Rx: Change your unhealthy lifestyle

Change your unhealthy lifestyle,” admonished Jeannie Goulbourn, as she magnani-mously shared her noble advocacies with our group of weekend wellness seekers at the Detox and Digestive Clean Up activity last Sept. 22-23 held at the luxurious Discovery Suites in Ortigas.

I was invited to join this special event by our dear family friends Milette and Miguel Belmonte. My close pal since childhood, it was a real treat to spend quality time with Milette. The gracious couple are the favorite godchildren of my late parents.

I remember the last words to us children of our parents, who both died of lung cancer 10 years ago, 20 days apart. At ages 59 and 60 respectively, Mom and Dad were completely driven workaholics, who worked long hours, skipped meals, consumed a lot of canned food, and didn’t acquire a taste for healthy cuisine.

When Mom started to have successive headaches, 27 doctors from our local hospitals misdiagnosed her and prescribed unnecessary medication that aggravated her suffering. It was at Stanford Hospital in California where the doctors told us that Mom had terminal lung cancer and had only 12 weeks to live. They told us there was nothing more they could do for her and suggested we resort to natural medicine like herbal, natural or alternative types. Six months later, Dad’s cancer was diagnosed, also in the fourth stage but spreading faster than Mom’s. My parents may have accomplished their goals, but the quality of their health deteriorated beyond repair. They relied on western medicine, which in the end told them to resort to natural medicine. Why did they have to wait too long to find this out? Perhaps, if they had lived healthier and given more value to a better quality of life, they would still be around today. Just like Natasha, Jeannie’s precocious and vivacious daughter whose severe depression could have been avoided if not for the wrong medication she took.

Moving forward, Jeannie revealed that she once had fever for 60 days. Lethargic, short of breath, weak from unceasing fever and depressed from the steroids she was prescribed, she sought remedies to cure her ailments and found the answer in holistic healing methods that involved detoxification of the mind, body, and soul.

At the next Wellness Workshop slated Oct. 27-28,  guests learned the history of cleansing in different cultures, emotion and how it affects health, the importance of cleansing and detoxification, and beauty: inside and out. Lectures like nutritional therapy by Dale Flores, practical approach to healing by Dr. Ricky Soler, integrative medicine by Dr. Madeleine Valera, and breathing and meditation with Jeannie Javelosa were truly enlightening. For me, the results were magical.

The workshop included an overnight detox treatment of the liver and gallbladder toxins. Many of us lost around three to eight pounds. Sr. Mary Tolentino initially lost eight pounds that weekend, but when she followed the diet prescribed by Dale Flores, she lost 20 more. Simply put, the diet involves eating what you like but preparing the food differently. Instead of frying, simply steam. Avoid sweets and meat because these food are converted to acid, which is the playground of cancer cells.

The detox flush was the highlight of the event. This is a special treatment that cleanses the body of impurities caused by improper diet, pollutants, and an unhealthy lifestyle. Too much toxin buildup lowers the immune system, thereby increasing the chances of disease to set in. The detox flush helps eliminate years of unprocessed fats and gallstones caused by bad cholesterol. It is a non-invasive procedure and simply requires consuming five natural/organic drinks that taste like vegetable-herbal juice.

It was truly an amusing experience for us to see different colors of gallstones that we fondly referred to as our “gems.” These gems ranged from deep, emerald green to light green jade. The black deposits obtained, that resembled ebony onyx, proved to be the rarest species. The yellowish orange stones, the canary sapphires or cetrines were also flushed out. Yes, if we weed out these rocks, we allow the jewel that is our body to achieve its healthy, sparkling glow. Even gold has to be refined in order to reach its state of maximum resplendence. Don’t worry, there’s no pain when it comes out. It simply feels like a regular bowel movement with plenty of liquid flushing out soft little stones. A strainer will be provided, just in case you want to view the souvenirs. But a little piece of advice, digestive cleansing advocates, if you are to share the room, please make sure you are close enough to your roommate. If both of you feel the urge to purge your gems, you ought to have a friendly arrangement as to who goes first!

We are toxic time bombs. The body has an amazing capacity to heal itself, but as long as irritating contaminants remain in the tissues and new toxins are continually added, recovery is virtually impossible. Removing the symptoms of disease doesn’t cure the sickness. The only way to cure illness is to cleanse oneself.

Jeannie stressed, “When you flush, it sets your body in a good state of performance for all organs because you remove the clogs. When you detox, it is like cleansing your ‘plumbing’ system. Your blood gets purified as it is in an alkaline state. Your own soldiers within your body are strengthened and immunity system is fortified.”

Dale reminded us that the focus of the Wellness Weekend is on the positive aspects of disease prevention, innovation, and consumer wisdom rather than simply accepting medical applications. We must learn to make it a personal advocacy to be properly informed of our physical, mental, and spiritual health by taking responsibility for the quality of our lives.

The most precious jewels of wisdom Milette and I and most of us learned from the Wellness Weekend is that we must put a stop to the causes of disease by stopping ingesting food that does not contain life enzymes; removing the congestion, toxins, acids, and everything else that contribute to sickness; and, above all, supplying the body with essential nutrients, positive thoughts, lots of love, laughter, and prayer.

As I headed home, Fr. Gerard Deveza’s words, which he shared during Mass, reverberated in my heart and mind: “You must practice forgiveness for this is the most effective form of spiritual detox. After all, the universal remedy is purification and love that emanates from the Divine Source.”