From 100 to zero: Detox Crash Course at the SHA Wellness Clinic in Albir, Spain
If, like me, you live a more or less hedonistic lifestyle – the odd glass of wine, the occasional poultry or steak, three espressos a day – anxiety sets in: Three full days of detox, no alcohol, no caffeine, no sugar, no salt, no animal products.
Why a piece of land overlooking Benidorm seems the perfect place for a health clinic is baffling. The dystopian skyline of the towering apartment blocks on the Costa Blanca did not deter owner Alfredo Bataller when he built and opened the clinic in 2008. Since then, the 92 elegant suites, 11 family-friendly villas of the SHa Residences (children are not admitted to the SHA) and over 60,000 square meters of wellness space are almost always occupied throughout the year.
The design of the snow-white hotel is bold, and it adds a chic touch to the medical core: a rooftop infinity pool, next to it the chic SHAmadi restaurant, an aqua lab (pools with turbo jets that blow through the body, a waterfall that loosens rock-hard neck muscles), a hair salon, a tea lounge with oxygen bar, a lecture room that serves as a cinema in the evening, cooking classes.
Alfredo Bataller, who treated his own health problems with a diet and lifestyle change propagated by the Japanese nutritionist Michio Kushi, built the SHA to encourage his guests to become managers of their own health. Kushi’s name still stands for the most restrictive of the three low-calorie diets based on Mediterranean cuisine and Japanese nutrition.
What sets the SHA Wellness Clinic apart is that its principles are rooted not only in the Japanese-Mediterranean fusion diet – which advocates eating whole grains, vegetables, soy protein, seafood and seaweed and avoiding meat and dairy – but in an approach that combines cutting-edge Western science with ancient Oriental therapies.
Most participants come for the weight loss, but the sleep recovery and tobacco control programs are also popular. The stress management program to combat burnout is also in demand. Like other clinics, SHA treats people with a mix of Eastern and Western philosophies.
I did this crash course in wellness because I wanted to test whether I could sustain such a program, i.e. come down from 100 to zero. Spoiler: I could.
Day 1:
9.40 h – General Medical Consultation. Measure blood pressure, palpate liver, kidney, abdomen, determine weight and height. My BMI is perfect, which means no super strict diet.… weiterlesen
My curriculum vitae is as colorful as the world. I was editor at ELLE, tested cars and participated at off-road tours. I lived on a small island in Florida for twelve years and from there I travelled the Caribbean and almost all states of the USA for various magazines, conducted interviews with interesting people, reported on beautiful homes and exotic travel destinations. After my return to Germany I worked for InStyle magazine for 14 years in various positions. And it was there that I first came into contact with the topic of beauty. To this day I still enjoy immersing myself in the fine cosmos of creams, perfumes and lipsticks. (photo: Thomas Dilge)