food & drink
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Healthy eating is the key says nutritionist Kathryn Johnson
n this month for fresh starts and resolutions the hype around how to purify yourself from within is at its peak and virtually any concentrated effort on this front is fashionably and loosely labelled as detox. What is this really, and do you need to bother? Detoxification is a natural function of the human body. It’s an ongoing, biological process performed daily without any conscious intervention. The liver for instance is constantly filtering substances within our digestive tract. We are geared up to eliminate waste and avoid the build-up of substances that have the capacity to be harmful. These substances can be ingested via our mouths through food and drink, or via our skin and lungs through chemicals in our environment. In addition to the liver, there are four essential eliminatory organs in the body. This means there are various ways to detox - and you may need to try more than one approach to bring them back to full function. After all, if you plan to release accumulated toxins, you’ll need to ensure that your all exit routes are clear. This means there are also different levels of detox such as a therapeutic cleanse, intense healing, or maintenance regime. Plus, a structured order. But unless you are seriously ill, simple, real food and drink serve us well as both fuel and medicine to support your organs. Good choices are:
Liver: pure water, fresh juices with grapes, citrus, prunes or berries, and herbal teas, especially nettle. Bowels: include fibrous, water-rich foods in the form of vegetables and clean drinks that don’t immediately run through you. Flax, chia seed gels or green smoothies for example. Skin: hydration from within, and top-to-toe skin brushing to stimulate the lymphatic system. Lungs: breathing exercises for eliminating waste gases; moderate but daily activities to encourage perspiration, tone organs and aid circulation to push nutrients into cells and pull toxins out. It is easy to be drawn into a refreshed and re-energised vision of oneself at this time of year. However, January is possibly the worst month to embark on a severe new regime when our biological dials tend towards rest and comfort rather than challenge. If you’ve been over-doing it, by all means lighten the load on your body. Take some positive steps in the form of small consistent actions. Short, sharp regimes will shock the system - never a good thing - and have limited benefits. Take your cue from how your body naturally works, which is subtly, and day-to-day. Go gently. n Kathryn Johnson of Raw Appetite is raw food teacher based in High Peak, working in Cheshire and Manchester focusing on ‘real food’. www.rawappetite.com cheshirelife.co.uk
Recipes: Kale green smoothie
Alkaline breakfast
Kale is seasonal, inexpensive and an effective cleanser. For robust palates, try half the amount of parsley or coriander. Always partner greens with a little fat to help extract more nutrition. Chia and flax seeds are fabulous sources of omega 3s; the additional fats will benefit your metabolism and skin during harsher weather.
Despite the name buckwheat is a seed, and gluten-free. High in fibre plus important minerals. Cinnamon is a great anti-oxidant, as are blueberries
Ingredients 2 Tbsp buckwheat, soaked overnight and rinsed 1/2 orange, peeled and segmented
Ingredients
1 ripe banana
2 handfuls of kale (mix or sub with a little parsley or coriander)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 ripe pear, or a handful of berries 1 tblsp chia or flax seeds, soaked overnight 1 tsp almond butter or coconut oil or 1/4 avocado 2 cups coconut water/plain water, cold nettle tea
Handful of blueberries (or other berries) A small nub of fresh grated ginger (optional) 1-2 tbsp water (or non-dairy milk of choice)
Method
2 dried figs or prunes, soaked overnight (optional)
1. Set aside a couple of teaspoons of buckwheat. Put the rest into a blender, along with the segmented orange, banana, cinnamon (and ginger if using)
Method
2. Blend to a creamy consistency
1. De-stem and wash kale 2. Wash, core and roughly chop pear, or rinse berries 3. Put everything into a blender and whizz until smooth. Takes 10-15 seconds. Dilute to desired consistency
3. Transfer to a breakfast bowl, stirring in the reserved buckwheat to provide texture and crunch 4. Garnish with the berries, and serve
4. Pour and drink. The smoothie will thicken the longer you leave it; if not consuming immediately, be prepared to stir and dilute later on.
