Your wellbeing editor Kate tries out a treatment or event or activity each issue to give you a bit more of an insight into what it’s like to take part. This issue Kate tries ozone therapy at Torquay’s Ozone Therapy Spa, one of only three ozone spas in the whole of the UK.
I GET to do some pretty weird things in my job but sitting naked inside a space age pod and being blasted with ozone has got to be one of the weirdest. I feel a bit like Woody Allen in Sleeper. I am at the Ozone Therapy Spa in Torquay having a treatment with Ozone Therapist and Natural Health Coach, Tony Be. I’m not sure what I was expecting but it wasn’t this. Tony has got to be one of the most inspiring therapists I have ever met. Within minutes I am completely captivated by his story of having spent the last 20 years travelling the world learning about nutrition and the treatment of disease. Being diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at the age of 14 sparked his interest in finding out about anything that might help. A cancer diagnosis eight years ago took Tony into new territory to find new treatments to complement Western medicine. Tony is adamant that it is not either/ or but both that interest him. He has studied nutrition, shiatsu and yoga, and written a book called 9 Steps to Optimising your Health and Happiness, with a foreword by New York Times best-selling author, Raymond Aaron. Most extraordinary of all, in his home in Torquay he has created one of only three ozone spas in the whole of the UK. The other two are in Harley Street and Hampshire. And the Torquay spa came even before Harley Street. When I arrive he offers me a glass of Hydrogen water. As I drink it he tells me that since 2007 there have been 600 peer-reviewed studies into the benefits of hydrogen, which is the smallest molecule in the universe and renowned for its extraordinary antioxidant properties. It has been shown to be effective in treating everything from inflammation in the body to sepsis. He also extols the virtues of C60 which is the only supplement he now recommends to his clients. C60 increases the length of the telomeres which are responsible for controlling ageing in our body. In trials, rats given C60 live twice as long as those without. It is, apparently, a favourite with celebrities and, if taken for 12 months, trials have shown that the telomeres of an average 60 year old resemble those of someone 15 years younger. I learn all of this before we even go into the spa, which is deceptively located in a cabin in Tony’s rather beautiful garden. The ozone therapy treatment takes place inside a state of the art piece of kit called a HOCATT. You sit inside it with only your head sticking out of the top and it simultaneously delivers 10 different therapies, including Ozone therapy, electrotherapy, photon light therapy and CO2 therapy. It feels a bit like being inside a steam room but with the addition of tingling on your feet. Ozone detoxifies the body and breaks down heavy metals. There are virtually no pathogens or abnormal body cells that are resistant to ozone. It stimulates the metabolism and boosts the immune system, soothing inflammation and pain. Also for aches and pains, Tony offers electro magnetic therapy on yet another piece of state of the art equipment. You lie on the couch which has powerful magnets above you and below you. A pulse is emitted – akin to a giant TENS machine – targeting areas of pain in your body. The levels can be adjusted to suit your body. I experienced just 1% at first, rising to around 10% and it was enough. So, how did I feel after all of this? I felt deliciously light in both body and mood. I felt less achy. And I felt hugely inspired to find out more. This is quite some facility to have right here in South Devon and I, for one, will be opening my mind to the apparently amazing potential of hydrogen therapies and ozone. For more information visit theozonespa.co.uk