About UGBforum

UGBforum

UGBforum is the ad-free specialist magazine of the UGB, the Verband für Unabhängige Gesundheitsberatung e.V., the nonprofit German association for independent health advice, the gemeinnütziger Verein the Wikipedia article describes, founded in 1981 in Gießen. Appearing bimonthly in 5,000 to 6,000 copies, the zweimonatlich erscheinende werbefreie Magazin the de-academic article describes, the journal publishes current findings from nutrition, health, and environment, with background articles and practical tips for a healthy and ecological lifestyle. The magazine addresses both specialist professional groups from the nutrition, health, and pedagogy sectors and health-interested people.

Overview

The bimonthly rhythm gives the nutrition community its regular specialist pulse: six issues a year, each with the current nutrition and health findings, the background articles, and the practical tips. The ad-free 5,000-to-6,000-copy circulation documents the independent publishing model: no advertising revenue, only the membership fees and donations that finance the association's work.

The professional-plus-public readership defines the editorial program: the UGBforum addresses the specialist professional groups from the nutrition, health, and pedagogy sectors alongside the health-interested people. The ecotrophologists, diet assistants, cooks, natural food specialists, pedagogues, and physiotherapists read the journal as their professional development, while the interested laypeople read it as their health guide.

The independence guarantee shapes the journalism: the refusal of business, political, or ideological support gives the journal the credibility that the nutrition industry's advertising-funded media lack. The wholefood nutrition concept's 1990s incorporation into the DGE recommendations, which the association attributes to its work, documents the journal's scientific influence.

The UGB-Forum is a specialist journal from the health sector. It publishes current news from nutrition, health, and environment. Alongside background articles, it also delivers practical tips for a healthy and ecological lifestyle. The journal addresses both special professional groups from the nutrition, health, and pedagogy sectors and health-interested people. The ad-free magazine appears bimonthly in a circulation of 5,000 to 6,000 copies.

The association behind it, the UGB – Verband für Unabhängige Gesundheitsberatung e.V., is a nonprofit association founded in 1981 in Gießen with around 2,000 members today. In addition to the Gießen head office, the UGB has offices in Switzerland and Austria. The association's work is financed from membership fees and donations; to guarantee independent work, support from business, political, or ideological interest groups is declined.

The journal's focuses include, alongside holistic health topics and wholefood nutrition, specifically the nutrition of children and infants, fasting, and weight loss. Some articles are available on the association's website. The association considers that its work contributed decisively to the wholefood nutrition concept being incorporated in essential parts into the German Nutrition Society's recommendations in the 1990s.

History

The early-1980s mockery that the wholefood pioneers endured, the Körnerfresser ridicule the anniversary coverage recalls, documents the paradigm shift that the UGB's four decades achieved: from the laughed-at grain eaters to the scientifically recognized sustainable nutrition. The 2021 anniversary issue's companions from the first hour show the personal costs and the scientific victories.

The Gießen founding's academic context gives the association its scientific base: the university city's nutrition science environment, with the association's offices in Gießen, Switzerland, and Austria extending the German-speaking reach. The 2,000 members' fees and donations finance the independent work that the business-supported nutrition media cannot provide.

The DGE recommendation incorporation that the association claims, the wholefood concept's essential-parts adoption in the 1990s German Nutrition Society guidelines, stands as the association's documented policy influence: the independent health advice shaping the official nutrition recommendations.

The UGB's 1981 founding in Gießen places the association in the generation of German health reform movements that pioneered the wholefood nutrition concept: in the early 1980s, the pioneers of wholefood nutrition were still mocked, while today the plant-emphasized wholefood concept is socially accepted and scientifically recognized by specialist institutions. The association's 40th anniversary in 2021, with the UGBforum issue 40 Jahre UGB – Pioniere der ersten Stunde, documented the path from mockery to scientific recognition.

The association's president is Edith Gätjen; the chief executive is the nutrition scientist Thomas Männle, who co-founded the association in 1981. The term sustainable nutrition has since established itself: behind it stands the nutritional approach based on natural, plant-based food selection, considering not only health aspects but equally ecological, social, and cultural criteria.

The UGB-Akademie's seminars and training courses extend the association's educational mission: the programs address specialist professional groups like ecotrophologists, diet assistants, home economists, cooks, natural food industry specialists, pedagogues, physiotherapists, and other health professions as well as health-interested people. Alongside individual seminars and certified training courses with final examinations, such as for the health trainer, the academy organizes conferences and symposia on current nutrition and health questions.

Coverage and Content

The wholefood nutrition journalism is the journal's scientific core: the plant-emphasized wholefood concept, the dietary fibers, the secondary plant substances, and the whole grain products that the association has championed since 1981. The background articles explain the nutritional science, from the natural, plant-based food selection to the ecological, social, and cultural criteria.

The life-stage nutrition journalism covers the vulnerable groups: the nutrition of children and infants, with the specialist guidance that the pediatric nutrition requires. The fasting and weight loss coverage gives the readers the evidence-based approaches to the popular health practices, distinguishing the journal's scientific fasting journalism from the diet fads.

The ecological lifestyle journalism extends the nutrition to the environment: the sustainable nutrition concept, the healthy and ecological lifestyle tips, and the practical guidance for the daily food choices. The enjoyable, digestible, and health-promoting triad gives the readers the positive nutrition philosophy rather than the prohibition diet.

UGBforum covers the current nutrition and health questions: the wholefood nutrition, the holistic health topics, the nutrition of children and infants, the fasting, and the weight loss. The background articles explain the scientific findings, while the practical tips give the readers the healthy and ecological lifestyle guidance.

The 40th anniversary issue's program shows the journal's documentary journalism: the companions from the early hours come to speak, showing the sometimes stony path to scientific recognition. The meat consumption, the dietary fibers, the secondary plant substances, and the whole grain products are the nutritional science topics that the journal has championed since the 1980s.

The environmental and ecological dimension distinguishes the journal: the sustainable nutrition concept's ecological, social, and cultural criteria alongside the health aspects. The enjoyable, digestible, and health-promoting qualities stand equally side by side in the association's concept, per the chief executive's formulation.

Organization and Ownership

UGBforum is published by the UGB – Verband für Unabhängige Gesundheitsberatung e.V., the nonprofit association founded in 1981 in Gießen with around 2,000 members. The association's president is Edith Gätjen; the chief executive is Thomas Männle. The association is financed from membership fees and donations, declining business, political, or ideological support to guarantee independence.

Current editorial team details for the journal are not publicly confirmed in the sources reviewed beyond the association.

Digital Presence

Ugb.de is the association's digital home, with the UGBforum articles, the academy program, and the membership information. Some journal articles are available on the association's website, extending the bimonthly print magazine's reach to the online readers.

Dedicated apps or podcasts for the UGBforum brand are not detailed in the sources reviewed; the brand's digital presence rests on the association's website and the bimonthly print magazine's nutrition journalism.