A lot of people don’t know that they have 2 types of age, this is the chronological age which is your birthday, and you can’t change that. Then there is the biological age which is the age inside, that is the age of your body system. It is safer when your biological age is 10 years younger than your chronological age, but interestingly, the reversal is the case in Nigeria. Studies have revealed that 70% of Nigerians are actually living on an unsafe path as their biological age is far higher than their chronological age. This is because of the lifestyle of most Nigerians and also ignorant on most of the people path as most of us are not health conscious. Recently, The CEO of Venivici Beauty Spa, Arinola Adeniyi who runs one of the hottest and most respected spas on Victoria Island Lagos, was in Europe were she undertook a course on the Age Reversal Therapy. This course outline opened her eyes on a lot of health related issues ignored by Nigerians, and coming back home she incorporated this new therapy into her vast line of business at the beginning of the year. The therapy had to do with a biometric test which once conducted reveals a 5-6 pages of the individual lifestyle report .In this interview with City People Fashion Editor BOLA AKINBOADE on why a lot of Nigerians age is higher than their chronological and tips on what they can do to look younger.
You have been doing a lot lately, what have you been up to?
At Venivici, we provide holistic care service in an oasis of transliquity and serenity. Emphasis at the spa is on preventive health as well as health and beauty enhancement. We have really concentrated on the preventive side of things that is why we have the biological age testing, we have the colon irrigation which is also an anti-ageing treatment, we have added diet and nutrition so that people don’t just remove the toxin, and all the years of waste, they also know what to put back. The greatest challenges today are pollution and stress, so our focus has been on that. Because Toxins can lead to a lot of other different problems, so we have really focused on those 2 challenges that people are facing, and we are working around trying to help them and get better achieved result and be healthier
You have also been traveling a lot these days, going in out of the country. What have you been doing on the international scene?
On the international scene, it’s either am attending a course or an exhibition, health and wellness exhibition. Like I keep saying, health and wellness is a fast growing industry, everybody has suddenly woken up and realized they can do something about their health, even organization are doing something about their health. So I have been in school a lot lately, I just finished my training as a Corporate Wellness Coach, so I can also do intervention for corporate organizations, help them with their lifestyle challenges because sometimes when you do it as a group, and you take the biometrics, the difference readings when you started, and the duration is 90 days, by the time we are leaving, when we take it again, we will obviously see the positive trends. And there is always a reminder, as a coach, you call up to follow up, how they are doing, find out where they have missed it, its just about encouraging them . And for the organization, it works out cheaper, because medical bills will reduce, it will motivate their staffs, so productivity is increased, morale is boosted, and their medical bills are reduced. And you find out that even for organization, that have post the burden of the medical bills to their staffs, you find out that, these staffs are no longer going to the hospital. So if they take it as a corporate wellness goal, they can actually help them achieve improve their bottom line, productivity, improve staff morale, and reduced medical bills.
Apart from being a corporate coach, from your last trip, what latest technique are you incorporating into your business?
Its diet and nutrition, corporate wellness, and in January, we started the biological age testing which is also an Age Reversal Therapy.
Can you talk briefly on your new diet and nutrition therapy?
Diet and Nutrition, we all know what to eat, and what not to eat, but then, it’s a training, you are more aware, ok I need to introduce supplementary, you now know how to help you client better because you are giving them a one-on-one attention, not just drink 8 glasses of water a day, eat lots of vegetables, and fruits. We all know that, but you now take the individuals; you want to find out where they are eating, to know what you can introduce to them. You adapt their diet to their lifestyle. So you are working one-on-one with the person, we work with you for a 90 days period because that is how long it takes for the red cells to change, and then it now becomes a life style and you can go on your own. So we work with individuals so that the person now knows what they can do better, so its not one jacket, we adapt it to suit the person.
And what does the program aims to achieve? Do you aim to achieve a slimmer person or what?
Its not so much slim but healthier, but there is no way you wont get rid of some excess kilos and not be fine.
Let’s also talk about the age reversal therapy; can you shed more light on it?
We can all look younger longer, and you have to do something about it. Your biological age is the age inside, the age of your system while your chronological age is your real age, and the aim is to keep your biological age 10years lower than your real age. Because studies have shown that in 70% of people, their biological age is older than their chronological age. And its all about lifestyle, and with that test, we are giving you different parameters, your blood pressure, DMI, as well as Arterial stiffness, that is how hard your arteries are, because it’s the arteries that carries the flow of blood to the different parts of the body , and when your arteries are hard, it means the blood is not flowing properly, and certain part of the organ is not receiving the blood as it is supposed to and that can lead either heart attack or all sort of challenges. So you have to make sure there is enough oxygen in the system. And when you now get your result, it will give you the 5-6 page lifestyle report advising you on what you can now do thereafter.
So you have the lifestyle report and you then follow it
Most of the time, when you see some people, they look older than their real age, is that the cause
Probably, if you do alcohol, you don’t get enough rest, you are not exercising, eat a lot of fatty foods, you are not supplementing, its all lifestyle related. If you are doing the right thing, you are hydrating well, you are drinking the right amount of water, you are not doing cigarettes, and you are not doing alcohol, so it’s all about lifestyle really
How do you then achieve the age reversal thing, does have to be through the use of a machine?
No it’s a software, and then we take your biometrics, your blood pressure, the same software will give us your body mass as well as your arterial stiffness. And then we now get the 5 page report on where you are at. It’s not a diagnosis, it’s just the state of your health, but we don’t make any medical claims, we are not allowed to make any medical claims.
