What Are We Really Eating? Practical Aspects of Nutrition From the Perspective of Spiritual Science “Today we are in the middle of the problems that this book warned of when it first came out in 1996. The life forces of people, and especially of young people, are getting ever weaker. One can see this in the meteoric rise of conditions such as chronic fatigue syndrome, burnt-out syndrome, repeated infections that last a long time, increasing infertility and the weakening of the immune system. People are getting weaker and more prone to disease, not only physically, but also psychologically. Up to 20% of the patients in medical offices are suffering from depressive disorders—and the trend is rising. A general lack of orientation with respect to the meaning of life is spreading. What can bring life and light to people again? Things that contain life and light. And this also has to do with food, which should be full of these forces.” — Daphné von Boch, MD Dr. Otto Wolff—known to English-language readers through his home remedies—offers a clear description of the foods we eat and what we should really look for in them. Scientific investigation of nutrition has led to increasing industrialization of food production. Vast numbers of details are known, but industrial processing is causing the force of food to be progressively lost. This makes people feel unsure about which foods are still healthy today. Otto Wolff’s aim is to enable consumers to form their own opinion about the food they eat. He takes guidance from the principle stated by Angelus Silesius: “The bread is not our food; what feeds us in bread is God’s eternal word, is spirit, and is life.” Dr. Wolff shows that it is not the physical substances as such that feed us, but the force of life in our foods. The knowledge that life is transformed light has been completely lost in modern agriculture. However, viewing food as it is in biodynamic agriculture can help us gain true insight and understanding of food quality. C O N T E N T S: Foreword to the Third Edition by Daphné von Boch, MD Introduction Where Does Life Come From? Raw Food Is “Sun Food” Can Preservation Maintain Life? Milk and Milk Processing Lactic Acid Fermentation Vitality and Fertility The Role of Vitamins Sugar: Energy Source Without Life The Problem of Food Additives Understanding Digestive Functions Protein Fats Carbohydrates Bread Baking: Archetype of Human Activity on Earth The Problem of Using Yeast in Baking Meat or Vegetarian? Eggs: Concentrated Life The Various Fats and Their Effects Butter Margarine The Cholesterol Problem Future Prospects References About the Author Dr. Otto Wolff was born in 1921 in Glatz, Silesia (at the time, a region in northeast Germany). He studied biochemistry and medicine and first worked as a hospital physician, then as a general physician and school doctor. Later he worked many years in the pharmaceutical industry to develop new anthroposophic medicines. He wrote numerous publications on anthroposophic medicine, including the standard work: The Anthroposophic Approach to Medicine (three volumes). During his last twenty-five years, Dr. Wolff taught anthroposophic medicine to medical doctors worldwide. He died in Arlesheim, Switzerland, in 2003.