Relax, Renew & Revitalize at the Holistic Wellness Center on Phuket, Thailand.

PHUKET

Phuket, the largest of the Thai Islands, lies off the west coast of mainland Thailand in the Andaman Sea. While the topography varies, the landscape is characterized by dense, overgrown vegetation. The varieties of indigenous palm trees are never-ending, their silhouettes resembling cut-out figures against the sky. Color flows from the red frangipani  and  flame trees and orchids grow wild. Edged all around with azure waters, Phuket is envied for its clean sandy beaches with white-crested waves that beckon tourists who arrive from around the world.

And inside this paradise, some of the finest wellness experiences can be found.

Do you think I’m exaggerating? Not a bit.

“The Thai Government has poured funds into building Phuket up as a world-class wellness hub, elevating it to a global city in the process: a center for global health and medical tourism.”

Choosing Where to Go

When searching for a wellness resort in Phuket trying to choose where I would go, I felt like a kid in a candy store, thoroughly spoiled by one candy more delicious than the last.

The wellness industry worldwide has exploded and I was overwhelmed with choices even when limiting my wellness search to Phuket.  The province has seven top-tier resorts, several world-class hotels with cutting-edge spas, and countless other wellness centers offering a cornucopia of treatments. This has become a crowded field with a lot of competition.

After sifting through several options, my decision came to rest on TheLifeCo Phuket Detox and Holistic Wellness Center for my wellness stay.

Getting There

There is no direct flight to Phuket from the United States. I took a flight from San Francisco with only one short layover, but that didn’t change the fact that it was almost twenty hours of flying time!

Arriving in Phuket,  the flight was soon forgotten. My mission was to enter a wellness spa and come out of the experience renewed and healthy.

TheLifeCo.

TheLifeCo has become a prominent wellness brand focusing on a 360° holistic approach to body, mind, and soul. I read that they offer unique programs that trigger the body’s natural healing power, incorporating fasting to cleanse the body of toxins.  They also offer a selection of programs to complement the detoxing treatment, which is the “mind and body” aspect of the treatment.

The final deciding factor was finding out they offer a program called the  “Diabetes Daily Recovery Program,” a medically monitored program that is said to reverse — not cure —  diabetes.

A Little Background

A few months ago I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and was prescribed prednisone. Not only did the prednisone give me brain fog and a “personality makeover” — if you have ever tried prednisone, you will know what I mean! A few days after beginning this medication  I  found myself in the emergency room with a 550 blood sugar count,  four times the upper limit of normal. My imagination went into overdrive and I imagined red lights flashing danger signals

It took several days to be weaned off the prednisone, (you cannot give it up cold turkey) and I was put on a different medication. From being healthy, I found myself having to measure my blood sugar twice a day, watching it spike,  with no sign of it ever being normal again.

Arriving in Phuket.

After a 20-hour flight from SFO and a time change of thirteen hours, we touched down at Phuket International Airport in the early morning where a driver was waiting to take me on the final leg of my journey — a fifteen-minute drive to the LifeCo Wellness Center.

As exhausted as I was from the flight, as we drove into the paradise that is TheLifeCo, I was struck by the beauty of the location.

Looking to my right, I could see ascending hills covered in dense vegetation, with little houses peeping out between the branches.

After being welcomed I was given a tall glass of chilled fruit juice while I completed the signing-in formalities. Then I was taken to my room on the first floor, and when I opened the huge glass sliding door to the terrace, it seemed like the pool and its view were an extension of my bedroom. This is what I saw every morning as I opened my eyes!

THE MASTER GREEN DETOX PROGRAM

I had touched down in Phuket at 7.3O AM. and by 10.00 AM I was at my first appointment with the doctor, going over the proposed treatment plan. There were two doctors on duty at all times and by the end of my stay, I had had appointments with both doctors. They have varied backgrounds and experiences and are both well-trained in different modalities and approaches to treatment.

