Episode 1 The Retreat

The wellbeing industry is booming.

More people seek alternative ways to cope with rising obesity,

stress and depression.

My stress levels have been getting heavier and heavier.

I don't understand why I'm so stressed and I can't switch off.

Heading for a retreat on an island in the South China Sea,

Nick Knowles joins a group who are all seeking the antidote for the

strains of modern life.

Of course, this place down in Thailand says it can actually

change your head around. Change your inner space around.

How will the gang cope with a completely new way of living?

I think that some of the participants

didn't really know what they were getting into.

It's almost cultish.

I think it's going to be a challenge.

Will 28 days of detox and alternative therapies be

enough to change their lives?

I don't think anybody would be surprised to find out I'm the

least likely to be taking on this challenge.

This is one kick-ass detox.

Welcome to Thailand.

Oh, you've started filming already, have you?

Yeah, hello, mate. That's going to be like that on the screen now,

isn't it? I don't know. How are you feeling?

I'm good, yeah. You? Happy New Year. Yeah, yeah.

Happy New Year, son. Where's Julian?

He's... There he is. Is that all the baggage you've got?

Yeah. That's it. Travelling light, son.

I have a one-year-old son, but I'm 53 now.

I'd like to be around when he grows up and there's not a lot of

chance of that if I carry on at the speed I'm going at the moment.

So I've got to find some way to get that under control.

Of course, this place down in Thailand says it can actually change

your head around and change your inner space around.

I wasn't even aware I had an inner space.

You've just had a long flight. You've got one hour to go.

It's been all right. It's been very comfortable and nice.

Very nice. You were snoring.

You were snoring. Was I? Yeah, yeah, I must admit.

And he had a lovely full breakfast, didn't you?

Well, it was more a lunch, because if you think about it,

we've skipped our breakfast time and moved on to lunch.

We are eight hours ahead, so it's now...

It's my birthday!

Happy birthday, Bill. Happy birthday, Bill.

Thank you. I spent my birthday on a plane.

I have been at the doctor's and he's gave

me a percentage of the next ten years.

How much percentage I would have a heart attack.

And the chance was 18%, which I thought was brilliant.

But it should be 1%.

I started driving a few years ago. I'm type II diabetic.

I was diagnosed about a year ago. I take two tablets twice a day.

I've heard that you can, by diet, can come off of those tablets.

I'm an executive within media services.

Incredibly stressful.

I lost my mother two years ago, so I think all of that combined,

I sort of feel as though I'd lost my way.

I think it's... I found it difficult to find another job.

So, again, I was... I feel that I'm blaming myself.

I feel that I'm not of any significance.

I just turned 47 in the last couple of weeks.

I want to start my kind of new mission before I hit that 50.

I think I need to change some of my lifestyle.

I think I need to change my perspective on ME.

You know, being a mother and a wife and holding down a job.

You know, eventually, something gives and I think this is part of

the reason why I wanted to come over here.

I think probably to find Maggie again.

This is how we arrived at the place, on a jetty.

We are waiting to get the boat to take us out from

Koh Samui to Ko Pha-Ngan.

I don't even know if I'm pronouncing it right at the moment.

I'm just going to watch the bags on board.

We've lost the camera crew, cos

we've also lost the camera equipment.

So we're working on this little camera for the moment

and maybe doing that tomorrow as well.

But that's just the nature of travel in these parts of the world.

We've arrived!

Knowlesy, you get in the front, show the driver where we've got to go.

LAUGHTER

Tell him where to drive.

After travelling 9,800km by planes, trains and automobiles,

and the occasional speedboat,

the first of the nine arrive on the island.

So I'm guessing this is the really touristy end and we're heading

off out to the countryside. Yeah.

He's going to drive through the Himalayas to little villages.

We're only passing between the days of daylight, aren't we?

So we will arrive in the evening. Yeah, right. Who told you that?

The detox programme the gang will undertake over the next month

is strictly supervised by a team of medical professionals and experts.

Have you put rocks in this bag? It's getting heavier and heavier.

Mind yourself when you step off, there is still people whizzing by.

It's a big jump down there, isn't there?

Having made their way across Ko Pha-Ngan, the gang settle in -

looking forward to a welcome meal.

See that? That's cool. Nice little shower room.

I can definitely chill in here. I like the bamboo stuff going on.

Yeah.

To their surprise, the vegan pre-cleanse starts immediately.

You all right, Milton? Milton, stop eating.

Knowlesy, that's yours. How's that, all right?

See, I look at that and sort of think...

