What to expect from the retreat cuisine. Q&A with TobiPurification is not only an element in the name of the retreats - it is at the nexus of it all. Hence, the meals we serve at HOLON Purifying Retreats are designed to purify you. How? Each meal revolves around an understanding of pH value and is designed to give you an alkaline boost, prompting your body to release the toxins that it has been storing.
Here is a Q&A with Tobi, my partner and a certified holistic health practitioner, who makes all the pure, delicious and highly addictive "raw magic" in the kitchen during our retreats.
What does alkaline mean when it comes to food?
Food, just like any liquid, has a pH value that ranges from 1 (very acidic) to 12 (very alkaline). pH means Potential of Hydrogen. For an optimum pH balance, 80% of our food intake needs to have an alkaline effect on our body, as its optimal pH value and natural, healthy state lies at pH 8.4 in the interstitial fluid. White bread, for example, has a pH value of 4, cheese, wine and meat of 3. Almonds, spinach, broccoli, celery and hemp oil, on the other hand, have pH values between 8-10. These are the foods that keep our body in a healthy state.
Why is it beneficial to have an alkaline diet?
The pH value of our interstitial fluids has to be 8.4 to be constantly healthy. The task, then, is to keep it exactly at this point, which is where the food comes in. We cannot be healthy if we eat acidic industrial food that changes our interstitial pH value and threatens the pH value of our blood (7.365). Eating alkaline means purifying faster, recovering faster, building up new tissue faster, being more vital, having a clearer mind and better focus, having optimal blood and fluid circulation, losing excess weight, having clearer skin … In a nutshell, eating alkaline means giving our body the chance to get back to its ideal workflow and natural, healthy state.
Can an alkaline diet be delicious?
If you know how, an alkaline diet can be incredibly scrumptious. Since it features a lot of non-cooked foods, its taste range is exceptionally wide. You will find out that it is way more delicious than the food that we are accustomed to. A simple salad, for example, consisting of spinach, beetroot, carrot, apple, celery, cucumber, fennel seeds, cumin, lemon, hemp oil, Himalayan salt and pepper, is a taste explosion. If you add some homemade cashew-based caesar dressing to it, it gets even better. The possibilities of alkaline cuisine are endless and you will be amazed.
Will I always feel hungry on an alkaline diet or do I need to be ready to starve during the retreat?
A commonly asked question. Our body wants and needs alkaline foods. If you give it what it asks for, it will be totally satisfied and so will you. A lot of people even notice after two or three days that their hunger subsides. This is a natural reaction due to the alkaline foods that you are finally providing your temple with.
Hunger and food cravings are due to an overly acidic lifestyle and diet. Your body craves things it is lacking. Negatively charged ions like minerals, vitamins, healthy salts, green vegetables, healthy oils. If you start eating those foods, your cravings will stop and you will definitely not starve during the retreats. On the contrary, you will be satisfied and content.
What will we be eating during the retreat days, for example?
We will be eating salads - lots of salads in very different forms. The emphasis will be on raw foods that have not been exposed to temperatures above 40°C. There will also be raw chocolate, brownies, bread, pizza, burgers made from buckwheat, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, or a Bolognese far surpassing the Bolognese that you have known until now. But we will also enjoy beverages like a homemade raw almond milk with vanilla and cinnamon, or celery shots that clean out your entire system.
What results can one expect from an alkaline diet over a course of five days?
Results vary from person to person, but so far, during our last retreats, we have witnessed incredible things happening. As soon as you give your body the opportunity to clean house and purify, it will jump at the chance. Pain will vanish, you will lose weight, you will feel a lot more vital and energetic, you will sleep better and your digestion may well improve significantly. But like I said, reactions vary from person to person. I guess you might just have to join us and find out.
Is it healthy to eat alkaline and vegan if I don’t eat like this in my everyday life?
Eating alkaline is always healthy, for everybody, everywhere, at any time. It cannot harm our bodies, while "normal" food habits certainly can. This is a law of nature. This is the way we have to eat if we want to be healthy. It does not matter where you come from and how you have been eating so far. The right time to start the process and get your body back to a natural, alkaline state is always the here and now. I promise you the retreat will put you on a new food trajectory.
