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This booklet has been produced to help users of the Formostar Infrared Body Wrap system understand who can benefit from its use and why and to provide information on the many wonderful benefits of far infrared heat. It has been compiled from either clinical trials, studies, publications or published articles. We believe it is important that you read all of it. Formostar is not intended to diagnose, cure or prevent any disease or illness.
There are many products in the marketplace making claims to do with weight loss and wel being. This makes it difficult to decide what will or will not work and determine whether money will be well spent. As time goes on, regulatory bodies will stop unsubstantiated claims but until then, you need to sift through the information provided and decide for yourself.
Firstly, let us tell you about what the Formostar can do for you and then we’ll tell you about far infrared heat. At the rear of this booklet we cover some of the Protocols such as the Medical Questionnaire and tolerance to heat. It is very important you read that section. Much has been discovered over the last 80 years about why far infrared heat can be so effective, especially for wellbeing. Further documents are available if you’d like to know more.
The Formostar Far Infrared Body Wrap system has been manufactured in Germany since 1983. It was originally developed for therapeutic purposes to treat people with severe rheumatoid arthritis and joint mobility problems. Subsequently it was discovered that consistent weight loss was being achieved and a study was undertaken in a German Medical University to check its effectiveness for weight and size loss and degenerative joint and spinal column illnesses under clinical conditions.
“It was proven that the treatment resulted in significant weight reduction and substantial improvements in joint mobility, with no measurable side effects”. For weight loss, 10 sessions were recommended with an interval of 2-4 days in between and for joint mobility, five sessions with an interval of 2-3 days. Your therapist can supply you with a copy of the full study.
The Formostar has been approved as a Type IIa Medical Device throughout the world and is included on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods.
Safety Using far infrared heat for the benefit of the human body is not new:• Infrared lamps have been widely used for localised treatment of body pain and muscle strains for many • Whole body thermal therapy has been used in Germany for 80 years and there is a Japanese Infrared Society that focuses its research on the healing benefits of infrared heat.
• Infrared panels are used in hospitals for premature babies and NASA used infrared heat to maintain performance of astronauts on space missions.
• The Swedish National Institute of Radiation Protection concluded after testing, that infrared thermal • The Formostar has been Safety and Compliance tested for Australia and New Zealand and modified for As mentioned earlier, there are many benefits that can be achieved through use of the Formostar so let’s start with.
.How to Lose Fat & Centimetres with FormostarBased on the Formostar Clinical Study and results achieved by numerous clients, (over 25,000 systems have been sold worldwide resulting in over 5,000,000 treatments) people can expect to lose a clothes size in around 6 sessions.
Generally, the greater the excess weight being carried, the faster and more dramatic the weight loss will be in line with the reduction in fat and waste deposits. Basic body shape will also play a part in how quickly the results will be achieved.
Researchers are continually trying to find out why some people cannot break down fat as readily as others. obviously lifestyle has a major part to play, but basic body shape also plays a part. There are three basic body type classifications: endomorphs, Mesomorphs and ectomorphs.
Endomorphs: endomorphs tend to have bigger bones than the other body types. These men and women usually have round faces with larger thighs and hips. endomorphs have arms and legs that tend to be short and tapering, giving them a stocky appearance. Most endomorphs have comparatively small hands and feet and a high waist. Additionally, endomorphs have higher levels of body fat than the other body types, but they can also build muscle and lean mass easily. Weight loss is most difficult for the endomorph body type.
Mesomorphs: Mesomorphs are usually described as having an athletic build. They often have an hourglass or ruler shape, and gain muscle mass easily. The majority of mesomorphs have broad shoulders and a narrow waist. They typically have a faster metabolism and can lose weight more easily than endomorphs.
Ectomorphs: ectomorphs have a thin, linear appearance. Most ectomorphs look like rulers, with narrow waists, hips, and shoulders. ectomorphs can lose weight easily and tend to have low levels of body fat. However, they also have a harder time gaining lean muscle mass.
Few people actually fall distinctly into one category. Instead, it is much more likely that you will be a combination of the body types. Common combinations include ecto-mesomorph and endo-mesomorph.
Fat is actually quite light, in fact much lighter than muscle. Your body requires a specific number of calories every day to function properly. Individuals with active lifestyles require more calories in their diet plan than those with sedentary lifestyles. If your energy intake consistently exceeds your energy output, you will begin to notice a change in weight.