It would take more energy eating it than what it's worth, really.

Really? It tastes nice. Does it?

It's all beginning to dawn on me a little bit. Are you worried?

Really? I, well, yeah.

No breakfast tomorrow. No.

And then when we get back, we've got fruit salad.

Bit worried about it, mate. Don't worry about it, Jules.

It'll be fine. It'll be good for you. It be character-forming.

I've never not eaten in my life. I know. I know.

And you get a bit emotional when you don't eat. I do.

I get a bit grumpy. I get a bit emotional.

What are you laughing at?

Yeah, let's have you, sausage!

Yeah, so here we are, in Thailand, doing the detox.

Something I would have never have gone for off my own back,

but Nick cared about it and was interested in it.

He said he was going to do it and he invited

me and Billy to come along and go through it with him.

There's not much wrong with that, is there?

I could wake up to that each morning.

Although this is actually the noisiest place.

It looks paradise - actually, it's the noisiest place

I've ever stayed on holiday.

Yesterday, when they came in, we got given a programme of what we've got

to do. It's quite intense. It's quite full-on.

Which I didn't think it was going to be.

Cats, dogs, mopeds, cars in the middle of the night, boats coming

in with the noisiest engines that you've ever heard in your lives.

It's quite regimented. We've got, like, a schedule to go to.

Animals that are, like, two inches long producing noises like

they should be from a 13-foot-long dragon.

I'm not convinced yet whether it's,

whether I should have yet or not, but we will see.

Only time will tell.

Overnight, the rest of the gang has arrived.

And they get to know each other on the way to the hospital.

I stopped working about two years ago with burn-out.

I got up in the morning one day and was kind of just going, "Oh, God.

"I really need some help."

You know, I'd come here and I wanted to get healthy,

but I was still finding myself drawn to eating the unhealthy

stuff and still gaining weight.

Oh, I haven't opened it yet.

I am a police officer.

I've been doing that for eight years now.

I was shaking and... struggling to breathe.

I went to the doctor. I couldn't stop crying.

No, no. It's the production one.

Yeah.

He thought I was suffering from anxiety and depression.

Before being allowed to undertake the extreme nature of

the 28-day programme, the gang will be overseen using conventional

medicine and have to pass a full physical.

And any ongoing medical conditions are checked as an extra precaution.

Eight years ago, I went in for what is considered

a very standard eye surgery that went horribly wrong and I

developed a chronic eye disease from it that has caused me

eight years of severe pain,

very little sleep and can eventually lead to me being legally blind.

In fact, I am pretty much there already with the right eye.

I'm very hopeful that I will find healing through this programme.

Some of the gang are suffering less from physical problems, however.

Yeah.

I'm hoping to find some guidance and a purpose.

Your blood pressure is good. Thank you.

You know, I'm 32,

and I've got no direction.

OK, thank you.

The depression that just comes, I just close off

and I can't really function.

I worry a lot about things that I can't control.

You know what the good news is, Katherine?

After this, you can have water. Yeah, OK. After this?

I'm so excited.

It all just kind of accumulates and falls into a problem

where it creates anxiety and depression and worrying and, yeah.

We've had our weight, we've had high blood pressure.

And our height and now they're going to take some blood

and then, I believe, a chest X-ray afterwards.

It's all getting really exciting. And more nervous.

It's the results of these tests that will be used to judge whether

the programme has been a success.

It's possible that my blood pressure might be high,

cos I've been sitting talking to Billy.

He makes my blood pressure very high.

OK, let me have a check of your lung and your heart.

It's because I'm fat. Keep your pee-pee.

Yeah, I don't think...

Yeah, I'm not sure that I'm going to be able to produce any.

Try first.

Yeah, but I haven't drunk for like six, seven hours.

You're not coming to the toilet with me.

Where do you think you're going?

I'm going to go in here and I'll see you in a minute.

Amazingly, successful.

As you sit here in a hospital so close all these health resorts.

I mean, a lot of the stuff, it seems to me that

a lot of the stuff is fairly straightforward anyway.

If you eat less fat and less meat and, you know,

you eat a healthier diet, you'll be a healthier person.

Yes, exactly.

So, yes, but the other extreme is we have people who believe in

taking garlic instead of antibiotics and they come in with

a garlic clove stuck in their ear that they can't get out.

We've had quite a few of them.

My understanding really is what they're doing wrong is

they're supposed to crush the garlic

before they put in their ear, before it can effective. I don't know.

That's not my field of expertise. No. Oh, yeah.

Right, thanks.

The tests all done,

they head back to the retreat to wait for the results.

