A Fasting Week Day by Day: The Tannerhof Course
From the relief day through the intake consultation and the transition days to breaking the fast and the rebuilding phase — how a Buchinger fasting week unfolds step by step at Tannerhof.
A Buchinger fasting week unfolds in clear phases: relief day, medical intake consultation and fasting start on the first fasting day, transition days, several fasting days, breaking the fast, and rebuilding days over roughly one third of the fasting time. At Naturhotel Tannerhof this path has been medically guided for over 70 years.
The essentials
- The fasting week begins before arrival with relief days at home and ends not on the last fasting day but with rebuilding back to solid food.
- The length of stay is booked before arrival; the medical intake consultation on the first fasting day tunes the course together with you.
- The transition days at the start are the most demanding; afterwards a quiet, carrying rhythm often sets in.
- Breaking the fast still belongs to the fasting period and begins at Tannerhof with the apple — raw or steamed, eaten with conscious chewing.
- For first-time fasters, a good week is a fine size: about seven fasting days plus two to three rebuilding days.
The fasting week at a glance
A fasting week is not a single act of denial but an arc with beginning, middle and transition. Buchinger therapeutic fasting is the conscious, time-limited abstention from solid food and stimulants — no zero-calorie diet and no primary weight-loss method, but a therapeutic method, a cleansing on several levels and a meeting with oneself. At Naturhotel Tannerhof fasting is part of the house's DNA, introduced by Johannes von Mengershausen and accompanied across three generations of physicians.
| Day | Phase | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Before arrival | Relief at home | One or more relief days, for example as a fruit, potato, vegetable or raw-food day. How many is your choice. |
| Arrival day | Relief day | A light vegetable plate in the evening prepares the body for fasting. |
| 1st fasting day | Intake consultation & fasting start | First the medical conversation with history-taking, physical examination including bioimpedance analysis and medication review. Then, where suitable, the fasting start. |
| 2nd–3rd day | Transition days | Metabolism shifts; weakness, shakiness or headache can occur and are accompanied. |
| Fasting days | Five or more | Daily rhythm of tea, water, mild vegetable broth and fresh juice. The longer the fast, the deeper the effects. |
| Breaking the fast | Still a fasting day | Midday a small faster's broth, then the apple — raw or steamed, each bite chewed many times. |
| Rebuilding days | ~1/3 of fasting time | Gradual return to solid food and stimulants. |
Before arrival: the relief days
A fasting week does not begin with the first cup of fasting tea but already at home. The doctors at Tannerhof recommend one or more relief days before arrival so the body does not fall abruptly from a full daily life into the fast. How many is your choice — a single day can be enough, several give the transition more room.
Tried and tested variants are clear and simple: a fruit day, a potato day, a vegetable day or a raw-food day. All share an easing of the digestive tract and a gentle attunement to the coming caesura.
The first fasting day: intake consultation and fasting start
The first full day after arrival is the day fasting medically begins. First comes the intake consultation — then, where fitting, the fasting start itself. This order matters: before anything begins, the medical team looks closely.
The intake consultation is holistic. Its medical core is history-taking, a physical examination including bioimpedance analysis to measure body composition, and a medication review. Plus the questions that carry the fast: why are you fasting, what other goals matter at Tannerhof, what is going on in life right now, what previous fasting experience you bring.
Only after that does the fasting start. The classical tool is the Glauber's salt drink — a mild salt that empties the gut at the start of fasting and eases the transition. It is optional: depending on tolerability, other approaches are considered.
Transition days: the body switches over
The first two to three fasting days are the most demanding. The body shifts metabolism, and you feel it. Possible are low-blood-sugar symptoms such as weakness, shakiness, nausea or headache. They belong to the process and usually pass on their own; green tea with a spoonful of honey gently smooths a dip, and the medical team accompanies this phase.
