Therapeutic Fasting: The Buchinger Amplius Method

I purchased the Kindle version after seeing Françoise Wilhelmi de Toledo speak about the Buchinger Wilhelmi Clinic's work on Youtube. After reading it — and fasting for 10 days on the protocol — I decided to buy a hard copy. This book was a revelation to me. It takes the difficult subject of extended fasting, which most people do for weight loss, into another dimension, the spiritual and creative, which is actually the missing element in making fasting enjoyable, maintainable and healthy. When you fast following this gentle protocol, all the cortisol induced stress of fasting seems to melt away. You feel like you are in wise hands and have nothing to worry about. You no longer feel deprived or starved, you feel gifted. It's a strange, incredible reversal I didn't expect. But the book is not merely inspirational, it is also clear and pragmatic. Although she encourages fasting at a fasting clinic for safety and also for access to all the wonderful things being taken care of can provide, she generously reveals all the details about the Buchinger protocol so that you can simulate the experience in your own home. Details of what they do before, during and after the extended fasts, including recipes are provided. I appreciated all this knowledge and experience being given so generously. Did I lose weight? Yes, indeed. But I also gained an ease that was missing before in my fasting. I feel incredible and I'm ready to make it a regular part of my life. I will no longer feel the dismay of having to fast like a punishment or the anxiety of how to do it right and not gain everything back afterwards. I look forward to it, because it gives me the ability to explore another part myself, a calm quiet center — a retreat from the stress of the world.

Very educational and well thought out book!

As a family, we want to get healthier by changing our habits rather than taking pills and expecting miracles. We did not do an extensive research but in our preliminary search for a better way to cope with asthma, allergies and obesity, we kept running into therapeutic fasting. We have seen many blogs and other webpages glorifying the effects of fasting . Different from cleanses like a juice or vegetable cleanse, with fasting you actually take a maximum of 250 calories by vegetable broths and fruit juices. Some people seem to be able to fast for a long time- 40 days and others shorter periods of time, 5- 7 days. In our research , we kept seeing the Buchinger Amplius method but we could not find too much information on how to do it except their claim that they have been researching and practicing therapeutic fasting for years now and that they have two venues in Germany where one can pay a lot of euros per person to fast under medical observation and with professionals. Being excited and ready to do something to clean and rejuvenate our bodies, I purchased this book despite my husband's concerns. Before getting into the specific review of he book, I strongly recommend to research about therapeutic fasting , I find the following article useful which is itself a review of all medical research done about the topic:"Horne BD, Muhlestein JB, Anderson JL. IHealth effects of intermittent fasting: hormesis or harm? A systematic review". This book in one word: weird. The book is too expensive for the information given. It is written from a first person's POV and we keep seeing pictures of her walking, waking up, gazing, contemplating a nature that we cannot see, walking again, cooking with a chef, tasting with a chef. Besides these joyful and super alienating photos, we also learn about her beliefs about penguins and how she met her husband. Here is the half of my money gone to a story that is not even that interesting. Anyhow, when one finally comes to the gist of the topic which is therapeutic fasting, one thing they underline makes the book itself very ironic: you are not supposed to do it by yourself if this is your first time.According to this book, it is risky to fast at your home, by using this book, by yourself. And yet, I have this book that tells me that the book is useless and that I should be using this information at my own risk. That is said, if you decide to take the risk, this book will give you a basis on how to fast, what to prepare and how to prepare for fasting, what to expect and what to do during and after fasting. The book also illustrates a list of recipes for one to use when finishing the fasting period although I cannot cook those recipes, since they are a little difficult and tricky for my taste. (my cuisine of origin is more Mediterranean, we do not do that fancy, we cook simple) all in all, it might be the case that fasting is next best thing but this book is too expensive and contradictory.

Read this as a follow up to the video Science of Fasting. This book describes the fasting process with recipes and all information needed to successfully do a short term fast.

I ordered this book, but it's about fasting! Of course I knew this when I ordered it, but I don't want to go on a fast, ever. I have no idea what I was thinking of.

It answer questions that I had. Wonderful book

I felt compelled to write a review because the other reviews were kind of non-useful for a potential reader. The book offers a holistic perspective on fasting, talking about the physiology of fasting, the spiritual side, and the practical side. It is a book that rather than being filled with lots of information -as some are- provides the essence of each concept it touches, and complements with beautiful images. I found the information about the traditions of fasting, the analogies with animal life, the brief description of cases, etc, quite balancing. Anyways, the fact is that the authors did not go into large scientific details about fasting. Instead, they focused on a more practical overview of fasting. But, as health care professional, I can tell you, the information is quite compatible with cutting edge research. Unlike other guys out there, like Gabriel cousens, that do not provide details on what is like a weekly program on their therapy, this book offers a detailed plan for fasting for seven days, along with the transition periods before and after.

Pretty picture book, with little helpful knowledge of fasting.

Bought this book as I wanted to know more about their method for refeeding after fasts - great info and great recipes. Great info for long fasts but also great info for short fasts. Plus the fantastic recipes include a lot of sauces made from vegetables to jazz up your salads and dishes. 5/5 from me.

I thought I was buying another book,so was disappointed it wasn't that one which I loved.

There is some good information here if you can look past the shameless self promotion (there are more than 50 pictures of the author in this short book) and the lack of hard science. Not worth the price.

This book comprehensively covers the fundamentals of fasting - and the illustrations are a bonus. Highly informative.

Normally i dont review books as i dont believe in putting down someones hard work BUT this is truely an aweful book. It is incredibly light with the only fact as a nameless reference to some research which wasnt even referenced. It is full of fluff with no facts or justification of fasting. The propaganda for their clinic is blatent and irrelevant with photographs of the author in ridiculous irrelevant poses to add to page numbers instead of content. This will be the first book i have returned with amazon in 15 years because it was so bad!