Chew more?... It’s food for thought
As Samantha Cameron admits she sometimes follows the Mayr principle of chewing each mouthful up to 40 times, can good digestion really bring about improved wellbeing?
a night plus tests, consultations and treatments, one thing they all have in common is their willingness to throw money at their wellbeing. The promise is that after a week’s stay they’ll leave at least several pounds lighter, with a flatter stomach, brighter skin, bucket-loads of energy and a diminished appetite. Apparently the results are so compelling that most return at least once a year for a fix. Lured as much by the luxurious five-star surroundings as the health benefits, some guests even stay for weeks and famous clients are said to include the Rolling Stones, MP Michael Gove, artist Tracey Emin and actress Suki Waterhouse. But to get results, first they Daily Express Tuesday September 12 2017 have to endure the cure. Given that coffee, alcohol, chocolate and meat are strictly off the menu, and most guests are restricted to consuming just 600 calories a day, it doesn’t sound a barrel of laughs.
A famous supermodel reportedly once stripped naked and lay on the banks of the lake in what another client who witnessed it described as an “extreme emotional state”.
Bar being naked in public, those who’ve experienced Mayr say this is a fairly normal reaction during days three to five of a stay.
After that, the regime is said to become easier as the benefits start to kick in and the initial desperate cravings for steak and chips or treacle sponge subside.
When they arrive at the clinic, clients are given a medical assessment by a doctor, including blood tests to assess the state of their health. They are then seen each day by a doctor who adjusts their programme according to their wellbeing and progress. Each patient is prescribed a bespoke regime of treatments.
The aim is that the detox – along with daily abdominal massages to help shift gassy deposits in the digestive tract, colonic irrigation if necessary, herbal teas and still water – will clear out the system.
For most guests, breakfast consists of half an avocado or yogurt made from sheep’s milk with twoday-old spelt or buckwheat bread so that they have no option but to chew. Some may be lucky enough to have oatmeal, rice or tiger nut porridge, or a soft boiled egg.
Lunch might be vegetable broth with bread, progressing to a small piece of salmon or trout with fresh vegetables towards the end of their stay when more “normal” meals are introduced.
AS FOR dinner, at Mayr it’s always eaten before 7pm and is the smallest meal of the day, and is usually no more than a solitary bowl of soup.
It all sounds pretty unedifying and it’s easy to see why many guests go into meltdown after a few days.
Vitamins and minerals are prescribed and given as supplements – some of them intravenously – while herbal teas served throughout the day plus a slosh of Epsom salts each morning help to dissolve any food particles caught hanging around in the digestive system.
Thankfully, there are also pampering treatments available including hot-and-cold foot baths and all-over massages. Rigorous exercise is about as welcome as chocolate gateau at Mayr but guests are encouraged to take daily yoga sessions and half-hour forest walks.
Aside from its super-strict detox, Mayr has also raised eyebrows for its favoured method of diagnosis, the muscle testing system known as applied kinesiology (AK), controversial because there isn’t much scientific evidence to back it up.
It’s used to evaluate “disturbances within the body” such as food intolerances. So, if the medics at Mayr think a patient is gluten intolerant they’ll pop gluten on their tongue and measure their muscle reaction.
Every year thousands of people flock to one of Mayr’s clinics in their quest for better health and a slimmer body.
Of course, anyone who slashes their calorie intake so dramatically is destined to lose weight quickly. But the idea is that clients leave the strict regime at the clinic door when they check out and take away a few of the principles as they return to normal life, namely eating a bit less and, like Mrs Cameron, being mindful of chewing each mouthful up to 40 times.
One of the clinic’s other principles is that meals should be eaten in silence in order to concentrate one’s efforts on the all-important chewing, but with three young chatterboxes at the Cameron family dinner table, that’s probably a step too far.