their combination

The first three groups are summarized as "food", the other three as "food". According to Kollath's theory, only foods that are as untreated as possible contain enough essential ingredients, which he called "auxones". The lack of auxons would cause "mesotrophy", a malnutrition that leads to chronic diseases.

Kollath made a distinction between "living food" which contained "ferments" and which he called food , and "dead food" which he called food . He compares the “ calorie value” with the “fresh value”; the food energy is the "partial value", while the freshness is the "full value" of the food. In his opinion, cooked food is basically only “partially valued”. Kollath described the application of heat as the "most important practical preservation method". However, heat would "destroy flavorings and own ferments". “Food” would become “food”.

The dentist Johann Georg Schnitzer and the internist Max Otto Bruker developed their own nutrition teachings based on whole foods. In connection with organic food , the term natural food has also spread, but it comes from the life reform movement and thus has a different origin than the nutritional theories widespread in the 20th century.

Wholesome nutrition

The term balanced diet uses the DGE in a modification of the concept of whole foods . The short definition of the DGE states that a diet is considered to be wholesome if it contains all the necessary nutrients in sufficient quantities, in the correct proportions and in the correct form. The saturation value of the food is also taken into account. According to most nutritionists the "right balance" means: 50 to 60 percent of calories supply from carbohydrates , 30 percent from fat and more than 20 percent from protein . The wholesome diet can be vegetarian , but does not have to be. Vegan nutrition is judged to be nutritionally unfavorable.

The DGE was founded in 1953 with the aim of “maintaining and increasing the health and productivity of the population through guidance on proper and wholesome nutrition.” From the beginning, whole grain bread, potatoes, dairy products and a relatively high proportion of raw vegetables were recommended. In 1955, an article in the DGE magazine Ernahrung-Umschau states : "A wholesome diet is, in the scientific sense, a diet that contains all the necessary components in sufficient quantities and that adequately covers the human energy needs." In the 1960s, the DGE summarized its nutritional recommendations in ten rules.

The current nutritional rules of wholesome nutrition:

  • balanced diet that includes all nutrients,
  • vegetable foods are preferred,
  • Five portions of fruit and vegetables should be consumed daily,
  • little sugar and little salt,
  • gentle preparation of the food,
  • Grain products and milk as well as dairy products should be eaten daily,
  • 300 grams to a maximum of 600 grams of meat and fish per week, little sausage ,
  • low fat and high fat foods; vegetable fats are preferred,
  • Drink 1.5 to 2 liters daily,
  • varied food.

Whole food focuses on cereal products, potatoes , legumes , vegetables and fruits. Preference is given to whole-grain products. Raw food is considered to be particularly valuable. The DGE recommends five instead of the usual three meals a day. Fruit or vegetables should be part of every meal. Meat should not be eaten every day, fish once or twice a week, sausage and eggs only rarely. The preferred drinks are mineral water , diluted juices, and unsweetened tea . Milk is not a drink, but a food. Coffee , black tea, and alcohol are considered improper hydration.

Whole food nutrition

The term wholefood nutrition was first used by IVG in the 1950s, which already included ecological aspects . In a publication in 1956 it was stated: "By healthy wholefood nutrition we mean one that is based on biologically oriented agriculture and horticulture, thus on farming that is combined with natural, harmoniously adapted animal husbandry."

The concept of today's wholefood nutrition comes from the nutritionists Claus Leitzmann, Karl von Koerber and Thomas Männle and was first published in 1981 and last updated in 2003. In the 1990s, Claus Leitzmann and his colleagues at the University of Gießen provided scientific evidence of the health benefits ( Gießen Whole Food Nutrition Study ).

The definition is referred to as the Giessen formula based on the location of the authors :

“Whole-food nutrition is a predominantly plant-based (lacto-vegetable) diet in which low-processed foods are preferred. Fresh food that is valuable to health is prepared into enjoyable and wholesome dishes. The main foods used are vegetables and fruits, whole grain products, potatoes, legumes as well as milk and dairy products, but small amounts of meat, fish and eggs can also be included. A copious consumption of unheated fresh food is recommended, about half the amount of food.

