Germanium/ゲルマニウム

I'm not talking this...

I'm talking this... There's an M in there.



"Gerumanium , it is located to the intermediate semiconductor element of the metal and the non-metal." --- "Gerumanium makes the bioelectric current of internal activate with the negative ion permeation effect, improves blood circulation, alleviates Cori and pain of fatigue and the muscle."

I don't know...but I sure want to buy one now!

That quote was borrowed from here. A site that sells Germanium bracelets btw.

I guess G-baths are the new craze these days. It's all over the TV. What you do is go to these spas, change into a bathrobe, and then proceed to soak your hands and feet in hot Germanium water. It's claim to fame is that it is supposed to promote celluar regeneration and stimulate the circulation. If nothing else it makes you sweat a lot. They always show a nice close up of some young girl with delicate globs of perspiration on her creamy white skin. One or two globs, mind you. "Oh, I have never sweated so much!" (Don't get me started on how Japanese have no pores).

Here's an interesting article that talks about how geeky cafes are changing their style to get women to start patronizing them. They do this by offering Germanium baths, nail salons, vegetable buffets and Thai stretching (?). Don't mind the overweight dude in high waters playing with his Kamen Rider action figure over there.

I guess Germanium isn't new to Japan though. In the 70's it was taken internally as a way to cure various diseases. Although, what people really got was renal failure and sometimes death. Bathing in it sounds so much more innocuous.

Too cheap to go to one of those spas, I instead spent the five bucks to get a little packet of Germanium bath salts. Five bucks! Little packet!

It's a cool package though. And boasting a pleasing fragrance of lemon and ginger, I just caved in and bought it. J ended up being the guinnea pig. This is like a kids paradise. First, it looks just like blood when you pour it in the bath water.
And then it had something like pop rocks in it, so it continually popped and snapped and crackled most of his bath time. There was some warning though to only stay in the bath for two to three minutes, then get out too cool off. I didn't really check on that but he survived. So...

I think I'm gonna have to go and do my own test though. I just asked how was it, "good". Was it different than other bath salts? "I don't know". So with that expert review...I'm off!