Spring cleaning for the body
Can a regular regimen of footbaths that transmit positive and negative ions rid the body of toxins and lead to improved health?
Yes, says licensed chiropractor Douglas Wine, owner of Dtox International, a N.H.-based company that specializes in an ionic detoxifying system as well as oxygen treatments and liquid nutritional supplements.
"The machine is designed to detox the body at a cellular level," said Wine. "It opens up the cells and literally sucks the toxins right out of the body through the feet."
The Sudbury office, at 348 Boston Post Road, which opened on Jan. 2, is the fourth Dtox International to open since October. Other locations include Boston, Beverly and North Andover with a Wellesley office set to open later this month.
"We're the only health company in the world that is designed for cellular health," said Wine. "We're interested in coming to health-oriented communities where people respect the body and are interested in being as healthy as they can. Sudbury is one of the communities that met those demographics."
The service offers 'dtox' treatments at $50 for a single visit, or 10 visits for $395. Oxygen treatments, about 10 minutes in duration, are offered at $20 for a single visit and $150 for 10. A Grand Opening special, a 10-visit package of dtox and oxygen treatments, is priced at $350.
The detoxification process - a 24-minute foot soak - removes toxins from the body and balances cellular energy, according to Wine, resulting in the relief of physical complaints from arthritis to migraine headaches, improved digestion and healthier skin. Wine created, designed and manufactures the ionization machine which features a silver array and the use of ionization, mini-volt levels, hertz levels and frequencies.
"What we've noticed is that whatever your situation - headaches, stress, arthritis - gets better. We don't target one thing, but we find that whatever problem you have, since we are making the system function better, these things get better first," said Wine. "It's not a miracle cure, this is based on science. We facilitate what the body does naturally."
The suggested regimen is for 10 to 20 weekly sessions to get the body in "dtox mode" followed by weekly or monthly maintenance sessions.
Skeptics - which include doctors and scientists - don't phase Wine who has testimonials from clients citing improvements in chronic health ailments as well as increased energy, a stronger immune system and general well-being. Wine says that 40 percent of his business is through referrals, and many original skeptics have become long-term clients and include athletes, cancer patients and children with autism.
In a demonstration with a volunteer, a technician places the array in the footbath filled with of clean water to ankle-level. Within a few minutes the water begins to turn a putrid brown-yellow color with scummy flakes as the toxins are allegedly pulled from the body.
"Why detoxing is so good for you is that we are introduced to the same number of toxins in one day that our grandparents were introduced to in one year. There are pollutants, chemicals and toxins in the air we breathe, and hormones, pesticides and chemicals in all of the food we eat," said Wine. "Unfortunately the largest category of toxins are the heavy metals which do the most harm to the body."
Traditional detoxification techniques "are designed to eliminate what's inside of the tubes," said Wine, and include a taxing weeks-long regimen of eating and drinking - or not eating and drinking - certain foods. His machine, said Wine, cleans out the cell, improving body function in all the systems from the inside out.
Dtox International also offers oxygen treatments.
"Oxygen is the major element in the human body," said Wine who said oxygen levels in the air have dropped from 30 percent to an average of 23 percent in the past 200 years due to pollution. "The nerve system only needs two elements to function, glucose and oxygen, so a deficit makes it impossible to function (at optimum level)."
A 10-minute session on medical-grade oxygen after a detox, said Wine, allows hemoglobin to carry oxygen all over the body.
Wine moved to Switzerland immediately after receiving a degree from Pennsylvania College of Straight Chiropractic and spent 3 years there and 12 in Paris where he had the largest chiropractic office in Europe. He also became certified in a host of alternative therapies and herbal treatments.
"My training in Europe is actually what puts me apart from everyone else," said Wine. "The Europeans have a different aspect. Americans do medicine first and when it doesn't work, they go natural. The Europeans do the exact opposite."
Wine used his knowledge of herbs to develop a line of liquid supplements targeted for different effects. There is an ultra-nutrient formula which contains 57 different plants, a de-stress formula, super anti-oxidant immune booster, joint formula and a living water formula that ionizes water for deeper hydration.
One nutritional formula, said Wine, has a surprising effect on body fat.
"I've been totally against diets my entire life. I was making a dtox formula for Dtox International and when we started giving it to people we saw a strange side-effect," said Wine. "They all lost an incredible amount of weight incredibly fast, 4 to 15 pounds in a week. It's an absolutely fascinating formula."
A typical pill-form vitamin, said Wine, may contain 100 percent of a required nutrient, but the body typically absorbs only about 15 percent.
"I was able to get all of these formulas into liquid form, and because it's liquid I was able to keep it alive. All of these formulas are super-ionizing," said Wine. "You literally squirt it under your tongue, hold for one minute and swallow. It's absorption-absorption because it's not only getting into the bloodstream it's getting into the cell."
Wine plans to open Dtox International centers nationwide within the next six months.
"I've been a doctor for 30 years and I can help one person at a time, but with Dtox International we can get thousands of people healthy at a time," said Wine. "We're not the cure-all - we also embrace a healthy lifestyle - we created a system to bring your body to a higher level by making health easy and effective."
Dtox International, 348 Boston Post Road, Sudbury is open Monday - Friday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. 978-443-7711. For more information: www.dtoxinternational.com