The results of the Formostar Clinical Study indicated that on average, the control groups results were; • With diet: an average of 6.5 kilos lost in 10 sessions and between 7 and 8 centimetres lost in the thighs, • Without diet: an average of 4 kilos lost in 10 sessions and between 5 and 6 centimetres lost in the thighs, This is pretty consistent with the results we hear about and we find generally those people that don’t achieve these kinds of results need to keep a food diary, or are taking some kind of medication that can increase appetite or help increase weight. We’ve also found that when someone is participating in a diet programme whilst doing the Formostar, they tend not to plateau as they would normally do. Results seem to be accelerated.
The more physically active a person is, the greater the benefits that can be achieved with the Formostar. extremely physically fit people that don’t carry excess weight or centimetres can experience improved muscle definition, as well as the health and wellbeing aspects associated with Far Infrared.
Formostar will be of most value with a balanced exercise and eating programme. People that lead a very sedentary lifestyle can still achieve great results over a longer period assuming that they exercise adequate control over dietary and other general health factors. However, results will be dependent on each person’s particular make up and physiology. It is physically impossible though for the Formostar to put weight or centimetres on a person based on the physiological process that takes place. Medical opinion is that it takes the body 20 to 30 minutes to heat up (this includes exercise and other heat based treatments) and that the major value to the body occurs after that warming up process. That’s why your Formostar session is 50 minutes.
Good weight loss programmes really will help people to lose weight if followed properly, but to sustain them can quite often be a problem.
How many diets have you embarked on? Did you achieve the loss you wanted and then put it all back on again? Well, you’re not alone. The issue with a lot of diets is that they cut out entire food groups, such as carbohydrates, or severely restrict food intake. People feel deprived whilst dieting so unless they follow a sensible programme and maintenance plan, weight will steadily go back on. As the person feels they have failed one particular diet, they will move onto the next. They become very sceptical about any weight loss programme or product. With the Formostar we don’t want you to put your weight back on again or feel that you’ve failed, so we recommend that if you do put a small amount on – say 500-800 grams, try and take it off straight away. The more recent the increase in weight, the easier it is to take off. There are maintenance packages designed to help you, so talk to your therapist.
There are two ways the Formostar can help fat and centimetre loss. One from calories lost in sweat and two from the direct excretion of fat and wastes. Body shaping usually starts with centimetre loss as the excess fluid, wastes, fat etc are excreted and drinking water will help with this process by flushing them through the body.
To break up fat you pretty much need heat (or liposuction!!). With food, you apply heat – the frypan, the barbecue. With exercise you create the heat (energy). With Formostar you absorb far infrared heat. It’s like a workout, without respiratory or muscle use (but that’s to be expected – you are lying on a bed). The Formostar can help increase your basic metabolic rate (BMR) and the fastest way to lose weight is to increase the metabolism. People generally find their metabolism ramps up after the first 3-4 wraps and quite often the weight loss over 3 wraps is around ½ kilo and 1 ½ kilos by the end of six.
Now, it is a fact that when you sweat and lose water, you will put the water straight back on – at least whatever the body’s organs require anyway, but you won’t put the calories lost back on, unless you eat more.
If you sweat in your wrap session as much as a moderately conditioned person with exercise, you could expect to use 1200 calories. Now we didn’t just put our finger in the air and arrive at a figure for the calories. This is calculated on a physiological fact that one gram of sweat is equivalent to .586 of a calorie. This is then multipied by the level of sweat that can be achieved by a moderately conditioned person over 50 minutes. Some people will sweat more, some less.
Sweating is good for you. Apart from cleansing the skin it also helps to stop toxin build-up and clear toxins out. Most humans, especially women, go out of their way not to sweat. Air-conditioned buildings, air-conditioned cars, anti-perspirants, lotions and potions on the body. These things can stop the body performing at its best, clogging up the pores.
For those people that don’t sweat very much at the outset, it’s usually an indication that the metabolic rate is slow and the body is using the heat before it pushes it out. It is very important that you hydrate during and after the Formostar sessions. If you have a few glasses of wine the night before your wrap or drink lots of coffee it’s even more important as they can dehydrate you. As mentioned previously, the hydrating will also help flush the wastes through your system. As the Formostar induces sweat, we recommend that a low sugar isotonic/electrolyte based drink be consumed during the wrap. This will ensure that essential vitamins and minerals that may be reduced by the sweating process are replaced.
