A new trend is popping up all over London: Hop Baths.
This new wellness practice at first may appear to be an unlikely match but when we get down to the grains of it, it makes gut-sy sense (who doesn’t want to undress when alcohol is present?).
Beer has been an intimate part of our human history in regard to our health dating back to 9500 BC. According to Wikipedia, “beer is one of the world’s oldest prepared beverages, possibly dating back to the early Neolithic and is recorded in the written history of ancient Iraq and ancient Egypt.” While the reasons for its popularity have varied over the years —nutritional/caloric value, when water quality was too poor to be consumed as-is, as a digestive assist after meals—this idea takes it from internal consumption to external application.
In a hop bath, the components in the beer naturally expel the toxins from our bodies and achieve a hydrating osmotic detox effect. Soaking in the malty suds for even 10 minutes can strain out weeks worth of stress.
While some are satisfied with the straight-up beer infusion, a few London celebs are taking it a steep further and adding additional barley to the liquid bath. Our source, a frequent client at the new Hopsel & Gretel Boutique Brewery & Hop Spa, gushed that “in addition to the poisons leaving my body, much like a mud mask, my skin gets exfoliated and feels baby-smooth when I’m done. I keep receiving complaints on my heavenly skin. And it’s a totally relaxing ‘procedure.’”
If, at first, your body seems to be having a reaction or the bath is leaving you fatigued, as Dr. Mark Hyman suggests, “use nutrients such as fish oil, vitamin C, vitamin D, and probiotics to help calm your immune response naturally.”
This can be especially true for those struggling from a gluten disorder. Even though the gluten is on the outside, our bodies, specifically our skin—the body’s largest organ—absorbs almost 90 percent of what’s put on it.
As the popularity explodes over London, so does cheaply-made beer. And, due to the high demand, breweries have started, instead of bottling beers in glass, making easy take-away plastic vats of beer. With plastic? Does this detox method do more harm than good—as plastic is one of the leading causes of cancer. This demand, in turn, is bringing about lower quality ingredients, with faster production, longer hours for brewmasters with less pay and benefits.
A group of early-adopter qualitarians, Hope for Hops, is fighting back—some have even gone so far as to hang around outside of their targeted breweries drinking their competitors beers and donning passive-aggressive signs, “If only you knew your brew, your body would lobby.” There’s a real fight for organic ingredients in this new beauty regiment.
As this is a new trend, please do not try this at home. Here is a listing of available spas across Europe & North America.
April Fools! But who knows, maybe we’re on to something here.
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