Physical Fitness Thru a Superior Diet, Fasting, and Dietetics Also a Religious Concept of Physical, Spiritual, and Mental Dietetics

Greetings Brothers and Sisters,

Physical Fitness Thru a Superior Diet, Fasting, and Dietetics Also a Religious Concept of Physical, Spiritual, and Mental Dietetics include articles by Prof. Arnold Ehret, originator of the Mucusless Diet Healing System, which philosophically explore humanity’s potential to manifest paradise on Earth through mucus-free living, rational fasting, and physical fitness.

Fred S. Hirsch (1888–1979), former owner of Ehret Literature Publishing and close friend of Ehret, published a compilation of Ehret’s works entitled Physical Culture: Fasting & Dietetics, The Exact Diagnosis of Your Disease, The Magic Mirror in 1938. This release includes Ehret’s article “Physical Culture,” compiled with some of Ehret’s other writings. Historically, the term “physical culture” refers to a health and strength training movement that originated during the 19th century in Germany, England, and the United States. Following 1848, German immigrants introduced a physical fitness system based on gymnastics that became popular in colleges and public schools. Following the First Industrial Revolution, reformers showed concern for the health of sedentary white-collar workers, and sought to promote diet and exercise as a way to counteract the inactive lifestyles of many members of the burgeoning middle and upper classes.

Before the Industrial Revolution, the term “fitness” referred to the ability for one to complete a day’s work without undue fatigue. In the 1950s, however, the use of the term “fitness” increased exponentially in the Western vernacular and came to mean a state of health, well-being, stamina, and strength. In 1966, Fred Hirsch changed the title of “Physical Culture” to “Physical Fitness Thru a Superior Diet, Fasting, & Dietetics” and paired it with Ehret’s article “A Religious Concept of Physical, Spiritual, & Mental Dietetics.” The latter compilation remained available from Ehret Literature Publishing until the early 2000s. At the time of the release of our edition, there are no others in print and readily available.

Collected in this edition are the two articles compiled in the 1966 release, including “Physical Fitness thru a Superior Diet, Fasting, and Dietetics,” and “A Religious Concept of Physical, Spiritual, and Mental Dietetics.” In the former, Arnold Ehret contributes his conception of how humans can learn to live a natural life through a historical dialogue that fits within the Western philosophical tradition. In the latter, Ehret’s message is directed toward spiritual and religious readers as he shares ideas surrounding his theological philosophy of “Physiological Christianism.” In both articles, I fixed typographical errors from the original text and made minor changes to outdated gender-specific terminology or language considered insensitive and politically incorrect by today’s standards. As the editor, my aim is not to change Ehret’s work, but make this document as accessible as possible to contemporary readers.

Additional writings include the “Biographical Sketch of Prof. Arnold Ehret” by B.W. Child, and Ehret’s “The Enforcement of Elimination by Physical Adjustments, Exercises, Sunbaths, Internal Baths, and Bathing,” and “A Message to Ehretists.” The biographical sketch, which first appeared in the 1924 edition of Prof. Arnold Ehret’s Mucusless Diet Healing System, fits well amongst the thought-provoking articles in this compilation. It provides an illuminating testimonial by Ehret on his journey to heal himself of an “incurable” disease, and how he discovered the keys to regenerating the human body, mind, and spirit.

The final two writings are from the annotated, edited, and revised edition of the Mucusless Diet Healing System. “The Enforcement of Elimination by Physical Adjustments, Exercises, Internal Baths, and Bathing” is Lesson XXV from the Mucusless Diet. In this lesson, Ehret explores auxiliary therapies to his dietary methods, including exercise, sunbathing, internal baths (enemas), and external baths. Finally, “A Message to Ehretists” is Ehret’s conclusion to the Mucusless Diet Healing System where he clarifies fundamentals of his back-to-nature philosophy and encourages the reader to join his movement toward a disease-free paradise on Earth. Both of these writings pair well with the philosophical discussions about physical health and spiritual well-being found in the first two articles.

I strongly encourage you to read this book along with Arnold Ehret’s other works, including the Mucusless Diet Healing System, Rational Fasting, Definite Cure of Chronic Constipation, and Thus Speaketh the Stomach. Perhaps most important is Ehret’s Mucusless Diet Healings System, which provides an in-depth and comprehensive look at Ehret’s important philosophical contributions as well as practical instructions to apply his acclaimed Healing System.

Ehret’s message of hope for humanity is needed today more than ever. Humans are destroying themselves and the Earth on an unprecedented level. Ehret shares his solution for the problems of humanity through his message of superior natural healing. He believes that the source of all problems in the world is an improper and unnatural diet. Thus, the dysfunction of governments, police brutality, war, the mistreatment of the environment, racism, sexism, all forms of bigotry, the disregard for the lives of animals, etc., are all symptoms of a pus- and mucus-laden diet that renders humanity unempathetic and impotent.

How badly do we want to experience paradise? Are we content to live in ignorance and blame everything but diet? Is it easier to continue to believe the propaganda we have been fed? That we need to stuff ourselves with protein and fat? That we must eat certain nutritious foods, although we know that they cause illness? Ehret challenges us to shift our paradigm away from the mucus-based status quo and medical extremism of the 21st century and embrace our true nature as mucus-free beings.

Peace, Love, and Breath! 

