Therapeutic Fasting in Bavaria — Medically Guided at Tannerhof
Where medically guided Buchinger fasting can be found in Upper Bavaria, what a fasting cure in Bavaria at Naturhotel Tannerhof entails, and how setting, method and mountain rhythm work together.
Therapeutic fasting in Bavaria means at Naturhotel Tannerhof medically guided Buchinger fasting: the conscious, time-limited abstention from solid food and stimulants. The house in Bayrischzell, southeast of Munich, has offered this method for over 70 years — individually, with five fasting days and upward and a rebuilding phase of about one third of the fasting time.
The essentials
- Therapeutic fasting in Bavaria means at Tannerhof Buchinger fasting: no zero-calorie diet but a therapeutic method with tea, water, mild vegetable broth and fresh juices.
- Tannerhof sits in Bayrischzell in Upper Bavaria, in the upper Leitzach valley, with a view of the Wendelstein — about 75 kilometres southeast of Munich.
- Two processes run in parallel in the body: the shift to fat burning and autophagy, the cellular recycling.
- The medical intake consultation takes place on the first fasting day after arrival; the length of stay is booked beforehand.
- After breaking the fast comes rebuilding, often leading into Schlanke Tanne Low Carb, the in-house low-carb form.
Therapeutic fasting in Bavaria: what defines it at Tannerhof
People who look for therapeutic fasting in Bavaria usually look for more than a fine landscape. They look for a place where fasting has method, is medically carried and leaves enough quiet to actually arrive. At Naturhotel Tannerhof in Bayrischzell, Buchinger fasting is not a new fashion on the programme calendar but a familiar practice that belongs to the house. Fasting in the house's DNA. Introduced by Johannes von Mengershausen from the second family generation, it is today carried across three generations of physicians — in total for over 70 years.
For guests interested in a medically guided fasting programme in Bavaria, Body Detox is the relevant programme page. The method and the eating form together are at the Therapeutic Fasting and Schlanke Tanne hub.
The setting in Upper Bavaria: Bayrischzell and the Leitzach valley
A fasting cure in Bavaria gains from the place that carries the process. Tannerhof sits in Bayrischzell, in the upper Leitzach valley, about 75 kilometres southeast of Munich, with a view across the valley and toward the Wendelstein. To Schliersee it is about 15 kilometres, to Rosenheim about 38, and Bayrischzell station lies just over a kilometre away.
The place is more than location: the roughly 16 hectares of grounds, the mountain stream, the alpine meadows, the Lufthütten from 1905, the four hut towers by Florian Nagler, the Orangerie as a long retreat under plants, the Fasterstube as a dedicated dining room for fasting guests, and the BadeHarpfe with Finnish sauna, panoramic relaxation room, endurance-and-strength fitness area and 25-metre outdoor natural pool with a view between the Wendelstein and the Sonnwendjoch.
Why people fast in Bavaria
Motivations vary. Many guests look for a mental wind-down, a counterpoint to overstimulation and constant acceleration. Others want relief from abundance; still others come with a medical concern or a wish to reorder everyday life.
Behind these motives sits a well-documented research base. The Guidelines on Fasting Therapy from the German Medical Society for Therapeutic Fasting and Nutrition (ÄGHE), published 2002 and updated 2013, describe method, patient selection, contraindications and medical accompaniment. They place fasting under medical guidance for rheumatic conditions, high blood pressure, metabolic syndrome, allergies, autoimmune diseases, asthma, migraine, type II diabetes and depression.
A large observational study by Wilhelmi de Toledo and colleagues (PLOS One, 2019) followed 1,422 people through fasting periods of four to twenty-one days after the Buchinger method. Result: the fast was safe and well tolerated, with physical and emotional wellbeing rising significantly across groups.
What happens in the body: fat burning and autophagy
In fasting, the body works on several levels. Two are often conflated and should be distinguished.
The first level is fat burning. When fast-access carbohydrate stores deplete, metabolism shifts from glucose to fatty acids and ketone bodies within the first few days. The PLOS One study documented this Ketosis shift through rising ketone bodies in all groups.
The second level is autophagy: cellular recycling and clean-up. How fundamental this is became visible in 2016 when Yoshinori Ohsumi received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering its mechanisms.
