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Prof. Arnold Ehret's Mucusless Diet Healing System

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Prof. Arnold Ehret's Mucusless Diet Healing System: Annotated, Revised, and Edited by Prof. Spira is a complete course for everyone who desires to learn how to control their health. You will learn how to overcome debilitating health issues naturally, identify which foods are mucus-forming, get rid of nasal congestion and terrible coughing, eliminate unnecessary weight, heal yourself of numerous painful ailments, transition safely and permanently toward a mucus-free diet, and combine the mucusless diet with intermittent fasting.

220 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1976

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About the author

Arnold Ehret

107 books63 followers
Arnold Ehret was a German health educator and author of several books on diet, detoxification, fruitarianism, fasting, food combining, health, longevity, naturopathy, physical culture and vitalism.

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5 stars
370 (50%)
4 stars
187 (25%)
3 stars
117 (15%)
2 stars
32 (4%)
1 star
27 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews
Profile Image for Nate.
118 reviews528 followers
February 22, 2019
The mind instinctively governs all organic action of the physical body. Mucus-forming and puss-forming foods are unnatural and harmful for humans to consume. The author experimented with fasting, where he found strength and vitality, rather than starvation. Disease is a response from the body to discard infectious wastes. All disease is sourced in the colon, constantly attempting to clean itself out. Food consumption is for the purpose of cleansing, rather than energizing one’s body. Naturopathy is a drugless approach to healing via plant-based diets and intermittent fasting remedies. In the Bible, humans were intended to have dominion over animals, not eat animals. In almost all religions, high humans are characterized as ones who do not consume any type of meat. Drugs consumed are never wholly eliminated, and inevitably show up in the body after consumption. Vegetable and fruit based diets are instrumental to natural healing. After fasting emerges a unity of mind. Differences in diets can account for the vast amount of differences among people today.

First step is to fast for one to two days, then the tongue will serve as a mirror for inner health. If the body were an oiled machine, the lungs would be the pump and heart, the valve. Vitality is not a result of food consumed, but rather fewer obstructions from food. Vitality = power - obstruction (the “formula of life). Rather than being hyper focused on nutrition, breathing regulation and cleansing the body should be the focus of health. Starch-less, all fruits, green-leafy, and nuts are foods are mucus-free and therefore make the greatest difference in health and vitality. The mucusless diet does contradict itself in terms of nuts and vegetables, particularly avocado as it wasn’t recognized as a salad food until the 1950s. All fatty foods are only desired by one’s body so as long as mucus is present. See lesson 5 for how strategic and planned intermittent fasting is most effective for the healing process by eliminating disease. There’s only one disease: inner dirt, waste and obstructions.

The upset feelings while implementing a transitional diet plan are natural and should be anticipated. Transitional diet plans (also “healing crisis” symptoms) are absolutely essential as the body will experience pain if changes in one’s diet occur too rapidly. It should take about a year to gradually transition one’s diet, and then if the mucusless diet healing system is following correctly, will take about three years to fully and completely eliminate backed up waste from prior years of unhealthy or unnatural food consumption.

Heavy breakfasts are not advised. Fruit is best to consume. No more than two meals per day works best, but the quality can be as if three to four meals were eaten within those two meals. If possible, lunch should be eaten between 10AM - 11AM. Dinner should be not sooner than 5PM - 6PM. Simplicity is also beneficial when eating for health. Fluids should be avoided alongside consuming meals. If you crave meat, eat vegetables. Bread and potatoes should be consumed if too much weight is lost. Generally, meats and dairy should be avoided at all costs. Vinegar should be avoided if possible.

Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food. Animals naturally do not intermix various made-up foods. They naturally eat one food at a time, besides domesticated animals. The mucusless diet should be adapted to each individual through an ongoing and highly responsive process. It’s advisable to transition away from and off coffee as soon as possible due to its acidity. Authentic juices (or juicing) can be an effective substitute when transitioning away from coffee consumption. Bake food as dry as possible. Mono-diets are suggested after much process is made via the mucusless diet.

