Daily Report: 21-Day Reversing Diabetes Retreat

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Dr Nandita Shah reports from the 21-day Reversing Diabetes Retreat which is taking place at Our Native Village near Bangalore from 16 May to 7 June:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Day 11

Day 12

Day 13

Day 14

Day 15

Day 16

Day 17

Day 18

Day 19

Day 20

Day 21

Day 22

Day 1: Sunday 16 May

Day 2: Monday 17 May

Everyone arrived yesterday and we had an introductory session for everyone to know everyone else and to know our program for them. They were exposed to oil free food, in many cases for the first time, and lots of raw food. They were pleasantly surprised, and were asking for recipes. They couldn’t imagine that vegan food could be so good.

Today we had blood collections both fasting and after breakfast, electrocardiography and consultations for everyone. We have a total of 12 women and 10 men so it really took a long time. Some of them have very bad histories and are on a very large number of medications. Not just the diabetic medications but medications for high blood pressure, cholesterol, blood thinners, anti depressants, sleep medications and more. We will be reducing the medications as they improve but even in 1 1/2 days many of them found that they were hypoglycaemic, which means good food begins to work so fast. They had a 1 1/2 hour session with a reflexologist and a 1 hour meditation, settled down, and then went for walks or swims. We were busy all day just getting to know them one by one and know all their medications. Some were on medications for blood pressure even though their blood pressure was quite low. We are 2 doctors here, Dr Neeta Dharamsey and myself, Dr Nandita Shah. In the night we watched the first half of the 30-day Diabetes Challenge by the Tree of Life Foundation so that they could get an idea of the process and the immense possibilities.

Day 3: Tuesday 18 May

This was the first day of the regular routine. Our routine from now on will be as follows –
6.30 – 7 am check for blood sugar and blood pressure after which they may have some fruit if they are hungry. (Yes, they are allowed to have fruits ranging from bananas, chickoos, mangoes, papaya, apples, pears. There is a restriction on pineapples and watermelon initially.) Some of the participants go for a walk before this.
7 – 8 am yoga (followed by fruit, for those who did not have earlier or who would like more)
8 – 10 am shower, followed by breakfast
10 am – 1 pm session with Dr Nandita Shah. Today we discussed the cause of diabetes and how, if we were to remove the cause the sugars levels will automatically come down. We also understood what a whole food plant based diet would be. They have been served this right from the time of arrival with organic food as far as possible.
1 pm - 3.30 pm lunch and free time
3.30 – 4.15 pm relaxation
4.15 – 6 pm exercise and free time unless they are scheduled for a consultation. Consultations are need based. Whenever we find that a participant’s blood sugar or blood pressure is low or if they are having problems we schedule consultations and cut down medications or give any advice that is needed.
6 – 7 pm guided meditation
7- 8 pm dinner
8 – 9 pm a film and / or discussion about how they are feeling or anything that they may want to talk about. Today we saw the second half of the 30 Day Diabetic Challenge that we started yesterday.

The highlight of today was that one of our younger participants, a type 1 diabetic got 2 hypoglycaemic attacks where the blood sugar was found to be as low as 53. After each attack we reduced the next dose of insulin by 25%. Now she is down to 25% of the dose she was on before she came! Its important to note that most doctors say that this is incurable and advise lifelong insulin injections, 3 – 4 times per day. A 75% drop in the dosage of insulin in just 3 days is therefore notable.

Some other participants also noted lower blood sugars but some found their blood sugars a bit higher and were disappointed that they were not getting the same results. However it must be remembered that this is just day 3! Participants continue to be happy with the food that is being served.

Day 4: Wednesday 19 May

Today we got the results of the tests that we did on the first day so another very busy day, correlating the results with our own tests and doing a few consultations.

The morning session was about our conditionings and why it’s so hard to change our habits. We also spoke about food addictions and how we are addicted to certain foods.

We scheduled 8 consultations today because several people had either considerably lower blood pressures or lower blood sugars so we wanted to reduce the medications. The highlight was another participant who had been taking 15 units of insulin before every meal. Because of consistently low blood sugars we had cut it down to 7 units each time, but the blood sugar levels are still consistently low, so we have further cut down to 3 units each time. This represents an 80% cut on the insulin he was taking! We did not have time to take weights again today but some people were weighing themselves and noticed drops in weight from 1.5 kg to 0.5 kg.

Today evening we will see a film with Dr Neal Barnard talking about food addictions.

