Features

Healthy glow

31 Mar 2009 by Sara Turner

An Austrian health retreat’s tough-love approach to detoxification is doing wonders for its guests – especially frequent flyers. Beverley Fearis reports.

Throughout all my years of playing Scrabble, I doubt there has ever been a more diverse bunch of people seated around the board. Running clockwise there is Michael, a commodities broker; Alexandra, a TV producer; Mark, a student and London socialite; Bill, a composer; David, a dentist; Steve, a hedge fund manager; Tracey, a highly successful artist; and me.

Our ages, backgrounds, political persuasions, professions and, most of all, bank balances varied widely, but we had one thing in common – each of us had chosen to remove ourselves from the stresses and strains of our daily lives to come to the Viva Centre for Modern Mayr Medicine, an Austrian health retreat that promises to cure the malaise of modern living.

In the mountainous region of Carinthia, on a picture-postcard lake, this cutting-edge retreat specialises in the “Mayr cure”. Developed about a century ago by Franz Xavier Mayr, the cure is said to resolve everything from irritable bowel syndrome and obesity to stress, exhaustion, back pain and high blood pressure. According to Mayr doctors, these common complaints can largely be put down to digestive problems caused by our stressful and busy lifestyles. Apparently, we eat too much, too quickly and too late, putting a strain on our digestive systems and, in turn, our health.

Viva Mayr promises to improve health through digestive detoxification, which essentially means giving your digestive system a complete rest and following a rigid daily routine. You eat very little, at set times, in silence, and chew everything excessively. In between meals, you can choose from a selection of detoxifying treatments, or simply rest.

Steve, the hedge fund manager, initially struggles. Compared with most health retreats there is a large percentage of male patients at Viva Mayr, and in many ways Steve is typical. “I know I have a very unhealthy, stressful lifestyle,” he tells me. “I am always at client dinners, I travel all the time through different time zones, and I’m often at my computer until the early hours. I knew I needed to do something about it, and with everything that’s happening in the financial sector right now, I thought it was a good time to come. I think there will be plenty more like me coming here in the next few years.”

Steve is a self-confessed sugar addict and finds the restrictive diet particularly tough. To give your digestive system a proper rest, meals are small, bland and repetitive. Each day starts with a glass of Epsom salts and warm water to cleanse your system. Breakfast is then served between 7am and 9am. For me, it’s a bowl of sheep’s yoghurt with a piece of stale spelt bread that I have to chew like crazy.

For lunch (12-2pm) I get soup (parsnip, parsley and celery) and a reasonably sized main course, which never mixes protein with carbohydrates. My favourite is tofu with wok-cooked vegetables and soy sauce.

Dinner (6-7pm) is the least enjoyable meal, consisting of herbal tea or a bitter-tasting vegetable broth, with more of the chewy spelt bread. Following the Mayr principles means avoiding evening meals which are difficult to digest.

Each guest has a tailor-made diet based on the doctors’ recommendations. Testing is done early in the week using a mix of traditional Chinese medicine and Western techniques to identify food intolerances. In general, if you eat too much of something, you develop an intolerance to it. Like about half of the guests here, Steve is diagnosed with candida, which means he has to cut out sugar, the thing he craves most. Although I don’t have any food intolerances, my doctor identifies a weakness in my adrenals (probably down to too much stress) and prescribes me a daily supplement.

After a thorough consultation, she also devises a programme of treatments and health checks. My days are filled with wonderful massages (full body or lymphatic to speed up the detox), herbal baths, blood tests, heart-rate tests, colonics, and more.

Every day I take a special foot bath that sucks the toxins out of my feet and turns the water a murky brown. The therapist also gives me nasal reflex therapy, whereby a cotton-wool tip dipped in aromatherapy oil is inserted into my nasal cavities – which are believed to be connected to various organs – to help to relieve headaches, sinusitis, hay fever and snoring.

The fitness team makes me sweat on the Galileo machine to help strengthen my muscles, and I see my doctor for a daily abdominal treatment, a deep and slightly uncomfortable tummy massage that is crucial to the success of the Mayr cure.

Some of the treatments are designed purely to relieve stress. Every other day I enjoy 20 minutes of pure, unadulterated chill-out time in the light-therapy room. I lie on a reclining chair underneath a bubble-shaped tent, listening to soothing music and trickling water as different coloured lights are shone through. My eyes are shut but I can still sense the colours. As they change from yellow to orange, red to purple, and blue to green, I feel heavy waves of relaxation.

In between treatments, we use the saunas, steam rooms and fitness centre, or take walks in the woods or around the lake, taking in the crisp, clean Carinthian air. After dinner, we gather in the lounge to sip herbal tea, read, or maybe play a board game. We’re all tucked up in bed by 9.30pm.

I feel like I’m in rehab when I find myself sharing stories with other guests about why I’m here and what I hope to achieve. It’s amazing how quickly a bunch of complete strangers are disclosing intimate details about their cravings, weight loss, lack of energy, and bowel movements.

We dish out advice to new arrivals, particularly the coffee drinkers, who complain of splitting headaches and restless nights. But, after three or four days, everybody reports that they are feeling remarkably better, especially considering how little we are eating. Just like the Mayr doctors have told us, if we can learn to chew our food properly, eat slowly and without distractions, we will know when we are full, and I even start to leave food on my plate. My stomach is flat, my eyes are sparkling, and I can’t believe how energised I feel.

Most of us are here for only a week but agree that two weeks would be better. Those who have done the recommended fortnight leave feeling particularly cleansed and revitalised. We are all determined to stick to our new routine as much as possible when we get home. Even workaholic Steve vows to turn off his Blackberry once in a while.

Having felt the benefits of the Mayr philosophy, I now realise the importance of reducing stress, looking after my stomach and taking time out from the daily grind – even if it’s only for a game of Scrabble.

What the Mayr doctors say

  • Chew each mouthful thoroughly – at least 30 times.

  • Eat your biggest meal at breakfast and your smallest at night.

  • Eat without distraction – ie, not in front of your computer.

  • Don’t eat raw fruit and vegetables after 3pm as these are difficult to digest.

  • Get your body into a strict routine, eating and sleeping at the same time each day where possible.

  • When travelling through time zones, try to keep to your usual routine. It’s better to skip a meal than eat when you’re not hungry.

Facts

  • Viva Centre for Modern Mayr Medicine; Seepromenade 11, Klagenfurt; tel +43 4273 31117; viva-mayr.com
  • Rates start from €140 per person per night for a double room or €160 for single occupancy and include food as prescribed, mineral water and tea, plus a visitor’s tax of €1.70 per person per day. Consultations with doctors are €150. Treatments cost from €15 to €350.
  • Ryanair flies from London Stansted to Klagenfurt, a 20-minute drive away, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, from £55 return including taxes.
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