What do you think?

nancy324

nancy324

Cathlete
I just got back from a cruise where I signed up to be analyzed for fitness advice. They hooked me up to a little machine that analyzed my body composition and then I was given recommendations by the fitness instructor from New Zealand.

He said that my weight is what it should be, but 8 lbs. of fat needs to be converted to 8 lbs. of muscle. This machine was able to tell that I was eating too few calories (when I'm finished unpacking, and I find the sheet they gave me, I can be more specific about the # of calories). He said my cardio was okay, but I need to do A LOT more weight training with heavy weights. So far, so good. Here comes the strange part.

He said Americans are great about emphasizing exercise, and Europeans are great about emphasizing detox, but that we all need both. He said that most Americans don't even know about detox, and it's a shame. He said that everything we eat, inlcluding organic veggies, are full of toxins and the body is much better at converting fat to muscle, and that weight loss is much easier, if we detox our bodies.

He said that for most people, it is too difficult to detox through diet, so he recommends detoxing our systems through the skin. Long story short, if I bathe with seaweed and certain other ingredients, for 10-20 weeks, twice per week, it will be much easier for me to reach my fitness goals.

When I find the sheet, I'll give more details, but I just wanted to find out if anyone else has heard of this detoxing stuff, especially any Europeans out there. He said that even though most Americans haven't heard of it, it is as common to Europeans as exercise is to Americans.

Sorry so long, but I thought it was fascinating. Especially since this same guy led our pilates classes, which were great and very effective. Maybe he knows something??
 
I could be wrong, but I think I remember a post where someone else got a VERY similar recommendation from a fitness instructor on a cruise.

Is there a product that's being sold to do this detox? Also, I'd be wary of an instructor that claimed fat could be "converted to muscle". Fat cells and muscle cell are different, and one cannot be converted to the other.

On a positive note - It was good to see in your other post that your tooth and the weather held up fine for your trip. It sounds like it was a lot of fun.
 
I lived in Europe for 7 years and never heard of bathing in seaweed to detox and help you reach your fitness goals. Sounds like a load of bunk to me:p
 
I have heard of detoxing, but it has always been through your digestive system. I have never heard of detoxing through the skin. I don't see how that is physically possible. It sounds like a scam to me, or someone has deluded him into believing this.

Jen
 
Thanks, Gayle. To be fair, the word "convert" may have come from me. I can't find the sheet the instructor gave me, so I'm going from memory. The instructor was no doubt correct in stating that I need less fat and more muscle in my body. I already knew that. And 8 lbs. sounds about right too.

I will not be at all offended if this "detox" thing is a scam to sell seaweed potions. My inclination is to assume so. I just want to be sure I'm not dismissing it out of hand.

I didn't buy the potion he was selling, but he listed the ingredients for me and told me I can get them at a health food store.
 
Nancy that is fascinating. Please post those additional details after you've unpacked. Glad your trip was good.

Lorrie
 
Detox isn't unknown in the US, but it's usuallyn alternative practitioners (naturopaths, holistic physicians) that condone it. The theory behind it is that, even when we eat cleanly, our body produces toxins just through normal metabolic processes. But usually people also pick up toxins through the environment (air pollution, chemicals in products we ingest and use in the house and on our skin, etc.).

There are several forms of detox. You can do an internal detox that cleans the colon and/or organs (especially the liver) (I'm actually on day 4 of this type of detox, which I like to do once or twice a year). Since the skin is our largest organ, it's also an important detox pathway: you can do it with saunas or mineral baths or mud wraps.

If you have a health food store nearby, there is a current magazine (free) that I got at my local health food store that is all about detoxing (of course, featuring products that are sold in the store because it's published by a supplement maker).

I just found a magazine that has an article in on detoxing. They list toxin sources as internal (alcohol and caffeine, highly refined foods, high intake of saturated fats/protein/calories, oxidants fro fired/burnt foods, artificial additives/preservatives/colorants, artificial sweeteners, toxic heavy metals such as mercury), metabolism (too few antioxidants to neutralize toxins), bowel toxicity and constipation (can allow toxins to re-circulate in the body), drugs (prescribed or recreational, oral contraceptives and HRT, pain killers, etc.) and external (cigarette smoke, chemical exposure, pesticides, exhaust fumes, organophosphate fertilizers, paint fumes, some deodorants).

Symptoms of toxicity include:
reduced energy
poor concentration
frequent headaches
poor skin (dull, dry, acne, eczema or psoriasis)
body odor and bad breath
coated or "furry" tongue
digestive upsets, nausea or bloating
sensitivity to chemicals, perfumes and cigarette smoke
reduced alcohol tolerance
aches, pains and inflammation
mood swings or depression
PMS

According to the article, before doing any other type of detox, it's important that the bowels are working properly so that toxins that are released can be removed from the body and not reabsorbed. Then you move on to liver detox.
 
Okay, I found my written materials.

He said that 40% of my calories should come from carbs, 30% from protein and 30% from fat, like the Zone diet. He said I should drink 6-8 glasses of water per day. The machine showed that I am currently well-hydrated, but that I should be eating about 100 more calories per day. He also said to take Omega 3 and omega 6 supplements.

He said I should be bathing in juniper essential oils, lemon essential oils, bladderwrack algae, sea fennel and sea buckthorn and sea salt. I should do it for 10 weeks once every 2 years. He said that it will reduce abdominal bloating, reduce my fatigue, reduce water retention, reduce cellulite and help regulate my metabolism.

So far, I'm really not inclined to make time in my schedule to take baths unless at least a few people tell me they have tried this and it has helped.
 
