What is Quantum Wellness?

In a recent blog, I mentioned that I bought the book “Quantum Wellness” when I saw the author's interview (Kathy Freston) on Ellen. The real story is, I wasn't really able to listen to the interview because I was washing the dishes but what stuck in my mind were the yummy food shown on the show! Haha...

Anyway, "quantum wellness" as Freston defines it is about the tiny little things that we invest our energy in every day and every moment. The more we put effort into achieving wellness like eating more consciously, we begin to see positive shifts in our lives and eventually, we reach a tipping point, a breakthrough or quantum leap.

Freston identified the 8 Pillars of Wellness which are:
1. meditation
2. visualization
3. fun activities
4. conscious eating
5. exercise
6. self-work
7. spiritual practice
8. service

She also recommends a cleanse - or a short-term fast, during which you give up certain foods for a period of time. By doing a cleanse, it's as if you're giving your body a short-term vacation so it will be able to relax and detox (get rid of all the accumulated junk, artificial flavors, coloring agents, pesticides, pollution, etc. stored up in our body).

During the cleanse, there are 5 things to avoid (btw, the cleanse is ideally 21 days but Freston suggests that beginners may go just a day or 2):

Sugar. When we eat sugar, it turns into glucose in our blood. When the body senses that there's more sugar in our system than the body needs, it produces insulin in the pancreas. Insulin is released to store the glucose in our blood not being burned up, which is in turn stored in the liver and muscles. When the limited storage is full, insulin will help turn the sugar energy into fat.

Alcohol. Alcohol depletes the brain of its natural mood-enhancing chemicals and can overload the liver with toxicity. Abstaining from alcohol will allow our liver to heal, regenerate and cleanse itself.

Caffeine. Caffeine artificially stimulates the release adrenaline, thus, our adrenal glands may not have enough time to rest if we're consuming too much of it. This results in increased feelings of exhaustion, even when the brain is ordering the release of adrenaline (whether stimulated by caffeine or naturally). That's why if you're a coffee drinker, you may find that you need more and more caffeine to feel awake or even normal.

Gluten. Gluten is a protein found in many foods like wheat and rye, and it is a common irritant of the small intestine which may prevent the absorption of nutrients and vitamins.

Animal products. Meat, fish, eggs, milk, dairy, etc. Freston tackles animal cruelty, the environmental impact of livestock and poultry (approximately 1/5 of the emissions causing global warming), the negative energy that goes into food when it's not properly prepared or processed and how certain foods can become carcinogenic when cooked, among many other things.

And yes, before I forget, the book contains recipes of the yummy food I saw on TV!:) Anyway, I haven't attempted the cleanse yet. Everything sounds easy except giving up animal products. I rarely eat meat (ok, I did have steak at Mamou yday but that's about my quota for the week already) but I don't think I can give up eating fish for 21 days. Let's see how this goes. Haha...