 

The proposed plan was to begin with two days of salads, to prepare my body for the fast: seven days of juice only,(the green juice fast) then the last two days to return to eating salads and more solid food. This was it: TheLifeCo Master Green Detox Program. I was also told to check the large blackboard in the dining area that featured additional activities going on each day, that would enhance the treatment.

Yoga and Stretching

Yoga and stretching were encouraged because the combination of gentle moving, stretching, and twisting together with deep breathing aided the detox process for body, mind, and spirit. The wonderful people leading these classes were patient and exceptional in their ability to inspire the guests to pursue these activities, especially guests who had never done this before — guess who I am alluding to! There was also a lot to learn about breathing and meditation, which was also encouraged.

The Medical Program

On the medical side, the WellnessCo has an impressive menu: live blood analysis to look at the health of the blood cells, body testing, obesity treatment, blood pressure testing, hypertension relief, stem cell infusions, anti-aging treatments, hormone treatments, preparation for in-vitro fertilization, and even “biohacking” among others if they are prescribed. The LifeCo has a medical laboratory and also works with an outside laboratory. You can see more of the treatments available on the Life Co website.

The Salads

The salads were made with fresh, tasty organic vegetables.  I wish I could have remained on the salad program for the rest of my stay, especially enjoying the keto salad dressings that were made fresh before each meal, and served in their own little container. But on day three, the  “Green Juice Master Detox Program” beckoned. My body was prepared and it was time to clean the toxins in my system — the accumulation of all those medicines that I had been taking and a diet loaded with sugars and fats. I was not a healthy eater.

I have been challenged to justify detoxing. I don’t need to: for anyone suffering from inflammation, highlighted by painful joints, try detoxing and you will instantly know its value!

The people working at TheLifeCo are exceptionally well trained and their dedication to their guests knows no bounds. From the beginning of my treatment, I felt supported by everyone on staff and I do feel that the quality of the care is a significant part of its success. This is a well oiled machine that is getting amazing results from the different programs that are available.

The Life Co considers nutrition the foundation of our well-being and correct nutrition is the best medicine. In other words, food is our medicine.

I hesitantly began the juice fast— I did not know how I would feel on five hundred calories a day, and also because I was giving up eating!  No need to worry. With the support from all the personnel, it was not difficult and when I saw my results, I knew the “sacrifice” was well worth it.

The Daily Routine

Each day began with the nurse checking my vital signs. By 8:30 AM the first juice had arrived and juices were delivered every one and a half hours, like clockwork, from 8.30 AM until 8.30 PM— and no matter where I was in the garden or the treatment area, they would seek me out to have my juice on schedule. Any doubts or questions that arose were referred to the doctors and I was allowed to continue all my medications during the treatment

The juice would arrive ice cold, in a tall glass, with a glass straw (no plastics here!) accompanied by supplements and pro-biotics  In addition, there were small “shots” of wheatgrass (that is grown on the property), and lemon juice, seasoned with Himalayan salt, little helpings of  kelp, nettle, and other prescribed “add-ons.” All juice served at the LifeCo is organic and fresh, colorful, cold pressed, and carefully chosen for its combinations, and food values. and colors. Yes colors,  I was on a “Green” fast!

It sounds rigorous, but I was assured I would not starve or faint because all the necessary vitamins and nutritional supplements were adequate to keep me feeling well. Doing the fast was effortless!

The Juice Ingredients

The green juice diet was a combination of pineapple, green apple, guava,  limes, celery, spinach,  mango, ginger mint, and parsley. Two of my favorites, not mentioned above, were watermelon juice, extracted from fresh watermelons, and coconut water from the inside of the coconut. Juices were cold-pressed to preserve their value — no violent blending. And of course, the juices did not have added sugar. My palate told me they needed sugar, and I am trying to re-educate it to taste the natural flavors of the ingredients! No more added sugars!

