Viva Mayr
Viva Mayr was voted Europe’s Best Medical Resort at the first annual European Health and Spa Awards. The chic Austrian resort has become a popular weight loss and wellbeing destination for those seeking a serious detox in luxurious surroundings. U.K. Contributing Editor Catherine Beattie went for a life-changing week.
Relaxing on the balcony at Viva Mayr
Viva Mayr is much more than a luxury spa beside a beautiful lake – it’s a naturopathic clinic dedicated to the restoration of health. Founded in 2004 by Dr Harald Stossier, it offers Dr Franz Mayr’s famous detox cure’ in a modern setting. Dr Mayr developed his method of cleansing and resting the digestive system at the turn of the last century, believing the cause (and cure) for most human illness could be found in the intestines. Viva Mayr combines the original concept (still practised at the nearby Mayr Health Spa at Dellach) with holistic medicine and state-of-the-art facilities. You eat small amounts of organic food, learn a new approach to eating and digestion, exercise gently and take plenty of rest. Weight loss is not the main aim of the cure’ but most people shed a few kilos during their stay.
In these busy times, we tend to eat too much, too quickly and too late in the day. We rush or miss breakfast, when digestion is at its peak, then eat a large meal in the evening, when our bodies are slowing down and digestion is less efficient. Semi-digested food ferments in the gut, creating harmful toxins, which in time causes problems like IBS, food intolerances, weight gain and even infertility. At Viva Mayr you learn to eat s-l-o-w-l-y by chewing every mouthful thoroughly many times before swallowing. Water is not served with meals because it dilutes the saliva and digestive juices. Instead, you are encouraged to drink lots of water and herbal teas between meals. Water fountains and carafes of water with crystals are dotted all around the clinic and pure mountain spring water is on tap.
I arrive in southern Austria on a warm Saturday evening in August. My room on the second floor is pristine and airy with light oak floors, modern furnishings and a bathroom with a large shower and cosy towels. Large picture windows lead out to a private balcony area with sun loungers and views of the lake. If the good weather continues, I can see myself spending time here soaking up the sun.
A view of Viva Mayr from the lake Outdoor dining at Viva Mayr Treatment waiting room at Viva Mayr
I unpack my few belongings then find my way to the dining room. A waitress hands over a menu and explains (in perfect English) that as I’ve just arrived, I can choose supplement foods’ in addition to dinner of thin vegetable broth and a spelt roll. I’ve not eaten since breakfast, so order smoked trout, mozzarella cheese and avocado. The food arrives beautifully presented but in minuscule amounts – a single fish fillet, three slivers of avocado and a small triangle of cheese – adorned with a tiny sprig of rosemary. The menu card states that digestion starts in the mouth with the saliva. Every mouthful of food should be chewed at least 30 times before swallowing.’ I tear off a piece of spelt roll and chew it slowly until it becomes a pulp. It seems to take forever. With all this chewing, meals here are going to last hours!
Afterwards, I go for a stroll around the lakeside village of Maria Wörth. I’m tempted to have apple strudel and coffee in one of the little cafes, but there’s a rumble of thunder and it starts to rain, so I scurry back to my room.
To my frustration, I discover that no treatments are carried out on Sundays. I spend the day swimming in the pool, exploring the village and tiny 15th century church and going for an exhilarating speedboat ride down Lake Wörthersee. Thankfully breakfast and lunch are plentiful and delicious, unlike the soup and roll dinner. As most of the guests seem to be speaking German, I’m sharing a table with Emma and Jane from the UK, who like me, are on their first visit to Viva Mayr – Emma to lose weight and Jane for help with her allergies. We eat lunch together on the sunny outdoor terrace, and sipping home made soup, they tell me about the different treatments and therapists and suggest I join them at the early morning yoga stretch classes held on the pier.
Passing the front desk on my way to bed, I’m handed my appointments for Monday and reminded to pick up a glass of Epsom salts – to be taken with warm water as soon as I wake up. Epsom salts are an integral part of Mayr therapy, gently but effectively clearing out toxic substances from the walls of the intestines. For those who can’t abide them at any price, there’s colonic irrigation.
Early Monday morning and I gulp down my first dose of the vile tasting Epsom salts. They act almost immediately without cramps or griping. I have just two appointments today, a 50-minute massage followed by a medical check up with Dr Christine Stossier, wife of Dr Harald, Viva Mayr’s director. Dr Christine is friendly and reassuring. She warns me that I may be tired and emotional the first few days, but will soon feel better as my digestion is cleansed and rested. She asks questions about my lifestyle and health, takes my blood pressure, examines my tongue and makes a note of my weight. Based on her findings, she prescribes my diet and treatment schedule.
I’m on the mild cleansing diet, which means restricted food for the first few days and a slightly more generous’ intake later in the week. Some guests are on far stricter regimes, so I consider myself lucky, even though it’s soup and main course only at lunchtimes and no desserts until Friday. The weather has turned hot, so I spend the afternoon reading and relaxing in the sun. I even take a short dip in the icy waters of Lake Wörthersee. After dinner’, I feel quite irritable and wonder if I did the right thing coming to Austria. I tell myself that a week soon passes then force myself to go for a walk before turning in. I sleep badly and have crazy dreams.
