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We know when we’ve done wrong. Eaten too much, and rubbish food. Binged on Netflix. Not kept up with the exercise regime we started. Our unconscious sends guilt signals that we try to ignore. Then perhaps in a moment of enlightenment we commit to suffering to repent our sins. The dreaded diet. For some people the yo-yo of diet and weight gain has become normalised into their two-wardrobe lives, but there’s much more help and information available now to maintain stable weight and improve our healthspan.
Throughout history most deaths were from external factors. Wars, plant and animal borne bacteria, viruses and disease. Peace along with societal and medical advances changed that. Now more deaths come from disease that starts within the body, through lifestyle factors that ultimately dispatch our souls before the sell by dates of potential life expectancy. As our body is the only home we ever truly own, I think it deserves the attention to ensure its wellbeing for as long as possible.
The importance of gut health is only recently being recognised. We have many more bacteria in our bodies than our own cells, and in the gut, this biome determines our overall health. Recent research shows that the gut’s nervous system acts like a second brain and the composition of its microbiota can affect our behaviours, sometimes fatally.
Poor gut health can initiate and impact the most serious of human diseases including Alzheimer’s, cancers, heart disease, diabetes, weight gain and depression. Not to mention the quality of one’s hair.
Much of the poor health people suffer has come from unconscious lifestyle habits built up over time. Becoming conscious of these negative habits and shifting to more informed choices pays off in overall wellbeing. For me, visiting retreats like RAKxa Medispa are an education as much as a detox and a reset of values.
Hair shirts: made from rough animal hair and worn against the skin so the coarse hair will irritate and scratch. Some even included bits of spiked metal to inflict more pain on the wearer. These versions were used only by those seeking greater penitence, or the most ‘holier-than-thou’ virtue signallers. Garments from camel hair and sackcloth go back to biblical times but hair shirts reached their peak of popularity in the middle ages.
I don’t follow the Krispy Kreme diet in London, so imprisoning ourselves at an austerity spa so they can starve us isn’t appealing. It doesn’t have to be that way anymore. The most modern medispas are like luxury hotels, some with Michelin-starred chefs and an abundance of guided leisure activities to promote mind and body wellbeing.
Even the drinks recipes are tested for sugar content, and if it spikes too high, it doesn’t make it onto the menu. Because of this, certain fruits are avoided. There’s no coffee after midday and no alcohol. But the botanical drinks, a delicate blends of flowers, herbs, fruit and vegetables, were so delicious I stopped caring.
RAKxa Medispa offers 7 and 10 day Gut Health programmes at their beautiful wellness resort.
Michael Van Clarke
This moist fluffy cake is so quick and easy, it's often the first thing French children are taught to bake. Popular across the Mediterranean this Greek yoghurt version helps with the light airy texture. You can also mix everything into one pot so there's very little clearing up after, and the aroma of fresh baking with vanilla wafting through the house gives a warm homely feel, said Michael!