The course of a fasting week at Tannerhof
A fasting week does not begin with the broth. Before arrival the doctors recommend one or more relief days at home. The length of stay is booked beforehand. In the intake consultation on the first fasting day, the concrete course is shaped together with the medical team and can be adjusted within that frame — in particular extended.
| Phase | Content |
|---|---|
| Arrival and relief | Light vegetable plate in the evening. One or more relief days at home are recommended, for example a fruit, potato, vegetable or raw-food day. |
| 1st fasting day: intake consultation & fasting start | First the medical conversation with history-taking, physical examination including bioimpedance analysis and medication review. Then, where fitting, the fasting start with Glauber's salt — the classical tool to begin fasting — or another method discussed individually. |
| 2nd to 3rd day: transition | The body shifts noticeably; weakness, shakiness or headache may occur. Green tea with honey eases dips, the medical team accompanies this phase. |
| Fasting days: five or more | Daily rhythm with tea, water, mild vegetable broth, fresh juice and ample fluid. The longer the fast, the deeper the effects. |
| Breaking the fast | Still counts as fasting time. It begins with the apple, raw or steamed, with very conscious chewing. |
| Rebuilding days | Gradual return to solid food and stimulants over roughly one third of the fasting time, with easily digestible vegetables, fermented foods and fibre. |
During fasting days, herbal tea, water, lemon and ginger water, mild vegetable broth and fresh fruit or vegetable juices carry the rhythm, alongside roughly three litres of fluid per day. Fasting guests take their meals in the Fasterstube.
Medical guidance as Tannerhof practice
Medical guidance is not strictly required for every fast, but useful. At Tannerhof, therapeutic fasting is always medically guided. The doctors are fasting experts.
The medical appointments form a quiet arc. At the beginning stands the intake consultation on the first fasting day, holistic: history-taking, physical examination including bioimpedance analysis, medication review, plus the questions of why someone is fasting, what other goals matter, what is happening in life, what fasting experience exists.
Breaking the fast, rebuilding and Schlanke Tanne
Rebuilding is not the afterthought of fasting but its continuation by other means. Breaking the fast still counts as a fasting day: midday a small bowl of faster's broth, then the apple. Those who fast five days normally rebuild over two days; for seven fasting days, rebuilding grows to two or three.
If a lasting change is wanted, Schlanke Tanne Low Carb — the in-house low-carb form — can follow on. It is not a Buchinger substitute but a way of carrying the fasting experience into everyday life.
Discovering therapeutic fasting in Bavaria 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, Therapeutic Fasting and Schlanke Tanne and Hiking and Fasting.
FAQs
At Naturhotel Tannerhof in Bayrischzell, Upper Bavaria, medically guided Buchinger fasting has been offered for over 70 years. The house lies about 75 kilometres southeast of Munich in the upper Leitzach valley with a view of the Wendelstein. The relevant programme is Body Detox, bookable online.
Online booking is available. Stay tiers, arrival days and prices are on the Body Detox programme page. Length of stay and treatment package are booked before arrival; in the intake consultation on the first fasting day, the concrete plan is shaped individually within that frame.
At Tannerhof we recommend five fasting days and upward, because the metabolic shift needs time. For first-time fasters, a week with rebuilding is a fine size, about ten days in total. Length is booked beforehand; from the intake consultation, the course is shaped with the medical team and can be extended.
During fasting days there is no solid food and no stimulants. The rhythm consists of herbal tea, water, lemon and ginger water, mild vegetable broth, freshly pressed fruit or vegetable juices and, where useful, additional protein or an alkaline preparation — in total about three litres of fluid per day.
Two processes run in parallel. Metabolism shifts from glucose to fatty acids and ketone bodies, that is, to fat burning. Alongside this run autophagy processes, cellular recycling, for the discovery of which Yoshinori Ohsumi received the 2016 Nobel Prize in Medicine. The two processes should be distinguished.
Yes. In Upper Bavaria the combination is well suited: walking at a tempo that fits the fast is for many guests part of the actual experience. At Tannerhof there is the Hiking and Fasting combination, embedded in the pre-alpine landscape between the Wendelstein and the Sonnwendjoch.
Sources
- ÄGHE: Guidelines on Fasting Therapy (Consensus 2002, Expert Panel update after 2013).
- Wilhelmi de Toledo F. et al.: Safety, health improvement and well-being during a 4 to 21-day fasting period, PLOS One, 2019.
- The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2016, Yoshinori Ohsumi: for his discoveries of mechanisms for autophagy.
- In-house sources: Body Detox, Therapeutic Fasting and Schlanke Tanne and Hiking and Fasting.
Note
This article describes the approach and practice of Naturhotel Tannerhof regarding therapeutic fasting in Bavaria. It does not replace individual medical advice. A telephone medical pre-consultation is available on request.
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