Bollywood's open secret to a flat tummy and glowing skin is now shifting its scenery from the Austrian Alps to Mumbai. Set up in 2004, medical resort VIVAMAYR has been bringing its famous Mayr Cure to stars from Liz Hurley to Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh . Come 2019, VIVAMAYR's doctors will offer consultations at Mumbai's new holistic clinic The Vedary .
At The Vedary, VIVAMAYR's doctors will offer clinical consultations, based on which they share nutritional guidelines such as the right way to chew and the healthy way to incorporate fasting into a meal plan. VIVAMAYR's therapies aren't being offered in Mumbai just yet, but clients will learn what will work for them at the Austrian and London centres; VIVAMAYR employs natural treatments from a staff that includes massage therapists, osteopaths, psychologists and sports scientists. In Mumbai, the doctors are slated to be available at The Vedary for a few weeks in March, May, September and December 2019.
Dr Harald Stossier, founder of VIVAMAYR, developed the Mayr Cure from the work of 19th-century physician Franz Mayr, who established intestinal cleansing as the gateway to good health. At the two VIVAMAYR resorts in Austria, guests stay for a week at minimum, and follow customised treatment plans based on a medical consultation. They opened a day clinic on London's Harley Street in 2017, and their next international offering opens at The Vedary in Worli in March 2019. In Mumbai to release his new book Nutrition: What Really Counts, Dr Stossier spoke to CNT in an exclusive interview.
What brings VIVAMAYR to India?
We have a very select crowd of international guests at VIVAMAYR in Austria, one of whom was Indian. To thank us for the result of her treatment, the lady invited us to come to India. That was the beginning, three years ago. We've been to Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai. We have a growing number of guests from India and they are very interested in what we offer in Austria. We found a partner here in The Vedary clinic.
What are Indian clients looking for in general at VIVAMAYR?
Some of them want some weight loss, but at the end of the day, the main issue is always something else. There are a lot of metabolic problems, a lot of stress-related problems—that's not a big difference from other countries. But we also have a great number of Indian clients who are really interested in health—higher than in other countries—they want to have good standards, the best conditions, they want to stay fit.
What is Vivamayr offering at The Vedary in Mumbai?
VIVAMAYR's doctors will fly to Mumbai every few months, to offer consultations at new holistic clinic The Vedary. Guests can expect a clinical examination as if they had come to Austria. We ask them for their case histories and complaints, then we make a physical examination. Our speciality is also to look at the belly in a different way, so we always look at the condition of the intestines.
It's also our specialty to do a Functional Myodiagnostic Test—maybe more known as Applied Kinesiology–it's a functional muscle test to see where the weak points are. So we always test for food intolerances. We test the intestine and the hormonal system, whatever is necessary. The clinical examination takes an hour. We can't offer a whole bunch of treatments here, but the most important thing is to first get a clear diagnosis. Many problems are related to intestinal problems and if you find a guideline for nutrition, people are very happy, and we try to simplify it, saying many things they can easily manage to do in their daily routine.
The Vedary has some really nice Ayurvedic massages and the colonic, and orthomolecular remedies in the Austrian brand Biogena which has vitamins and minerals and trace elements of an excellent quality. Many people here are deficient in Vitamin D for example, B12—and not only the vegetarians—alkaline balance is always an issue so they can also get some support from us also in that direction.
Is it different here from the day clinic in London?
In London, we have our own office and a permanent doctor, and we offer more diagnostics—all the bloodwork, we directly measure the alkaline acidity balance, we measure the metabolic rate. We also have the oxygen treatment and we have infusions. If interest grows here as it has in the last couple of years, we may establish an office here.
Are you tweaking the dietary recommendations to Indian cuisine?
Our main interest is to re-educate the eating habits of people. We advise people to eat slowly, to chew well, to take time for their meals, allow the intestines to digestive food. And wherever you are in the world, you can do that. It's not the food, it's what we create out of the food—which is what we do with our intestines. And the only thing to train the intestines is to eat food in the right way. In the therapy, I say chew a mouthful 50 times. But I would be happy if they do that 30 times in their daily routine.
So how long would a typical meal take?
At minimum, 30 minutes, which I know is challenging. It is kind of a meditation to have with food, this is also to pay respect to food and to nature.
What changes have you noticed at VIVAMAYR, especially since the recent boom in the wellness industry?
We at VIVAMAYR have been far earlier than others, because we are not wellness, we are a medical centre. We have 45 rooms for maximum 50 guests, with seven medical doctors. So it's very intensive—we have more medical staff than hotel staff. Another major difference is that people want to get everything very quickly. They forget that a disease takes time to develop and so does the therapy. The process of detoxification and elimination takes time and so people have to take time to get better. The minimum stay at our centres is a week; we are thinking of extending that period.
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I've been in this kind of medicine for more than 30 years and a big difference in the last couple of years is that people coming to us asking for help are getting younger and younger. When I started, the average age was 60-plus—strong, fit, they want to rest and they go for cures. People come now because they have severe diseases; the maximum range is 20-plus, but we also have kids around 8 or 9 in very bad health conditions. We can motivate them to change their lifestyle because, as people say, it's a life-changing experience to go through a period of fasting and detoxification.
How would you say the VIVAMAYR method differs from Ayurveda?
We have more similarities than differences to Ayurveda. There is one difference—we try to mobilise more from the water-soluble part, we take Epsom salts to cleanse the intestines; Ayurveda is more from the fat-soluble part with ghee and oils. But because we have experienced that this part is important, we have implemented the therapy of fat in our centres.
What do Bollywood clients love the most at VIVAMAYR?
I hope they will not kill me but I'm sorry but I do not know if they are in Bollywood or Hollywood. For me, it's mainly that the client is a human being. I don't ask how important they are in the rest of the world. And to be honest, they have the same problems all the others do. For me it's not, sorry I don't know all the professions and importance of our clients; of course, if the prime minister comes, we know because of the security. But I'll give you a story: if a famous celebrity comes to us, in the first days they have these huge glasses on and they look around to see if there's anybody who knows them, but after two days they realize nobody cares—and this is what they like. Nobody cares who they are, they don't get anything to eat, they are all in the same boat.
Tell us a bit about your new book, Nutrition: What Really Counts.
The book gives the basics of nutrition. There are chapters on protein, on carbs, on the importance of fatty acids, on the alkaline acidity balance, on allergies. The focus is on eating habits and simple advice on how to improve.
Would you share a few tips for travellers?
On a plane, drink more water; less alcohol; do some exercise in between. If there are problems relating to jet lag, eat less and adapt yourself to the destination you are going to. When you're travelling, you don't always get the same food but it's always possible to chew, you can eat less food in the evenings, and nothing raw after 4pm. The most important thing is to follow the simple eating habits.