What happens in these days is well described. The so-called metabolic switch — the shift from glucose to fatty acids and ketone bodies as energy source — sets in roughly 24 to 72 hours after fasting onset. The review by de Cabo and Mattson in the New England Journal of Medicine (2019) places this shift at the centre of fasting.
The fasting days: a rhythm of their own
Over the day, fasters take in around three litres of fluid: faster's tea, mineral water still or sparkling, lemon water and hot ginger water.
- Morning: a herbal tea.
- Midday: a mild vegetable broth, taken in the Fasterstube — the dedicated dining room for fasting guests.
- Evening: a freshly pressed fruit or vegetable juice, with the option of buttermilk or Sojade as part of the protein supply.
We recommend five fasting days and upward, because the metabolic shift otherwise has little room. The longer the fast, the deeper the effects.
Breaking the fast: the holy apple
Breaking the fast is its own particular moment — and still counts as fasting time, not yet rebuilding. Midday it begins with a small cup of faster's broth. Then comes the holy apple, raw or steamed, each bite chewed thirty to forty times. This very conscious chewing is not ritual for its own sake but prepares digestion gently for what it has not done for days.
Rebuilding days: back into everyday life
Rebuilding is not the afterthought of fasting but its continuation by other means. It extends over roughly one third of the fasting time. The guiding question is what is good for the microbiome: easily digestible vegetables, fermented foods, plenty of fibre and mindful chewing.
At the end of the stay comes the medical closing consultation, evaluating what has shifted and how nutrition afterwards can look. If a lasting change is wanted, Schlanke Tanne Low Carb — the in-house low-carb form — can follow on.
Discovering therapeutic fasting at Tannerhof
Naturhotel Tannerhof has offered Buchinger fasting for over 70 years: medically guided, fasting-experienced across departments, and embedded in Bayrischzell between alpine meadow, mountain stream and the view toward the Wendelstein. More at Body Detox and on the methodology at Buchinger Method.
FAQs
A fasting week begins with relief days at home and a light vegetable plate on arrival evening. On the first fasting day come the medical intake consultation and the fasting start, then the transition days, several fasting days in the tea-broth-juice rhythm, breaking the fast with the apple, and finally rebuilding days over roughly one third of the fasting time.
The intake consultation takes place on the first fasting day after arrival, not on arrival day itself. It covers history-taking, physical examination including bioimpedance analysis and medication review, plus questions about goals, life situation and previous fasting experience. The fasting start follows the consultation.
Glauber's salt is a mild salt that empties the gut at the start of fasting and eases the start. It is the classical tool, but optional: depending on tolerance, other approaches are considered. The handling is always discussed individually in the medical intake consultation, which precedes the fasting start.
We recommend five fasting days and upward. For first-time fasters, a good week is a fine size — about seven fasting days plus two to three rebuilding days. The length is booked before arrival and can be adjusted, typically extended, with the medical team from the intake consultation onward.
On the first two to three fasting days, metabolism shifts from glucose to fatty acids and ketone bodies — the metabolic switch sets in roughly 24 to 72 hours after fasting onset. Weakness, shakiness or headache can occur in this phase; they belong to the process, usually pass on their own and are accompanied by the medical team.
The fasting week ends with breaking the fast and the rebuilding days. Breaking the fast begins with the apple, raw or steamed, eaten with conscious chewing. Over roughly one third of the fasting time, solid food and stimulants return step by step. In the medical closing consultation, the team discusses everyday eating afterward.
Sources
- ÄGHE: Guidelines on Fasting Therapy.
- de Cabo R., Mattson M. P.: Effects of Intermittent Fasting on Health, Aging, and Disease, NEJM, 2019.
- Wilhelmi de Toledo F. et al.: Safety, health improvement and well-being during a 4 to 21-day fasting period, PLOS One, 2019.
- In-house source: Naturhotel Tannerhof, The Buchinger Method and Body Detox.
Note
This article describes the approach and practice of Naturhotel Tannerhof regarding the course of a Buchinger fasting week. It does not replace individual medical advice. A telephone medical pre-consultation is available on request.
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