HEALTH FARMS

A health farm will not completely transform you within a week, but the rest, controlled exercise and dieting could make you feel much more fit and help you lose weight.

Health farms have something in common with luxury hotels, convalescent homes and religions retreats. You are offered comfort, a blueprint for health living and a chance to get away from it all. It is not everyone’s idea of a holiday and it is expensive, but a health farm can help you lose weight and make you feel a lot better in a very short time.

Health farms may improve your habits and sense of well-being, but they won’t cure you of any basic illness and, unless they state otherwise, they do not offer cures or treatments for specific problems.

WHAT HAPPENS AT A HEALTH FARM ?

In the first place you are expected to go to bed at a reasonable time and to rise fairly early in the morning, and to give up cigarettes and alcohol-at least while you are there.

The fist day should start with your being weighted and having your blood pressure taken by a qualified nurse. Then there should be a general check with a doctor who will want to know about any illness and also about your current lifestyle, worries and stresses. A dietician should then talk to you about your eating habits and should ask about any allergies or reactions to foods.

From all this you should be offered a programme tailored especially to suit you-including a course of carefully graduated exercises and recommendations for what you should do when you get home. It is at this point that expensive extras might appear-vitamin B injections, for instance, to compensate for taking too much alcohol, and special massages not included in the ordinary programme. All these items should be set out in the brochure, so you get some idea of the cost involved.

Many health farms start you off with a couple of days of fasting, to purify the system. It probably will not be total fasting, but you will not be offered much more than fruit juice. This tends to be delivered to your room, so you don’t have the agony of watching others eating their slightly more substantial fare.

Usually there is a choice of double and single rooms, with bathrooms attached, and meals may be served in the main dining room or in the bedrooms. Lunch is usually the main meal of the day, and the menu will be fairly limited with, of course, a strong bias towards natural foods. Some health farms are vegetarian, and all meals will be less than would normally satisfy hearty appetites. Muesli, yogurt, honey, cottage cheese, fruit juices and salads will probably feature on the menu.