Health, Love And Happiness
By Sadhana Senanayake
FLOW is a vegan health food bar that is taking Colombo by storm with their delicious and healthy juices and salads. Shazna Muzammil, Annette Ukwatte and Anitra Pieris are the brains behind FLOW. “Initially we bonded as workout partners.” Explains Anitra Pieris, “We noticed that fitness alone do not help us achieve our desired health and beauty goals. We found that a nutritious, predominantly plant based whole-food diet combined with moderate exercise is the key. But nowhere in Sri Lanka could you get a range of pure plant based whole-food and we realised that there was a huge gap in the health food market. We felt that creating a Vegan Health Food Bar would be a service to people who are interested in having health and wellness in their lives. We wanted to make it convenient to eat healthy.”
Most people think that vegan diets are a little extreme and the ladies at FLOW deal with these questions every day, “What can be said is that a Vegan diet is undeniably the most nutritionally bio-available diet for the human body.” Says Anitra, “A plant based, whole-food diet has been shown to be the foundation for long and healthy lives.
It has proven to help maintain health and reverse diseases caused by too much sugar, dairy, meat and other such food. Furthermore, a vegan lifestyle is the gentlest, most ecofriendly, and cruelty free way to live on the planet. Our motivation was not only to help people create a positive change towards wellbeing in their lives, but also to help our planet.”
Leafy greens are probably the most nutritionally abundant food source on the planet, then come berries, fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds, but it is challenging to eat all that we need from these food categories because of preparation availability etc, this is where FLOW comes in.
They do a range of cold pressed juice blends, which gives the body a load of nutrition without doing much work. The juice is easily digested and assimilated by the body giving the digestive system a well deserved rest. A new addition on the menu is nutri-bowls and nutri-blasts which contain all the fibre of the fruit and vegetables used. These can replace a meal and are fabulous pre or post workout as they have vegan protein added to them. “The combinations for our juices have been created from a combination of research, local produce availability and taste.” Says Anitra, “Our Salads are a full meal and we have an exciting range of healthy salad dressing – the clincher when having a salad.
We have developed a range of raw savoury soups to entice people further to consume more raw food. We brew Kombucha, considered by the Japanese to be the elixir of life. It is a probiotic and weight shifter. For a sweet treat we carry Energy Balls, completely raw and delicious.”
“Our dream is to have a fully fledged Vegan Health Food Bar.” Says Anitra, “A place that can bring together people who are interested in health and wellness. Somewhere to meet Naturopaths, Alternative Therapists and Gurus, do yoga and Meditate. A holistic haven and library. A place to share ideas and promote a vegan lifestyle.”