Day 5: Thursday 20 May

Another day on a whole food vegan diet. Some of our participants have hardly eaten raw food before but they are beginning to like it and have started taking some everyday. They are also slowly learning to listen to their bodies. They love the food because there are foods that they have not enjoyed for a long time, like fruits and rice. They like the whole rice. In fact they are always raving about the food and say don’t change anything. They are anxious to know recipes so that they can reproduce this kind of food. We have food available all the time. They can eat whenever they are hungry. This is very important because they are on blood sugar reducing medications and we don’t want their blood sugar to drop. Today the kitchen made baked samosas, which participants enjoyed.

Today our morning session was on the complications of diabetes, why they occur and what we can do about them. We also discussed why the heart disease, hypertension, stroke, obesity and cancer all have the same starting point.

Last evening we had a discussion to find out how the participants feel about our schedule and for them to share with the others what changes they experienced in their bodies. Most of the participants were very happy with their own changes so they had no complaints. They said they felt they were feasting here, and having a really good time. We are lucky that we have a very co-operative and caring group. They are really experiencing being one big family.

Day 6: Friday 21 May

Today was our first cooking class. We decided to keep it largely raw with plenty of salads but some cooked foods too. Many participants are not used to eating much raw. They have been told not to eat fruit and don’t like raw vegetables. Our cooking class was participatory. Everyone got to chop and prepare. One of the men was an excellent and fast chopper. There are a few men and some women who have never cooked and were pretty fascinated at the simplicity of cooking a tasty meal. They enjoyed the food just because they had participated and put their energy in. Since I always plan menus with color coordination, they remarked about how colorful the table looked too.

We started with a green smoothie, which everyone enjoyed. They liked the salads too but I was surprised at how fast they ate. I think many people are not used to chewing their food enough. We saw some blood sugars drop because even though they ate plenty it was high on nutrition but low on calories. Because they are on medications, though, we compensated by giving them a slightly sweet snack made of red rice poha, dried fruits and nuts and a bit of jaggery. This was their first sweet dish since they came. Upto now we did not allow the use of sweeteners (sugar or jaggery or artificial sweeteners).

Because everyone enjoyed the cooking class so much, we thought that we’d let them conduct the next cooking class. We will give them guidelines and let them suggest recipes that fit into the guidelines. This will also help them convert their own recipes into healthy diabetes reversing recipes.

In the evening we watched a very inspiring film which was an interview with an orthopaedic surgeon, Dr Lorraine Day who cured herself of breast cancer. The method she used is the same method we are encouraging them to follow to reverse diabetes.

Day 7: Saturday 22 May

Day 7

Something I forgot to mention is the tea and coffee. We cut off the coffee right at the start and told participants that we would soon be cutting off the black tea. I wanted to do it slowly so that they could transition into our program joyfully. This did cause a few headaches but now they are all gone. Surprisingly no one had them for more that two days. Yesterday we cut off the black tea completely so now its only herbal tea. Participants are pretty joyful. They are now sure that they don’t need milk and don’t need tea.

The schedule is as usual. Every morning a few blood sugars drop and we cut down a few medications. Yesterday there was one participant who had been diagnosed as a juvenile diabetic who was asking to leave because she felt that her blood sugar levels had not fallen whereas everyone else's had. She was in tears. But her reports show that they are indeed falling slowly. She had been worried and avoiding fruits. We told her to eat plenty of fruit and we will keep checking the blood sugar. Since the others are getting the results she will too. This did happen. She started eating fruit and the blood sugar levels fell a bit.

Today we spoke about the anatomical and physiological reasons why a whole food vegan diet helps reverse so many diseases.

A few highlights:
One participant was fascinated that while he had been checking his blood sugar with the pin prick, the blood had always seemed thick. This morning for the first time it dripped out and was much more fluid. After he remarked this, many other participants also remarked the same changes in their blood. This despite the fact that everyone’s blood thinners have been stopped.

One participant who walks a lot always had foot pain. Here he walks a lot but the foot pain has gone since day one.

A participant who was very skeptical is also now eager to cut down her medications and wishes that we would extend the program a little bit. She is on the maximum number of medications here.

A participant who was predominantly non-vegetarian is asking for more raw food. All our participants are enjoying raw more and more. We notice the fruit and raw vegetables help a lot in improving overall health. We are adjusting the menu to suit their needs.

In the evening we watched Aaron Scheibner’s A Delicate Balance with excerpts from Drs Neal Barnard, John Mc Dougall, T Colin Campbell, Caldwell Esselstyn and more.

