New frontiers of well-being: SHA Wellness Clinic celebrates its 12th anniversary

A life-changing experience” boasts SHA Wellness Clinic, an internationally recognised holistic wellness resort, celebrating 12 years in business this year.  At SHA, health is viewed as the optimal state of physical, mental and spiritual well-being, providing each guest a newfound vitality in harmony with the environment.  Therefore, it’s no coincidence that the facility is located in a true natural oasis, a marine reserve of extraordinary beauty perched between the mountains and the water near the bay of Altea (in the Valencia region of Spain, near Alicante) overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and the Sierra Helada Natural Park.



The SHA method is a synthesis between Eastern ancient medicinal disciplines such as acupuncture, and Western technology including bioenergetic medicine, and the latest, most innovative discoveries of regenerative and anti-aging treatments.  The state-of-the-art therapy combines advanced tools for diagnosis and bioenergetic measurement in order to understand and prevent the body’s natural mechanisms of aging.  Beginning from lifestyle and nutrition, the SHA method integrates the most effective natural therapies including a highly therapeutic diet and incorporating the latest advances in Western medicine, in particular genetic and preventative medicine in order to shape each customer’s optimal health and well-being.  Additionally, a strong point of SHA is its team of specialists in a variety of disciplines who look at each guest in a holistic and non-specialist way.  The coordinated and controlled fusion of these disciplines significantly increases the positive impact that any of them would have individually. 

To guarantee the best results for each guest, SHA develops a personalised treatment plan that includes natural and medical therapies, together with a menu designed ad hoc by the resort’s restaurant, SHAMADI.  There are 14 health programmes available, each of which is meant to meet the needs and personal goals of the individual client who can experience services such as shiatsu, acupuncture, reflexology and cryotherapy, which reactivates metabolism and the immune system.  Practices of mindfulness and pranayama can be followed by a session of neuro-feedback and cognitive stimulation using futuristic machinery that helps rejuvenate the mind, created thanks to research by Harvard University.  Clinicians at SHA analyse stress level, cognitive ability, memory, and the capacity to manage anxiety, providing related exercises to improve each area. Here, guests rediscover the connection between the body and the mind in an effort to improve quality of life. Furthermore, they are taught how to bring this newfound knowledge back into their daily lives once returned home. 



SHA’s philosophy is to transforms people’s lives.  In fact, this concept was the starting point for SHA’s founder Alfredo Bataller Parietti, who himself suffered from health problems.  After receiving a worrisome diagnosis, he had the good fortune of meeting a doctor experienced in nutrition and natural therapies who instructed him on how to regain his health through the power of a balanced diet combined with natural therapies.  He decided to share this precious knowledge, and together with his family, began the unique project that today is SHA Wellness Clinic in Spain, with openings planned in Mexico and the United Arab Emirates.

From the founder’s own personal health battle, the SHA method was born, blending ancient disciplines with the most recent discoveries of Western medicine, thanks to the supervision of internationally renowned experts like Michio Kushi, considered the father of macrobiotics, who was appointed President of the World Organization of Natural Medicine in 1995.  Bataller Parietti, President and Founder of SHA explains, “I decided to utilise the most effective Eastern and Western therapies combined with a special diet of healthy and energy-rich foods, offered within a sustainable and comfortable environment.  I also managed to incorporate the most recent medical discoveries as part of the treatment.  This utopia is our SHA Wellness Clinic, which has not only received over 60 prestigious awards thanks to an incredible team of professionals, but above all, it has changed the lives of over 50,000 people so far.”



The SHA method is based on 8 main areas:  healthy eating, natural therapies, preventive and regenerative medicine, advanced dermo-aesthetics, cognitive stimulation and emotional health, well-being and inner balance, fitness and learning new healthy habits through the Healthy Living Academy.  Combined, these factors improve and increase physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing through a holistic and integrative approach.  

The detoxifying diet begins with food curated by the SHAMADI restaurant inside SHA and the Chef’s Studio, where chefs create gourmet dishes that eliminate refined carbohydrates and sugars, animal protein and dairy products in favour of seasonal and organic ingredients, such as unrefined grains (oats, millet, brown rice) legumes, soybeans, tofu and vegetables.  In addition, the menu incorporates several types of seaweed including blue, brown and red seaweed originating from Japan and the North Seas, a frontier in vegetable protein, as well as the subject of a nutrigenomics study of foods that promote longevity.  SHAMADI offers fusion cuisine balanced between Mediterranean and oriental traditions.  A personalised plan is also created based on each guest’s medical screening and the goals he or she is hoping to achieve.  The objective is for guests to not only acquire new nutritional habits, but also to fully and consciously learn to enjoy food in order to continue this lifestyle once back home.

Presently, conversation about curing illnesses is abundant.  Since its inception, SHA aims to take care of its clients’ health through prevention, researching medicinal practices and focusing its efforts on finding the best technologies and therapies to strengthen the immune system.  A strong immune system is essential for fighting viral infections.  As a result, SHA has created a specific program focused on strengthening the immunity to restore and stimulate the body’s natural defences, promoting it to effectively fight any external aggression.  In the same vein, the Healthy Aging & Preventive Medicine programme helps slow down the process of cellular degeneration and reignites the potential of each person to restore his or her health.

