The beauty of healthy food
© Meredith Mullins

A Fascinating Fasting Adventure

We love to eat. It is one of the pleasures (and necessities) of existence. Food is a feast for our senses—a visual journey of color and form, a delight in smell and taste, often a tactile adventure (especially when you eat with your hands!), and even an auditory experience as we crunch an apple or carrot . . . or as we listen to the popping of popcorn or the sizzle of shrimp on the barbie.

The familiar crunch of an apple
© Ableimages

The cultural traditions of food are a cornerstone of family and social life, as well as a marker of longstanding ethnic and national history.

So what happens when we set off on a fasting adventure to cleanse our body and perhaps reweave our psychological and spiritual fabric? What happens when we challenge the very idea of food?

Preconceptions about Fasting

You might think that food takes a back seat. You might assume the social aspects of mealtime would be affected. You might imagine that all those wonderful sensory aspects of food and eating become wild hallucinations as your hunger takes over all rational thought.

It’s just not so.

Therapeutic Fasting

I recently ventured into the fasting world—for the first time. And I discovered that, for me, none of these preconceptions was true.

A new dawn at the Buchinger-Wilhelmi therapeutic fasting clinic in Germany
© Meredith Mullins

At the invitation of a friend, I journeyed to the Buchinger-Wilhelmi clinic in Überlingen, Germany, on beautiful Lake Constance. This clinic, as well as its sister clinic in Marbella, Spain, are internationally known for the therapeutic fasting program and their holistic approach to health (physical, psychological, and spiritual).

Therapeutic fasting means voluntarily going without solid food for a limited time—something that our body has been designed to do since prehistoric times. (Herbal tea, juice, and broth become the mealtime focus.) We can live off our fat reserves, just as animals do.

Herbal teas to your heart’s content
© Meredith Mullins

At Buchinger-Wilhelmi, the fasting is done under medical supervision in a soothing, peaceful environment that allows you to simply be taken care of.

You forget the stresses of everyday life and are able to focus on other pleasures, like hiking, swimming, yoga, Tai Chi, personal training, stretching, physiotherapy, meeting new people of like mind, reading, creating, listening to music, and learning.

I stayed at the clinic for 14 days and fasted for 10. Buchinger-Wilhelmi requires a lead-in day called a “Digestive Rest Day” as well as “refeeding days” after the fast to ensure that you treat your newly cleansed system with respect.

A “digestive rest day” with a vibrant array of fruit
© Meredith Mullins

Almost every part of the experience was an “Oh, I see” moment. I had updated my will before I left and found myself telling everyone I knew that I was going on a fast. In my own way, I was bidding them a nostalgic farewell in case I didn’t survive or in case I came back a very different person.

Once I arrived at the clinic, my fears and the preconceptions about fasting disappeared.

Food Remains a Focus (in a different way)

The role of food in the fasting culture is, of course, different. At Buchinger-Wilhelmi food still has its place, but in a creative way. You begin to think of the future of your body as a direct result of how you feed and care for it.

The chef at the clinic is an expert in plant-based cooking with pure organic materials. The presentation of the meals is elegant. And the cooking demonstrations with a bright, colorful variety of vegetables makes you fall in love with the idea of the unadulterated taste of the organic, garden-fresh materials.

Chef Hubert Hohler at Buchinger-Wilhelmi is dedicated to creative plant-based cooking.
© Meredith Mullins

The Social Aspects of Eating Are Even More Rewarding

Since mealtimes in our society are an important time for social interaction, how do you achieve that same camaraderie over a five-minute bowl of broth?

We didn’t seem to have a problem. The fasting salon had comfortable armchairs and a stunning view of the lake. And the fasters, from all over the world, each had a story to tell. Since you’re not focused on the food, you’re focused on the mealtime company.

The fasting salon was filled with good conversation among like-minded people.
© Meredith Mullins

A British consultant came to fast for 40 days to lose the weight gained from an accident that put her in the hospital for many months. Once she shed the weight, she felt the trauma of the accident would be left behind.

A French business professor was here for the 7th year, coming every year after a first-year miracle cure of her rhumatoid polyarthritis. She came to the clinic unable to walk without a cane. Each year gave her new strength and mobility.

A retired Saudi engineer came with the hope of relieving some of his back pain, and a 72-year-old Turkish architect (a star of the exercise classes) was back for the 4th time just to accomplish his yearly cleanse.

What made the “mealtimes” so special is that we were kindred spirits. We shared the common bond of being in a peaceful setting with a goal toward better health.

The Sensory Aspects of Eating Are Enhanced

The most interesting of my discoveries was that I didn’t get hungry. Apparently, once your intestines are empty, they don’t send hunger signals to the brain. And, while you don’t crave food, you truly appreciate the smells, tastes, and textures of the tea, juice, and fresh vegetable broths that become your mealtime pleasures.

When you finally break the fast, the reasonably sized portions of “refeeding” seem giant—hard to finish. You savor each bite, as if it is the first food you’ve ever tasted. You appreciate each meal as the art form it is.

The first “meal” after fasting: Apple compote adorned with a single nut of your choice
© Meredith Mullins

A Lightness of Being

At the end of an experience such as this, you can’t help but feel (and see) a change. Of course, everyone’s experience is different. Not everyone reaches the fasting high. But, based on the number of return visitors at Buchinger-Wilhelmi, you can deduce that the experiences have been positive. Most everyone I met had been to the clinic before. Some had been coming for 10, 20, or 30 years.

I know I will return for another fasting experience. I also know that the cultural traditions of food for me, as well as my personal eating habits, have changed forever. And, for as long as I can, I will enjoy this new lightness of being.

It’s difficult to leave a paradise.
© Meredith Mullins

Buchinger-Wilhelmi has clinics in Überlingen, Germany and Marbella, Spain. For more information, visit this website.

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