Suggestions for consumption: always begin each day consuming some type of fruit, wait 5-10 minutes before consuming a vegetable course; don’t consume liquids/fluids of any kind with a meal, it interferes with proper digestion; human food is fruits and herbs, in their natural and cooked state; mix food, but in few varieties; don’t eat nuts with juicy fruits; nature’s own book is simplicity; don’t overeat, Mother Nature requires moderation in all things. Laugh also always aids digestion. Chew dried fruits such as raisins, plums, etc. together. Transitional thinking is not finite, but rather ongoing. Transitional diets should be applied and are applicable according to each individual. All disease is a result of food consumption, thus the universal remedy of all disease is to reverse the process by fasting, intermittently. Starvation and fasting are not the same. Fasts feel miserable so as long as waste is present in the body’s circulation. Drugs taken at any point in a person’s life will impact each fast differently. Eating the wrong meal to break a fast can be deathly fatal if done incorrectly. General suggestions for breaking fasts are inadequate as it’s entirely relative to each individual. However, it’s clear fasts should never be broken with mucus-forming foods. This first meal must be of laxative-effect, rather than nourishment. V = P - O. The longer a fast, the cleaner the bowels perform thereafter. Fresh sweet fruits, such as berries or grapes, work best following a fast. The less drank during a fast, the more aggressive the healing process may become. Watered down lemonade is recommended. Consuming a large breakfast in the morning is a Western health myth. European countries don’t have full meals, but rather small items to classify breakfast foods. The more waste accumulated, the more food is needed for proper nutrition - nature’s paradox and humanity’s food consumption crisis. This is why life can become a tragedy of nutrition. Transitioning to fasting should be gradual, beginning without the consumption of breakfast for a few days, at first. If using a one-meal per day transition, an optimal time for food to be consumed around 3-4PM. Eggs are worse for the body than meat as its sticky substance obstructs digestive circulation, and the high protein is unnecessary are harmful. If one’s tongue and nostrils are clean, spices and flavoring becomes unnaturally unnecessary and even offensive to the senses. Current developments of spicing and flavoring are a result and continuing spiral of obstructed taste and smell. However, “whatever is first proved is doubtful,” which is why the mucusless diet and fasting processes must be experienced and understood via and on relatively individual bases. Counting calories is not useful and at best outdated. See lesson 5 for Ehret’s understanding and explanation of vitality, which is true life energy.

On sex: reproduction is a replication process, thus an unclean being will beget uncleanliness of offspring. Reproduction is recently being driven by stimulated desire, rather than deep spiritual sexual vibrations that embody authentic love. Making love is in fact a sacred act. It’s unnatural to cut one’s hair, and grow out hair has historically been a sign of health.

Ehret rejects the Darwinian notion of evolution specifically in regard and relation to humans. Ehret understands humanity as having origins in divinity, from higher planes of consciousness. Ehret appears to believe the divinity of humanity as having no definitive beginning nor ending. Walking, dancing and singing are the most pure forms of exercise, especially for beneficial breathing practices. Air and breathing is more important for health than food. Thus, high-quality and clean air is superior to high-quality and healthy food. Morning exercise is preferable when compared to afternoon and evening exercising. Exercise should be done immediately upon arising in the morning. Sunbaths are beneficial during the mucusless cleansing process. Sun rays directly on the naked body are energizing, vital and better a wholly healthy body. Eat your way into paradise through fasting and healing dieting. This is the path to mental, healthy and spiritual enlightenment.
December 13, 2012
The Most Important Read in the "World".....Excellent, with an intent to "sense and sensibility" that is more common than not.
115 reviews
March 1, 2021
In one of Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, the great detective observed that one could best understand and solve crimes through knowledge of similar skulduggery in the past. The same can be said for medical quackery.

