Top spas and spa breaks for healthy eating and nutrition

Healthy eating and nutrition is an essential part of a spa experienced focused on boosting health and wellness. Every year we learn more about the importance of nutrition when it comes to overall wellbeing - the impact of our gut health on our emotional and neurological in addition to physical wellness, but food is also a joyful part of a spa break too.

Personalising healthy eating and nutrition

What we want as consumers is a beautiful experience that makes us feel great and also has provable benefits. That, and a break from the onslaught of information on fad diets and universal ‘shoulds’ when it comes to what we do and don’t consume. The Global Wellness Summit has previously said:

“the emergence of epigenetics has shown that our genes are fluid and are shaped by our behaviour (such as healthy diet, exercise, stress management and other lifestyle and environmental choices). This means what we do is much more important than our genetic map.”

The research on personalisation when it comes to nutrition based on DNA, blood biomarkers and genotypes, is still in its early days, but it seems that we can afford to live a little less by the strict doctrines of fads and prescriptive diets and find practices that work for us. Maybe even enjoy them in the process. The wonderful thing is that there are some beautiful wellbeing spa experiences that help empower us with knowledge when it comes to nutrition, diet and healthy eating, enjoying our food and boosting our health..

Spa breaks for healthy eating and nutrition:

Lifehouse Spa and Hotel, Essex

Lifehouse Spa is not only a beautiful place, but its spa is overseen by naturopath Sue Davis, who in herself is a heart-warming person to spend time around. She designs spa experiences that are simultaneously indulgent and health boosting, and healthy food and nutrition are very much at its heart. They grow much of their own produce on site, and their Your Health, Your Way spa break gives you the opportunity to tailor your spa break to your preferred goals, choosing meals from their Detox and Cleanse, Weight Loss or Standard Wellness menus.

Champneys, various locations

A wellness bastion known for their luxurious and knowledgeable approach to health and wellbeing, it was founded by naturopath Stanley Lief in 1925. Much of its ethos centres around showing that health and indulgence do not have to be mutually exclusive, and that healthy eating and nutrition can be rewarding and fun as well. As a result, their healthy eating philosophy is a cornerstone of the experience. Alcohol is limited; instead they offer a bounty of healthy fare that celebrates British heritage as well as an international influence. Everything that’s served is innovative and tantalising, designed to make you feel your best by the time you leave.

Glass House Retreat, Essex

The ultra-modern, eco-friendly Glass House Retreat in Essex has many things to recommend it, but one key element is its nutritional offering. They focus on plant-based cuisine - a healthy vegan menu of seasonal fruits, vegetables, nuts, and grains—local, fresh, and delivered daily. The whole purpose is to make you feel cared for, happier and healthier than when you arrived as part of a luxury detox and wellness retreat.

The Salthouse Hotel, County Antrim

This eco-friendly hotel is about wellness on every level - mind, body, soul and the environment. They actually have a negative carbon footprint, meaning they produce more energy than they use, thanks to a combination of measures ranging from no single use plastic, their own windmill to generate electricity, water from their own well and solar panels for heating. Food follows the same ethos and as a result manages to be both luxurious and intrinsically good for you. Everything is sustainably sourced, and much of the menu features seafood fresh from the pier in Ballycastle. This is not a place for hard core detox - there's certainly a cocktail or two to be enjoyed, counterbalanced by harmony with the world around you, great joy in everything you consume and a beautiful surrounding environment to explore.