I wake with a sore head and sciatica-like pains in my lower back. Fortuitously, my schedule starts with a massage that eases out my aches followed by a rather bizarre treatment called nasal reflex therapy’ that clears my head. After a relaxing herbal bath with massage jets and chromatherapy lighting, fitness trainer Sybille puts me through my paces on a piece of equipment called Galileo (similar to a Power Plate but kinder on the joints). She shows me some tummy strengthening exercises, which I try to carry out while balancing on the vibrating plate. It’s surprisingly difficult and I quickly work up a sweat.
After lunch, I’m back in Dr Christine’s office for a Lüscher-colour assessment – a psychological test to show my emotional state and how I deal with stress. Finally, I have a traditional Mayr treatment – an abdominal massage – to tone and improve the health of my intestines. It’s very firm and deep and I feel occasional twinges of pain, which Dr Christine says is inflammation that will soon subside with my cleansing diet.
It’s a beautiful evening and the vegetable broth dinner’ is served outside, where the lakeside activities and Emma and Jane’s lively company keep my mind off the absence of food. I’m surprisingly tired, so opt for early night and a liver wrap (a cold damp cloth placed over the upper tummy with a hot water bottle on top). The damp warmth increases blood flow to the liver and helps the detoxification process. I wrap myself up in a large bath
towel, climb into bed and fall asleep almost immediately.
Over the next few days, I settle into the clinic routine – always waking early to take the Epsom salts, so I can get through breakfast and my early morning exercise session without being caught short. The Galileo exercises seem a little easier and Sybille keeps saying Perfect, perfect!’ which is encouraging. Even the daily nasal therapy with the cotton buds stuck up my nose is bearable with a good book to read. Afternoons are spent having abdominal massage and therapies like kinesiology. This involves lying on the treatment couch while minute amounts of minerals and other substances are dropped on my tongue. My raised leg resisting Dr Christine’s pressure tests my reaction to each one. The test reveals I have a slight intolerance to lactose but no other allergies, but that I’m deficient in some basic minerals. The doctor recommends I give up dairy products for three months and prescribes some vitamin and mineral supplements from the pharmacy.
I enjoy a group cookery lesson with the charming Florian Klinger, Viva Mayr’s Head Chef. We meet in his immaculate kitchen where Florian hands out recipes then demonstrates how he produces the ubiquitous vegetable broth and several other dishes. He makes everything look so easy (and healthy), using just one pan to cook a complete dish of vegetables and fish, chopping and stir frying the vegetables in a few splashes of coconut oil. He uses fresh organic local vegetables and herbs, many from the clinic’s own gardens, including thyme, basil and stevia – a herb with sweetly flavoured leaves.
At fitness trainer Jurgen Kahlhammer’s informative talk, “Fat Burning in Sport-the Myths and the Truth”, I learn useful tips on exercise and weight loss. For instance, if you exercise in the evening, don’t eat afterwards and just drink water, your body will continue burning off more calories for longer. Also, drink BEFORE exercising. Jurgen also stresses the importance of eating three meals a day with no snacks in between, believing the new trend to lots of small meals increases rather than reduces weight. He recommends a fitness regime that involves taking a day off between activities and switching them around; walk or jog one day, bicycle another, play sport another, swim or work out in the gym another. All this exercise talk motivates me to walk for longer before bed. Strolling past the lake, I realise that, despite my meagre dinner, I’m not hungry or even thinking about food. I feel energised enough to swim several lengths in the indoor pool before going to bed.
My week at Viva Mayr is soon over. My final medical consultation includes a weight and health check and advice on continuing my newly improved eating habits at home. My tummy is massaged for the last time, and according to the scales I have lost over 2 kilos! I feel lighter and fitter than when I arrived a week ago. Most important, I have learned that how and when I eat my food matters just as much as what I eat. The last guideline in the list below says it all.
Viva Mayr’s healthy eating guidelines:
- Only eat when you are genuinely hungry
- Eat slowly – never when you are rushed or on the go
- Take small mouthfuls and chew until food is a liquid
- Eat raw fruit and vegetables only in the morning and afternoon
- Eat dinner early – ideally before 7pm
- Keep hydrated with water and herb teas between meals
- Don’t drink water with meals as it dilutes the digestive juices (alcohol is digested and metabolised so a glass of beer or wine with food is ok)
- Don’t eat when you are stressed, bored or upset
- If you have to miss a meal – miss dinner
- Eat like a king in the morning, a prince in the afternoon and a pauper at night.
The Viva Centre for Modern Mayr Medicine
Seepromenade 11
A-9082 Maria Wörth
Austria
Tel: 00 43 42 73 31117 www.viva-mayr.com
From €160 per night single or €140 per person per night sharing a double room plus daily tourist tax of €1.70 per person. Price includes all food in personalised diet plan, mineral water, teas and daily programme.
Medical consultations, prescribed treatments and tests cost extra. Contact Viva Mayr directly for advice and current packages.
Ryanair flies from London Stansted to Klagenfurt
Transfers to and from airport can be arranged on booking.
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