Chronic stress is never a good thing, but sometimes, a little jolt of pressure is exactly what we need to get things moving. That’s the idea behind hormesis, or, the controlled application of low-grade stress to stimulate a physiological response. Think of a vaccine, which introduces a tiny dose of a virus into the body to activate its immune defenses.
Think of exercise, and how short bursts of manageable strain improves physical strength, agility, speed. Use stress mindfully, explains Dr. George Gaitanos, chief operating and scientific officer of the Chenot Group, and you catalyze “adaptive mechanisms that result in net benefits for the body. You improve the resilience, the resistance to future stressors. You improve the immune function. You enhance your longevity.” Here’s how the Chenot Method® harnesses hormesis to do all that and more.
The Chenot Diet®
On average, the Western diet comprises about 3,500 calories in a day, so for many guests, Chenot’s programme will be a shock to the system.
Spreading 850 calories over three plant-based, low-protein meals each day, our chefs deliver a nutritional profile engineered to reset the body’s systems: A caloric deficit suspends cellular replication and triggers autophagy, the clean-up process that clears away defects and damaged parts.
The diet’s impact is big, but the period before payoff presents a challenge: Less fuel means more lethargy, at least until the body adapts. Within three days, guests “feel energetic, they feel better, they feel functional,” Gaitanos explains.
Their bodies have adjusted, learning how to power themselves more efficiently. And while the diet is temporary — peak efficacy occurs between seven and nine days — the results are lasting: Fewer flaws getting copied into new cells means lower odds of chronic disease as we age.
A little pain, a lot of gain.

Thermotherapy
Complementing our signature diet, the Chenot Method® also deploys temperature to biological advantage, using heat and hydrotherapy to stimulate cellular rejuvenation. In our spa, we invite each guest to submerge in a daily therapeutic bath, dialling up the temperature to the highest degree they can tolerate.
Spiking heat sets the detox in motion, improving circulation and speeding lymphatic drainage, while activating important chemicals within the cells: Heat-shock proteins. These aid the body’s repair mechanisms by transporting the waste products of autophagy to the lysosomes, or cellular recycling bins, Gaitainos explains. High temperatures might not be entirely comfortable, but they round out the restorative effects of the diet, enabling the cells to function at their highest potential.


Cryotherapy
Similarly, exposing the body to cold temperatures — whether through a few minutes in our cryochambers or a swim in Lake Lucerne — in short bursts can catalyze full-body benefits, reducing inflammation by triggering vasoconstriction, then rapidly oxygenating our tissues as the body warms up and the blood vessels dilate.
Spending short stints in freezing temperatures shortly after waking can also help rebalance circadian rhythms and restore healthy sleep cycles: A shot of extreme cold early in the morning triggers the release of adrenaline and noradrenaline, which stimulate our “fight or flight” response and leave us feeling alert. By balancing the peaks and valleys of a natural hormone cycle, cryotherapy helps reset the biological clock.
Explore hormesis-based treatments in our Human Performance Department.
Physical therapy
Movement is a crucial part of what Chenot does, our therapists identifying pain points and working with the client to gently overcome them.
Chenot focuses on low-intensity exercise: A guest with chronic pain may reacquaint themselves with running on our anti-gravity treadmill, which removes up to 80 percent of their body weight and reintroducing the rapid muscle contractions that “bring back the somatic memory of youth,” Gaitanos explains.
The controlled infliction of stress not only activates dormant muscle fibres, it also floods the bloodstream with peptides and proteins that boost immunity, improve inter-organ communication, and build strength over time.
Exercise also induces hypoxia in the muscles, reducing their access to oxygen.
Our therapists can amplify the therapeutic effects of hypoxia in a controlled environment, whether by using an oxygen mask to control oxygen flow or by holding a workout in our altitude chamber. Temporary hypoxia can recharge our batteries, training our mitochondria — which power our every cell — to “produce the same amount of energy with less oxygen,” Gaitanos explains.
Mitochondria use oxygen to siphon chemical energy from the food we eat; in teaching them to do the same job with fewer resources, he adds, “you are improving their metabolic fitness. You make them more efficient.”
The Chenot promise
Of course, there is a line between fast and famine; heat and heatstroke; cold and hypothermia; strengthening and strain; helpful and harmful.
At Chenot, we work closely with each guest to pinpoint exactly where their tipping point is, ensuring our therapies stay on the beneficial side of that boundary. Each guest’s stay begins with rigorous health assessments to identify individual needs, goals, and limits.
Determining the correct dose of stress “depends on many factors, including the type of stressor, the duration, intensity, individual variability,” explains Gaitanos. You’ll know when you’ve reached your hormetic zone when “you start seeing positive benefits that outway any potential harm.” Start low and go slow, building in plenty of time for recovery so that the body can reset, adapt, and progress.
The improvements compound over time, leaving you a little more agile, responsive, rejuvenated with each visit. You can do so much more with just a little bit less.
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