Another highlight of the clinic is the expansive neurological initiative led by Dr. Bruno Ribeiro which works to battle even the most severe states of stress and anxiety, maximizing cognitive abilities and promoting intellectual capacity.  “We start with an initial cognitive assessment and some tests, such as neurofeedback, to understand the level of stress, the general picture and the trend of the brain waves to probe what is not working and what should be changed.  Thanks to technologies co-developed by NASA and Harvard Medical School, such as Photobiomodulation and Transcranal Current Stimulation (TCS), we are able to achieve important results both in stimulating specific areas and functions of the brain to improve physical and mental performance, as well as in alleviating diseases and pathologies, such as in the cases of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s patients” says neurologist Dr. Ribeiro.  

SHA is not the ordinary SPA (although it also offers numerous body, facial and beauty treatments), but rather, it is destination where guests learn how to cultivate physical and emotional health, both inside and out.

Botox might benefit man’s love life

It’s now established that a lot of men use Botox and to back it up there are some data that in the last years show a turnaround. Men who use Botox far outweigh the female sex. The numbers in respect tell us that women who ask for aesthetic medical treatments are the 74% against the 85% of men, a number which looks destined to grow because of the numerous benefits shown by the use of Botox as a booster of sexual life. We talk about these recent studies and possible applications with the Doc. Nicola Macchione, urologist of the hospital San Paolo in Milan. 

What do we talk about exactly when we use the term Botox? 

For Botox we mean the commercial and purified form of the neurotoxin A of “clostridium botulinum”, a germ which belongs to the family of tetanus, gram + which produces spores. It’s the most toxic protein known, with a very low lethal dose, but fortunately thermolabile (you can destroy it with heat). 

Having regard to its toxicity, why is it used in medicine? 

The mechanism of action which is used in medicine is the ability of this toxin to cause a muscle paralysis. The botulinum toxin acts at the level of the nerve-muscle junction (where nerve and muscle come together) by inhibiting the release of acetylcholine from the nerve ending, a “messenger” of the nerve which tells the muscle to contract. This determines a “relaxation” of muscle fibers and the disappearance of the famous wrinkles. 

In addition to wrinkles it seems that Botox is a real help to improve the sexual life of men, isn’t it? 

As often happens in medicine, a molecule finds almost always more fields of application, in fact we try to exploit its mechanism of action in all the situations in which a reduction of the contraction of muscle fibers can be useful. Many studies to show the action of Botox on male genitals have been performed. 

Tell us more details.. 

One of the fields in which it seems to be more beneficial is when it is used for the premature ejaculation. In fact, in a recent study, performed on a sample of 70 patients, by doing an injective treatment with the botulinum toxin at the level of Bulbospongiosus muscles (responsible of the ejaculatory reflex) they got an increase in the times of ejaculation. These data have immediately appeared encouraging, in fact other similar studies are in progress to offer another therapeutic action for the treatment of premature ejaculation. 

And as regards the erectile dysfunction? 

Also in this case the efficacy of Botox has been shown in many studies. The rational of this use is in the fact that the “release” of the smooth muscle fibers of the tissue of corpora cavernosa cause an increase of the blood supply to the penis, improving in this way the quality of the erection. In the near future it could represent another therapeutic line for the erectile dysfunction. 

In what other circumstances is it possible to use Botox? 

For example, in the issues affecting the scrotum. Better known as “scrotox”, is a surgical treatment that involves the injection of the botulinum toxin at the level of the muscle responsible for testicular contraction, which means the Cremaster. The first clinical experience, who gave the way to this treatment, dates back to 2011, when this procedure was executed on a boy affected by testicular pain, non-responsive to other therapies, related to the hypercontraction of the Cremaster. Since then, in addition to functional reasons, this treatment is also executed for “aesthetic” reasons, to reduce the tone of the Cremaster and to allow the testicles not to go up to the abdominal cavity. The aesthetic reason is in the fact that this condition determines an apparent increase of the scrotal volume. A similar effect is achieved also for the penis. 

In what way this treatment can improve the penis size? 

Actually, it is a similar condition, but you act on a different site. In a recent study, in fact, has been shown that by injecting Botox at the level of the subcutaneous fibromuscular tissue, the level of penile retraction in a state of flaccidity is reduced. It determines an apparent increase of the the size of the organ in a state of rest. It exists, in fact, situations (stress, cold, workout) where the reflection of the penile retraction is very high, by determining an erroneous perception of the penis size and so discomfort. For this reason, this procedure is interesting for all the patients that suffer from the “locker room syndrome”. 

The effect is temporary? Are there particular contraindications? 

Yes, the activity of the botulinum toxin at the level of the neuromuscular junction is reversible. The effects of Botox are limited in time. They depend on the dose and on the site of injection while the collateral effects reported in all the studies are few and far between. They are all outpatient operations, so they don’t include a hospitalization. After the treatment it’s not necessary to observe special precautions. 

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