FAQsGeneral InformationDear Guests,
please find more detailed information regarding your stay at Buchinger on the following pages.
Our recommendation
Try to arrive between 2 pm and 5 pm Our clinic proposes as our main therapy the classic Buchinger therapeutic Fasting cure. As an alternative you may choose all forms of organic and natural nutrition as well as special diets and low caloric diets.
I am arriving!
If you come to the clinic Buchinger for the first time, we recommend to arrive between 2 pm and 5 pm: at this time our entire reception team is complete and can take care of you. Please tell us in advance if you wish to consult a physician on the day of your arrival in order to start you program immediately. Therapy planning
The ladies from our computerized planning office will plan all the dates of your therapies and applications. You can contact them already before arriving and discuss special requests you may have. (+49 (0) 75 51-807-828) How should I pack my suitcase?
One of the enjoyments of fasting is that you need little – so don't pack too much! You should bring the following items:
Should you bring work to do?
We know guests in our clinic who wrote an entire book or screenplay while fasting as well as other guests who brought 20 kilos of files and brought them back home – without even unpacking them. If it is possible for you, try not to bring work you feel obliged to finish! Grant yourself the liberty to do whatever you feel like.
Our reservation department is happy to answer all questions you may have (+49 (0) 75 51-807-870). If you have questions concerning medical problems you should call +49 (0) 75 51-807-820.
House RulesAt a place of rest and relaxation such as the Buchinger Clinic, consideration for others and a certain degree of orderliness are essential to enable patients to coexist, and to ensure a successful treatment.
1. For medical reasons, certain rest times must be observed during fasting. This is why we ask you to divert any phone calls between 12.30 and 2.00 p.m. and between 11.00 p.m. and 7.00 a.m. to the voice box (of course, outgoing calls, also during rest times, are possible). For the same reason, the residences are locked at 10.30 p.m. Guests returning late are admitted until 11.00 p.m. by the night nurse at the reception desk in the main building.
2. During fasting, reaction time of some patients may be substantially reduced. For this reason, swimming in open waters, horseback riding and driving are permitted only with the express written permission of the attending physician.
3. Should a patient spend a night outside the clinic or remain away from the clinic for a number of days, we reserve the right to discontinue treatment.
4. Treatment of children is not possible at the clinic Buchinger. Treatment of young people is eventually possible (in exceptional cases). In any case it needs the advice of one of our doctors in advance.
5. Visitors cannot be accommodated or be provided with meals at the clinic.
6. No reimbursement can be made for meals which were not consumed.
7. Out of consideration for other patients we would kindly request you not to enter the dining room or lounge when wearing sportswear or bathrobes, and not to use your cell phone (mobile phone).
8. No pets are allowed on the clinic premises.
9. A strict ban on smoking and the consumption of alcoholic beverages is enforced at the Buchinger Clinic on the entire clinic premises as well as in the lounges and the patients' rooms. The clinic's doctors will be happy to assist you if you want to give up smoking. What does detoxification mean?How can fasting contribute to detoxification if a person does not take in additionally quantities of nourishment? The concept of detoxification or “Entschlackung”, the metaphor conceived by Dr. Otto Buchinger has as its goal the purification of the digestive system. On the one hand it refers to a subjective feeling of well being, the lightness and increasing clarity experienced by the person fasting, on the other hand it applies to objective bodily changes: A cleansing of the skin, improved breathing, feelings of well-being, and a marked reduction of complaints. Detoxification of certain substances, found in excessive quantities in the blood, is additionally achieved, e.g. cholesterol, other fats in the blood, glucose, too high storages of fats, and clotting of arteries and veins. Certain AGEs – advanced glycation end products, or immune complexes – which cause dispositional illnesses are additionally reduced. Medically supervised fasting mostly normalises blood counts and reduces fat depots. Simultaneously, typical arterial sclerotic deposits are reduced. The same is to be expected from fasting. The tendency for the reduction of protein deposits during fasting makes it plausible that the detoxification of proteins is achieved concurrently. How does the loss of liquids and minerals affect the body?Non – physiological losses of minerals (natrium and calcium) are prevented by the body`s own reduction processes. Additionally, supplementary fasting nutrition in the form of fresh fruit and vegetable juices sustain the body with calcium and minerals. Even so, some of the following symptoms may arise: a too low blood pressure, dizziness, headaches, fatigue, a dry skin, dry membranes, halitosis, and a heightened sensitivity to cold. These symptoms normally disappear spontaneously or can be eliminated by other natural medicine applications: Black tea, honey, warm baths, warm bandages, physical activity, and the activation of the kidney, respiratory, and digestive (enemas) circulation systems. Many fasting patients have no complaints at all, and the majority experience an increasing feeling of bodily and spiritual well being. Can fasting cause painful rheumatism?When professional medical supervision and care is given, rheumatic attacks are extremely rare. A sufficient supply of fluids, care taken with the elementary rules of fasting as well as the scrutinizing of laboratory results and – when needed – supplementary substances given to a high risk person – all reduce painful rheumatic attacks. What about the Jo- Jo effect? Do supplementary protein drinks help?It is not the supplementing of protein drinks that is decisive in the keeping of one’s reduced body weight, but the preparation of the person during fasting for a more healthy lifestyle. It is to be noted that animals and birds e.g. emperor penguins, migratory birds, hibernating animals, show physiological cycles of weight gain and weight loss: They store fat during the time when nourishment is available and live on their fat reserves during the “fasting” times of the year – they do not become fatter on average during the year. Does one regain weight after fasting?People who nourish themselves with “junk food” (excessive fat and sugar), drink alcohol, rarely