HORN BEEPS

And as soon as they return, they are rushed straight into

a meeting with the camps' mentors.

Welcome to the retreat, guys.

Welcome.

The inspiration came from me meeting this guy out here

and we want you to experience, hopefully, what we've experienced.

You know, we both came here with different issues

and different problems.

We're going to be here as mentors and supporters.

If you've ever got any questions, just come and ask us.

So, my name is Dominique. I am the detox manager at Orion.

Today, we're going to talk about the detox.

OK, so what you're going to do, today you are on pre-cleanse.

So you are eating raw fruit to prepare your body,

to alkalise your body, alkalise yours cells. To have

a little bit less pain, to have less withdrawn symptoms,

because if you don't prepare, you will have a big headache,

nausea and all sorts of symptoms.

So we're trying to prepare you a little bit.

Here we do yoga, we go to the sauna, so we sweat the toxins out.

You do two colema a day. So you're going to clean your colon

two times per day, which is going to make the process of detoxification

go faster. OK, so don't worry.

You're going to feel good at some point.

This is going too far.

I want to start with a little present.

A little liver-flush drink.

Thank you.

Thanks for that.

We are still giving you the coconut in the morning,

to give you some sugar, give you some electrolytes, minerals.

And we give you a broth and a tea at night.

And you have all this food, all these supplements.

The supplements are the green pills.

This is spirulina, chlorella, alfalfa, moringa, wheatgrass.

All these super greens you need to nourish your cells and tissues.

So this is, like, your food, OK?

Then the chomper are the yellow pills.

Those are made with a bunch of herbs like triphala, tumeric.

You can smell the difference. Those are intestinal cleaners.

So they're going to clean your intestinal tract.

Today, we are chilling. We're still on pre-cleanse.

We're going to have another nice meal.

Another liver flush tonight.

Enjoy the food while you can and then tomorrow the party starts.

I have to say, it's the one part of this whole process that

I've actually been really dreading.

The starving myself I can deal with.

It's doing the colema, colonic sort of thing.

Yeah, I'm not looking forward to it at all. No.

I think I'll panic.

We could have gone to the clinic and we could have had it done there

by a professional. You've got to do it twice a day,

so you can't go to hospital twice a day, can you?

After the first time you might be all right with it.

You may not be in as much panic.

You think, "Oh, that weren't as bad as you thought it was."

But it's knowing how much water,

once you get the cramps and you've got to stop and you've got to do this.

I don't know.

It's a worry. But I expect...

I just don't fancy having a tube stuck up my BLEEP.

I mean, it's as simple as that, really.

I think that some of the participants,

they didn't really know what they were getting into.

They knew they were coming for a transformation and detox,

but I see the faces and I explain certain things,

like the shakes and the colema, especially.

I think a lot of them are scared right now.

Similar sort of building techniques.

I've had quite a lot of indigestion problems at home.

Having cameras down and off to the doctor's and off to hospitals.

It's all a dietary thing, so I knew I had to change my diet.

Hello. Hello, I'm Shakti.

Oh, hello. Nice to meet you.

So that's our little crowd over there.

Interesting from our point of view, cos we meet

a lot of people for whom this is the natural environment.

That's not really, that's not us. Have you met Bill yet?

We think he is in a constant meditative state,

cos I was asking someone to explain to me what meditation is and they

were saying that because I can't imagine not having thoughts...

And they said, "Well, it's not that you don't have thoughts,

"you don't hang on to them. They come in and you let them flow out."

Yeah. Well, that's exactly how he works.

Thoughts come in and float straight out his mouth, without any

kind of thought attachment. No filter. Or filter at all.

So he's in a constant meditative state - as far as I can tell.

I associate the idea of meditation and things with that sort of,

for want of a better expression, hippydom,

which is like dropping out of society.

So I can't associate actually using it in everyday...

Yeah, that's the key, you can use it in everyday life,

because everything is a meditation.

Everything that you do, like in t'ai chi,

they're like moving meditations.

Just focusing your mind and you train your mind to do what

you want it to do. OK, I see I have a lot to learn.

As the gang start to realise the extent of the challenge ahead,

Dominique prepares the last meal they'll have for seven days.

We have our spaghetti.

I can add some colours in it, some flowers...

Even though the first week of the retreat is all about not eating,

the complete programme is all about providing your body with nutrients

from a solely plant-based menu,

to supercharge the detox and revitalise the body's cells.

Finished.

Magic!

Healthy fast food.

SHE LAUGHS

This is the last supper, like on death row, you know?

