After two weeks in New York and still suffering from the most horrendous jet lag I decided that the “you’ll get over it, just let nature take its course” approach was a farce and that I needed to intervene. It’s been debilitating; not only can I not sleep but my appetite has been back-to-front and upside-down: on the blink one day and insatiable the next. I mean isn’t the blistering heat bad enough?
Anyway, after a bit of research I got up on Saturday morning and skedaddled down 8th Avenue towards the West Village in search of Gwyneth Paltrow’s detox delivery service of choice, Organic Avenue, famed for their five-day LOVE (Live Organic Vegan Experience) cleanses, in an attempt to give myself a much needed boost, a pick me up, so to speak.
A LOVE cleanse, by the way (there are five in total: love, easy, deep, more and young) involves consuming seven or more daily meals carefully devised according to your constitution and whether or not you’re familiar with the Organic Avenue programs. As such you end up slurping and/or savouring an array of elixirs (such as chlorophyll, aloe or ginger), juices (such as kale with carrot and parsley), smoothies (such as blueberry spirilina or goji berry) soups (such as cucumber and basil) and mylks (such as almond or coconut), as well as a handful of salads and raw food-style dips and desserts. Rather than dive straight into a prescribed cleanse, however, I thought I’d start by trying my own selection. And I have to say, so far so good; I feel a whole lot better. Which is a relief, for those potions and portions don’t come cheap.
So as I sit here sucking back 16oz of Green LOVE (at $11.00 a pop) I can’t help but think how lucky we are back home to have access to healthy yet affordable food, food that – on the whole - doesn’t rely on gimmicks, campaigns or celebrity endorsements. There are so many great little places that share the Organic Avenue-style philosophy, providing care and giving us the tools and know-how to live healthy and be healthy. Start your search engines now.