In addition to the health compatibility of the diet, the environmental, economic and social compatibility of the food system are also taken into account in the interests of sustainability. This means, among other things, that products from organic farming as well as regional and seasonal products are used. Furthermore, environmentally friendly packaged products are used. In addition, foods from fair trade with so-called developing countries are used. Whole food nutrition aims to promote a high quality of life - especially health -, protection of the environment, fair economic relationships and social justice worldwide. "

- C. Leitzmann, K. v. Koerber, Th. Männle : Giessen formula updated. In: UGB-Forum 20 (5), p. 256, 2003

According to the Giessen scientists, wholefood nutrition is based on the nutritional teachings of Bircher-Benner and Kollath. In their opinion, processed foods as little as possible contain the "full value" of the natural ingredients and are therefore "wholesome". They changed the term whole food , which Kollath introduced in 1942, to whole food . The Giessen nutrition model only divides food into four instead of six value levels, from "not / little processed" (highly recommended) to "over processed" (not recommended). Recommendations for nutrient intake are not given.

Whole grain products should be preferred for cereals . Milk and milk products should only be consumed in moderate quantities, preferably preferred milk or pasteurized whole milk. The consumption of meat, fish and eggs is classified as unnecessary, but not completely rejected. Two meat meals, one fish meal and two eggs per week are considered appropriate. Sausage is not recommended at all, nor is offal because of the pollution. Sugar and sweeteners should be avoided with reference to the potential benefit of various diseases such as obesity and diabetes mellitus .

Around half of the daily diet should consist of raw vegetables , which is due to the higher content of important ingredients. However, it is acknowledged that not all people tolerate raw food well, so that a. a smaller proportion is better for seniors. Additives in food are rejected on the grounds that health risks cannot be completely ruled out.

Group 4 of foods that are not recommended for whole foods include food supplements , frozen foods , genetically modified foods ( novel food ), French fries , extracted soy products such as 'soy meat' , soy protein , soy lecitin, hardened margarine , condensed milk , processed cheese , lemonade , Flavorings and confectionery.

However, the model of whole-food nutrition goes beyond a purely nutritional concept and also contains ideological elements and political and ecological statements. In addition to health compatibility, environmental and social compatibility should also be taken into account in nutrition. Therefore, products from the region should be given preference. The extensive renunciation of meat is also justified ecologically. In particular, cereals and pulses (especially soybeans) could also be used directly for human consumption instead of being used for the production of meat, milk and eggs. In this way, significantly more people could be fed from the same arable land, since an average of 65 to 90 percent of the food energy and protein of plant feed is lost when converting to animal products.

In the sense of social justice, solidarity buying behavior is demanded from the consumers. B. Prefer products from "fair trade". There is also criticism of the EU's “agricultural protectionism” . Genetic engineering , novel food and food irradiation are rejected.

The Giessen nutritionists have established seven principles for their nutrition theory:

  1. Delicious and wholesome meals
  2. Prefer plant-based foods (predominantly lacto-vegetable foods)
  3. Prefer low-processed foods - plenty of fresh food
  4. Organically produced food
  5. Regional and seasonal products
  6. Environmentally friendly packaged products
  7. Fair trade products

criticism

The concept of untreated food

Many foods are only tolerable for humans because humans have learned in the course of history to prepare them accordingly. Avoiding denaturation in whole foods, for example, also ignores the denaturing effect of the acidic pH of the stomach acid .

Many foods such as B. Potatoes , legumes or rice are only edible cooked. The proportion of “raw food” therefore says nothing about the extent to which a diet is “healthy”.

Kollath's classification of food into six value levels is not always comprehensible. B. Muscle meat as heat-treated (value level 4), but offal are counted among the isolated substances (value level 6); Blanched legumes are considered unheated (value level 1), while fruit juices are considered heated (value level 4); Fruit tea is classified as unheated, malt coffee as heated; Mussels are classified as mechanically altered.

compatibility

Whole food nutrition - especially with high proportions of raw vegetable food - can lead to severe gas and indigestion in some people . The representative of wholefood nutrition, Max Otto Bruker, had suspected that fresh food and wholemeal bread with industrial sugar were intolerant and recommended that even the smallest amounts of factory sugar should be avoided completely when switching to wholefood nutrition.

