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Eat, Fast, and Live Longer!

The 15th medical congress of the Medical Association for Fasting and Nutrition (German: Ärztegesellschaft Heilfasten und Ernährung, ÄGHE) took place on June 29–30, 2013 in Überlingen, Germany. This congress was organized in association with the Maria Buchinger Foundation and the Buchinger Wilhelmi Clinics in the course of their anniversary years; 60 years in Überlingen, Germany, and 40 years in Marbella, Spain. Andreas Michalsen, Ph.D., and Françoise Wilhelmi de Toledo, M.D., were the scientific chairpersons. The congress aimed at giving an overview about fasting as a global contemporary health-enhancing and therapeutic strategy based on science and tradition. On that occasion the Maria Buchinger Foundation prize was awarded to Valter Longo, Ph.D., professor and director of the USC Davis School of Gerontology at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA, for his work on fasting and longevity as well as fasting against cancer. The congress was opened by the president of the ÄGHE, Eva Lischka, M.D., who welcomed 400 international guests. A translation of the lectures into English, French, and German was provided, and the presentations are available online at www.fasten.tv. The first lecture by Françoise Wilhelmi de Toledo gave an overview of the Buchinger fasting, the most used fasting methods [1] nowadays. These fasting methods [2] emerged out of a personal self-healing experience at the turn of the 21st century in Germany. Otto Buchinger, a navy medical officer, suffered from disabling rheumatic fever. His generalized joint inflammation was cured in the course of a 19-day fasting cure in 1919 without relapse. This happened in the context of the lifestyle reform movement (Lebensreformbewegung), a popular German movement in the beginning of the 20th century reflecting the increasing awareness towards environmental pollution of industrialized cities and the search for nature, healthy lifestyle, and natural healing methods. Buchinger built his own first fasting sanatorium in Northern Germany in Bad Pyrmont, afterwards in Überlingen in 1953, and finally also in Marbella in 1973. This multidisciplinary institution was developed by 3 family generations in collaboration with medical experts. Especially Heinz Fahrner, M.D., and the following generations were keen to merge their huge clinical experience with science. Today, there are more than 4,000 patients per year experiencing prolonged fasting in both institutions. Numerous publications and books were published since 1935. The ÄGHE, which consists of 150 members, was founded in 1986. The first guidelines for fasting therapy were developed in consensus by 20 experts and published in 2002 [3]. Partnerships between universities and their departments for integrative medicine and naturopathy (e.g. Berlin, Essen, Zürich, Jena, Freiburg i. Br., Strasburg, and Granada) and the Buchinger clinics developed. In the 1980s, a movement of non-medical fasting emerged, triggered by Hellmut Lützner, M.D. These licensed fasting guides, who follow a defined educational training, offer a 1-week fast for healthy people, conducted in small hotels or convents, sometimes in combination with hiking. The Buchinger Clinics, a few other fasting clinics, and the guides have built up what could be called the fasting ecosystem. Nowadays, fasting-mimicking and enhancing diets (FMED) are being developed in order to motivate people to fast without having to completely renounce food. Although this may seem contradicting, these low-calorie diets with a special composition have some of the metabolic and neurohormonal effects of fasting, like diminishing fat mass, enhancing insulin sensitivity, boosting stem cells, and reducing activity of some aging pathways. They can of course not replace the holistic effects of a whole fasting process, but could help people maintaining the good results on the long run. The next lecture was given by the Maria Buchinger Foundation 2013 Award winner Valter Longo. He started his career by studying calorie restriction and longevity at Roy Walford’s laboratory. He found that living with 30% less calories was reducing high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases,