A gut feeling
Every year in England more than one million people are diagnosed with a digestive condition. And that’s just the ones who have given in and gone to the doctor. Many of us soldier on with over-the-counter remedies for bloating, skin rashes, constipation, diarrhoea and fatigue. Not to mention mood swings, sleeplessness, headaches and migraines.
Sadly they don’t always work. And even if they do, they are usually masking a greater problem. Call it a ‘gut feeling’ but most sufferers of digestive problems intuitively realise that pillpopping is not the answer. But what is? Surprisingly, it appears to be hidden in a tranquil corner of Surrey in a beautiful house that was once home to Lord Alfred Tennyson, but is now the poetic setting for Grayshott Spa.
Digestive regime
Working on the certain knowledge that almost everything can be traced back to the gut – there are more nerve cells in the intestine than in the rest of the nervous system and 95 per cent of the feel-good hormone serotonin is located there – resident nutritionist Stephanie Moore has composed a tough, seven day digestive regime that strips things back to their bare basics.
Her core belief is that we need to switch our guts from being sugar burners into fat burners. In essence, the message needs to be sent to the system that it isn’t going to get a quick energy ‘hit’ from a nice croissant, so it needs to start burning up those fatty deposits left around our middle.
The aim of the programme is not to lose weight but, inevitably, one side effect of being refused refined carbs and sugars is waist reduction. I lost 4lb, while one of my fellow ‘inmates’ lost almost half a stone. On arrival, everyone is checked in by a registered nurse, weighed, their BMIs taken and given pinprick blood tests in order to highlight possible problems with blood-sugar levels or high cholesterol.
A flatter stomach
Those on the digestive regime (groups of six to eight) are treated separately from other visitors and it has a pleasantly bonding effect. We were the ones wearing blue wristbands: no admittance to the bar for us. While others were sipping a pre-supper Chardonnay, we were encouraging each other to down the cocktail of digestive bitters presented before each meal in order to kick-start the gut.
Food on the programme is delivered on the 5:2 diet principle, which inadvertently offers a great chance to train the body into this semi-fasting routine where you can eat freely for five days, so long as you fast for two. Bizarrely, you don’t feel hungry, although for the first couple of days, those of us with a sweet tooth did crave the chance to stroke a chocolate wrapper. But it does pass and it is incredibly liberating – the feeling that a balloon has been popped. In my case the reduction in the size of my stomach was a reason to steel my nerve for the fast days of zero brekkie, a reasonable lunch, and a thin broth for supper, delivered to your room, presumably to stop you throwing yourself on the floor sobbing for more.
On non-fast days, the food was plentiful, with menus carefully designed by the nutritionists. Breakfast could be eggs with grilled mushrooms or a piquillo pepper and spinach omelette. Lunch choices included roasted sea trout, followed by chargrilled beef fillet or pan-fried fillet of plaice. And supper options included a corn-fed poussin or salmon fillet.
There are daily lectures by experts, who afterwards join the ‘regimers’ for lunch and free delivery of even more information. Fundamental to the efficacy of the regime is the treatment of the liver – if the gut is not functioning properly, the liver will be working too hard. Included as part of the weeklong treatment package are hydrotherapy baths, abdominal massage and castor-oil packs. In the latter, muslin drenched in castor oil is heated, then laid on top of the liver, and it does seem to have a positive ‘kickstart’ effect on this crucial organ.
Light exercise is encouraged in the form of daily walks around the surrounding National Trust land, along with yoga, Pilates and tai chi – it’s amazing what you find the time to do when you stop feeling so sluggish.
Everyone is different but, at the end of my stay, we all went home with flatter stomachs, less joint pain, clearer skin and heightened energy levels. Two had managed to lower their blood pressure and all of us vowed never to eat sugar. I’m not sure about the others, but I should confess that I have had the odd bickie. However, I resisted eating the whole packet.