Arnold Ehret was a late nineteenth and early 20th century naturopath whose bizarre and unfounded ideas about nutrition had a brief vogue in his time, were later revived by counterculture enthusiasts in the U.S. in the 1960s, and appear to have gained a limited following in the present day. His ideas in this book about fasting and his belief that ''pus and mucus-forming foods'' clog up the digestive tract and are responsible for a host of diseases, despite being utter nonsense, appeal to those who don't understand human physiology and prefer to believe in a simple unifying philosophy of disease causation and prevention. That desire for simplicity explains how quacks continue to prosper through selling books, supplements and seminars on ineffectual nutritional and health practices, based on promoting wildly inaccurate theories of a One True Cause Of Disease.

Among Ehret's many weird and nonsensical beliefs was the idea that white blood cells are decayed mucus in the blood which clog the system and cause illness, that the lungs instead of the heart pump blood through the body. that eating rice causes leprosy, and that sexual attraction is based on the sending of electromagnetic radiation through the hair.

You would have to wonder how someone espousing such hilariously goofy ideas could ever have been taken seriously during his lifetiime, never mind by 21st century educated people. However, the volume of enthusiastic reviews here indicate that he still has fans who embrace similar nonsense and gravitate to those carrying on Ehret's tradition. For example one of several recent books written by an ex-California M.D. insists that ''the heart is not a pump'', and Ehret's book has an enthusiastic blurb written by "alternative health guru" Gary Null, who you may remember as the guy who became seriously ill after consuming excessive vitamin D in his own "Ultimate Power Meal" supplement.

Ehret's followers have advanced dark suspicions that his accidental death from a fall in 1922 was not an accident at all, but that he was eliminated by unknown enemies. The present-day counterpart to this paranoia is the ''holistic doctor murder conspiracy'' theory, in which various ''natural healers'' are supposedly being done away with by Big Pharma, the Medical Establishment, the Illuminati etc.

Sherlock Holmes was right - there's really nothing new under the sun. You'd hope though that people would know better by now and stop falling for the same quackery and conspiracy beliefs over and over again.
February 21, 2008
I thought this was an excellent book. The author was a dietician and is also known for his books "Rational Fasting" and "Thus speaketh the Stomach". Even though he gives a lot of information about how fasting and mucusless diet are best, he continually emphasizes that there is no one way to fast, and cites examples of people who have fasted incorrectly and paid for it with their lives.

But what is the most useful about this book is that Ahret can tell you the reason why his method of fasting works and others fail. The last few chapters of the book are particularly eye-opening, where he discusses sex diseases, pregnancy, and menstruation and his experience with people treated in his clinic!!

Another thing about that I picked up from this book--even though Ahret doesn't speak about it, is the "overpopulation" of the world issue. . .After finding out thru the herbalist Dr. Sebi's work about all the foods that are unnatural, it made me wonder if there was not something to the opinion of there being a lot of overpopulation on the planet. But after reading this book to the end, I am much less convinced.

Alaf

1 review
February 15, 2017
People who gave his books a low rating, have really no idea what they are talking about! Most people are not ready for his teachings, they are scared of changing their food habits and their life. This is more than just a diet, this is a lifestyle change, this might include your friends and families even becoming more spiritual.
Yes his books are written almost a hundred years ago but they are still accurate. I surged and read many books over 10 years and found his books to be the best in healing the human body.
I would recommend to look into his books (Mucusless diet and rational fasting ) more in depth and you will see the truth.
Profile Image for Kimmy.
239 reviews
August 28, 2011
Thanks, Beatty. There's always someone crazier out there, isn't there?
Profile Image for Matt Harbeson.
7 reviews2 followers
March 29, 2021
Better stuff out there on plant based

