My fourth and final day at Ti Sana Detox Retreat began with treadmill and weight session at the beautiful Ti Sana gym – I felt like I was getting my energy back post-juice cleanse and wanted to exercise!
Breakfast was a fresh juice and delicious granola with soya milk, and after breakfast I had a final session in the infrared sauna; it was having amazing effects on my skin, which was glowing! Following my spa visit, we were invited to a talk with Ti Sana’s owner, Amedeo D’Angelo, to find out more about the Ti Sana philosophy and how your lifestyle effects your longevity and health.
“What we do at Ti Sana is teach how to prevent chronic disease,” D’Angelo says. “We don’t claim to be healers, but we will teach you how to avoid getting sick. And when you take preventative measures, you heal.”
He discussed how Western healthcare systems are designed around the idea of stopping people from dying, however, they don’t ensuring good health and quality of life. And while they might help us to live longer, it’s not worthwhile unless we’re able to enjoy it!
“Doctors tend to only treat symptoms, no the root problem,” D’Angelo says. “In the Middle Ages, people died from diseases like pneumonia, tuberculosis, flu or plague. Today people are dying from heart attacks, blood pressure, obesity, cancer, Alzheimer’s – all chronic illness that can be avoided.”
Industrially produced foods are full of preservatives and toxins, and during digestion your body needs to manage all the chemicals. Saturated fats begin to build up a plaque in the arteries, while refined sugars and carbohydrates offer your body no enzymes or vitamins.
“To survive we need oxygen, water, sleep and food – but the right food in the right way,” he advises.
Which led me to ask, what’s his average diet? D’Angelo begins every day with a shot of fresh lemon juice, followed by exercise and a big salad to pump his body full of nutrients for the day. For lunch, he’ll have a soup or bean salad, and for dinner he’ll eat cooked vegetables, which are quick for the body to digest before sleeping.
“People tend to only think strategically about their careers, but not about their health,” D’Angelo says. “The difference between diet and lifestyle is ignorance. You need to take responsibility for your own health and understand the effects of your decisions.”
With that, it was lunch time (a vegan quiche with chickpea filling) and my chauffeur was waiting to take me back to the airport. While flying back to Amsterdam, while I literally digested my lunch, I also mentally digested all I had learned over the past three days. The question is: are you ready for a lifestyle change?
Text: Lydia Parafianowicz