–Prof. Spira, May 2018

What is significant in all of Prof. Arnold Ehret’s writings is that he had evidently a remarkable insight as to how man lived in the fabled paradisiacal Garden of Eden! It must at least be most certainly admitted that the man had visions which he found difficult to express into ordinary words. Surely, God’s truth is as free as the water you drink, to all of us willing to partake of the same at the fountain! And you will know exactly how to proceed, if only you have thoroughly acquainted yourself with the basic health teachings of Prof. Ehret.
First permit me to mention a few pertinent facts. Arnold Ehret was imbued solely with teaching his fellow man the proper methods of securing health, happiness and longevity through living in complete harmony with the laws of Nature! He achieved what others consider to be “seeming miracles”—and it now remains your privilege to judge for yourself whether the way of life taught by this long-to-be-remembered man with such deep convictions holds the promised health rewards for you! We have found it to be almost essential, as well as most desirable, to practically commit these teachings to memory:
1. Health is three-fold, i.e.: Body, Spirit and Soul!
2. Nature alone has the Power to Heal, and no other source possesses this Power!
3. When spiritually out of harmony, unhappily discontented, a complete change in mental attitude is necessary.
Revitalize through correcting the internal causes of ill health. Place your FAITH without reservations, in the power of Mother Nature to heal all ills, through proper diet. Know your body and spirit for they are the soul of humankind.
High ethical principles, spiritual aspirations, congenial work, fresh pure air, clean water and proper diet, forming the super-structure on which life is built.
Prof. Arnold Ehret has indicated the natural healing methods to be followed by those willing to join in raising a new civilization, where the individual will become more “precious” than the acquisition of “silver and gold.” Feed your body “that which it needs” rather than that which it desires! The true attainment of life is mental and spiritual enfoldment, so “Let’s Live Abundantly!” Following well-known, proven, natural laws will bring superior intelligence and superior health. We have become more ignorant of the Natural laws governing health in this supposedly enlightened century than we have ever been before in all of the past centuries. To live in accordance with the knowledge we presently possess; Natural laws, which are eternal, are an inspiration which certainly no one should miss. The Medical profession has tried in vain to suppress causes through treating the “symptoms” and we have blindly accepted the methods in general use today! Our body being the temple of the spirit—must be treated as an entity and not separately. Surgical removal of the offending organ, nor replacement of the same through the process known as “transplantation” is not the answer! Only minor temporary relief, at best, can be achieved! The cleaner our temple is kept, the greater the spirit. REVITALIZE your body through correcting internal causes of illness.
Prof. Arnold Ehret has left to the world what might prove to be the most important message humankind has received during the past two thousand years! His health teachings vouchsafes for all of his followers, Health, Happiness in Living, and a complete Spiritual awakening!

—Fred S. Hirsch, DNS. (Ehret Literature)

Physical Fitness thru a Superior Diet, Fasting, and Dietetics
. . . For thousands of years—since the time of Hippocrates and Moses—the truth has been revealed, but not believed—not understood and not followed. Up to the present time, a “radical” diet, such as advocated by Hippocrates, as a diet of healing (“remedies”)—and suggested by Moses, as humans’ natural food, exclusively, has received little credit for healing ability—even among dietitians.
Why, in our time of regeneration by physical culture, have not fasting and dietetics become the principal and standard “remedy” of natural Therapeutics—as it was in the classic age of civilization, as shown above?
As a specialist in fasting and dietetics, with more than twenty years’ practice, I submit this slow progress is due to the following facts: First, the modern person—the sick person, especially—is so overloaded with impurities, disease matters, that she cannot endure a long fast. In fact, it would, in many cases, become dangerous. My experience has taught me that shorter fasts, alternating with a cleansing diet, and progressively increased, are much easier and more successful than longer fastings. I call this process a systematical fast. Second: The radical fruit diet, the raw food diet, or, as I call it, the “Mucusless Diet”—(fruits, exclusively; nuts and green-leaf vegetables) stirs up and dissolves these poisons too rapidly in the body of the average sick person, with his lowered vitality—so much waste and toxemias that he cannot endure the elimination of the same. His condition becomes worse, instead of better, and he and everyone around him attribute it to the lack of solid food; and unfortunately for him his faith in natural foods has vanished, forever.
In fact, this is the reason why we have so much confusion in dietetics existing today. The amount of nutriment contained in a food is not the decisive point, but rather its eliminating qualities determine to what extent it is a “remedy”—according to Hippocrates.
I learned this, mostly, through my experience with serious cases of all kinds of disease and imperfect conditions. The change from wrong, disease-producing foods to right, disease-healing foods has to be effected slowly, progressively and systematically—according to the condition of the patient.
A diet of healing can never consist of recipes and the prescription of menus for the so-called different kinds of diseases. What I call the “Transition Diet” must be a therapeutic system of eating for elimination of waste and toxemias (disease matters) selected, adjusted and combined in such a way that the elimination can be controlled. Combined with fasting, we have a system of therapeutics that surpasses any other in existence.
If physical culture of any kind is combined with this system, the elimination can be enforced rapidly. After the body is once clean—free from any waste or poison—when all obstructions are removed from the human machine, then the physical culturist will develop a strength, endurance and a beauty of solid muscular proportion, and, at the same time, enjoy a mental and spiritual progress equaling that of the classic period of the “Hellenic Age.”
No doubt our Western civilization is at stake. We drift along in a sort of semi-conscious condition—as though we were advanced to a high degree of civilization. The average mind thinks that the progress of technology and industry—economic and financial prosperity, and success, compose civilization. The flight (so-called escape) from healthful physical out-of-door work in the country, into the offices, theaters, restaurants, etc., located in the un-hygienic buildings of large cities, is considered progress.
Statistics show that we have the highest record in history in the development of consumption, cancer and syphilis. Whoever has treated chronic cases of this kind, knows the inside story of our so-called progress. Most of us believe we would benefit by getting from those that have more. How much more would it benefit us if we could only LEARN from those that KNOW more?
Due to the internal impurity of modern humans, their disease (of whatever nature) is of a degree never before attained by any people, in the history of humankind—and this is caused mainly, through their diet of civilization, and to the lack of physical culture. . .