Some good nuggets overall about plant based diet and fasting but there are too many contradictions and very whacky claims.
Profile Image for Jasmin Martin.
61 reviews4 followers
May 23, 2017
I agree with Ehret's ideas about nutrition and health. The only point that made me raise an eyebrow was his opinion of women. I realise he wrote this in a time when women were not as emancipated as they are today. But still. Ehret's philosophy on health is bulletproof. His personal beliefs on other matters, well, nobody's perfect and you can't agree 100% all of the time with everything someone says. That's when you take what you agree with and find of value, and ignore that which doesn't hold water in your world. Many great medical practitioners, possibly called alternative, used the raw food diet for healing their patients, such as Max Gerson, Max Bircher-Benner, Joseph Evers, et al. This is a good intro into his system.
Profile Image for Aelita Hopper.
106 reviews
February 27, 2022
To detox and heal body from wrong diet (animal-source foods like meat, fish, eggs, dairy…), we should change to healthy diet (fruits, green leaf, plant-based diet) slowly because when we supply the right food, toxic will be released. If you switch the diet immediately, too much released toxic will harm body. When your body is cleaned somehow, you can start fasting to detox deeper.
There is a still a part that I doubt about women period. Author said when women body is totally clean, there is no period (I am not sure). But it seems reasonable that a clean women will born a new baby perfectly easily without much pain, will have enough milk to feed baby, and baby will grow well without sickness.
Profile Image for Minnie.
64 reviews2 followers
January 25, 2022

Prof Arnold Ehret makes some great points in this health read.
Personally I would recommend this as supplementation to ‘The Detox Miracle Sourcebook’ by Dr Robert Morse, which is by far my favourite book on this subject.

Recommended if you are ready to kick disease for good.
Profile Image for David Huber.
37 reviews
May 12, 2020
Originally published in 1922, The Mucusless Diet Healing System by Arnold Ehret is a “scientific” inquisition into the cause of disease, although this question seems to already be convincingly answered by Ehret himself. Arnold Ehret, a Naturopath, dietetic researcher, and health educator, theorizes that all diseases, which require no use for names because they all have a common origin, essentially are caused by the food we eat.

Throughout the book, Ehret claims and emphasizes among many other things that pus and mucus-forming foods consumed throughout our lifetime are the cause of human disease, clogging and poisoning blood circulation and major organs throughout the body, and that mucus-free foods (mainly fruits and vegetables) are the key to human health. He advocates fasting as nature's omnipotent method of cleansing the body from the effects of mucus-forming foods and over eating. Ehret asserts that our health is dependent on the functionality and the cleanliness of the internal body, formulated in his equation V=P-O.

Although Ehret makes several oppositional medical claims such as white blood cells are caused by consuming mucus-forming foods, he uses sensible analogy’s to support his claims, including that animals do not need protein dense foods to survive, pointing out that cows continue to grow to significant portions solely on the grazing of grass. Many statements come across the page that puzzle the readers mind as to what this man was thinking, while at the same time understanding his logic to the point the reader may see some truth in his words. However, many of Ehret’s claims countered common beliefs of heath professionals in the medical field during that time.

While his ideas about diet and disease have no scientific basis, and are often criticized by medical professionals, there is some basis of truth in what Ehret preaches. My rating is based on my acknowledgement that Arnold Ehret’s idea that diet has such a significant affect on health, as we witness today, was beyond his time. Arnold Ehret among many other scientists during this time provided a framework to explore deeper into the field of dietetics and health, as well the physiological effects of fasting on the human body.
120 reviews
May 10, 2018
Kelios geros ištraukos

Ekspertai-patalogoanatomai praneša, kad nuo 60 iki 70 % ištirtų žarnynų randama svetimkūnių, kaip kirmėlės ir per dešimtmečius sukietėjusių išmatų akmenų. Storosios žarnos vidinės sienelės aplipusios senomis, sukietėjusiomis fekalijomis ir pagal išvaizdą primena purvino kamino vidų.
Aš turėjau stambius pacientus, kurie iš savo kūno šalindavo, nei daug nei mažai, 50-60 svarų atliekų (1 svaras = 0,4535924 kg; vertėjo pastaba). Ir 10-15 svarų tik iš žarnyno, pagrindinai iš svetimų medžiagų – ypač senų, sukietėjusių fekalijų. Vidutinis, taip vadinamas „sveikas“ žmogus nuolatos su savimi nešiojasi, pradedant nuo vaikystės, keletą svarų niekada nepašalintų fekalijų. Vienas „geras tualetas“ per dieną nieko nereiškia. Storas ir ligotas žmogus – faktiškai gyva „atmatų duobė“. Aš labai nustebau, kad daugelis mano pacientų tokioje būklėje jau bandė taip vadinamus „gamtinio gydymosi būdus“.

