Guest Review: Park Igls Medical Spa Resort in Austria

Comfort eating

Food and me: problematic it is not, but we have never had a really healthy relationship either. For example, a stressful day or an annoying comment often results in an overdose of chocolate or cookies with me. Also, you can bet that on evenings where I walk back and forth between the sofa and the refrigerator ten times, I simultaneously find myself wondering about my life, work, relationships, and so on. And though sweet and savory snacks are effective comforters, I do like myself best in a slimmer version. Which in turn creates a kind of love-hate relationship with food, where I am almost constantly preoccupied with what I will and will not eat and when.

Foodbaby

By regularly eating too much and too sugary food, I often suffer from a bloated belly - the so-called food baby. I've also been low on energy in recent weeks. Suspecting that my digestion is not working optimally, I think back to an article I wrote for this magazine, about the link between gut health and physical and mental health. One of the doctors I interviewed has been convinced for years that our gut has a great effect on our body and psyche. He himself therefore follows a purifying Mayr cure every year. That sounds like something I'd like as well, and while googling I come across Park Igls Medical Spa Resort Medical Spa Resort in Austria, which has won prestigious awards. In consultation with Dr. Gartner, I choose the Mayr De-Stress program.

Mountains and meadows

On a bright sunny afternoon, I arrive in the Tyrolean mountain village of Igls, nine hundred meters above sea level. The hotel complex is set amidst a beautiful landscape of forests, flower meadows and traditional Austrian cottages, fringed by snow-capped mountain peaks.

Belly forms

Immediately upon my arrival, I have an appointment with Dr. Gartner, classically trained physician and Mayr specialist. He asks me what I want to work on, and I talk about my tendency to emo- eat and my low energy levels. The doctor replies that more than ninety percent of the happiness hormone seroto- nine is produced in the gut and that if my gut is healthier, I will therefore start to feel happier and more energetic. He also shows me a drawing with figures showing different body postures and belly shapes: a beer belly, a sagging belly, a slightly bulging underbelly ... 'If we often eat too much, too fast and too fatty, we overload our intestines and they become polluted with residue left behind,' he explains. 'Our intestines then slow down, after which they slacken and take up more space. This changes the shape of your belly, which in turn changes your whole posture.

Medical Consult

The altered posture, in turn, can lead to a variety of complaints, such as breathing that is too shallow, back, neck and joint pain, and fatigue.' To assess my state of health, a number of examinations are required. These include putting me on the scale and measuring my height and blood pressure. Doctor Gartner pushes on my liver and indicates that it is somewhat enlarged, indicating slight fattening. My abdominal circumference and my epigastric angle, the angle formed by the ribs under the sternum, are also measured. The latter is ninety degrees for me, whereas it should be sixty degrees, the doctor says.

Too much gas

That enlarged angle, according to him, is because I have a lot of gas in my digestive system. Which surprises me, since I had been eating mostly salads and fruits for the past week. But those two in particular turn out to be the culprits: "Raw vegetables and fruits are fine for afternoon, but not for evening. They are not digested quickly and stay in your intestines overnight. That causes gas problems and thus bloating. And if you don't chew properly, alcohol is also produced in your intestines.'

The cure

The Modern Mayr cure has eight levels, where at the first level you only drink tea and at the last you eat everything, but in small amounts. Doctor Gartner thinks level four is appropriate for me and says they will explain at the restaurant exactly what my diet entails. I also get my medications: alkaline capsules, which neutralize stomach acids, and a bottle of bittertropfen, which stimulates saliva production and helps you digest your food better. I also have to drink a glass of Epsom salts with warm water every morning. This gives you a bowel movement three times a day, which helps to detoxify. Finally, I am told that I must chew each bite thirty to forty times because that way you "pre-digest" in your mouth. And that I should drink three liters of water or herbal tea daily - just not half an hour before and after a meal, so that your saliva is not diluted.

Silent chewing

While I am slightly dizzy from all this medical information, I head to the restaurant. Because you must concentrate on your meal and your chewing technique, you are not allowed to talk, read or pluck your phone here, I read on a card on my table. And indeed: most people sit silently and with a gaze at infinity, chewing emphatically. I find it a bit bizarre, but I am ravenously hungry and especially want to order something quickly. But when I discover how little you are allowed to eat at level four, I am closer to crying than laughing. My dinner consists of a mini bowl of tomato soup that I have to eat with a teaspoon, and two ultra-thin slices of crispbread with only fifty grams of protein - for example, avocado spread or goat cheese. Chewing doesn't come easily to me either: I don't get past about eight times, after which my swallowing reflex automatically takes over. Unsatisfied and hungry, I leave my table.

Detoxifying wraps

Then again, breakfast turns out to be surprisingly generous. "Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dine like a beggar," is the Mayr cure's motto. I usually take the oatmeal with maple syrup and an extra serving of soy yogurt. With that, I have enough energy for the Kneipp Circuit, a hydrotherapy session that is an essential part of the Mayr cure and promotes blood flow. This involves alternately sitting with your lower legs in a tub of hot water and then walking two to three laps through a pool of ice-cold water. You do this three times in a row, after which you lie down in a recliner in the adjacent room and a nurse puts a warm wrap on your abdomen that helps detoxify your liver.