What Works Against UsAs we age, our metabolism slows, which can cause weight gain, unless we also reduce food intake or raise our metabolic rate through exercise, or in this case also with the Formostar. Female hormones tend to encourage storage of calories as fat and women have less muscle than men. They also don’t often get as much physical activity as men.
Common causes of weight gain are:• overeating and lack of exercise• Poor eating habits (high carbohydrate, high calorie diet)• emotional factors such as guilt, depression and anxiety• Smoking cessation• Alcohol consumption• Primary hypothyroidism• endocrine disorders including Cushings syndrome, hypothyroidism or polycystic ovary syndrome• Drugs such as corticosteroids, cyproheptadine, lithium, tranquilisers, phenothiazines and tricyclic antidepressants and steroids such as prednisone • Medications that increase fluid retention and cause oedema (abnormal pooling of fluids in the tissues).
N.B. Success has been reported by researchers in the use of thermal heat for mild oedema.
In addition, periodic weight gain may occur with menstruation and with the onset of menopause, studies have shown that food intake can increase dramatically.
MenopauseWith the onset of peri-menopause or menopause a woman needs less calories per day. The hormonal imbalance within the body quite often increases the appetite and therefore it makes sense that many women complain that they put on weight with menopause. In addition if they take anti-depressants, the appetite also increases.
It is physically impossible for the Formostar to put weight or centimetres on a person based on the physiological process that takes place.
If you are menopausal when you commence the Formostar, you need to be aware of your calorie intake to try and control food intake vs energy used. It may be necessary to keep a diary for a period of time to determine what your new daily calorie intake should be. Having said that, there are positive benefits associated with menopause and the Formostar. It is reported that hot flushes decrease and energy levels improve.
The mood-elevating, tension-relieving effects can help reduce the depression and anxiety that often accompanies menopause and can also promote the loss of abdominal fat—the place most women more readily gain weight during menopause.
For most women, increases and shifts in weight begin during peri-menopause — the years leading up to menopause. But these shifting levels of estrogen aren’t the sole source of your weight gain. Aging also plays a part in the changing body composition.
other possible causes of weight gain during middle age include:• Reduced physical activity. Menopausal women tend to exercise less than other women, which can lead to • Increased food intake. eating more means you’ll take in more calories, which are converted to fat if you • Slowing metabolism. The number of calories you need for energy decreases as your metabolism slows and the amount of muscle you have decreases. Because muscle burns more calories than fat, the less muscle you have, the fewer calories you burn.
• Genetics. Genetic factors may play a role in your weight gain. You might be predisposed to gain weight around your stomach as you age. That means you may have to work harder to maintain your figure.
Weighing and MeasuringIt is important to be weighed and measured during the course of your sessions if you’re looking for fat and centimetre loss. You’d expect that with any weight loss programme. The point of doing so is not to focus or become obsessed with results, but to give you guidance on what you need to do to achieve your goals and you’ll know when your clothes start to get loose that it’s working.
Remember when you lose 2 centimetres from each area that has been measured you can take all your clothes in by a centimetre on each seam. That’s one dress size or for men a trouser size.
It’s not much point in weighing after a Formostar session or for that matter after exercise as you can sometimes weigh more. Wait at least four hours, or weigh before you have your wrap.
A Word of WarningIf you think you can eat whatever you want and then work off the extra calories, think again. Research shows that overindulgence actually makes it harder to burn fat through exercise!! Toxic Reactions/The Healing CrisisAs part of its healing process the body will begin to discard toxic residues which have built up in the body over the years. The healing process usually does not occur without repercussions. During the initial phase of healing, as your body begins to detoxify and your vital energy begins to repair and rebuild internal organs, you may experience headaches, uneasiness, flu like symptoms and fatigue.
A process called retracing may occur. You may feel worse before you feel better. For example, if you used to get skin rashes, the rashes may reappear or get worse for a period of time as the body eliminates toxins through the skin. You may also experience an initial increase in urination, or may feel more nervous. In actuality, you are not getting worse, you are actually getting better. eventually you will reach a plateau of better health. During the healing crisis, it is important not to suppress these temporary symptoms with drugs or the healing process may become interrupted.
Depending on the level of detoxification, physical reactions could include skin eruptions, nausea, headaches, sleepiness, unusual fatigue, constipation, diarrhoea, head or chest cold, ear infections, boils, or any other way the body uses to loosen and eliminate toxins. An initial healing crisis usually lasts around three days but if energy levels are low, it may last a week or more.
