Fighting flab in style

Hi-tech fitness centres claim to take away inches off you without crash diet, medicine, exercise or surgery. MARIEN MATHEW surveys the scene.

FATTY FOODS and sedentary life style are beginning to show on us, more so in urban centres. The media exploding with "No one can eat just one potato chips" or "Kuch zyada hai chocolates" or "Dil mange more" and "Jo chahe ho jaaye colas" doesn't help at all. Obesity, the silent killer, is creeping in slowly, but steadily.

Doctors have been warning us about the increased susceptibility of Indians to coronary heart diseases and diabetes mellitus (insulin resistant type). Our rounded middle, often taken as a sign of prosperity, is more lethal than generalised fat. High blood pressure, gout, gallstone... the list of probabilities lengthens as the flab increases.

Besides the basic health angle is the 'bold and beautiful' syndrome that is catching up even in our staid Chennai. The recent victories at international beauty contests have whetted the appetite of umpteen wannabes. If the beauty industry has taken off, then can the slimming industry be far behind?

Proliferating gyms, aerobic classes, exercise equipment manufacturers, slimming centres indicate a budding market ready to take off here. Vandana Luthra's VLCC, Body Focus (BF) and Maithilis Beauty Parlours claim to take kilos and inches off you without crash dieting, medication, exercising or surgery. The miracle is performed with the help of imported machines. Dr. Ayaz Akbar, DAC (doctor of acupressure), MD (MA), Managing Director of BF, is against commercialism in the slimming industry. When a client comes to BF, he/she is either attended upon by Dr. Akbar or his assistant, a dietician.

Treatment is prescribed based on the health status of the person, which he/she details in the entry form. If there are any complications like thyroid or cardiac problems, then the client is referred to the doctor concerned on the consultants panel of the centre. Thereafter, the treatment is given as per the doctor's advice. The procedure is more or less the same at VLCC.

The PDF (personal detail form) here is similar to the entry form at a gym. At BF, Dr. Akbar is secretive even about this form and so one was not allowed to see a sample. At Maithilis, Maithili herself or her sister, Jayanthi, who manages the operations meet the clients and check out the health details.

The first step of the treatment is a complete body analysis. At BF, waist, height, skin thickness, weight, circumference of the different body parts are fed into the computer and present fat content, desirable fat percentage, ideal weight and measurements flash on the screen. Besides these, the haematic volume, water content and lipid profile cholesterol, triglyceride are also revealed. At VLCC, the body analysis is done with pads attached to the right hand and foot to find out the percentage of lean muscle, fat, body metabolic rate (BMR), target weight and water content. At Maithilis, it is all in the eye. Tackle the unseemly bulge, that's the rule.

Fluid retention and accumulation of toxic wastes can also cause abdomen to bloat, according to Dr. Akbar. Lymph nodes are dependent on muscular activity. So for those who do not use their muscles in the areas concerned, the nodes do not function properly. BF asserts that it can detoxify the system by stimulating the nodes with machine and thereby rid the body of excess water through natural processes. The other two centres too have the lymphatic drainage. At Maithilis, the same machine has different programmes. The necessary ones are chosen as per individual's need during the treatment. Here pads that vibrate are put on problem areas to bring out excess water.

Stretch marks, are a definite ``no'' with all the three establishments. The neuro muscular stimulators (NMS) will tone the body while losing weight and thus prevent the stretch marks. According to the VLCC Corporate Dermatologist, Dr. Ajith Singh, since the weight gain and reduction are not as fast as in pregnancy the stretch marks can be avoided while in therapy. All the three centres recommend low fat diet with lots of fibre and light exercises, preferably walking.

On the beauty front, BF and VLCC boast of having found the Holy Grail eternal youth. Double chin correction, face lifting, breast reduction/enhancement and lifting, wrinkle and stretch mark removal, acne and pimple treatment, are possible at BF. VLCC has body firming, figure shaping and curving machines. Lasers with scanner, melfade, skin freezer, ionos and facial vacuum suction are some of the impressive names on their pamphlet. Maithili has a whole range of beauty therapy and products.