Day 8: Sunday 23 May

One week has passed and we are into the 2nd week! Sundays are partially family days. We have the routine fasting blood sugar tests in the morning and then the yoga and talk as per schedule. Today’s talk was on how the body is always working to heal itself, and why diabetes is a survival mechanism for the body as are other diseases.

The vitamin D3 levels of the participants have just come because these results take a long time to process. 50% of the participants have extremely low levels. What is important to note is that a large proportion of the general public has this deficiency. This could be due to spending few hours in the sun and because of the smog in Indian cities like Mumbai and Bangalore where most of the participants are from. Tomorrow we will explain to them how to address these deficiencies.

Some of the participant’s family members came for the talk, joined us for lunch and stayed in the evening. The filming crew came and took several interviews. All in all it was a more relaxed day than usual.

We have had a bit of stress today because one of the participant’s family members was very concerned that her blood sugar levels are still high. Of course they have reduced since the time that she came but this did not put them at ease, and has totally stressed out this particular participant.

From tomorrow we will be serving green smoothies or bottle gourd and coconut raw smoothie as a snack in the afternoon, and will offer a sprout salad as a raw breakfast option.

Day 9: Monday 24 May

The mornings are always the most exciting time of the day because that’s when we see whose blood sugar is falling or who had a hypoglycaemic attack during the night. Depending on what we see during these check ups we give appointments to a few people every evening and tell them how they can reduce their medications.

Today’s talk was the most important so far. We talked about Protein, Calcium, Acid and Alkaline balance, Iron, Mineral, Vitamin D and Vitamin B12. We understood that besides vitamin B12 most other nutrients can be obtained optimally on a vegan diet. We talked about how to get adequate B12 levels too. Since we are in such a beautiful space with clear skies we suggested that they sit in the sun for the vitamin D or go in the swimming pool. That’s what the men did this afternoon. It was a hot day so it was also a great way to cool off.

In the evening we saw a film where Dr John McDougall spoke about the Perils of Dairy.

The highlights of today:

One of our diabetics had reduced his insulin dosage by 80%. Today his blood sugar levels again went down and we have asked him to cut his dosage by another 10%.

One of our type 1 diabetics had reduced her dosage of insulin by 50%. Yesterday she had a hypoglycaemic attack and we have reduced her dosage even further. In general type 1 diabetes is considered incurable, and people rarely see a reversal of their diabetes.

Another participant had a hypoglycaemic attack last night and we cut down medications.

Several participants are showing normal blood pressure even though all their blood pressure medications have been cut off.

1 participant has lost 4 kg weight since the start of the program 8 days ago. Some other participants have lost 3 kgs and several others have lost 1 – 2 kgs.

There are still 2 participants who have not yet shown a substantial fall in their blood sugar. However they have shown a fall in their blood pressure and their blood pressure medications were stopped. We are confident that in time we will see results in their sugars as well.

Day 10: Tuesday 25 May

Things are slowing down now. The changes that we are seeing may be less dramatic yet consistent.

Today we talked about other nutrients and where we will get our essential fatty acids and other nutrients, live foods and dead foods, and food combining. We covered unhealthy plant based foods that should be avoided – the refined foods and the sugars and we spoke about the differences between organic and conventional crops nutrient wise.

After dinner we watched a DVD talk by Victoria Boutenko. So far the participants liked this film the best of all.

Day 11: Wednesday 26 May

More and more people are feeling energetic. More and more people are going for walks.

Today we spoke about how to make the transition once they go back home. We showed them cooking videos and shared cooking tips. We discussed how to eat in social gatherings, restaurants and how to handle family and friends who may find the changes difficult. We also discussed all the large variety of healthy foods that they can eat and enjoy. Participants are feeling this now. Many are enjoying more fruit than they have in a long time and are delighted to see that their blood sugars are not fluctuating despite this. Yesterday many had 2 mangoes besides other fruits and a green smoothie.

We took a lot of post-parandial blood samples (2 hours after a meal) today so that we could assess the picture better and as usual cut down medications wherever we could.

This evening at dinner everyone was talking about the movies they had seen. I noticed that they had had enough of the serious stuff. We decided to show a feature film in the evening – Three Idiots as one of the participants had this on his computer and even participants who had seen it were willing to see it again. I think it was a great relaxation for all.

