The Independent September 30 2017 The Independent September 30 2017 | Page 9

Hydrotherapy for Detoxifying, Fat burning Naturopathic Medicine traces its roots to Vincent Priessnitz in what is now the Czech Republic back in the early nineteenth cen- tury. He used only cold water to treat many people (he also be- lieved in treating people not dis- ease) with a variety of diseases. He was himself written off by his doctors after injuring his leg by a horse cart. After observing a stag treating and curing itself by immersing its injured leg in a cold stream over a period of sev- eral days, he began treating many people for free and interestingly enough, found that when he charged people they healed much faster than the ones who did not pay. The first thing he would usu- ally do with someone who came to him was to immerse them in cold water and observe and time their reaction to it. If their skin turned red right away, he would declare them easy to cure and if they were slow to a red reaction, then it would be much longer, maybe even years. Consuming copious quantities of cold water and long brisk walks were also a part of his regimen. So “water cure” or “nature cure” has been around for a long time and is at the core of naturo- pathic medicine, however it is not part of most naturopath’s practice which I consider to be a sad thing. It is sad because it is an amazing modality. The benefits far far outweigh any possibly risk of harm. Consider Constitutional Hy- opaths that CH and hydrotherapy in general, increases white blood cell counts. White blood cells are the body’s defense system against invading pathogens or disease causing agents. In his book, Timothy Ferriss uncovered something about hy- drotherapy that most naturopaths probably did not know, certainly we were not taught so in school. He found that hydrotherapy can increase the fat burning capability of the body: it increases metabo- lism! It does it to such an extent that someone like Michael Phelps, the multiple Olympic gold medallist was able to con- sume 12 000 calories per day without turning into a 1 000 pound blob because he practised in the water for about 4-5 hours a day. drother- apy (CH) for example. It consists of using wet hot and cold towels applied alternately on the chest and back, used in conjunction with some electrical stimulation of the skin. This has been shown to improve circulation of the blood and also flow of lymph. If you recall my previous columns, I wrote about the importance of the lymphatic system as a system of drainage of the fluid surround- ing the cells. This is a very impor- tant detoxification pathway. One of my friends used to get loose stools after every treatment until even- tually she did not get it anymore; it was just her body’s way of cleansing and improving waste removal. CH has long been touted to in- crease the number of circulating white blood cells. Recently I read The 4 Hour Body by Timothy Ferriss, who also wrote The 4 Hour Work Week. If you are fa- miliar with him, he researches everything to a “T” and he has found research that backs up the long standing claim of natur- The secret is in water’s ther- mal conductivity, it is much more efficient at conducting heat away from the body than air so the body experiences heat loss while in the water, or while being in contact with wet towels in our case, and has to raise its meta- bolic rate to compensate for this heat loss. In so doing, it begins to burn fat to achieve this, which leads to weight loss for some and size reduction for most. So bust out the speedos and head to my office for a brief stop for some CH because winter is coming and it’s when people usu- ally put on weight. It’s also when people head to beach vacations, so they might want to look good there! licensed naturopathic doctor in Ontario and practises at Feel Good Natural Health in Oshawa (905-571-1100) and at Scarbor- ough Naturopathic, Midland and (647-287-1063; Lawrence www.scarboroughnaturopathic.c om). He has a special interest in stress, digestive health, women’s health and cardiovascular health. He can be reached by email at [email protected] and fol- Rajesh Ragbir BSc. ND, is a lowed on Twitter @ragbirND. 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