THE TOTAL HEALTH EXPERIENCE: EAT, PLAY, LEARN
Join us in the Caribbean for a week-long all-inclusive beach immersion
October 12-19, 2024, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic
The T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies is excited to present its all-inclusive Caribbean Beach immersion program at the Gran Ventana Resort—the perfect opportunity to relax, focus on wellness, and connect with a supportive community. See pricing details
EAT
a wide range of nourishing and flavorful whole food, plant-based meals
PLAY
on the golden sands of Playa Dorada and enjoy numerous wellness activities
LEARN
how to obtain optimal health through a week-long immersion program led by experienced doctors
Our Caribbean Paradise
The Gran Ventana Beach Resort is a sophisticated yet warm and authentic beach community located right on the coast of the Dominican Republic. Facilities at the resort include swimming pools, a fitness center, an 18-hole golf course, a spa, and more. This sunny, tropical location is the perfect place to unwind and enjoy activities like yoga, tai chi, or long walks on the beach, and a fantastic base for local excursions.
Our Immersion Program
Immersion programs give individuals the unique opportunity to reconnect with their health and wellness goals and see the rapid effects of a healthy plant-based lifestyle. To assist in this, all participants can do optional biometrics screening on days one and eight of the event, measuring weight, blood pressure, serum cholesterol, and blood glucose levels. This tracking allows you to experience the benefits of a healthy lifestyle first-hand.
As you track your health progress, you will also have the support of a renowned medical team with years of experience treating patients with a wide range of diet-related illnesses. Additionally, you will have the opportunity to learn from experts how to manage and control stress. Learn more about the benefits of immersion programs.
Daily Agenda
6:30 – 7:45 AM
Let’s Get Moving!
We’ll start the day off with a wide range of fun movement options, including different yoga classes, golfing at the Playa Dorada Golf Course, a walk on the beach, a swim in the ocean, water aerobics, or just a simple run around the Grand Ventana complex.
8:00 – 9:00 AM
Breakfast - Delicious, Hearty, and Oh So Good!
“What is there to eat if not meat, dairy products, and oil? How can I prepare tasty food?” In our buffets, you’ll learn and enjoy a wide selection of healthy, delicious plant-based options: fresh fruit, baked goods, smoothies, fresh juices, hot foods, cereals (muesli and oatmeal), and Dominican breakfast staples. Favorites include Caribbean pumpkin spice muffins, passion fruit smoothies, pineapple cereal bars, breakfast bowls with fiesta cornbread, black beans, salsa, and guacamole, baked cassava fries with savory greens, crepes filled with fresh fruit and pancakes.
9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Presentations: Optimal Health and How to Achieve It!
Our series of morning presentations are crafted and sequenced to have the greatest impact, with topics building on each other: Past presentation topics included No More Diseases: How diet and lifestyle can reverse and prevent chronic diseases; Body Literacy I and II: What do our bodies need?; Cancer, Heart Disease, and Diabetes: What’s the latest science?; Successes and Challenges in Transitioning to a Healthy Lifestyle; The Pillars of Lifestyle Health; Setting up Your Kitchen for Success; and Active Hope: Stewardship and Community Engagement.
12:00 – 1:30 PM
Savory Lunches
Once again, enjoy a wide selection of delicious plant-based options with a salad bar, fresh fruits, juices, side salads, warm sides, and main entrees. Some of our favorites include Sweet Potato Enchiladas, Masala’s Chickpeas, Fiesta potato salad, Ensalada Azteca with Mango Vinaigrette, Lentil Loaf with Gravy, Peanutty Noodles and Vegetables, Stuffed Cabbage Rolls, Polenta Bake, Curried Potatoes and Eggplant, Dominican Rice and Beans, Plantain Maduros and Creamy Alfredo.
1:00 – 4:00 PM
Siesta and Excursions: Relax and Have Fun!
This is the time to lounge on the beach, swim in the ocean, read by the pool, enjoy a beachside massage, visit the boutique spa, play a round of golf, or make new friends, talking and getting to know each other over a refreshing passion fruit juice! During this time, we’ll also host two excursions included in your registration fee, allowing you to leave the resort, visit local farms, and learn about the rich food history of the Dominican Republic, while also visiting a local school and making chocolate from cacao trees!
4:30 – 5:45 PM
Q&A with Presenters and Cooking Team
This is the time to ask questions, engage with our dynamic group of presenters, and learn from those who have been developing and preparing WFPB meals for over 30 years.
5:45 – 7:30 PM
Dinner
In addition to a salad bar, fresh fruits, and juices, dinners will include a range of tasty dishes. Some of our favorites include Nutty Potato Kale Soup, Italian Eggplant soup, Quick Three Bean Soup, The Dominican national dish of Sancocho, Vegetable Fajitas with Guacamole, Twice Baked Potatoes, Hearty Kale Salad, Macaroni and Squash, Lentil Burgers, Mock-Tuna Wraps. We’ll also serve a delicious plant-based dessert, including passion fruit cheese (less) cake, frozen chocolate cream, coconut mango pudding, pineapple sorbet, and more.
7:30 PM
Community Connections and Dialogues
Our goal in this session is to explore how transitioning to a whole food plant-based diet is a lifestyle choice – not merely a diet! In exploring this, we’ll enjoy several movies and documentaries – followed by lively group discussions – allowing you to network, get to know each other, and develop friendships and a community of support.
A World-Class WFPB Buffet
Learn How to Prepare Healthy, Tasty Food, and Enjoy it All Week!
Our delicious, whole-food, plant-based buffet is designed to demonstrate the fantastic culinary variety of a plant-based lifestyle. With over 60 different dishes to enjoy, the buffet provides a learning opportunity in which all participants will receive a Total Health WFPB Workbook, consisting of all the recipes consumed during the week, tips on how these recipes were created, how they can be modified, and resources and materials to help you succeed in transitioning to a healthy WFPB lifestyle. The meals are whole food, plant-based with no added oil. Minimal amounts of sweeteners and salt will be used. Meals will be buffet style so participants can select the items that best fit their needs.
Our Local Excursions
Exploring the Wonderful Variety of Caribbean Food and the Politics and Impact of Food Production
Some of our biggest cravings have been cultivated in the once-rich soils and the perfect year-round growing conditions of the Dominican Republic. I’m talking specifically about sugar, coffee, chocolate, rum, cigars, and even cattle! But what are the impacts of these cravings? How do they affect the land and communities? And who benefits from their production? What can we do to improve this situation? Through two enriching excursions—included in the cost of registration—you will have the unique opportunity to see how optimal health extends beyond your physical health to include social and ecological well-being. You will learn about the effects of different farming systems, the history of land tenure in the Dominican Republic, and interrelated issues affecting health and the balance of local and global food systems.
Registration
We expect this to be a sold-out event, so please register early.
Registration is $2480 for single occupancy, and $2180 per person for double or triple occupancy. This includes:
- 7 nights at the Gran Ventana Beach Resort & use of its free amenities
- 3 delicious whole food, plant-based meals each day
- Daily presentations and Q&A session with plant-based doctors
- Fun activities with other participants in the immersion program
- Morning movement activities, such as yoga and water aerobics
- Two off-site excursions
*The program fee does not include airfare or the optional use of additional amenities at the resort (spa, golf course). Biometrics screening is an optional $59.00 add-on.