Take advantage of high fiber diet

Regular intake of fiber , such as that found in whole grain products, can only lower the LDL and total cholesterol in the blood. The study situation on the preventive effect in relation to colon cancer is inconsistent: A meta-analysis of five intervention studies showed no protective effect against colon cancer. In contrast, the EPIC study shows that a high-fiber diet lowers the risk of colon cancer by around 40 percent. The DGE recommends that you take a day at least 30 grams of fiber intake, preferably through whole grain products, vegetables , fresh or dried fruit and nuts .

See also

literature

  • Max Otto Bruker: Our Food - Our Fate. Everything about the causes, prevention and curability of diet-related diseases of civilization. 31st edition, emu-Verlags- und Vertriebsgesellschaft Nutrition-Medicine-Environment, Lahnstein 1999, ISBN 3-89189-003-6 .
  • Werner Kollath: The order of our food. 17th edition, Karl F. Haug Verlag, Stuttgart 2005.
  • Claus Leitzmann: The Giessen concept of wholefood nutrition. In: Journal of Nutritional Ecology. 1, 2000, pp. 195-199.
  • Jörg Melzer: Whole food nutrition. Dietetics, naturopathy, National Socialism, social demands. Franz Steiner Verlag , Stuttgart 2003, DNB 3515082786 .
  • Uwe Spiekermann: The natural scientist as a cultural scientist. The example of Werner Kollath. In: Gerhard Neumann, Alois Wierlacher, Rainer Wild (eds.): Food and quality of life. Natural and cultural sciences in conversation. Frankfurt am Main, New York 2001, pp. 247-274.
  • Hans Jürgen Teuteberg (Ed.): The revolution at the dining table: new studies on food culture in the 19th, 20th centuries. Steiner, 2004, ISBN 3-515-08447-9 .
  • Karl von Koerber, Thomas Männle, Claus Leitzmann : Whole food nutrition. 11th revised edition, Haug Verlag 2012, ISBN 978-3-8304-7494-4 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Brockhaus Nutrition, Mannheim 2001, article full nutrition and full nutrition , p. 668f.
  2. ↑ Claus Leitzmann, Markus Keller, Andreas Hahn: Claims of whole foods as a modern form of nutrition . In: Alternative forms of nutrition . 2nd Edition. Georg Thieme, 2005, ISBN 978-3-8304-5324-6 , p. 138–139 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  3. ^ Judith Baumgartner: Nutritional reform . In: Kerbs, Reulecke (ed.): Handbook of German Reform Movements 1880–1933 . S. 15th ff .
  4. ^ Jörg Melzer: Whole Foods Nutrition - Dietetics, Naturopathy, National Socialism, Social Claims , Steiner, 2004, ISBN 978-3-515-08278-5 .
  5. ↑ Quotes from Sebastian Kneipp ( Memento from September 4, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
  6. ↑ Sebastian Kneipp: This is how you should live. Newly edited and edited by Christian Frey, Munich 1981, p. 80 f.
  7. ↑ Jörg Melzer: Whole food nutrition. Dietetics, naturopathy, National Socialism, social demands. Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2003, DNB 3515082786 , p. 127
  8. ↑ a b Jörg Melzer: Whole food nutrition. Dietetics, naturopathy, National Socialism, social demands. Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2003, DNB 3515082786 , p. 183 ff.
  9. ^ Robert N. Proctor : Blitzkrieg against cancer. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2002 (orig. 1999), ISBN 3-608-91031-X .
  10. ↑ Jörg Melzer: Whole food nutrition. Dietetics, naturopathy, National Socialism, social demands. Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2003, DNB 3515082786 , p. 138.
  11. ^ Bernhard Watzl, Claus Leitzmann: A commentary on the nutritional work of Werner Kollath. In: Werner Kollath: The order of our food. 17th edition, Georg Thieme Verlag, 2013, pp. 289 ff. ISBN 978-3-8304-7801-0 .
