Extreme Spa Detox: Decadent, Dangerous or Death Camp?

By Ccandysteph

For most women, a trip to a spa is an oasis of relaxation. Massages. Manicures, pedicures. Facials. Hours in the steam room. Maybe a seaweed wrap…

But many health and beauty resorts are going beyond basic pampering packages and offering optimum weight loss treatments, hyper-anti-aging techniques and lessons in bioenergetic psychology.

The hottest detox destination du jour? The Palace Hotel, nestled in the foothills of the Italian Dolomites.

Voted the most life-changing spa in the world by Tatler magazine, the world’s wealthiest and most glamorous women (Monaco’s Princess Caroline, Elle Macpherson, Uma Thurman) are lining up for the hotel’s intense “wellness” regiment.

Sample day? Apple puree for breakfast, electric shock therapy at lunch and laxatives for dinner.

The spa endorses a health system called biontology, “the study of the essence of life and its evolution” designed by Frechman Henri Chenot. Using a combination of Chinese medicine, naturopathy and advanced Western technology Chenot promises to “work on the equilibrium between mind, unconscious and physical body, attenuating the problems and signs of ageing, tiredness and organic intoxication.”

In between colonic irrigations, phyto-mud wraps, hydro jet therapy and (Gwyneth Paltrow’s favorite) cupping, guests submit themselves to daily naked weigh-ins, extreme food restrictions, hours of exercise and entire physical analysis (body mass index, heart and lung capacity, bio-energy circulation testing).

“I feel so sick and hungry,” Anna Pasternak writes of her week-long stay. “I am so dizzy I think I’m going to faint… The doctor comes and I sit crying, obsessed by how hungry and lonely I’m feeling.”

Although her mood eventually starts to improve, drinking rounds of “gag-inducing apple cider vinegar mixed with water to eliminate fluid retention” makes Pasternak wonder if it’s all really worth it.

Lucky for us, we might soon to get to experience the unmitigated hell in person. In addition to developing his own food line and expanding his popular skin care range, Henri Chenot is opening spas in Greece and Moscow.

Now if only I could pony up $8000 for a week-long visit.