The LifeCo: The business of healing

PHUKET: One doesn’t have to look far to find a spa in Phuket, but recent years have seen a marked shift in this trend, as new and established business are looking to cash in on wellness, as opposed to opulence and luxury.

The LifeCo Phuket Well-Being Center based in Thalang is the first for the company outside of Turkey, and the center’s largest yet. Launched in Phuket in October last year, The LifeCo brings ten years of wellness experience to the island. The company offers not only detox for the body, but rejuvenation for the mind, with special mental wellness programs that are geared toward helping with stress, depression and anxiety-related disorders.

The LifeCo offers aim at providing the encouragement and know-how for creating a sustainable, healthy lifestyle, as opposed to a quick-fix weight loss.

“It’s a little scary for people to come to a detox retreat,” said Anjeza Aksu, The LifeCo Phuket’s health program manager. “But now detox retreats have changed. It’s not just a camp where you go and lock yourself in; it’s more relaxing.”

Six dietary options have been carefully planned according to the center’s programs and will be chosen specifically for each client after an initial evaluation.

“On the first day we get the first measurements – body weight, blood sugar, blood pressure and talk one-on-one with the person to find out what his or her expectations are,” Ms Aksu said. “We try to figure out why they joined the program – whether to lose weight, to feel younger, or if they have a health condition.”

On offer are two different juice cleanses aimed at cleaning the digestive tract and promoting a chemically balanced body.

However, also offered is a Green Salad Diet consisting of healthy salads and nuts; a Low Calorie Diet, with a 1200 calorie intake per day, which includes three meals and a snack; The Anti-aging Diet, which includes intermittent fasting, with six hours a day to eat and 18 hours to sleep, exercise, and drink juices and teas; and the ketogenic diet, geared toward people with chronic disease, which includes 70% healthy plant-based fats and 20-25% protein, with the remainder consisting of complex carbs.

Each program consists of an organic, raw, vegan diet with additional vitamin, mineral and enzyme supplements – such as the plant-based protein spirulina, to ensure your body gets the necessary nutrients, becomes more alkaline and is able to heal itself.

But it is not just all salad and juices. The LifeCo makes it easy with organic ‘pasta’ made from zucchini and even vegan, organic lasagna and desserts.

Each meal is especially prepared for individual clients, who have a choice to partake in the program at the 40-room, 20-private-villa and 14-luxury room estate, or from the comfort of their own home.

“We provide everything here, so there is no need to find anything outside,” said Ms Aksu. “If they are living outside of the center, we pack everything, we write down the time they need to eat, we give a copy of their program to them and we are always remain in contact.”

To make the program sustainable, The LifeCo offers lectures on supplements and nutrition, provides information through health-related documentaries and offers food workshops, such as how to prepare almond milk smoothies and meals.

However, diet is just one aspect of what The LifeCo offers its clients.

Included in clients’ personally mapped-out program schedules are daily massage therapy, body wraps to help during the detox process, encourage weight loss and to firm the muscles, as well as time in steam and infrared saunas.

Daily yoga classes are on offer, as well as morning walks, three pools, a trampoline and an inversion table. The center may even eventually include different classes, such as Thai boxing, that can be taken in a group or individual setting.

Clinically, the retreat includes mineral injections and hormone testing from on-staff nurses and doctors, and self administered colon cleansing.

When walking through the vast, yet intimate complex of The LifeCo, it is easy to see what has made the company so successful – integrating relaxation and knowledge while promoting a healthy lifestyle.

“When you go through these types of programs, losing weight is our secondary goal,” said Ms Aksu. “Detox is not about losing weight, it’s about bringing your body to a healthy point where you can lose weight in a healthier way and have a higher quality of life in the coming year.”