According to Kathy Freston, quantum wellness refers to wellness in all aspects of our lives - physical, emotional, and spiritual. 

Her much publicized book, The Quantum Wellness Cleanse, has been getting a lot of publicity due to Oprah’s promotion of it and partaking in the 21-day mind/body/spirit makeover.  In the book, Kathy makes the claim that the cleanse will increase your energy, stop body aches and pains, deepen your awareness, give you clearer skin and eyes, and release you from addictions.repsfbxcontinuous

The Quantum Wellness Cleanse

What It Is

It is essentially 3 weeks of cutting out all caffeine, sugar, gluten, animal products, and alcohol.  In other words, you probably wouldn’t be able to touch anything that’s in your kitchen now.  She calls it conscious eating, which involves being “awake and aware of how food gets to our plate — and then choosing what we eat according to our values”.  People that subscribe to conscious eating typically eat a plant based diet - vegan.  That’s exactly what you’ll be doing on this 21-day cleanse.

Guiding You Through It

The book is truly a guide, in that it walks you through everything that you need to know to be successful during the cleanse.  There is a meditation for each day, an entire chapter on exercise, and vegan recipes. She even includes a grocery list to help you stock-up on the things you’ll need to survive for the 3 weeks.  The list includes items like gluten free bread, mixed-grain hot cereals, brown rice, quinoa, Irish steel-cut oats, sweet potatoes, rice cakes, flax crackers, vegan mayo, vegan butter, tempeh, tofu, gluten-free faux meats (vegan chicken patties, sausages, veggie crumbles, etc.), fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds, and a variety of beans and legumes.

Scientific Research

The claims that Kathy makes about this philosophy of eating are actually backed by science.  There are numerous studies supporting the idea that consuming a diet rich in animal protein can be very taxing and harmful to the body.  Non-vegetarian diets have been linked to higher rates of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and osteoporosis.

What People Are Saying

It could be the absence of sugar or it might be the perceived weightlessness associated with avoiding animal products and eating more fiber-rich fruits and vegetables, but people that have done the cleanse have reported a surge in energy that lasts all day long (even without the caffeine).  Just as the author promises, they are also able to sleep better through the night.  The weight loss is promising too - 6 pounds in 10 days.  It’s no surprise that vegans are known to have lower body mass indices than non-vegans.

The Final Word

Once you push past the initial headaches from caffeine and sugar withdrawal, you should start to feel the beginnings of your “inner makeover”. For some, the experience will be profound and life changing.  For others, it will be a simple and effective detox program to jump start your weight loss.  If you are not willing to make a long-term commitment to this sort of drastic change in your lifestyle at the end of the 21-day period, definitely begin transitioning to a healthful plan that may be more suitable for you.  Don’t kill yourself trying to stick with something so restrictive that you are not passionate about because it will only be counterproductive in the end.  Be careful though, fasting this way and immediately returning back to your normal way of eating will wreak havoc on the body and cause you to put back on the weight you lost - pretty quickly.