While Maithili was reluctant to reveal the rates charged, both BF and VLCC came up with approximate amounts for slimming alone. There are no flat rates; the numbers may change with each individual. The minimum rate at BF is between Rs. 8,000 and Rs. 9,000 for nine to 10 weeks. The upper range is around Rs. 18,000. The lowest numbers at VLCC are about Rs. 6,000 for 5 kg reduction and Rs. 15,000 for 10 sessions of body firming.

To demystify obesity and its treatment, we spoke to a few doctors. They are Usha Sriram, specialist in endocrinology, metabolism and diabetes, V. Shivaram Bharathwaj, consultant plastic and reconstructive surgeon, Gopal Ramnathan, specialist in sports medicine, consultant to MRF Pace Foundation and Tamil Nadu Tennis Academy and T. A. Sekhar, former Test player and the chief coach at the Pace Foundation.

The first bubble they burst was that of water retention. Obesity simply means excess fat. Water retention, says Usha Sriram, is a totally different cup of tea. The reasons for it can vary from liver, kidney, heart problems or low protein in blood to rare cases where some bodies handle salt and water in a different way. "About removing toxicity from body through lymph nodes, as far as my knowledge goes, it is not possible," she says. Nodes come into play in fluid retention only in cases like filariasis or in obstruction in the nodes or lymph channels. Such instances have to be treated with suitable medication.

Since obesity is a chronic problem, the maintenance is as or more important than the weight loss. Usha Sriram is very clear about it. There is no short term programme that can make you lose weight and keep it off permanently. To achieve that, there has to be continued effort to raise BMR with constant diet control and exercise.

There are genetic factors too that determine the way fat is distributed, metabolic rates, changes in energy response to over eating, food preferences etc. "Walking is an excellent exercise," asserts Usha Sriram. Forty-five minutes walk, five times a week, is enough to keep BMR high and thus the weight loss too. But this will not do for maintaining the body tone. The slimming centres claim to do spot reduction. T. A. Sekhar, who trained at the Australian Cricket Academy, renowned for its fitness programmes, says, "it is impossible to 'spot reduce'. Even when a specific group of muscles is exercised, the effect will be seen all over the body."

Besides making you look good, exercises have other unseen benefits like strengthening the cardiovascular system and improving lung capacity, blood flow and bone density. During a work-out, the body releases opoids into the blood that aids good sleep.

Couched in high sounding terms, the literature at the slimming centres is not clear. Often facts and fiction seem mixed together rather imaginatively. A typical sample from a pamphlet: "The obese individual finds a considerable increase in fat tissue mostly situated in the subcutaneous connective tissue. In the above area, further to an increase of the adiposity there is also an increase of interstitial liquid due to a modificated dynamic of hydric metabolism." Both Gopal Ramnathan and Shivaram Bharathwaj are quite vocal in exposing the statement. The description of obesity is right here. Interstitial fluid fills the space around and between the body cells and blood vessels. But there is no such fluid rise in an obese person. The term hydric metabolism means metabolism of hydrogen. Both the doctors were at a loss as to the role of hydrogen in obesity.

The slimming centres treat physiological problems and have doctors on their pay roll, yet they do not come under the Indian Medical Council or the Tamil Nadu Medical Council. The recourse open to a dissatisfied customer is the Consumer Council. "Since the slimming centres are a new phenomenon the law that covers it is The Drug and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act 1954," says P. Saravanan, Chennai District Coordinator of the Federation of Consumer Organisations of Tamil Nadu (FEDCOT). It is not that the slimming centres are bad per se. Usha Sriram does not dismiss them altogether. With cases of morbid obesity, where the patients have to lose atleast 5 to 10 per cent weight immediately or with individuals who need a kick start in motivation to switch to a healthy life style, these centres can be of help. Almost any of the commercial weight loss programmes can work, provided they make you turn over a new leaf.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Features
Previous : Where grey is grandeur
Next     : International styles