Kad išvengti nesusipratimų, galinčių kilti iš susilaikymo ir vegetarizmo atstovų pusės, aš turiu čia pateikti dar keletą argumentų. Mėsa jokiu būdu nėra maitinamoji priemonė, o tik sužadinanti; ji pūva ir irsta žarnyne; bet irimo procesas pirmiau prasideda ne skrandyje, o iš karto tik paskerdus; pastarąjį faktą įrodė prof. dr. S.Grahamas. Aš nuo savęs pridėsiu, kad šie puvimo nuodai žmogų veikia stimuliuojančiai ir todėl teikia maitinimosi priemonės iliuziją. O gal man kas nors gali chemiškai-fiziologiškai įrodyti, kad perėjusi į irimo stadiją baltymo molekulė atsistato skrandyje ir, pavyzdžiui, žmogaus raumenyje švenčia savo atgimimą? Kaip alkoholis, taip ir mėsa iš pradžių žada jėgą ir energiją, kol visas organizmas jais neužsikrečia, ir neprasideda irimo procesas. Tas pat vyksta ir su kitais stimuliatoriais.
Profile Image for styxee.
94 reviews3 followers
April 23, 2021
До этого я читала другую книгу автора "Возлюби болезнь свою", где больше как теория раскрывалось все, что зачем и почему. Эта книга была похожа на "Секрет" или что-то такое. В этой же книге уже детальный план по диете, продуктам и упражнениям, что достаточно полезно, если вы хотите попробовать подобное очищение.

Из личного опыта: я голодала по системе Оганян, около двух недель точно было (сейчас уже не вспомню, но это за минусом дней входа и выхода на голодание). Это то же самое учение, просто немного доработанное. Я пила одни травяные настои с медом и ничего не ела. Повлияло ли это как-то на мою жизнь и мой организм? Нет. Выходила ли слизь, было кучи энергии и т.д.? Нет. Похудела я, очистилась ли кожа и кишки? Нет. Возможно я мало времени голодала, но никакого эффекта и пользы на себе я не почувствовала. Только мать испугала и помучилась в ванной.

Я очень хочу верить в то, что подобное де��ствительно работает и вся проблема человека кроется в этом. Но мой опыт ничего особо не подтвердил. Может когда-нибудь я попробую снова подобное, потому что главная фишка была в том, что от голода я не страдала и это было единственным "вау". Но не более.
Profile Image for lili.
22 reviews
June 11, 2023
This book outlines the lifestyle that anyone who is a seeker of true holistic health, vitality, progression of humanity, visionary thought & action, and other things along those lines must know. (Even Einstein had visited Fred Hirsch's center, which utilized this system after Ehret's death). I have been a seeker of these topics for my entire life basically. I'm convinced that this book comes to you just at the right time for your path. I had been doing the raw vegan thing with ease, but doing the mucusless thing, though more challenging, was really what I was looking for. Ehret inspires you to do something you probably never would, which is to really investigate vitality, disease, digestion, nutrition, etc. I'm thankful to Prof. Spira for resurfacing this book to the human consciousness of the day. All of his annotations on Ehret's writings and the commentary on his YouTube channel as well will continue to be a vital resource to me as I continue practicing in my corner of the Earth.
February 14, 2021
Czytając tę książkę kilkukrotnie sprawdzałem, czy autor na pewno napisał ją ponad 100 lat temu :) Sama koncepcja diety opartej na owocach, zielonych warzywach i ziołach wydaje się być co najmniej warta zbadania. Jednocześnie powody, dla których autor ją zaleca są w równej mierze przekonujące co przerażające. Na mnie zadziałał przykład z garnkiem: przygotuj w nim roztwór o kwasowości podobnej do tej w Twoim żołądku, wrzuć tam to co zwykle jesz ustaw temperaturę koło 36,6 i podgrzewaj przez kilka godzin. Zapach może Cię zaskoczyć ;). Teoria mówi, że "to co wchodzi, musi wyjść" ...ale co jeśli część w nas zostaje?
March 1, 2019
Very logical and good book even it's old, you have to agree with Prof. Ehret and with his idea.
Back to the root, what is the food we were born to eat, but we forgot on our way to the new age? And what is the reason more and more people are getting sick?
This book is timeless I want to read other books on the same topic from the current era, but after reading this book you can get enough motivation to change something in your eating habits.
If you are looking at how to cure your disease or simply you are interested in a healthy lifestyle, then this book is for you.
Profile Image for John Zobolas.
50 reviews2 followers
March 26, 2018
Though somewhat lacking the advanced scientific and medical perspective of our times, this book has some advices/reasonings/views that are very important to consider and think about. His opinions about fasting, the mucusless diet, exercises, sex, the "superior (mental and physical) state", etc. are all too interesting to ignore I think (the most interesting material is at the end of the book in my opinion). Someone interested in this stuff should give it a go.
Profile Image for Arshi.
17 reviews
December 30, 2020
Incredibly simple, intuitive explanation of the nature of disease. Includes the basis for transformation from a modern, overfed, and latently diseased "healthy individual" to the highest potential possibility of qualitative health.

