Asia-Pacific
Thailand detox resort offers healthy alternative
By Allison Jackson (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-03-25 08:24
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KOH PHANGAN, Thailand - A Thailand trip normally means cold cocktails on the beach and spicy Thai noodles, but for growing numbers of "detox" tourists, the menu calls for clay shakes and shots of wheatgrass.
Many such centers are springing up across the nation, catering to tourists seeking to purge their bodies of toxins, shed kilos, relieve chronic constipation, kick nicotine addictions and otherwise improve their health.
It is a tough regimen.
Detoxers survive on a rigid diet of shakes made with psyllium seed husks and bentonite, a type of clay - which absorb toxins later expelled during colonic cleanses - herbal supplements, carrot juice, vegetable broth and water.
Then there is the daily do-it-yourself colonic cleanse, or enema, with a bucket of diluted coffee.
Caffeine and sugar withdrawals can be severe. Detoxers complain about crushing headaches that last for several days, nausea, mood-swings and dizziness.
But a few, like a man from the United Kingdom, feel better than they have in years.
"I didn't have any nasty days, and I definitely had a few days feeling 19 again," said the 41-year-old training consultant, who like other detoxers asked that their names not be used out of embarrassment over the colon flushes.
He signed up for a three-day detox but liked it so much that he extended it to 10 days.
"I'm very glad I did it, and I will probably do it every couple of years, at least," he said.
One side-effect of the fasting is vivid dreams about food. A 37-year-old accountant from the United Kingdom said she often dreamed about cake during her seven-day purge.
"Cake was a representation of all the things I loved and enjoyed," she said.
Another detoxer had dreams about working as a chef and eating large bowls of steamed asparagus.
For most, the colonic cleanse is the toughest part of the program.
Some people listen to their iPods during the 40-minute purge to help relax their muscles - and muffle the sound.
Photographs displayed in the wellness center show examples of what detoxers should be expelling, and some participants happily share their experiences over dinner, when everyone gathers to slurp down bowls of vegetable broth.
"I give you three days and you will be talking about poo like it is a curry," said a 33-year-old nurse from Germany.
While the wellness center promises detoxers will "feel much better" after the fasting and colonics, health professionals are skeptical about the benefits.
"There is not a single study to show they do any good at all," Australian nutritionist and health commentator Rosemary Stanton said.
"What they do is they wipe out the helpful bacteria living in the bowel which are very important for the bowel and the body itself.
But some detoxers said that fasting and flushing out their colons had cured their digestive problems.
"I have always been one of those constipated people. I usually only went three to four times a week - I felt like a stuffed goose," said a woman who has had two detoxes at Koh Phangan.
"Ever since the fast I'm going to the toilet every day. That is very life changing."
Other travelers said the detox inspired them to change bad eating habits and helped them lose weight.
"I was overeating because I wasn't addressing emotional issues in my life," said the accountant from the UK.
"I had been feeling unhealthy, sluggish, weight wasn't shifting from my body. Something was not right."
Agence France-Presse
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