The Health Soup

And if I felt the need for nourishment, there was a large cauldron in the open-air dining area with a “health soup,” and one of the servers would add another few ingredients such as cumin, turmeric, oregano, different peppers, and Himalayan salt to make it more flavorful. This is not a soup I would serve at a dinner party, but it is nourishing, and when you are hungry, it is delicious!

A selection of homemade tea was always available with another cauldron of boiling water. These were made from fresh herbs and dried fruit, should one want a different drink.

The Water Fast

My fast was only seven days long — there were people at The LifeCo doing much longer juice fasts. There were also people on water fasts. While I was there one guest did a 21-day water fast followed by one week of salads before completing an additional week of water fasting. This treatment was mostly reserved for people with serious illnesses.

After seven days, I looked forward to getting back to real food, food that I had seen other gusts enjoying in the open air dining room and food that I had seen being prepared at two cooking demonstrations that I attended while fasting!

The Cooking Demonstrations

As I mentioned, while fasting I attended two cooking demonstrations. The LifeCo’s chef and his assistant showed us how to prepare keto-inspired food, the food that was being served in the open-air dining room.

Ending the Fast

Even after the salivation-inducing cooking demonstrations, when my first meal finally arrived — it was so beautiful, I first had to look at it! And when I tasted it, it tasted every bit as good as it looked.

 

One of the takeaways I got after completing the fast was that one can be satisfied with eating less, especially in the evening.  A delicious bowl of soup with a few crackers was adequate to sustain me through the night!

The Location.

Health aside, it was worth traveling halfway around the world to be able to spend time in such a beautiful and tranquil setting.  The view from the open-air dining room spans a lake surrounded by small homes, set against the hillside with dense tropical vegetation.

Front and center is the LifeCo main building with its treatment rooms alongside it.  The roof peeping out through the vegetation in this photo is the main building —  the setting is  tranquil with no overhead airplanes or freeway traffic noise at all, simply nature.

The surface of the lake was usually calm — except when the water lizards who live in the lake swim across the water, creating waves and disturbing the mirrored reflections.

The vegetation was very natural — and I was amazed by the assortment of indigenous palm trees that thrive in this humid climate.

To ensure you took in this “natural” medicine, there was a walkway along the water’s edge, lined with benches and hanging chairs where one could sit and meditate, read a book, or enjoy the view.

The location was stunningly beautiful with views whichever way one turned — and I am convinced that this setting was one of the  healing ingredients of the treatment.

SUCCESS!

It took five days of juice fasting for my blood sugar to give a “normal” reading — a number  I  had not seen since the onset of the diabetes.  Seeing the meter read under one hundred was unthinkable before beginning the fast.

This is not called a “cure” but a “reversal,” and for good reason. It will not be permanent unless I follow the protocol I was given before leaving the LifeCo. I will need to make drastic changes to my lifestyle, particularly the food that I eat, and focus on low-glycemic foods if I want to stay well. No more Lindt chocolate truffle bars or dense chocolate cake that beckoned me from the bakery at my local supermarket.

The Life Co-treatment programs are not hit-and-miss. They have been carefully researched and constantly tested using healing ingredients, and supplements that work in tandem with the other parts of the program. It is based on results and twenty years of 35,000 guests who have taken the Life Co programs.

Final Thoughts

This is an opinionated blog post (how unusual is that!) and I am not advocating this approach for anyone else. Neither am I an authority in wellness or diet. This is the way I chose to try and regain my health, and I am putting it out there to show there is a different way of treating illness, like using food as medicine. It is a way to self-healing. using a holistic approach that reverses chronic illness by fixing the root of the problem instead of addressing the symptoms only.  

I wanted to enter a wellness spa and come out of the experience renewed and healthy. Mission accomplished.

THE LIFECO  PHUKET DETOX & HOLISTIC WELLNESS CENTER

75, M3, SAKHU
THAILAND DISTRICT
PHUKET 83110
Tel. +66 076-328-466
www.thelifeco.com