Day 12: Thursday 27 May

Now 2 participants are completely off their medications and have had normal blood sugar levels. This is exciting. We still have 2 participants who have not shown substantial improvement. Most of the others are somewhere in between, some have cut off half the medications, some have just a bit more to go, others are still waiting.

The participant who had previously cut down his insulin by 80% is now totally off the insulin and all other medications. Today he was feeling a bit low perhaps because for the first time in a long time both the blood pressure and blood sugar are low, and now there is no medication that we can decrease anymore. I suspect that the body will adjust and raise his BP a bit. This is a transition feeling.

The type 1 diabetic whose insulin dosage is less than 50% of what she came in with 11 days ago had another hypoglycemic episode today so she will adjust her dosage further.

Neelima Bhat of Sampurnah holistic health gave a talk about the Emotional Freedom Technique and her work. In the evening there was a full moon meditation outdoors.

During our post dinner session we had sharing. Some of the participants have been noticing a change at the emotional level. The most profound was a man who had wanted to end his life as soon as he finished his duties towards his family in the next 2 – 3 years. For him this has been a rebirth in a sense. Now he is excited about his life, is off many of his medications including anti-depressants and has a new zest for life. Other participants spoke about a change in their temper and the realization that they allowed themselves to be controlled by the TV and their mobile phones. Some expressed that this workshop had inspired them to change their lifestyles in other ways too, besides food.

Day 13: Friday 28 May

Today the 2 participants who had not recorded substantial changes crossed this barrier and we saw a drop in their blood sugar levels. We still have to see if this trend lasts.

We had another cooking class. For this one I had given guidelines and asked participants for ideas for recipes, which fit these guidelines. We made a lot of food and had a very good meal today. Most of them enjoyed it. I think food always tastes good when you have put in your own energy.

Everyone was pretty stuffed and not hungry at tea-time which is unusual. We checked a few blood sugars 2 hours after lunch. Some were at the average levels, some a little bit higher. Today was a day when almost everyone ate and had a post lunch nap. Now most people have stopped asking for recipes and have understood that it’s easy enough to make healthy good food.

People had been asking about genetically modified food and what it is, so this evening we saw Mahesh Bhatt’s ‘Poison on a Platter’ and talked about this subject.

We found out that we have 2 people amongst us who are very talented. One is a musician, and another a radio singer. Yesterday she burst into song and told other participants that it was the first time that she was singing in a year!

Some people are going through cleansing reactions with a bit of fever, weakness or body aches. Usually this lasts a few days and passes off. It’s a good sign and we do nothing to suppress it except ask the person to take rest whenever required.

Some participants are getting more interested in raw food and choose to eat mostly raw meals.

Day 14: Saturday 29 May

Today is the last day of the second week! I took stock today of our results so far.

- 5 participants have stopped all medications. In some of them the blood sugar is only slightly higher than it should be. In others it’s been normal.
- Several participants are on just a fraction of their medications.
- All the participants besides 2 are off all their blood pressure medications.
- One type 1 diabetic is on 50% of the insulin dosage.
- One type 1 diabetic and one type 2 diabetic are on the same dosage of diabetic medications as when we had started. Both cases have shown a lowering of blood sugar levels.

All our records are being meticulously maintained.

Today we discussed the holistic concept of a whole food vegan diet – its effects on the physical, mental and spiritual levels, and why. Then we discussed the effects of a vegan diet on the planet and animals and our connection to both.

This evening we had an open-air music concert with a well known singer who came especially for the event. This was followed by singing from two of our participants. It had rained in the afternoon, it was very cool and pleasant and everyone had a good time.

Day 15: Sunday 30 May

Sunday is another special day. In the morning we discussed what could be the other positive health changes that people could expect on a healthy vegan diet. Also for those who may still be on some medications at the end of our 21-day program, we discussed how they would reduce their remaining medications by themselves with the help of their own physicians and by regular testing.

Today we had visits from family members as well as 26 people from the Bengaluru Vegans group along with Manish Jain, founder of Indian Vegan and Shankar Narayan of the Indian Vegan Society. Manish is from Indore and Shankar from Byndoor – it was just a lucky coincidence that they happened to be in Bangalore at the same time. Mr Satish Bangalore of Modak, an organic vegetarian restaurant in Bangalore came with his family too. Our guests started coming in at about 11am. We had a large group. Mr Bangalore addressed us first – he spoke to us about why they started an organic restaurant. The main reason was to spread the concept of sustainable farming, by first creating a demand for the produce. He rightly said that the problem at present is that there is not enough demand. If big institutions create a demand, farmers would have more security to grow organic because they would be assured of a market.