And they chose pad Thai, raw pad Thai,

and some time, they are coming.

Wow!

I can think of worse places to be, though.

LAUGHTER

Brilliant. I will pass this on.

Enjoy your meal. Nice big portion.

Happy about that.

Can I...? Steal some cheese.

You do? I do, yeah.

As evening settles over Ko Pha Ngan,

the results come back from the hospital

and it is good news for all but one.

Good morning.

We were given these little hand cams

to kind of record anything

that we want to say or feel like saying.

Day one. Just wanted to let you know

that Milton is going to be on a different programme than you.

He is not going be fasting today.

We are going to make him do a longer pre-cleanse,

just to be safe.

He has all the chances to control and reverse his diabetes,

so we are going to do it the proper way.

We are treating Milton in a way

that is different from Western practice,

yes, this is true.

And, you know, the Western world, the Western medicine,

they don't know about this.

They are not trained for this.

They are trained to treat patients with invasive surgery,

which we need a lot of the time -

I'm not saying we don't need conventional medicine, we do.

A lot of people are sick, they have pain,

they need painkillers.

But here, that is not what we do.

So how do you feel this morning, waking up on this first day,

where there will be no meal?

All right. Fine. Don't know if I am so bothered about that.

Very headachey last night, and through the night and this morning.

Yeah - withdrawal symptoms.

Some of you smoke, I think, yeah? Yeah.

You quit? Yeah.

Who else smokes?

OK - so this is the most difficult part.

Don't tell my folks. It is all top secret.

LAUGHTER

The nicotine will be in your system for about two or three days.

It is the first day of the fast.

You're grumpy, you regret doing this,

you are waiting for that meal that will not come, so it is difficult.

The first day is difficult.

Here there is a restaurant, so they can see and smell the food,

that is also very difficult.

Expect some headaches -

people that drink a lot of coffee also,

expect to be a little bit tired, but mostly hungry.

The body is going to burn the sugar inside of you.

You still have reserves.

But that is not going to be for so long, it will be just today.

Then the body goes into another mode.

The liver is going to produce ketones

to nourish the brain and other tissues,

so today don't expect too much.

You might be a little bit grumpy.

GRUFFLY: No, we're not!

LAUGHTER

But it's perfectly normal. Just embrace it.

Usually, the thinnest people have the most difficulties

when it comes to being tired, because you have less fat,

you have less food for your body,

so usually, you get a little bit more tired.

The more fat you've got, the more energy you have.

COUGHING

What are you looking at ME for, then?

LAUGHTER

Happened to be looking in that direction, that's all.

You guys are going to come to me, "Let's go for a run!"

Today, we're going to do some colemas.

Yay! Exciting.

You're possibly the only person who does get excited when you say that.

But first, before they can do the colema,

Dominique gives them a masterclass.

In your room you have a kettle.

You fill it up with water, and you boil it.

OK? And then you prepare for the colema.

Let's go. Let's go.

This is the colema tip.

The part that has holes is the part that goes inside of you.

There's a side with no holes, side with holes,

and then you will connect with this connecter here,

this tube to this tube,

so you need to plug it in, cos it's going to be hard,

and it's good that it's harder,

cos you don't want it to fall during the colema -

so this is good, OK?

This will go inside the colema board

and then the tube will go outside of the colema board,

so there is a hole - you plug it in, plug your tube,

and that's it, we're done.

OK?

A little trick - I like to have my butt-cleaner here, close to me.

LAUGHTER This is ridiculous.

And by massaging, you're going to move that solidified food

that is inside of you that you want out, OK?

And it's going to be released with the water after.

OK? If you feel like you have a bump somewhere,

like, a little ball, that might be a blockage.

Sometimes it takes days for it to come out.

I've seen, like, balls coming after eight days of fast.

Especially if your balls are going to come out.

Big surprise.

BILLY LAUGHS

Are you scared? Yeah. Frightened.

I was frightened the first time, yeah.

I don't know - I expected something to sort of...suck it out,

But it's all gravity, isn't it?

All gravity, yes, but it's more gentle for you.

It's more gentle for you

than having the machine with the pressure, definitely.

And then you're alone - you don't have somebody with you.

It's more private.

I think I'd rather have someone with me, Jules...

Why does he...? He keeps on asking me to help him!

In the room? You live next door, don't you?

I think you have a door in between your rooms.

You're not seriously expecting him to help you during this?

He can talk to me, make me feel...

I wouldn't want...

I don't even want to be on the same campus whilst you're doing it,

let alone in the same building.

All right.