Relaxing body wrap

The Mayr De-Stress program also includes some body wraps, massages, and two consultations with a psychologist. The body wraps, on a heated waterbed and with a mud pack under your back and a hay pack on your belly, prove to be wonderfully relaxing. The massages, on the other hand, are firm, a tad too firm at times, but adequately loosen the knots in my neck and shoulders. And with the psychologist I talk about stress and what I can do about it. For example, she thinks it's a great plan to work in a co-working space. It's good against the loneliness I experience as a freelancer working from home. And in a profession with a lot of uncertainty, it will give me a welcome structure, she says.

Crying & headaches

Despite all the beauty of Park Igls Medical Spa Resort, I am struggling with hunger. Because although you get more at lunch than in the evening, it doesn't really fill up. So in the late afternoon I often feel dizzy and lacking in energy. On one of the first afternoons, I seek distraction by participating in a group hike. But when the trail goes up through the mountains, I suddenly cannot. I also feel a headache coming on and decide to stay behind on a bench. And suddenly I feel deathly miserable and have to cry. Doomy thoughts about my life overwhelm me. Part of me realizes that it is the hunger that gives me such dark glasses and for a moment I consider going to the convenience store to buy a candy bar. Which I then wisely decide not to do after all ...

Get used to it

After another minimalist dinner, I get talking in the restaurant with the man at the table next to me. 'The first two or three days it is indeed difficult, because it's so different from what you're used to,' he agrees. 'But after that it becomes super easy.' Although I'd like to believe that, with the best will in the world I can't imagine living on this meager ration and ever feeling good about it.

Fear of hunger

I also have a conversation with Andrea, the manager of Park Igls Medical Spa Resort , about my difficulties with the cure. She asks me if I fear hunger. I nod that I think I am. 'Try to tolerate hunger,' she advises me. In my room, I think about why exactly I fear hunger. And I realize: because it makes me feel empty and lonely. After all, how often do I eat for comfort, to fill time or to push away frustrations? With hunger, all those things come to the surface, and of course that feels unpleasant.

Stop fighting

In the evening I usually go to the sauna, a pleasant distraction from my unfilled stomach. And fuming on a relaxing bed it really hits home: let me stop fighting hunger and all the uncomfortable feelings that come with it. Then just no energy, not happy, difficulty concentrating. It's part of the deal, apparently. I don't need anything here either, just a little food, some packings and some massages. At least the Mayr cure will make me lose a few pounds, which is always a bonus.

The tipping point

And then it happens: on day four I suddenly wake up happy and energetic. After a night in which I woke up a couple of times at three and four o'clock-according to Dr. Gartner, this is because your liver is busy detoxing at these times. I also notice that I feel like taking pictures, always a good sign. And to my surprise, the mirror selfie I take in my room shows a genuinely radiant smile. This is the tipping point moment, I think.

Positive and tasty

Just about all day I am more positive about everything. For example, at breakfast I notice for the first time that the maple syrup tastes delicious. And that the view from the restaurant of the mountains is phenomenal. I also enjoy the detox bath afterwards. A loving nurse guides me as massage jets land on, in turn, my feet, calves, thighs, back and neck. 'I want a bath like that at home too,' I sigh. 'But surely everyone says that?' 'Almost everyone, yes,' she laughs.

Liberating emotions

A little later, I run into British Jennifer in the relaxation room. She is here for the fourth time and was one of the guests who had told me that after two or three days you start to feel great. I tell her she was right: that I suddenly feel so much better and more cheerful. We talk some more about how extraordinary it is that simply eating less brings so many emotions. She, too, has been crying a lot the last few days, she shares. And we agree that those difficult feelings are not necessarily bad and that it is liberating to experience them.

Opportunities & possibilities

Gradually I get into a fine routine of breakfast, morning swim, tea drinking in the lounge, packing to massage, and then back to a workshop on stress or sleep. I enthusiastically join nordic walking and I enjoy the beautiful mountain scenery while hiking, reflecting on my life and what I want with it. Unlike at the beginning of the cure, I now see opportunities and possibilities. I no longer long to go home and would prefer to stay a little longer.

Metamorphosis

At our second and final session, the psychologist notices my metamorphosis. She tells me that I seem more relaxed. She thinks I have learned to be more relaxed with food and to see it less as a substitute for companionship. During our last appointment, Dr. Gartner is also pleased with my results. I've lost two pounds, lost five inches of abdominal girth and my liver has shrunk. And because the gas in my digestive system is gone, my epigastric angle is now sixty degrees and my organs have sunk, giving me better posture. The doctor advises me to stick with the Mayr cure at home for a few days and then to eat everything again, but in smaller amounts. "We don't need nearly as much food as we think," he says.

Fundamentally changed

My conclusion two weeks after returning home? I feel that the Mayr cure has fundamentally changed a few things. For example, I eat more calmly and mindfully, so I am full faster and automatically eat less. Also, I no longer get hangry, angry with hunger, and I can more easily wait for a meal. And when I go to the supermarket, it no longer zis as if the cookies and chocolate are calling my name. Also, that energetic feeling seems to stay: I get up and feel like going about my day. In short, I feel physically and emotionally purified.

Want to experience the dr. Mayr Medicine for yourself? Book your holiday here.