Mr Ramkumar spoke next about the sustainable features of his resort Our Native Village and about his own commitment to sustainability. The vegans also requested Mr Bangalore to serve more vegan dishes at his restaurant, and questioned Mr Ramkumar as to whether his resort was vegan. I think as vegans we all want to have places where we can go without having to worry about whether their food may have non-vegan ingredients in it. We also pointed out that as far as sustainable food goes, there is nothing like vegan. Eating animals or their secretions means eating higher on the food chain and this is not sustainable.

We all enjoyed a good lunch. After lunch we sat in a circle and some of us introduced ourselves. Our participants shared some of their results, as did a participant of our last diabetic workshop who came as well. Many of the vegans shared their reasons for being vegan. Shankar Narayan and Manish also introduced themselves and spoke about their organizations. We answered some health queries as well. After the discussion some of the visitors went on a tour of the resort.

Today we noticed that several participants had higher blood sugars than usual. One of our participants who checks her blood sugar 5 times a day noticed that the surge was after breakfast and felt it was due to the adai served. Other participants felt it was due to the jackfruit. Perhaps it could have been both or either. Most of the participants have fruit everyday, mangoes, chickoos or papayas and several bananas and we do not see this surge. We will keep a check on these items now.

In the evening we saw The Eating DVD by Mike Anderson which very nicely and clearly sums up what we have been talking about, i.e. why a whole food plant based diet reverses diseases.

Day 16: Monday 31 May

We are edging towards the end of this retreat and many of us are feeling a bit sad because the group has really bonded well. We will miss each other. We are already talking about meeting again in a year to share our results.

Results-wise we are sort of on a plateau. That is not to say that a few people are not improving but we also had a few who had higher blood sugar levels and we have not been able to reduce anyone’s medications today.

Several people reported that they are eating less and feeling less hungry than they used to. This is generally the result when we eat high quality organic food such as what we have been serving them.

Some people were disappointed that they have stopped showing improvement. We told them that these plateaus come and then there will be further improvement later. In order to spur improvement five participants decided to try only raw for a day. We are making arrangements so that this can happen.

One of our participants who has been showing a lot of improvement in diabetes had not shown any improvement in her blood pressure which was very high. Today this changed and she is finally showing improvement there too.

In the evening we finished watching Mike Anderson’s Eating DVD – which along with Victoria Boutenko has been voted as one of the best films we have watched. What’s very touching is that participants are very happy with their progress and are looking forward to sharing what they have learnt with their family and friends.

Day 17: Tuesday 1 June

Today again as far as blood sugar levels go we are sort of on a plateau except in the case of a just a few participants. One participant has recorded 7 kgs weight loss. Most participants who needed to have lost several kilos (anywhere from 1 to 5 kg).

Some participants said that they were apprehensive about coming but now they don’t want to leave. Many said that they wished the program was extended. Today Kapila and Sushil of the Health Spa here did a very interesting talk on Past Life Regression and why it helps us heal. In the afternoon there was an age regression session where all the participants were invited to experience the regression. I did too. It was a very moving experience. I am sure at least some of the participants wish they had the time to do more private sessions.

In the evening we saw an inspiring film about Louise Hay and the transformation that comes out of the willingness to change.

Day 18: Wednesday 2 June

This morning we saw some further improvement in some of our participants. We are all getting ready for the whole battery of tests, which will be done tomorrow by the lab.

Sushil and Kapila gave a session today on Rebirthing Breath Work, a movement started by Leonardo Orr. This was very interesting, and we got a sample of this too. Once we realize how our past influences us and make changes, we can be more free to be in the present.

Dr Nita left today for Mumbai. We will miss her. What was very touching was that so many participants came up to me and offered their help. I felt showered with their love and so appreciate the love that they have for each other.

After the relaxation today the participants all went to play games. I have never seen them all laugh so much! After the games some of them went for a walk. Everyone is getting very athletic and I think they will also miss the pristine beauty of this location.

At night we watched some TV and news items and discussed their relevance in the light of what we now know. They were about the oxytocin used to bring the young girls in Rajasthani villages to early puberty so that they could be sold in the prostitution trade. Unfortunately too many children these days are reaching early puberty because of these same hormones in milk. We saw cattle dying because their stomachs were blocked with kilos of plastic bags that they had ingested in lieu of food, and the recent undercover footage of the Ohio dairy cruelty that has been in the US news.

