Serving up a Storm
The annual Global Wellness Summit always provides us with some food for thought – and this year we’re taking that literally. Living a Well Life is the theme of the summit, which begins on October 8th, and will be exploring all aspects of what makes us feel good – and that includes what we eat.
It will be our MD’s fifth summit, but when Debbie first started attending, it was called the Global Spa and Wellness Summit. The change to focus on wellness has been a conscious one: it represents a shift to the holistic approach to well-being: physical, psychological and environmental influences as well as individual and collective responsibilities.
That’s not to say that spa treatments are out of favour - breathe a sigh of relief - rather it’s a recognition that these treatments are one aspect of a bigger deal in which well-being is a 24/7 job, from taking care of our sleep to what we put on our body and what we put in it.
With the Global Wellness Summit being held in Florida this year, we were interested to see that the USA is top of the list of countries that are the most enthusiastic meat-eaters (no surprises there). In second place is a surprising Kuwait, with the barbie capital of the world, Australia, coming in at third.
The UK was 30th, a stat that’s borne out by our own staff. Our non-meat eaters are motivated by a whole range of reasons, from animal welfare to the dangers of eating too much red meat and an aversion to the taste of it. A fair few have seen how a change in diet can have dramatic effects: our resident part-time vegan is now enjoying renewed energy levels after deciding to limit her meat intake to the weekend and eating plant-based foods in the week. The key, she says is not to stress about it: if she fancies a steak once in a while, then that may be because her body is telling her she needs it.
Nutrition and diet will be part of the programme of lectures and events at the Global Wellness Summit, alongside sessions on wellbeing and technology, genetics and new concepts in beauty therapy. We’ll be expecting a thought-provoking update from our MD.