One of the reasons we recommend you take the isotonic/electrolyte powder during your sessions is to replace any vitamins or minerals that may be depleted during the wrap.
Additional BenefitsAiding the Immune System: Infrared energy is associated with a variety of healing responses. At times, the infrared energy in our tissues may require a boost to a higher level to ensure the fullest healing possible for tissue repair. Body tissues that need an infrared boost selectively absorb infrared rays. The tissue will only use the infrared rays in the areas where it is needed. After boosting a tissue’s infrared energy, the remaining rays pass onward harmlessly. This phenomenon is called resonant absorption. The immune system is defined as your body’s defense mechanism against invasion by bacteria, microbes and infection. This defense mechanism includes the production of white blood cells (leukocytes) from your bone marrow and t-cells produced by your thymus gland. (White cells use nitric oxide and far infrared produces nitric oxide). When your body has a fever, the immune system triggers the production of these cells. The application of artificial heat internally can make the body believe it has a fever, thus stimulating an immune response.
Detoxification: The skin is the largest organ in the body and through the pores it plays a major role in the detoxifying process alongside the lungs, kidneys, bowels, liver, and the lymphatic and immune systems. The skin produces cool sweat to regulate the body’s elevated temperature. It also has the ability to transform toxins from lipid-soluble or oil-based, into easier to eliminate, water-soluble form. Sweat carries toxins out of the body and flushes them through the pores. Improved Blood Circulation: Many issues that manifest themselves in the body such as arthritis, sciatica, menstrual cramps and fatigue, or outside the body such as psoriasis and acne, can be to some degree, due to poor blood circulation. As the blood flow with the Formostar can increase in volume by twice as much as normal and travels around 3.5 times faster through the body, continued use can eventually provide a permanent improvement in blood circulation and blood pressure. The blood flows into areas that are poorly promoted with blood such as scar tissue and fat that is stored on the outer areas of the body, (which can be up to 10 degrees colder than the core body temperature) and into small capillaries closer to the skins surface.
Pain Management: The Formostar was developed for therapeutic purposes – mainly rheumatoid arthritis and joint mobility. Heat is a well-known treatment for pain relief with far infrared heat lamps being used by the Asians for a long time. Because the heat is absorbed around 4.5 cm’s below the surface it helps blood vessels dilate (expand), bringing relief and aiding healing of muscle and soft tissue injuries such as sprains, strains, arthritis, muscle spasm and many other muscular-skeletal ailments. Increased blood circulation not only carries off metabolic waste products but also delivers oxygen rich blood to oxygen-depleted muscles, to help promote faster recovery. The heat deadens the nerve endings, creating an analgesic effect.
Quite often relief is not realised until the morning after a sleep, as the rest allows the blood circulation to do its job better.
Body Fluid Reduction: As the Formostar has excellent sweat inducing capabilities, it is extremely effective in helping people lose excess body fluids. People with mild forms of fluid retention around the ankles and feet can help decrease it quite quickly by using the variable wraps on the lower leg. This in turn provides people with a greater level of comfort and makes them more mobile.
Skin Toning: As for Toxin removal. Pores get clogged up with Toxins and other materials (e.g. an instant tan, cosmetics etc.). The significant sweating created by using the Formostar can help to unclog pores, improving the condition of the skin, including problems such as acne and psoriasis. The first improvement people seem to notice even after their first wrap is improved skin condition.
General Well-being: A 50 minute session can help people relieve stress and tension promoting relaxation and a general sense of well being. Many people experience additional energy after Formostar sessions due to the stimulation of the metabolism.
Increasing Flexibility: Heat loosens muscles and joints enabling easier movement. If someone stretches for 10-15 minutes after a wrap they can improve their flexibility by up to 18% permanently. For someone who has arthritis this could be very valuable. It makes sense, when you think that it is much easier to stretch when your body is warm.
What Is Far Infrared Energy?When warmed by the sun, the earth radiates infrared rays in the 7 to 14 micron bands (a frequency that measures energy which is released in different frequencies - similar in concept to radio stations that operate on different frequencies) with the most beneficial in human terms at around 10 microns. The natural resonant frequency of the human body (i.e. the ability to absorb) ranges from approximately 8 to 15 microns. The Far Infrared segment occurs just below red light (or “infra”) as the next lowest energy band and is not visible to human eyes but we can, however, feel this type of light, which we perceive as heat.