Day 19: Thursday 3 June

Today we had another cooking class where we showed some dairy alternatives. We made peanut curds, buttermilk with peanut curds, peanut butter, a sesame almond and date raw health drink, we started the cheese for tomorrow, we made vegan cashew mayonnaise and vegan (cashew) yogurt dip. We also made a kheer for dessert – this was the first dessert we had. We were happy to see that although a few people recorded higher blood sugar levels, most of them were in control. What is good to see is that people understand more and more how to listen to their bodies.

We also made some vegetable dishes to balance the other dishes – we made a Russian salad with the mayonnaise, we have vegetable sticks to have with the yoghurt dip, and we made a palak – chana vegetable, lauki vegetable and the kitchen made a daal and Ragi rotis.

This evening we had a thunderstorm, which really cooled us down. The night program was dedicated to us all and was a set of slideshows and films about the love between animals within their species and cross species love. Everyone really enjoyed this. We all feel a bit sentimental to leave.

Some of the participants have a bit of apprehension that when they go back how they will continue with the results they are showing here. This is a beautiful stress free environment. What will it be like when they go back to the city? I think there could be some change, but if they stick to the diet they should see that their stress levels are also reduced. But time will tell. One participant has decided to move to Auroville!

Day 20: Friday 4 June

Today was another cooking class. We were not well prepared for this one. We did not have all the ingredients for everything. The food turned out OK – not quite as good as yesterday. We started with the raw cake made of walnuts, raisins, dates, bananas, mangoes and cinnamon. I thought this was amazing! We then made cucumber raita, Boursin (fresh French cheese with garlic and fine herbs) with vegetable sticks, mixed vegetable au gratin (vegan of course), a raw pumpkin – peanut salad, a cucumber – tomato mint salad with tahini, and stuffed ladies fingers.

Three doctors came to see the results of our work. Two were from Titan and another was a friend of Mr Ramkumar's from Trichur. At first at least one of them was a bit sceptical. We talked more about the work and the method. Tomorrow they will join me for some of the consultations.

In the evening we saw a slideshow of photographs of all of us taken by Senthil, a professional photographer. Most of the photos had been taken without anyone’s knowledge and were a surprise to us all! We really enjoyed that.

Day 21: Saturday 5 June

Today was the last day that we all had together. Some left after lunch and in the evening and others will leave tomorrow. I did private consultations today and tomorrow so that everyone knows the plan when they get back.

The doctors joined for the consultations and understood the process better. Our new lab reports had also come. The doctors were impressed by the good lab results despite cutting off the medications. 5 participants are off all medications – for both blood pressure and diabetes. Other participants are down to minute doses of medications. For example, one of the participants was taking 15 tablets a day. He is now down to 2. Others who were not on so many medications are down to 1 or half tablet twice a day. Then there are those who are still taking some medications but their lab reports have improved a lot. They came in with very high blood sugars and are now in the normal range. There is not a single participant who did not have at least some results. All except one of the participants are pretty sure they will stick to the new dietary guidelines because they like the food and they realize they are not missing much. And they now know the results.

This morning we had an integration session where people could share what they had learnt and we wrapped up a few questions that people still had. We had a group photography session and did a tree planting since it was World Environment Day. We also had a gratitude session to thank all the people who had helped us. 6 participants left today after lunch.

At night we had a show by drummers from the nearby village.

Day 22: Sunday 6 June

Today is pretty much like a holiday. I did blood sugars and the last few consultations. Then we took a short trip to Nrityagram, Protima Bedi’s dance village, which is just 4 km away from here. We had our last meal together and then people started leaving. People had bonded so much, so we had a few tearful farewells.

All in all it has been really successful. Participants' families came today to pick them up and many had themselves started on the diet. A husband of one participant was at a big dinner last night. He has turned vegan so he only took the daal, rice and vegetables. He and his whole extended family want to support her because they have seen the huge difference that these 21 days made. He has cleaned out the kitchen of all the non vegan and refined items before she returns so that everyone can eat the same food. A few other participants have also seen amazing support from their families. Many of their stories have been incredibly touching.

3 participants did not see as marked results as they would have wished in these 21 days. I hope they will still continue doing whatever they learnt here because the results should come shortly to them too.

For all who have been following my daily reports, thank you for joining us. May we all make the shift for our own health, for the health of the planet and for the billions of animals who depend on our compassion.