Although I believe Dr. Rau's philosophy about the direct connection between nutrition and health, I find this diet to be very difficult to stick with and very extreme for an average, healthy person.
It is similar in philosophy to a Macrobiotic diet but the influence is European cuisine as opposed to Asian cuisine. It prohibits the intake of sugar, caffeine, processed foods, alcohol and animal protien, while greatly increasing your vegetable and grain intake. I've done the Macrobiotic diet and I experienced increased energy, vitality, better sleep, better mood, etc. Dr. Rau claims that this is what you'll experience with his diet . However, when I did the detox, I experienced headaches, nausea, and a general feeling of illness the duration of the diet and I feel it was due to the total lack of caloric intake. I do think cleansing the body is a good thing and fasting for one or two days can be beneficial. However, I do not feel his detox diet is a healthy approach for healthy people. His claims are that you will feel better and better as the days go on but that was not my experience. In my opinion, no diet that limits your caloric intake to a few hundred calories a day is good for the body. Nothing extreme is good for the body and his detox is way too extreme.
If you do decide to get this book, some things you should know:
The recipes for the three week plan and the one week intensive detox require a lot of cooking and preparation. Because it is based on the regimen done at his clinic/spa in Switzerland where meals are prepared for you, it's difficult for a regular person's lifestyle and schedule. You would basically have to take a week off from work to start the diet and that is unrealistic for most people. I also found more than a few inconsistensies: Dr. Rau opposes any dairy from cows, but some recipes call for cream and butter! Some of the ingredients are very difficult to come by. One day's meal required chestnuts and since I started the diet in Spring, they weren't available and he offers no substitution. Dr. Rau isn't thorough in his explanation of preparing some of the recipes because one recipe on the restrictive detox, he requires you to prepare a corn chowder, but doesn't explain how you are supposed to prepare the leeks in the recipe since you aren't supposed to saute anything. Dr. Rau suggests that hunger would not be a problem because of the food intake. Well that isn't true. I was very hungry all the time because of the limited caloric intake. Dr. Rau is adamant about following the diet to a tee so these inconsistensies were frustrating and it left me pretty doubtful about his claims and philosophies. I felt like he and his publisher were in a rush to publish the book and get it out and I also got the impression that it was more to promote his clinic/spa in Switzerland.
Would I suggest this book? Unfortunately, no.
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