But if I do panic, you'd be there for me, wouldn't you?

Well, really, during this, no. Not when you're in mid-flow.

If I'm in mid-flow, I won't be panicking.

I'll be happy, won't I?

I'll...I'll be there, on the other side of the door.

All right. Note to self.

Going into a detox after Christmas and New Year's,

maybe not a good idea.

SHE LAUGHS

I definitely think it would have been good

to do a week of healthy raw food,

and no partying before starting this.

This is one kick-ass detox.

Let's just get on with it

and not talk to each other about it ever again.

No, OK.

Don't tell any of the lads on the site that we've done this either.

It's all right to talk about it.

It's if we help each other out, we won't tell anybody.

Yesterday I showed them a movie. Not all of them went.

We are missing some...people.

Nick disappeared.

Some of them are tired,

so I think that we are going to rethink the schedule.

It's OK - some of them are not young.

'This could be the first generation of children in the United States

'that lives less than its parents.

'We have spent $2.2 trillion a year on health care.

'Over five times more than the defence budget.'

So maybe I'll just give them the movies

and they can watch them in their room,

or maybe we can watch them later during the month -

it's no problem, as long as they watch those movies,

because it talks about their issues.

At the morning meeting, last night's film

provokes a spirited discussion about what we eat.

Because you've got this diabetes... Yeah.

You saw that film last night -

do you think you will revert your diabetes, turn it back?

150%. That is what I'm here to do.

Get my head down and see if it works, you know?

Which is going to take a little bit of time. Yeah.

So when you go back home, will you will eat them raw...?

Yeah, I will. A bit early to say yet, isn't it?

We are only just starting into the...

At this stage... You never saw the film -

the film actually showed the people that have had diabetes

have gone on this root factor of food and everything

and their diabetes has turned right around.

Was that for everybody? I reckon...

Cos that's a big claim, if you are saying that now,

that basically anybody who has diabetes goes on a diet...

Diabetes Type 2.

Type 2. That's what I've got.

Anybody on Type II diabetes will be cured if you go...

Can reverse it, yeah.

You can control it and then reverse it,

if you stick to the diet.

But it's not a diet - it's a lifestyle.

The Western diseases, they are diet-related.

If you put the wrong fuel in your body,

you will break your engine, and I repeat that all the time.

It's not just meat -

it's all the processed foods and all the sugars.

It's not rocket science when you think about it.

You see one film about how it's bad to eat meat, then all of a sudden

everyone is evangelical about how to eat meat.

Everybody has got an agenda when they make a film.

When vegetarians make a film, they've got an agenda.

When meat eaters make a film, they've got an agenda. Yeah.

So you can't just go, "Oh, I've just seen a film and..."

No. "Meat's bad and there you go."

They make it, they tell you what they want you to hear.

To be honest I didn't go and watch it,

because I knew what it was going to be about.

I want to make my own mind up.

It almost cultish, the way they try and...

It is a little bit. ..almost brainwash you.

They say you've got to listen to both sides,

so what you should do is watch a film about being vegetarian,

like the film last night,

and then a film about how good meat is for you.

Yeah. Watch both.

But they're not showing films about how meat is good for you.

Are you at a stage where it's making you want to give up?

Yeah. You know, I am definitely quite negative

about the whole process,

because I'm, I guess, questioning the process.

Yeah. And that, ultimately, makes me think, "Why am I doing it?"

Pausing for thought for the first time in 48 hours,

Nick and Julian are just realising

that the fasting and colemas, supplements and yoga

are not going to let up for seven whole days.

We've decided that what we are going to do is,

because it's a bit monotonous, there's a hotel up the road,

just around the bay, me and him are going to sit by the pool.

Neither of us have got anything to do for the next two hours. No.

We've been excused yoga. So we are going to go and sit by the pool.

Not drink anything, not eat anything,

just...a different location,

just to try and get away from the conspiracy theory...

A change is as good as a rest.

LAUGHING: Come on, then.

Next time on The Retreat...

Your body can go further than you probably think, yeah?

My bloods and that was a little high.

Now they said I should do a new blood test.

You don't think it's changed in one week?

I'm not getting into the yoga.

Slightly dull vision and...

I just want to stay in bed.

That's all we have to eat a day.

I've got to be honest,

the main thing that is irritating me at the moment

is Billy's happiness. NICK LAUGHS

First of all, I'm going to put the tube into coconut oil

to make it a little bit smoother

for when it enters my butt.

Before attempting any of the detox techniques or practices

demonstrated in The Retreat,

you are advised to seek out your doctor's advice.