Right: Kale smoothie
Did you know? The four organs of elimination, with approx. % of waste they process are: the lungs (70%), skin (20%), bladder (8%), bowel (2%). Four everyday actions for January: Practice deep breathing techniques to get rid of waste gases. Clear your bladder by drinking hydrating fluids throughout the day. Maintain regular bowel movements with water-rich, fibrous foods, preferably fresh vegetables.
Keep your circulation and lymphatic systems moving with regular exercise, skin brushing or hot and cold showers.
Raw Appetite supports individuals struggling to make dietary changes. In January and February the focus is on gentle de-cluttering to prepare for Spring. For more details: www.rawappetite. com/nutrition-and-raw-food-classes/ > CHESHIRE LIFE January 2015
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food & drink
Ti Sana
Ti Sana lunch
Pure indulgence Janet Reeder embarks on a Wellbeing Escapes weekend to the Ti Sana Detox Retreat
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rriving in Milan, I feel a little stab of jealousy as everyone else disembarks our Ryanair jet and heads for the designer shops in fashion city. It’s winter, dark and I don’t know where I’m heading but it’s definitely not for Prada and Gucci. My Wellbeing Escapes experience is at Ti Sana - a retreat in every sense of the word. Set within a tranquil hamlet amidst some stunning mountainous scenery it is the perfect place to accept, listen and observe. There are things you may find out here that may even challenge your own perceptions of yourself. I had read all the literature about preparing for the experience but didn’t exactly keep up with the ‘no caffeine, lots of water’ regimen recommended before my booster programme. I resisted having a G&T on the flight which was definitely a good thing as I was immediately hooked to a high tech machine called the TomEEx, that in effect measures the composition of the body and how it deals with stress. In my case worse than I thought. I exercise and eat lots of fresh vegetables but this isn’t enough. It has to be the right sort of exercise and I learned my erratic eating habits were causing me to load fat.
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Mario, the boyishly handsome in-house nutritionist, gave me the not so encouraging results before I retreated to my amply proportioned room. With its beautiful rare Brazilian wood flooring, ancient beams and contemporary decor it was a soothing place. That night I drank a litre of water with a dinner consisting of broccoli soup and a surprisingly delicious fennel stuffed with soy and vegetables. I awoke next morning and headed over for a breakfast of granola and dried fruit with soya milk and a sensational fresh carrot and lemon juice before taking a prescribed two hour walk with Mario, where I learned there was a bar dangerously close by, but then nothing much, except those mountain views and a pretty chapel devoted to miracles. Afterwards Mario gave me the lowdown on nutrition. Causes of stress and depression in our lives are chronic inflammatory disease, bad nutrition and bad exercise. Good ways to change body composition are good nutrition and increasing muscle. A picture was emerging. I hadn’t the muscle I had when I was younger so I wasn’t burning up fat in my sleep and
stoking up on carbs at night was definitely a case of bad eating. The booster programme included a face and neck massage, more delicious juices at ‘snack’ times, sometimes a protein drink and personal training in which I was shown how I could build up muscle. I enjoyed massages on both days I was there and a long soak in an Ofuro bath which I may have stayed in too long because I had a very red face afterwards. In spite of this, I am a convert. This is certainly no quick fix option to get slim or sort out your head, more an inspiring starting point to a healthier lifestyle (though I did lose about two kilos). Those feeling they need a kickstart to a better way of looking after themselves should book in immediately.
Wellbeing Escapes offer ‘Detox Holiday’ packages at Ti Sana with the minimum of a seven night programme starting at £1,745. This includes a full-board stay with a range of holistic wellness treatments and activities. www.wellbeingescapes.com; 0207 644 6111; info@wellbeingescapes.com Full package details www.wellbeingescapes. com/ti-sana-italy-html cheshirelife.co.uk