  12. ↑ Sabine Merta: The mesotrophy and whole value theory of Kollath. In: Paths and aberrations to the modern cult of slimness: Diet food and physical culture as a search for new forms of lifestyle 1880–1930. Franz Steiner Verlag, 2003, p. 128ff. ISBN 978-3-515-08109-2 .
  13. ↑ Jörg Melzer: Whole food nutrition. Dietetics, naturopathy, National Socialism, social demands. Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2003, DNB 3515082786 , p. 249 In Google books
  14. ↑ Jörg Melzer: Whole food nutrition. Dietetics, naturopathy, National Socialism, social demands. Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2003, DNB 3515082786 , p. 311.
  15. ↑ Jörg Melzer: Whole food nutrition. Dietetics, naturopathy, National Socialism, social demands. Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2003, DNB 3515082786 , p. 384.
  16. ↑ Jörg Melzer: Whole food nutrition. Dietetics, naturopathy, National Socialism, social demands. Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2003, DNB 3515082786 , p. 392 ff.
  17. ↑ Elisabeth Klumpp, 20 years of UGB: From student meeting place to institution. * UGB-FORUM 5/2001, pp. 230-233.
  18. ↑ Werner Kollath: The order of our food , 13th edition 1987, page 32 ff
  19. ↑ Jörg Melzer: Whole food nutrition. Dietetics, naturopathy, National Socialism, social demands. Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2003, DNB 3515082786 , p. 253.
  20. ↑ Werner Kollath: The order of our food , 17th unaltered edition, Georg Thieme Verlag, 2005; P. 49.
  21. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from March 18, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.naturkost.de
  22. ↑ Jörg Melzer: Whole food nutrition. Dietetics, naturopathy, National Socialism, social demands. Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2003, DNB 3515082786 , p. 291.
  23. ↑ Jörg Melzer: Whole food nutrition. Dietetics, naturopathy, National Socialism, social demands. Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2003, DNB 3515082786 , p. 298.
  24. ↑ DGE nutritional rules
  25. ↑ Jörg Melzer: Whole food nutrition. Dietetics, naturopathy, National Socialism, social demands. Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2003, DNB 3515082786 , p. 313 f.
  26. ↑ C. Leitzmann, K. v. Koerber, Th. Männle: Giessen formula updated. In: UGB-Forum 20 (5), p. 256, 2003.
  27. ^ Charles v. Koerber, Thomas Männle, Claus Leitzmann: Whole food nutrition. Conception of a contemporary diet. 10th edition. Heidelberg, Stuttgart 2004, pp. 190 ff.
  28. ↑ Claus Leitzmann u. a .: Alternative nutritional forms , Stuttgart 1999, chapter whole food nutrition , pp. 150–180.
  29. ^ Charles v. Koerber, Thomas Männle, Claus Leitzmann: Whole food nutrition. Conception of a contemporary diet. 10th edition. Heidelberg / Stuttgart 2004, p. 110 ff.
  30. ↑ a b c Tamas Nagy: Whole Foods: Indigestible Resuscitation Attempts ( Memento from February 12, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
  31. ↑ Jeremy M. Berg, John L. Tymoczko, Lubert Stryer: Biochemistry. 6th edition. Spectrum, Heidelberg 2007, ISBN 3-8274-1800-3 .
  32. ↑ cf. Udo Pollmer, Susanne Warmuth: Lexicon of popular nutritional errors. 7th edition, Piper, Munich / Zurich 2007, ISBN 3-492-24023-2 , p. 325 ff.
  33. ↑ Lisa Brown et al. a .: Cholesterol-lowering effects of dietary fiber: a meta-analysis. In: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 69, No. 1, 1999, pp. 30-42, PMID 9925120 .
  34. ↑ TK. Asano, RS. McLeod: Dietary fiber for the prevention of colorectal adenomas and carcinomas. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2002, Issue 1. Art. No .: CD003430. doi: 10.1002 / 14651858.CD003430
  35. ↑ EPIC study ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.iarc.fr
  36. ↑ DGE: Do the dietary recommendations for dietary fiber need to be changed? ( Memento from July 29, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ).