Last year my sister Loudette had a health scare. She had severe pains on her upper right abdomen coupled with nausea and vomiting and she almost passed out from the excruciating pain. After she recuperated from her crisis, which was diagnosed as a gallstone attack, I called her up and got all the feedback about her condition.
My sister lives in Paris, France, where everything delicious and fattening is accessible in any grocery, market or delicatessen. Being married to a Frenchman who taught her how to eat everything “anti-aging” added to her eventual gallbladder condition. If we have our lechon kawali, chicharon and fatty longanisa, the French have their foie gras, cheeses, blood sausages, rich sauces and creamy desserts. It was a daily ritual for her and her family to have a variety of cheeses with French bread after dinner. It was not surprising to me at all that she had to have gallbladder surgery.
It made me shiver to think that it could happen to me, too, as I love to eat all the “anti-aging” foods in the world. I love fruits, vegetables and green salads and can go for several days eating like a goat, but then I go on a binge and indulge in lechon, cheese, liver, creamy desserts and everything deadly. It was always in my subconscious to enter a clinic for a liver and gall bladder detoxification program but never found the opportunity or the time for it.
Last year, Jeannie Goulbourn changed her passion from fashion design to becoming a wellness guru. It all happened after she got very sick and stayed in the hospital for three weeks. She was diagnosed with fatigue and flu. Still very weak, she asked to be discharged from the hospital. She did some research and found the wellness center of Dr. Christina Gonzalez and her son Dale Flores.
Upon the recommendation of Dr. Gonzales, Jeannie went on a detoxification program that made her regain her old energy back. One of the things she did was liver/gallbladder cleansing. She could not believe that a lot of stones came out of her. She never felt any discomfort or stomach pain. Dr. Gonzales told her that a lot of people have gallstones without their knowledge because they are silent stones and may be asymptomatic for years. She felt so healthy after her gallbladder flush that she started to convince friends to do it as well. She felt lighter, her digestive system improved and she had no more of that gassy feeling.
Jeannie explains that the liver and gallbladder act as a team. The liver produces the bile, a digestive fluid that contains cholesterol, bile salts, lecithin and other substances. The bile is stored in the gallbladder then releases it to the small intestines when it has taken in food to help break down fats and aid in the digestion of food. Whatever the body does not use as nutrients come out in our bowels. The fats that don’t get released and stay in the gall bladder turn into gallstones.
Recently, Goulbourn formed Global Vital Source Health and Wellness Center with Dale Flores and Dr. Gonzales. Every three weeks, they organize a “flush” weekend, the last one of which I attended. We were around 40 participants and we all checked in at 8 a.m. at the Clermont Room in Discovery Suites, Ortigas. A nurse took our weight and our blood pressure and we all took our seats.
Then Jeannie welcomed all of us and gave us an orientation on how she got into her wellness advocacy. Next thing I knew, a waiter served me a plateful of fruits from the buffet: watermelon, pineapple, cantaloupe, grape. The waiters did not stop feeding us the whole morning: carrot-celery-apple juice, buko juice, mineral water and delicious vegetable soup. We were also given wheat bread with balsamic vinegar/olive oil dip. While we were eating, Dr. Pierre Clero lectured on how to age without feeling old, Dr. Ricky Soler spoke on mind and body conditioning, and Dr. Madeleine Valera spoke on drug interactions and their side effects. All three doctors were very witty and knowledgeable.
At 2 p.m., we were given water and our last bite of fruits and whatever was on the buffet. Then we were all led to another room for more than an hour and a half of yoga with Raya Mananquil and Corey Wills. Even the men enjoyed the yoga because it was mostly stretching and a lot of breathing exercises. One comes out of it really refreshed and relaxed. Then we sat down to listen to Dale Flores talk on mindful eating and healing foods. He was very informative and he titillated our brains with so much information.
At 6 p.m., we were given a red drink that had magnesium salts in it. At 8 p.m., we were given another glass of the same drink. Then we all retired to our rooms and called it a day. At 10 p.m., a waiter brought us a citrus concoction which obviously had some olive oil in it. Next morning at 6 a.m., another magnesium drink was given us, and again at 8. In the meantime, most of us were already cleansing our stomachs from the concoctions of the night before.
After my 8 a.m. drink, the first set of green gallstones which were as small as peas came out in my bowels. The whole morning till 10:30, I was cleansing and letting out more pea-size green stones which, I was told, were cholesterol fats that accumulated in my gallbladder. I could not believe that I had so many of them.
According to Dr. James R. Balch in his book, Nutritional Healing, 75 percent of gallstones are cholesterol stones. Some of my classmates told me their stones were black and brown, which Dr. Balch explains are pigment stones made of calcium salts. Some stones are as fine as sand.
When we convened at 11 a.m., we were weighed and all of us lost three or more pounds. Then Dale Flores took the floor and enumerated the good effects of the liver/gallbladder flush and other kinds of body cleansing. These include prevention of diseases, purification of the blood, clearing the skin, enhancing the senses, slowing the aging process, increasing energy, rejuvenating the body, improving circulation, boosting the immune system, restoring cell regeneration and removing toxins.
It’s been two weeks now since my flush and I noticed that my digestive system and liver functions have improved and my energy level is doubly enhanced.
Thanks to Jeannie’s latest health advocacy, I feel like a renewed person. I wish I had done the flush sooner. I will now always find time for health matters.
My new mantra is: Health is my priority. Everything else takes second place.
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For those interested in the flush, call Joyce at 843-2550 or 897-2217 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.