Listen to your gut. What does it tell you? If you’ve indulged in Christmas and New Year and frankly who hasn’t? – there’s a good chance he’ll beg you to take a break.
Gut health has never been more in the zeitgeist. The numbers alone are staggering. The 100 trillion bacteria currently living in your gut is roughly the same amount as in your brain, and could be having a similarly large impact on your current health.
After all, 70 percent of your immune system is located there. Imbalances between these good and bad bacteria have been linked not only to IBS, bloating, fatigue, and low mood, but also to neurological, cardiovascular, and respiratory diseases.
Those at the higher end of this scale know how miserable it can be when things don’t go the way they should, but we could probably all benefit from improving our gut health.
No wonder then that the market for it is booming. Nauseating supplements, workshops, and even vacations are proliferating. But many of these new retreats are heartbreakingly expensive, and some are definitely not set up by experts. So which so-called gut-friendly breaks actually stand a chance of improving your microbiome without hurting your wallet?
England
Goodwood Bowel Health Program Taste Day, West Sussex
Duration: One day
Price: Prices from £220 for a day package and £200 for a hostel
Designed by clinical nutritionist Stephanie Moore, Goodwood’s Gut Health Program is the gold standard in microbiome and metabolism management. Over five nights at the country house hotel, your body composition is analyzed, your belly is massaged, your body is scrubbed and your regular diet is reviewed by a nutritionist, while chefs present a program of gut-friendly meals. The premise here is that nearly every aspect of your health, from energy regulation, weight management and immune response to stress tolerance and sleep, requires a healthy, balanced gut.
Still. If you’re having trouble stomaching the £2,225 price tag, there’s a more affordable solution. The Gut Health Taste Day will teach you the basics in a single day, including a body scrub treatment, abdominal massage, skin microbiome facial and a three-course, gut-friendly, locally produced lunch. Afterwards, you can head to the health club to steam, swim and stretch.
Hawarden Manor, North Wales
Duration: maximum 2.5 hours
Price: Prices start from £30 per person (sessions cost £300 and maximum group size is 10). Property accommodation starts from £150 for a Beekeeper’s Cottage for two
What could be a more idyllic place to unwind your mind and gut than Hawarden Manor, comprising 3,500 acres of ancient woodland, country parkland, stunning lake and medieval castle? Its very modern regeneration now includes beautiful and characterful holiday cottages, an award-winning farm shop, wood-fired saunas and hot tubs in the walled garden, and a friendly, specialist focus on wellness.
Walled Garden School has a running program of masterclasses in massage, yoga and more, while guests can also enjoy a lesson on gut health and nutrition from local wellness and nutrition expert Emma Garland (also known as “The Good Food Yogi”). You can make a reservation for. Lessons are personalized; Emma speaks to each group and tailors each lesson to their specific needs. However, expect a practical focus on increasing plant diversity and fiber in your diet, as well as sampling some fermented foods; These are key factors for promoting good gut health, strengthening your microbiome and improving your immune system.
Bowel Reset Retreat, Cheshire
Duration: four days, three nights
Price: From £720
Clarissa Lenherr, who made her name at the Harley Street clinic, is one of the UK’s leading nutritionists. Housed in a mansion with an indoor pool, cinema room and 12 acres to explore, the retreats are aimed squarely at those seeking help with digestive symptoms and bloating. Participants are given three nutritious meals a day, undergo relaxing meditations and gong baths, are taught healing yoga movements, and attend nutrition workshops.
Europe
Amchara Gozo, Malta
Duration: three nights (longer stays possible)
Price: Prices from £850 per person
Amchara’s Gozo retreats are something of an insider secret (“it’s a beautiful place and run by well-trained nutritionists,” says leading nutritionist Samantha Bloom). The setting is gorgeous, towering palm trees, blue skies, honeyed stones and sparkling pool. The 16 apartments are also pretty swanky (designed by Sadie Frost, who has been a regular for more than a decade).
But the approach is far from superficial. Personalized health screenings, diet programs consisting of juices, soups, broths and supplements, daily raw food demos, nutrition talks and yoga classes are offered as standard. There are bookable extras for treatments ranging from reflexology to reiki, as well as more detailed health screenings. Unable to travel yet? Amchara started in Somerset, where they still hold regular retreats at a much lower cost.
Mind-Body-Food Retreat, Dalaman, Türkiye
Price: From £1,650 all inclusive
Duration: five nights
Nutritional therapy practitioner and intuitive eating coach Sarah Grant’s approach uses the latest research to help clients create a stress-free, sustainable relationship with their bodies and diets. Their retreat, which takes place with yoga teacher Emily Perrier, takes place just outside the picturesque fishing village of Kalkan, in a small holiday resort where beautiful terraces meet the deep blue sea.
Over the course of five nights (or eight if you plump for a longer retreat), Grant offers daily meditations and workshops focused on intuitive eating, while also fueling a carefully designed menu of local and largely vegetarian dishes designed to nourish your gut. Perrier, meanwhile, teaches two rebalancing yoga classes each day overlooking the ocean. Once you get home, you can have personal meetings with both women over Zoom to make sure you’re sticking to the new habits.
Spectacular intestinal retreat, Mallorca, Spain
Duration: four nights
Price: Prices from £750 per person
Nutritionist Hannah Richards has an impressive resume. He is the founder of The Gut Clinic in London (and author of the book of the same name), was previously the resident nutritionist at Petersham Nurseries, and also co-runs Move Three Sixty, a Gym and Holistic Health Clinic in Hampstead.
Their retreats in Mallorca are run in collaboration with yoga and reiki therapist Jenni Enigk. The food is organic, seasonal, and largely, but not exclusively, plant-based. Days are spent doing yoga, reiki and meditation. There are gut health masterclasses, extended cooking workshops, nature walks and breathwork classes. You can book naturopathic nutrition consultations, brahma massage and more at your leisure and for an additional fee. Or completely free – a siesta and swimming in the sea in the sun.
Oceano, Tenerife Spain
Duration: 10 days
Price: £1,100 for 10-day program, plus £1,393 for 10-night stay
This retreat isn’t exactly cheap – but it’s good value. Hidden from tourists in the lush mountains of the northeast coast, Oceano is a destination not only for nature lovers but also for the world-famous FX Mayr fasting method.
The Private FX Mayr Center was founded on the belief that overall health depends on your gut health. Signing up for a 10-day detox program is like checking your body in for a full service. A doctor will examine you and prepare a personal nutrition plan for the duration. This is followed by a meticulous process of lymphatic drainage, therapeutic massage, sea water baths, yoga classes, and – mind you – colon hydrotherapy.