So what next when you get your result?
You now know what is wrong, if your biological age is higher than your chronological age, of which 70% of the population falls into that. You need to be worried. You can be 40 years old and your biological age is 57 years old, you need to do something fast. That means your system is older than your real you. But when you imbibe the healthier lifestyle options that the report will give you, you can now begin to reduce
So what are those tips on how to look younger longer?
Hydration, you need to take plenty of water. Water keeps your skin hydrated which helps plump your face up, thus reducing the appearance of wrinkles and taking years off your appearance.
Exercise to keep a youthful glow. Aim for cardiovascular workouts about five times a week for at least twenty or thirty minutes and strength training three to four times a week
Work your heart. Cardiovascular exercise, also known as aerobic exercise is a workout that makes your heart muscle pump a little harder for a period of time. By keeping the heart muscle in shape, it is less likely to deteriorate. By keeping the heart muscle strong and pumping, blood pressure is lowered and blood flows to more places in the body. Blood flow to the skin, the brain and the digestive system are healthy, there youthful body attributes.
You need to avoid Smoking; it increases free radicals, which leads to cell death, it wrecks your lungs so you can't exercise and it affects your social life. Basically, smoking puts fine layer of filth on your skin. Without this been removed, it contributes to premature ageing, increased wrinkling, risk of cancer, and the fact that that it makes you way older than your real age.
You need to avoid Alcohol; fun as drinking is, too much of it can also make you look old and fast! Like it or not, there is a clear and proven link between alcohol and premature ageing.
Get enough sleep. Most people need between seven and nine hours a night. To properly calculate what you need on a week off from work, fall asleep and wake up naturally
Manage stress and keep a positive outlook. Stress can wear you down both mentally and physically, so keeping it under control can keep it from showing on your body. Take a few deep breaths daily to help you slow down.
Include lots of colorful vegetables in your diet, especially orange and yellow ones, which are a high source of beta-carotene. Beta-carotene is an antioxidant which means it can fight free radicals in the body. It helps the body's cells stay on a normal healthy path rather than wander off and die or become cancerous. Beta carotene also is converted into vitamin A, which helps keep your skin young and your eyes working.
You need to avoid Fatty foods; These basically make you fat and being overweight makes you look older.
Caffeine; There is a little hard evidence that caffeine does you harm, but look at it a different way. No one denies lack of sleep ages you, so Caffeine hurts you by letting you cut corners. Where you might just go to sleep after a busy week, caffeine lets you hit the town and go to work 4 hours later. Sounds good doesn’t it? Well its not. Your skin needs time to rejuvenate; shed old skin cells and replace them; that is what sleep is for, to repair your body. Caffeine can dehydrate us and this is very bad for our skin. Caffeine elevates cortisol so avoiding caffeine can help you reduce your stress and this reduces ageing.
Eat your essential fatty acids. It is recommended that you eat fish twice a week to get enough omega-3, omega-6 and DHA into the body. It helps cells be flexible and permeable and has been shown to be an important part of the cells of the nervous system, blood vessels and skin. That means they help with the wrinkles and the brains.
Be young. Laugh, dance, visit, and explore new things. Attitude is everything.
Your spa has won couple of awards now, how does that makes you feel? Also you are always in the spotlight, you have never been off the scene and there is always something new coming out from your stable?
It gives us more responsibility because we do not want to fall lower than where we are. It shows that somebody somewhere is watching, so we want to always remain the best, we need to do more work to make sure that we do not disappoint our people and we are delivery on our promises. It actually put more work on you because you can’t afford to do less than where you are. If you want to do more, you want to make sure you maintain your standard; you want to add more value to their lives and their well being, into their well ness and health. And what we do is to make sure that we keep abreast of what is happening on the global scene, we make sure to try to bring in what is new, what people are doing to feel better, what the new options are and all of that, you we keep it fresh and new. And we add value to people’s health and wellness
So you have been able to consistently maintain your client base over the years, how were you able to achieve that?
It’s just saying ok, we are happy with you, and they come back, and they bring their friends and families. We must be giving them what they want, we must be delivering, because if don’t have value when they come here, they wont come back, so I believe we deliver on our services, and they are seeing the benefits. It’s not just coming here; it’s not a frivolous thing. I tell people, going to the spa is not a fad, it’s a lifestyle, once you get the result, you see the benefit, and it’s also very therapeutic, it’s not just an indulgent visit. And they are getting value for it, they feel better. If they come here with a back pain, we are able to do something about it, if you are stressed; you go out laughing and dancing, and feel good. You have issues, we are able to detoxify you, you have challenge, and we are able to do something about it. And there is something for everybody at Venivici, young, old, male, female, white, black, Caucasian, there is something for everybody
What new thing should we expecting from Venivici?
We have always kept abreast of what is going on, we will try and bring it closer to the people, before people had to travel to do their facials and all that, so we are bringing it closer to the people, its cheaper, you don’t have to pay your fat money and the standards are the same. We don’t compromise on our products, on what we use, on service delivery, and professional competent. Also this year, we plan to do a quarterly program on health and wellness, giving something back to the society, we are going to be creating a lot of more awareness because a lot of people don’t even know the work we are supposed to be doing and how to go about it. They have a challenge and they don’t what to do. And a lot of people believe that spas are too expensive and can’t even afford it, so when we invite them for program like this, they will be able to get ideas