Biological research has shown that Far-Infrared Rays are the safest and most beneficial to the human body. Far-Infrared energy increases our body’s molecular vibration (actually vibrates the cell structure to help break down the connections between deposits such as additional fats and toxins) generating heat which is absorbed through the skin. Continuous vibration of the body’s molecules increases dermis temperature, enlarges blood vessels, stimulates blood circulation and activates metabolism in tissues and cells providing the therapeutic and tissue regenerative properties when humans absorb that energy.
The Formostar Far Infrared Body Wrap system emits the majority of its output in the 5.6 to 25 micron band. The output is evenly spread around the 9.4 micron point that is considered most beneficial to humans. At this frequency, the energy output from Formostar closely corresponds to the body’s radiant energy, and around 93% of the Far-Infrared waves can be absorbed. The high-density thermal bandages provide a dual role. First in the transference of Far-Infrared energy and second, the minimisation of heat loss, significantly increasing the effectiveness over other conventional heat related treatments.
Why Does the Formostar Far Infrared Body Wrap Work?The Formostar provides a full body treatment. Far Infrared energy is absorbed up to 4.5 cms below the surface of the skin, reaching through muscle and tissue, stimulating the metabolism. We feel this in the form of heat and the body absorbs as much Far Infrared energy as it requires, then starts to use natural processes to push the energy it doesn’t need out of the body. The Formostar actually is an “inside out” heating process, rather than heating blankets etc. that try to heat from the outside in, which is why it is very effective.
As the body warms, in addition to sweating, the blood thins and the speed at which it circulates around the body increases, while the body tries to cool itself down. The effect is to raise the temperature at the extremities of the body to the same temperature at the core of the body – a temperature at which fat can be broken down. The increased blood supply is forced into areas of the body which typically have poor circulation – especially with people that are carrying too much weight or have other metabolic issues – where fat, excess body fluids and toxins are deposited. Toxins are both water based (residing in body fluids) and oil based (residing in fat tissue). The combination of the heat, which breaks down fluids and fat, and the improved blood supply, helps to carry away these deposits via the body’s natural sweating and waste disposal processes.
The heat is transmitted in such a way that you can safely undertake a 50 minute session. Medical opinion is that it takes the body 20 to 30 minutes to heat up (this includes exercise and other heat based treatments) and that the major value to the body occurs after that warming up process. The physical benefits of a Formostar session can last for up to 48 hours so having a Formostar session in the next 24 hours, while not harmful, would only produce minimal additional benefits and is therefore financially wasteful.
IMPORTANT Medical QuestionnaireBefore you commence a Formostar session, you should have read and signed a Medical Questionnaire. The questions asked will give your therapist important background information on your health, so they can determine whether you should undertake a session. There is also a list of contraindications as part of the questionnaire. If you are in any doubt whatsoever please consult your doctor.
You Must Be ComfortableIf at any stage during the wrap you do not feel comfortable please tell your therapist:• If you have a hot spot they will determine whether to pad it or to turn the heat down on the particular wrap. Depending on the pressure points, you could experience hotter than usual spots on the buttocks, or hip bones, ribcage and coccyx areas. This will mean that there has been enough blood circulation into these areas for this particular wrap and you must tell your therapist as and when they happen. If they continue to be uncomfortable for subsequent wraps they can be padded from the outset. N.B. You should have been supplied a bell or a buzzer or be within calling distance so that if you have a problem, they can react immediately.
• Some people just don’t tolerate heat particularly well. It is dependent on your physiology, wellbeing and age. older people’s bodies seem to store heat longer (the skin is quite often 20% thinner) and consequently will feel the heat more. each of the wraps has heat controls so the heat can be reduced quite substantially if necessary or you can start on a lower heat until you acclimatise. Your therapist can give you a wet facecloth to cool you down. A fan in the room during your wrap should not alter your results.
• Remember to hydrate as much as possible especially during and after the wrap.
N.B. If there any areas of your body that you do not have feeling, you must tell your therapist. They may require you before commencing a session to check with your doctor whether the wraps should be placed on the area/areas.
Cotton ClothingWe ask that you wear cotton clothing, a long sleeved top and pants, during your wrap session. This is for hygiene reasons.
ShoweringIt is not necessary to shower after a wrap. The composition of the sweat means it does not smell. After your wrap, wipe your skin with a wet towel or use a body brush. When you do shower make sure it is warm not cold.

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