Total Immersion

A tiny island in Germany is home to one of the most advanced wellness resorts in the world. Maria Shollenbarger checks in to discover its surprisingly simple secrets.

- Maria Shollenbarger

IT WAS EARLY morning on a crystal-clear autumn day on the tiny German island of Sylt, and I was chewing toast. And chewing, and chewing. When I finally reached a count of 40, I swallowed. Outside the floor-to-ceiling window of the dining room, long strands of dune grass rippled in a brisk offshore breeze. I took another small bite, sipped some almond milk from a white porcelain cup, and began the count again.

This repetitive process is part of what's known as the Lanserhof Cure. It's based on the theories of the turn-of-the-last-century Austrian holistic physician Franz Xaver Mayr, who specialized in gastrointestinal health, and who started clinics throughout Austria that are still in operation today. Mayr's methods are the bedrock of Lanserhof Resorts, a group of state-of-the-art medical wellness retreats with locations in Lans, Austria; Tegernsee, Germany (about 45 minutes south of Munich in the Bavarian Alps), and now Sylt, which can be accessed by ferry, plane, or train.

Each of the Lanserhof properties offers guidance and implementation in topics like orthomolecular medicine (i.e., nutritional supplementation), advanced hormonal diagnostics, light therapies, and intravenous infusions. But in the Lanserhof universe, health and longevity begin and end with or rather, in-the gut.

My gut and I arrived at Sylt after years of hearing acquaintances rhapsodize about the clinics in Lans and Tegernsee, and the salutary effects of all that Alpine air and scenery. But this island retreat was different: there were wide North Sea vistas, sandy beaches backed by low dunes, and the occasional marshland dotted with fluffy sheep. During my stay, I learned about the negatively charged ions that radiate off this spit of land (which is less than half the size of Nantucket) as well as anti-inflammatory 'aerosols,' the micro-drops of seawater inhaled on bike rides and beach walks.