Editing Maximilian Bircher-Benner (section)

==Nutrition==
At his [[sanatorium]] in [[Zürich]], a balanced [[diet (nutrition)|diet]] of raw [[vegetable]]s and [[fruit]] was used as a means to heal [[patient]]s, contrary to the beliefs commonly held at the end of the 19th century.<ref name ="Zurich Development Center"/> Bircher-Benner believed raw foods were more nutritious because they contain direct energy from the sun.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Books Abroad|last = Thuringer|first = Joseph M.|publisher = Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma|date = 1927-09-01|pages = 44}}</ref> He encouraged people of good health to eat approximately 50% raw foods on a daily basis, and for those with poor health to eat 100% raw foods. Bircher-Benner's sisters, Alice Bircher and Berta Brupbacher-Bircher, created many recipes using raw foods to help a diet of raw foods seem more appealing. Because of this help from his sisters, his sanatorium gained enormous popularity and he expanded the size of his clinic.<ref name="Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Benner"/><ref name="Dr. M. Bircher-Benner"/>

Bircher-Benner postulated eating fruit, vegetables and [[Nut (fruit)|nuts]] instead of meat. He also advocated a spartan physical regime. At his Zürich [[sanatorium]] off Bircher-Benner-Platz, the patients had to follow a somewhat [[monastic]] daily schedule including early bedtime (21:00), physical training and active gardening work. Each meal began with a small dish of muesli, developed by Bircher-Benner, followed by mostly raw vegetables and a dessert. Patients were not allowed to consume alcohol, coffee, chocolate or tobacco while they were being treated. Bircher-Benner also recommended his patients to sunbathe, take cold showers and use a medicinal bath developed by American physician [[John Harvey Kellogg]].<ref name="Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Benner"/> His theory of life was based on harmony between people and nature, a key component of a German lifestyle reform movement, and the reason he named his clinic "Vital Force."<ref name ="Zurich Development Center"/>