The function of the small
intestine is unfortunately a stepchild of modern medicine. Clinical
medicine provides us with insufficient information concerning functional
disturbances in this nutritionally vital portion of the digestive
system. A good appetite and regular bowel movements do not guarantee
that everything is in proper working order.
A liver two or three times it’s
normally seen size is clinically considered to be unhealthy. Similarly,
a greatly enlarged spleen, or a heart or lungs—or any other organ
whose volume is significantly greater than average—would be regarded
as ailing and usually not fully functional. Oddly enough, this criterion
does not apply to the abdomen. We use terms like "portly" or
"good-looking" to refer to a person who shoves a drum-shaped
belly around in front of him, or whose potbelly hangs down over his
belt. People resist the insight that in these cases the small intestine
is severely disturbed functionally. Bacterial decomposition processes
predominate over natural fermentative digestion, which leads Inevitably
to poor nutrition, since nutritional value is significantly affected by
the kind of break-down that takes place in the intestine. Even highly
nutritious foods won't restore the balance. Therefore, a slender,
shapely abdomen is not just a standard of beauty: one should keep in
mind that deviations from the ideal indicate reduced functionality of
the intestines and poor nutrition, which of course detrimentally alters
whatever is eaten.
The common fixation on the
"average" as a standard, distorts our ideas about health. Dr.
Mayr's diagnostics, which are oriented to the ideal as a
standard, demonstrate the frequency of hidden intestinal damage.
Sedentary lifestyles and bad eating habits, but above all, continuous
excessive demands on the digestive organs, impair small intestine
performance and thus promote pathological bacterial decomposition of the
chyme. The irritants thereby produced simply cause the intestine to be
even more overtaxed, and the secretion of digestive juices is reduced.
This gives rise to a vicious cycle: decomposition processes increasingly
suppress fermentative breakdown of the chyme, the small intestine
becomes broad and slack in its longer sections, and digestive juices are
produced in insufficient quantities, resulting in poor nutrition. If the
level is high enough for long enough, then the pollutants—taken up by
the intestinal villi—can only be partially neutralized by the liver.
Often, considerable amounts of these contaminants reach the organs via
the blood stream and cause damage or undermine their resistance.
The therapeutic procedures of Dr.
Mayr deviate in many respects from current orthodoxy. Three principles,
which overlap and complement each other, bring about a thorough
intestinal rehabilitation—namely, protection, cleansing, and training.
Of these principles, protection plays an especially important role. The
most extreme protective measure is an absolute fast, that is, no food at
all—though this should only be done on an inpatient basis (stationary
cure). The patient gets only herb tea three times a day, and plenty of
water, in order to speed up fluid exchange and to maintain mineral
balance. We do not use fruit juices, since these tend to ferment,
which works against the protective principle. Fasting gives the
intestines an ideal opportunity to process and excrete built-up
residues. The stomach and small intestine, our central assimilation and
primary digestive organs, can rid themselves of their contents, thereby
fulfilling the most important prerequisite for a healing alleviation:
now they can rest and recover, and their deadened sensory organs, whose
job it is to inform the intestinal muscles and glands about their
workload, can again regenerate themselves.
With proper orientation of the
patient on the part of the physician, hunger pangs only appear for a
short time during the first few days, and usually vanish quickly after a
cup of herb tea or a glass of water.
During the second phase of dieting
[or the first phase for outpatient cures], the patient is given a
quarter liter of milk in the morning and at noon—which, however, is
not drunk in the usual manner, but rather must be thoroughly mixed with
saliva in the mouth as follows: a bite of stale, well dried roll or
similar slice of white bread is first chewed until it becomes a watery
mash in the mouth, sweet to the taste and well soaked with saliva. Only
then is the milk added, a teaspoonful at a time, and thoroughly mixed
with the bread mash in the mouth before it is swallowed. In this way,
the milk is broken down while still in the mouth and thus hardly burdens
the stomach and intestine at all. Additionally, intensive chewing
optimally activates the sense of taste, which is of prime importance for
the regulation of digestive juice production and of gastrointestinal
motoricity. Instruction in proper chewing is an important part of the
therapy. In this secondary dietary phase, only herb tea is served in the
evening.*
*Editors note: Many
"health aware" individuals are of the opinion that cows milk
is not a desirable food. Thoughts concerning this are many.
A person may be lactose intolerant or dairy sensitive, other thoughts
are that milk these days is a far cry from what it used to be.
Hormones and antibiotics integrated into the cows diet have made many of
us wary of this food and prefer to eliminate it from our diet. Dr.
Mayr, as well as the author of this article were born and lived in
Austria, a country with a strong tradition of natural and native foods
being used in the diet. Milk was - at least at one time - a
"healthy" and nutritious food and a common component of the
Austrian diet. Even though it still may be used in the Mayr
Therapy, many of us have taken to using alternative products, which are
completely acceptable. Examples are rice, dream (a rice-based
beverage) almond or cashew milk, malt cafe (a grain based coffee
substitute) and other products.
The milk-and-roll diet (morning
and noon one quarter liter of milk and a dried roll) amounts to a daily
caloric intake of about six hundred calories, which—just as in the
fasting diet—forces the body to nourish itself from its own reserves.
This cleans out, first, the congested intestinal segments, then stored
nutritional reserves in the connective tissue, and at the same time
begins a cellular molting or cleansing, whereby a strong impetus to
regeneration is given. It is not just to promote asceticism that all the
world religions prescribe a period of fasting.
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