Grayshott Spa, Headley Road, Grayshott, Surrey GU26 6JJ. A seven-day stay costs from £1,495 per person: 01428-602034, www.grayshottspa.com
Sadly they don’t always work. And even if they do, they are usually masking a greater problem. Call it a ‘gut feeling’ but most sufferers of digestive problems intuitively realise that pillpopping is not the answer. But what is? Surprisingly, it appears to be hidden in a tranquil corner of Surrey in a beautiful house that was once home to Lord Alfred Tennyson, but is now the poetic setting for Grayshott Spa.
Digestive regime
Working on the certain knowledge that almost everything can be traced back to the gut – there are more nerve cells in the intestine than in the rest of the nervous system and 95 per cent of the feel-good hormone serotonin is located there – resident nutritionist Stephanie Moore has composed a tough, seven day digestive regime that strips things back to their bare basics.
Her core belief is that we need to switch our guts from being sugar burners into fat burners. In essence, the message needs to be sent to the system that it isn’t going to get a quick energy ‘hit’ from a nice croissant, so it needs to start burning up those fatty deposits left around our middle.
The aim of the programme is not to lose weight but, inevitably, one side effect of being refused refined carbs and sugars is waist reduction. I lost 4lb, while one of my fellow ‘inmates’ lost almost half a stone. On arrival, everyone is checked in by a registered nurse, weighed, their BMIs taken and given pinprick blood tests in order to highlight possible problems with blood-sugar levels or high cholesterol.
A flatter stomach
Those on the digestive regime (groups of six to eight) are treated separately from other visitors and it has a pleasantly bonding effect. We were the ones wearing blue wristbands: no admittance to the bar for us. While others were sipping a pre-supper Chardonnay, we were encouraging each other to down the cocktail of digestive bitters presented before each meal in order to kick-start the gut.
Food on the programme is delivered on the 5:2 diet principle, which inadvertently offers a great chance to train the body into this semi-fasting routine where you can eat freely for five days, so long as you fast for two. Bizarrely, you don’t feel hungry, although for the first couple of days, those of us with a sweet tooth did crave the chance to stroke a chocolate wrapper. But it does pass and it is incredibly liberating – the feeling that a balloon has been popped. In my case the reduction in the size of my stomach was a reason to steel my nerve for the fast days of zero brekkie, a reasonable lunch, and a thin broth for supper, delivered to your room, presumably to stop you throwing yourself on the floor sobbing for more.
On non-fast days, the food was plentiful, with menus carefully designed by the nutritionists. Breakfast could be eggs with grilled mushrooms or a piquillo pepper and spinach omelette. Lunch choices included roasted sea trout, followed by chargrilled beef fillet or pan-fried fillet of plaice. And supper options included a corn-fed poussin or salmon fillet.
There are daily lectures by experts, who afterwards join the ‘regimers’ for lunch and free delivery of even more information. Fundamental to the efficacy of the regime is the treatment of the liver – if the gut is not functioning properly, the liver will be working too hard. Included as part of the weeklong treatment package are hydrotherapy baths, abdominal massage and castor-oil packs. In the latter, muslin drenched in castor oil is heated, then laid on top of the liver, and it does seem to have a positive ‘kickstart’ effect on this crucial organ.
Light exercise is encouraged in the form of daily walks around the surrounding National Trust land, along with yoga, Pilates and tai chi – it’s amazing what you find the time to do when you stop feeling so sluggish.
Everyone is different but, at the end of my stay, we all went home with flatter stomachs, less joint pain, clearer skin and heightened energy levels. Two had managed to lower their blood pressure and all of us vowed never to eat sugar. I’m not sure about the others, but I should confess that I have had the odd bickie. However, I resisted eating the whole packet.
Grayshott Spa, Headley Road, Grayshott, Surrey GU26 6JJ. A seven-day stay costs from £1,495 per person: 01428-602034, www.grayshottspa.com