Rebel Wilson, known for (among other things) her role as ‘Fat Amy’ in the Pitch Perfect movie series, has lost a lot of weight recently. So of course, the media is drooling all over itself in the efforts to expose the diet she’s following to have achieved such ‘fantastic’ results.
The answer? The Mayr Method, otherwise known as the ‘FX Mayr Cure.’
Pffft. ‘Cure,’ whatever.
I had never heard of the Mayr Method until 5 minutes ago, but it didn’t take me long to see that it’s a total dumpster fire that was developed in 1901 by some pseudoscientific, opportunistic doctor for rich, unsuspecting people.
And now, thanks to Rebel Wilson, it’s gonna be popular again. SIGH.
There are Mayr clinics around the world, as well as VivaMayr clubs in Austria (where Wilson went…with an unfortunate friend) and London.
At VivaMayr, you can join all sorts of fashion industry people and celebrities in paying a reported $5000-7000 euros for a week (they recommend a stay of three weeks) that includes ‘medical abdominal treatments’ to ‘unblock the inner organs,’ BLOODLETTING (yes, you actually just read that right), detox foot baths, herbal wraps, and ‘metabolic analysis,’ aka a worthless urinalysis that supposedly says something about metabolism.
There’s also lymphatic drainage treatments, and a 600 calorie a day alkaline menu complete with daily explosive diarrhea from laxatives meant to ‘cleanse the colon.’
Sounds great…like medieval torture for ‘wellness’ fans! As you’d expect, Gwyneth Paltrow is also a fan of Mayr.
VivaMayr uses ‘applied kinesiology’ to determine guests’ ‘illnesses’ and ‘conditions.’ This method, which uses the response of muscles to stimulation as a diagnostic tool, has been debunked as pseudoscience again and again by reputable agencies.
But it’s in full use at Mayr. WHAT A SHOCKER! WOW!
Guests also get plenty of supplements (of course) about which VivaMayr says, “Our infusions are fast-acting and successfully support liver detoxification, adrenal fatigue, histamine intolerance and many other indications.”
Adrenal fatigue. That’s the kind of pseudoscience that we’re dealing with here.
Guests also get medications to ‘regulate the pH of their body.’ What in AF.
Diet is a huge reason why people are attracted the ‘Mayr Cure.’
The medical director of VivaMayr, Christine Stossier, told The Guardian that among other thing we’re doing wrong with our eating, we ‘don’t pay attention to the freshness of our vegetables.’
Privileged, much? I’m sorry, but she sounds like a complete jerk. A jerk who’s earning a ton of money off of swindling wealthy people into believing that Mayr is actually legit!
She also claimed that “You can eat healthy, organic food, but if you eat it in the wrong way, it loses a lot of its value.” ‘The wrong way’ meaning, ‘not according to our rules,’ which I outline below.
Who is this person, anyhow? Is she an actual medical doctor? I couldn’t figure it out.
What is the Mayr Method?
The Mayr Method is based in the belief that the gut and how we eat is at the heart of wellness. That’s actually not all that far off from the truth, but that’s where the truth and Mayr start to diverge.
One of the philosophies of Mayr is that we all indulge in ‘auto-intoxication,’ meaning that we choose to consume foods that are ‘toxic’ for us. Those foods include too much gluten and dairy (seriously, can somebody come up with some new foods to vilify, because the gluten and dairy BS is getting old AF right now), ultra-processed and low-fat foods.
The Method also has issues with how we’re eating: too quickly, while we’re distracted, with a lot of snacks throughout the day.
The Mayr Club is a short-term retreat, so hopefully people are eating more than 600 calories a day after they leave.
But even at home, Mayr followers like Wilson try to continue it by eating according to specific rules.
Here are the rules for eating according to Mayr, with my comments in bold.
Eat as little as possible at night, because the digestive system ‘needs to rest.’
It actually doesn’t. Your organs don’t need a nap: nature created them to function 24/7 for a lifetime. The ‘rest’ thing is completely false, but it comes up a lot when unqualified practitioners want to scare people into buying into a diet.
Eat an alkaline diet (sigh), along with some food combining. So, no carbs with proteins.
The alkaline diet and food combining are both pseudoscientific garbage that are promoted by people who have zero grasp on science or physiology. When you hear anyone talking about either of those things. turn around and walk the other way. Or, keep scrolling.
Fast once a week.
Aren’t you already starving on this plan? You need to add a fast to it? Harmful.
Chew food 30-50 times before swallowing.
Food that isn’t chewed enough won’t release its nutrients for our body to absorb, and can also cause gas and bloating. The Mayr Club provides guests with super-chewy bread rolls that hone the skill of over chewing their food. They even require the chewing of liquids, such as soups.
That literally sounds like disordered eating behavior, and it’s also plain wrong.
Drink water at room temperature, and between meals so as not to ‘dilute’ the digestive juices.
What is it with this myth? Again, perpetuated by people who have no idea what they’re talking about. Our stomach has cells whose job it is to automatically adjust the pH of the gastric contents as we eat.
Eat without distractions.
Okay, fine.
No raw food after 4pm.
Apparently, our digestive system is less effective after 4pm, so anything we eat after that time sits in our gut and creates issues. Totally incorrect. Also, what if I eat something at 3:59, do they think my body is going to know the difference?
No snacks between meals. Meals need to be 5 hours apart.
Just starve it out, I guess.
Otherwise, the diet pushes non-cow dairy and gluten-free grains, and meat 2-3x week max. But again, the ‘Mayr Cure’ is more about how you eat rather than what.
At what price weight loss?
The thing that makes me most angry is that here we are again, with another celebrity whose weight and body are under the microscope. The media and other celebrities are praising Wilson for her ‘progress’ and ‘amazing results,’ but at what cost to her?
Is blowing out your colon with laxatives, liquefying your food before swallowing, and essentially starving yourself, a healthy way to make changes?
It’s like the elephant in the room: sure, she lost weight. But does anyone even care about the fact that HOW she did it was super messed up?
Because it was, and nobody is saying anything about it.
It’s almost like these diet programs – because let’s face it, this is a diet, even when it sells itself as a ‘wellness’ program – make this trash up to fool people into thinking they have some great secret to health and weight loss. The rules don’t make sense…at all.
In fact, the Mayr Method sounds remarkably like an eating disorder:
The small portions and restrictions around eating in general – no snacks, not eating more than a bowl of soup or something similar for dinner.
The chewing of each mouthful 30-50 times…I can’t even. That’s really bizarre.
The promotion of fear and distrust in ourselves – that we’re somehow poisoning ourselves with what we’re eating, and that our bodies are unable to function properly on their own.
That we need medications to regulate our pH, that we can’t drink between meals because our stomach can’t regulate its own acidity, that we should count 5 hours between meals and never snack, even if our body is telling us that it’s hungry.
The rules about which foods to eat, and which ones to avoid. In fact, ALL of the rules.
Granted, people who starve for a week or three at the Mayr Club might leave and revert back to their old habits quickly (I can’t blame them), but there’s still this pervasive belief that one week of tremendous restriction and unproven therapies can cure whatever is ailing us.
It’s the same thing that the diet industry promises: suffer for a limited time, and experience a complete renewal of body and life. Never mind your psychological wellbeing or your finances, it will all be worth it in the end.
Which of course, it’s not.
When will we ever learn.