SOME 50 people – including myself – have just commenced my most recent detox programme.

People are often surprised to learn that 'The Detox', as it has become known locally, existed before Nature’s Choice.

The Detox in fact encapsulates everything that Nature’s Choice was founded upon – that food is our primary medicine, and our diet cannot be ignored in the journey towards good health.

The Detox aims to provide participants with the beneficial experience of living on a clean and healthy diet for six weeks while at the same time providing education in the role that good nutritional choices have to play in looking after both our physical and mental health.

Participants leave the programme armed with both experience and increased knowledge regarding their diet, and I believe The Detox’s long success lies in this two-pronged offering.

The Detox diet is a sensible and healthy eating plan and participants are encouraged to adhere strictly to it. It may be regarded by some as an 'elimination' diet, as it involves giving up tea, coffee, alcohol, wheat, sugar and pork.

However, I prefer to encourage participants to focus on what they can eat and drink, rather than what they are giving up.

Lots of choice exists within the diet plan and people are often surprised by both the variety and quantity of food that they are allowed to have.

While it is normal for people to lose weight over the duration of The Detox, its primary focus is always health.

The Detox is not a weight loss programme and participants do not go hungry. If someone is carrying weight that is detrimental to their general health, then of course I am interested in helping them to lose it.

If they adhere to the diet plan, they will. Participants however are not weighed weekly, and little time is given over to discussing weight and weight loss.

People usually come on the programme with a specific ailment that they are hoping to gain relief from, or chasing the overall health benefits that The Detox has to offer. Few, if any, go away disappointed.

The beneficial results of the Detox never cease to amaze me and yet I shouldn’t really be surprised. When we adjust and improve our diet to provide a better environment for health and healing to occur within our body, then that’s exactly what happens.

I have seen The Detox help alleviate all sorts of ailments: chronic headaches, indigestion and heart burn, irritable bowel conditions, constipation, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and sugar control, tiredness and fatigue, muscular and skeletal aches and pains of all sorts, eczema, psoriasis and dry skin conditions, hormonal issues from PMT to menopausal symptoms, anxiety, stress and low mood!

These are just some of the ailments that regularly feature on The Detox, and which participants gain relief from.

However, it is the overall feel-good factor to be gained from participating in The Detox that brings many people back again and again.

The Detox enjoys a very successful repeat rating. Participants report that they feel more energised, revitalised and fit for life. Their sleep pattern improves and they feel relaxed calm and in better form, and as many people claim benefits mentally as they do physically.

Participants have often told me that they feel happier as a result of completing The Detox and that, for me, is a great result.

Amazingly, 'The Detox' is 27 years old and thankfully it remains as popular as ever. Like many others, I had to learn how to communicate and deliver in new ways during lockdown, and the current programme is the third to be delivered over Zoom online meetings.

I’m delighted that the demand for The Detox remained throughout the pandemic. It demonstrated for me that Nature’s Choices’ customers understood the role that diet and nutrition had to play in protecting and looking after their health during a time when health came into very sharp focus.

"Your health is your wealth", as the old saying goes, and it really is just a fool who believes their diet has no role to play.

Note that the next Detox programme will commence during October. The current programme has commenced, and is fully booked.