>He said I should be bathing in juniper essential oils, lemon
>essential oils, bladderwrack algae, sea fennel and sea
>buckthorn and sea salt. I should do it for 10 weeks once
>every 2 years. He said that it will reduce abdominal
>bloating, reduce my fatigue, reduce water retention, reduce
>cellulite and help regulate my metabolism.
>
Where in the world do you get bladderwrack, sea fennel and sea buckthorn? I've never even heard of the last two.
 
Hi Nancy!

First of all, WELCOME HOME! :) How great to read that your trip was beyond fabulous -- just like we all hoped it would be!! And the tooth held up and everything -- wowza!

I have read a lot just recently (coincidentally) about detoxing but have never seen anything about the external detox this guy is recommending. I think I'd look into those ingredients a little more carefully before doing the baths because stuff does get absorbed through the skin. I'm like you, by the way -- I cannot imagine finding the time, or caring to find the time, to take 10 weeks worth of baths in all that stuff. I am moving WAY too fast for that! ;-)

The liver/internal detox, on the other hand, appears to be a fairly well-accepted practice. I bought Ann Louise Gittleman's book "Fast-Track One Day Detox Diet" (which is misleadingly named, because it isn't one day -- it's actually 10 days of "pre-detox" prep and then a one day detox, PLUS a few days of post-detox stuff too). Anyhow, I mentioned this plan to my allergy/asthma doctor recently and she said she is very familiar with Gittleman's detox plan and that, while she doesn't think it's necessarily the magic elixir, she also thinks it won't do any harm and makes most people just sort of "feel better". So I am planning to give this a shot when we get back on the 29th from taking our son off to college. :)-()

Kathryn, are you by any chance on the Gittleman program right now? If so let me know how it's going and whatcha think.

http://www.click-smilies.de/sammlung0304/sport/sport-smiley-003.gif Kathy S. http://www.click-smilies.de/sammlung0304/sport/sport-smiley-001.gif
 
Elemis is the stuff he was selling on the cruise. I had just bought facial products after my facial on the ship, so I wasn't inclined to buy anything else. I can't believe the price!!!!

I'm ashamed to admit that I did spend a small fortune on the facial products. They were called "La Therapie" and are by the same company as the bath stuff. They get you when you are so relaxed, you hardly know what you're doing. :-(
 
Highly questionable claims. That materials applied to the outside of your skin, the skin absorbs very little, can have major impact upon your metabolism, fitness levels, blah, blah, blah.

As far as 'European' goes, it sounds very French to me. I lived there for a while and saw that products were aimed at women to scrub the outside of their bodies and apply creams to achieve svelteness. It wouldn't surpruse me that detox also was popular in France. The French, especially women, are generally unkeen on strenuous exercise, though quite a few like the odd ballet class.

As far as I am concerned, health comes from exercise, good nutrition and genetics.

And funnily enough, "detox" and all the seaweeds etc required for it, to me, coming from Europe, sounds like something straight from the US of A: California or NY. Along with Oxygen bars and the like. Sounds whacky!

Clare
 
Was this on a carnival cruise? I got the same sales pitch and mentioned the stuff to my doctor who suggested I just drink more water.

Kim
 
This seems to be more than a little suspect to me - seems like this guy wants everyone to buy his products. Bottom line. I'd be lookin' for a second & third opinion.
Just Do It! :)
 
>Kathryn, are you by any chance on the Gittleman program right
>now? If so let me know how it's going and whatcha think.
>
>
I'm actually taking "oxypowder" which is an oxygen based detox (the oxygen kills anaerobic bacteria as well as breaking down "stuff" (I won't get too graphic!). Maximus(Laura) mentioned it on another thread, and it sounded interesting. So far, I like it better than some detoxes I've done (two-part detoxes, using "cleansing" pills and a fiber supplement). Though I've had to stay close to the bathroom the first few days (in the morning especially!). The "results" are similar to what happened the first time I ever did a fast and used enemas with it (back around 1978).

For liver detox, I have a tea that I use that has milk thistle and burdock root in.
 
Well I wouldn't completely dismiss detox threw the skin. We now have pain meds that are made into a patch to be put on the skin to take pain away. Some of our most powerful pain meds that have codeine and morphine type stuff in them. Are now put on patches, as the side affects are much less for you to put them on your arm then pop it in your mouth, lot less liver and kidney damage with the patch. It'll send the pain meds into the blood stream and take the pain away from your broken leg or where ever you pain is, doesn't even have to be in the arm or anywhere near it. So if you look at it this way, it is possible. As we even have a patch for birth control that works.

So looking at out medical break through the past few years. Why wouldn’t a seaweed bath not help detox the body if other stuff put on the skin can be soaked in and go threw the blood stream? As it will, go to the digestive system as well, or where ever less it's needed, just like the pain meds.

Kit
 
Interesting point, Kit.

Kim, as I understand it, all cruises are Carnival cruises except Royal Carribbean cruises. Our cruise line was Princess, but even if we had taken Holland, which we were also considering, they are both owned by Carnival. Maybe the Elemis line is sold on all the Carnival cruises.

By the way, if anyone is thinking of taking a cruise, I would have reservations about recommending Princess. While the ship is beautiful and the service is excellent, I think it is cheesy to charge extra for every soft drink, including bottled water, even at dinner. Also, it seemed like someone was trying to sell us something at every turn. It brought down the overall classiness of the cruise. Just my two cents worth.
 
Yes, substances can be absorbed through the skin. But isn't it interesting that pharmaceutical companies have poured millions of dollars into research, yet still haven't been able to come up with a safe and effective medicine that helps you lose weight, much less helps your body convert fat into muscle or safely increases your metabolism. Yet here are these guys claiming that all you have to do is schmear some oils and assorted seaweed/goop on your body and presto! all your pesky obesity problems will vanish. Honestly, these things may make you feel better, and that's fine. But there's still no such thing as a magic pill, and French women DO get fat!
 
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