Very easy to judge the book on parts that include less than ideal scientific and more than currently accepted anecdotal explanations. Personally, I'll be judging the results, not the unbelievable parts of the text which are most likely so due to cultural, intellectual, and other biases or incorrect programming.

The best way I could've imagined to bring closure to this year.
Profile Image for Ley.
8 reviews
July 29, 2021
I read this book while on a “fruit fast”. The spiritual and mental downloads I received this week, I think, are attributed to not only this book but the removal of all destructive eating like this book teaches. I am so blessed to have received this knowledge and will continue to spread this truth for not only my, but also my ancestors’ salvation. We have been sick for far too long. The time to heal is now.
Profile Image for La Condesa.
Author 3 books
April 18, 2018
He leído todos los ensayos que he podido encontrar sobre este autor y sus ideas y descubrimientos científicos me parecen revolucionarios, acertados y sorprendentes.

La razón de las pocas estrellas es que la traducción hace que muchas ideas pierdan sentido o sean difíciles de entender y que, además, el libro ha sido "rellenado" y "censurado" a placer con el paso de los años.
October 1, 2020
Some interesting takeaways about diet and his assertion that food alone is chiefly to blame for all diseases. Ehret’s ideas about fasting (natures method of cleansing/healing) has given me food for thought. He also states that, “the lungs are the pump and the heart is the valve.” He kind of lost me when he started saying that humans skin color/race reflects our health and purity.
Profile Image for Oleksii K.
24 reviews
October 9, 2017
Found a few interesting thoughts and ideas in the book which made me think rationally about personal diet and nutrition. However, the book seems very outdated from the medical point of view, all-in-all, a hundred years have passed from the time it was written.
Profile Image for Adrian Kass.
25 reviews
January 14, 2019
An eating regime based on fruit and fasting. Written in the early 1900’s before fasting became trendy like it is today. Well worth a read, particularly if you have health issues or are overweight and open to a radically different take on the human body and what foods it may run best on.
Profile Image for Robert Hustwick.
19 reviews
November 11, 2021
Well written but difficult to follow

The author makes some good points but this is some pretty radical stuff in terms of how you would have to change your whole lifestyle. I don't think I would have the discipline to pull it off.
Profile Image for Meeko.
3 reviews
January 17, 2024
An informative book on how increasing raw vegan diet w/ fruit and vegetables can detox and cleanse the body from disease, health conditions, and more. Dr gives great insight to the healing system he produced to educated and guide individuals into a healthy mucus free lifestyle.
Profile Image for Golmona Al Qasimi.
5 reviews2 followers
September 25, 2017
This book has radically (I don't use this word lightly) changed my perspective of food and what we as a species are meant to be eating for true health at a cellular level.
8 reviews1 follower
January 29, 2018
Most important book ever.

Yet again we see why the world is so messed up. We need change and we need it now. Lived this book.
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