HEALTHY HOLIDAYS

Posted on 08/15/2016

Most holidays I return home with extra weight on my frame as well as in my suitcase. Not this time. After a week at Grayshott Spa in the UK, I slimmer, healthier and more informed on how to live right. Others in my group who participated in the Grayshott regime that week saw blood sugar and cholesterol go from high to normal. These amazing results were all achieved through a programme for digestive health.

For over fifty years Grayshott has been a retreat for people looking to address health issues and improve their well-being. However the particular regime they offer now was developed just three years ago and is based on the belief that a healthy gut leads to a long life. It’s not a weight loss programme but a health one, designed to repair the ecosystem of bacteria that populate our intestines.
Clinical Nutritionist Stephanie Moore and Director of Natural Therapeutics Elaine Williams put together the programme based on their years of studies and experience helping people with diseases of the 21st century, namely cancer, diabetes, heart disease and obesity. “The gut is the centre of your universe for health,” says Moore.
Grayshott is a settlement in Surrey southwest of London that dates back to 1167. The Manor House, which forms the nucleus of the current spa, was built in 1868. It became a Health and Fitness Retreat in 1965 and new wings were built to expand its number of bedrooms. With time a gym complex, tennis courts, exercise studio and pools were added.
In 2005, restaurateur and hotelier, Simon Lowe purchased the property and began a refurbishment programme that continues to this day. He was the mastermind behind the change from a regular spa with a calorie-control programme to a wellness focus based on the latest medical discoveries. “Being a spa is no longer recognized as being special. We had to move into the need market as opposed to the want market,” he said.
In the sixties and seventies the spa had attracted celebrities and movie stars such as Roger Moore (one of the famous James Bond actors). The regime then was weight loss based on extreme dieting of the 500-calorie-a-day lemon water and lettuce kind. Today the gut health emphasis attracts recuperating cancer patients (there are special programmes for them), people with chronic fatigue, heart issues and other serious conditions. About seventy percent of the guests return regularly.
My husband had a recent challenge with prostate cancer and I just wanted to reboot my system after many years of constant travel and stress. We chose to stay in the Manor House and our room was generous in size with a modern bathroom and windows that overlooked the gardens and the nine-hole golf course on the estate.
Our week started with health assessments which included blood work to assess cholesterol levels, fasting blood sugar, liver function and other health indicators. We also had a body composition analysis done by a special machine which read fat and muscle mass and showed where it was distributed in our bodies. Now that was scary enough to motivate both of us to follow the diet and listen to the daily lectures.
Participants on this regime do lose an average of seven pounds a week but that’s just a bonus. Even more important, diabetes often goes into remission, bad cholesterol levels and blood sugar drop and depression can be lifted.
There were about a dozen of us signed up for the regime during the week we were there and our lunches were always taken together after an hour lecture. (The spa takes an average of 10 to 12 people a week on the regime. Other spa guests eat well and healthy from the regular menus.) The particular health professional who gave the lecture joined us on that day to answer questions during lunch. While our breakfasts and dinners were also a specific diet, we could enjoy those in the main dining room or in our rooms.
Every meal started with a fermented vegetable such as sauerkraut, and a shot of herbal bitters. Probiotic supplements were offered at lunch. Everyone also had abdominal massages, hydrotherapy baths and castor oil compresses as part of the regime but you could add on other more enjoyable spa treatments. My husband and I went for body massages, scrubs, facials, pedicures and wraps – the whole gamut of spa treats. All this was pulled together in a daily individual activity schedule for each of us.
In our free time we joined some of the daily walks through the beautiful National Conservation area beside the estate, the fitness classes and nightly movies. We were so busy from dawn to nightfall that we didn’t even get into the town of Grayshott for a visit. But it was our choice.
As to the meals? They were generally delicious, especially the soups, despite being entirely sugar, gluten and grain free. The diet is somewhat akin to the paleo diet. In the paleo diet, if a caveman couldn’t eat it, neither can you. This means eating anything man could hunt or find – meats, fish, nuts, leafy greens, local vegetables and fruits, and seeds. No processed foods such as pasta, cereal, candy, margarine and breads.
In the Grayshott diet, coffee is also verboten as are all artificial sweeteners. No wines or spirits the first three weeks and limited amounts after that. Animal fat is good as are olive oil and coconut oil but not highly processed canola and corn oils. Two days a week are fasting days – no breakfast, a good filling lunch that follows the diet, and broth only for dinner. The idea is to give your gut a rest twice a week.
We were given handouts about the principals of low glycemic/high fibre eating, high intensity/short interval exercise and intermittent fasting (all Grayshott recommendations for long term health). To continue the diet at home, we could purchase the book Gut Gastronomy by the executive chef of Grayshott Adam Palmer and Vicki Edgson with good recipes to follow based on the health regime created Moore and Williams.