perform physical activities, generally gain weight again – and then more than their previous weight, irrespective of whether they had lost weight by means of fasting, protein diets, FDH or other methods. The decisive factor in keeping a reduced weight is the necessity of changing one’s lifestyle, particularly with regard to nutrition and movement, and the attempt to keep a balanced emotional equilibrium without compensation by the means of food or alcohol. Art, creativity, nature, harmonious relationships, and spirituality are the strongly recommended components of Buchinger’s “Diet of the Soul”. Statistical data of patients who have engaged in fasting for ten or more times at Buchinger Bodensee were analysed. It clearly demonstrated that the Jo-Jo effect did not occur: After fasting ten times – approximately once a year, as tradition recommends – a third of the patients had a weight of less than they had when starting the fasting, another third had more or less the same weight, and for the other third weight gain could not be stopped despite regular fasting, even if this gain was not considerable. Does the heart muscle lose proteins?As previously mentioned, the loss of small quantities of proteins during fasting is by no means non- physiological. When fasting in a methodically correct manner, the strength of the muscles, also that of the heart muscle, improves. Even more so, when supportive movement and fitness programmes are carried out. Fasting people usually feel fitter, can move more freely, and progress to higher level fitness - walking and gymnastics groups. From the animal kingdom we know that migratory birds flying over the Sahara, for example, neither eat nor drink during this most strenuous bodily activity. It was discovered that they do not use protein muscle cells from their wings during these flights, but that the protein from heart muscles is also reduced by up to 20% without reducing the physical performance in the least. How can this be? Simple – the bird becomes lighter during each day of fasting and needs less muscle power for the same performance. Does fasting facilitate weight loss?Men aged between 30 and 40 and post - menopause women inevitably tend to gain weight - fasting can reduce this occurrence. Many people keep their normal weight during fasting or counter the tendency to gain weight by following a regular, professionally supported healing – by - fasting schedule. When fasting fat becomes the primary source of energy right from the start -and not protein. It is, however, also correct that protein is broken down during fasting, also from muscle cells. Muscle cells are, of course, able to give up proteins without being destroyed in the process. The breaking down of proteins is a reversible phenomenon, achieving a therapeutic effect on certain illnesses. A preliminary loss of fluids occurs during fasting as it does with most other diets. On the one hand this can be explained by the loss of the water bound to glycogens and proteins, and on the other hand on the desalinating and dehydrating effects of the fasting. A most positive effect is thereby achieved on high blood pressure and oedemas. Is fasting dangerous?Fasting is not dangerous at all, in fact it facilitates a healing therapeutic procedure under close medical supervision for digestive illnesses and other high risk factors such as obesity and high blood pressure. Fasting has shown to have a very positive effect on rheumatism, asthmatic conditions, allergies and migraine, to mention just a few. Additionally, fasting enables the enhancement of self awareness from a spiritual and psychological point of view. The life threatening “liquid protein diets” ( an inferior protein diet) of the 1970s caused the deaths of approximately 60 overweight individuals. Without proper medical care, these people consumed only protein drinks for weeks or months on end and died from heart failure. Will I be able to work during my stay?In the history of Buchinger there are numerous examples of guests who completed the writing of a novel, a film script and, then again, others who arrived with 20 kg of heavy files, these taken home again without being opened. If you can afford to do so, come to us without the pressure of work! Treat yourself to the freedom of doing whatever you may want to do on the spur of the moment. What should I bring along for my stay?One of the joys of fasting is the fact that you can get rid of excess baggage – therefore do not pack too many items in your suitcases! You should, however, think of the following “bare necessities”:
A bath rope and blow drier will be supplied by us. How does the planning and starting of therapy proceed?The planning of your appointments for therapy and the therapy itself is carefully coordinated. You can start planning your therapy before arrival and mention your specific wishes at the following telephone number 0049 (0) + 7551 – 807 828. What happens upon arrival?When arriving at Buchinger Bodensee for the first time, we recommend you to do so between 14.00 and 17.00. In this time period our complete welcoming team will be here. Please let us know whether you wish to have a consultation with a medical doctor upon arrival so that your programme can start right away. How long does fasting last?In order to facilitate a profound and sustainable healing experience with the Buchinger healing-by-fasting concept, we recommend a stay of at least ten days. This will enable the harmonious return to normality of your eating habits, general circulation, and digestive functions. Four complete days are necessary for the effective consolidation of therapeutic success and for keeping the weight losses achieved. The best case of therapeutic healing by fasting (the so-called Buchinger Classic) is achieved when it takes place within a stationary period of between two and four weeks under professional medical supervision. Your individual condition is, however, the deciding factor when settling the duration of the therapeutic fasting at all times. Shorter periods of fasting can be beneficial, especially for people who are underweight. If needed, single fasting or abstinence days are possible. When symptoms indicate a more serious situation, longer healing periods (up to six weeks) are advisable. Can fasting cause the formation of gallstones or gall colic?When a programme of accelerated weight loss was enforced - gastric banding or protein diets - the formation of gallstones was observed to be up by 8% after a period of four weeks, 20 and 35% after some months of losing weight. The formation of gallstones after healing by fasting is unknown to us – perhaps due to the fact that healing by fasting seldom lasts longer than 3 –4 weeks and that only natural substances are used to supplement a diet. |
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