
I've heard of antioxidants ... but what are they really?
When a friend told me that I had to try this antioxidant treatment in Tampines I first understood it as an oxygen treatment. I was imagining myself reclining in a room filled with enriched oxygen that would be oxidizing my blood. Perhaps it would make me live forever!!!
Well, it was nothing close to that. First of all, telling the taxi driver where I wanted to go ... I stumbled on the whole pronunciation of Tampines, a district in Singapore right next to Changi Airport. Is it pronounced Tam-pines? Tamp-INes? No ... it actually has the same ending as 'Japanese' ... so 'Tampines' ... you nearly have to add an additional -e at the end for it to make sense :-)
Eco-paradise is located right next to the Swimming Complex in the heart of Tampines and is an antioxidant rejuvenation therapy centre. Their borchure says that 'antioxidants benefit us by neutralizing the free radicals that are released from a process known as oxidation which damages the cells in our bodies. Free radicals are present in our environment because of pollution and we absorb them through the skin, the air we breathe and the food we eat.' So it has nothing to do with breathing rich oxygen as I had expected.
Instead, the therapy centre uses antioxidant products from Japan (ceramic tiles for the floors, plastic pales and water containers for the drinks) that continously discharge antioxidants that benefit your health. You're basically spending 40 minutes in an environment that has been treated with antioxidant products.
The whole treatment encompasses you lying on a tiled hot floor in a dry sauna for up to 40 minutes. The temperature is around 43 degrees and the relative humidity about 21%. They serve you water and fermented juices that have been specially prepared in plastic containers that are made out of plastic treated with antioxidant products. This treatment is supposed to help with improving blood circulation, increasing your metabolism, reducing blood sugar levels, strengthening your immune system, etc.

What is interesting is that they have on display scrambled eggs and cheese that has been left on plates for weeks, if not months. And since the air inside the therapy centre has been treated with antioxidants, the eggs and cheese have not gone bad. They're not decomposing and rotting away. They're just stale. Very interesting! Especially if this is how the treatment will effect your body ... no more ageing :-)
Basically it goes like this: If you don't believe in this ... then think of it as sweating out your toxins in a dry sauna for 40 minutes. And sweat you do! If you believe in the antioxidant treatment concept ... then all the better for you may have a slew of additional benefits that can only improve your health and lifestyle.