Livet Wellness Centre & Holistic Spa

“Why Diet when you can Livet?”

It is the maxim of Uchenna Hackett, more commonly known by his clients as ‘Dr. Livet’, who owns and operates the Livet Wellness Centre & Holistic Spa in Barataria, north-west Trinidad.

While the ‘Dr.’ does not refer to a medical PhD, his clients testify that his treatments have helped treat cancer, diabetes, infertility, chronic pain, cysts, fibroids, tumours, allergies, and much more. In fact, Uchenna’s case studies on diabetes are currently being reviewed for publication in a medical journal.

“Historically, within every community and in every religion, there have always been ‘healers’ and such practitioners,” he states. “Nowadays, the general public puts more belief in the traditional white-coat doctor, but there are scientific truths to naturopathic medicine.”

In April 2014, the Livet Centre hosted a visit by internationally-renowned speaker Dr. Leonard Coldwell, one of the world’s leading naturopathic doctors and leading authors on natural cancer cures, with a 92.3% success rate after having cured 35,000 cancer patients.

During the visit, Dr. Coldwell trained Uchenna and his staff in the system for educational self-healing systems, the Instinct Based Medicine System®, (or IBMS®): a system that enables the user to identify and eliminate the root cause of disease.

The IBMS® training is a key skill to add to the expertise offered at the Livet Centre, which is already quite diverse.

The Livet Wellness Centre & Holistic Spa

The Livet Centre was established in 2012. Its origins, however, began over a decade ago, when Uchenna became seriously unwell.

He suffered from mercury poisoning, chronic sinusitis, systemic candidiasis, chronic joint pain, migraines, kidney disease, severe memory loss and leaky gut syndrome.

When sentenced by a medical doctor to spend a lifetime dependent on medication, Uchenna began looking for alternative cures. His research took him to the U.S.A. to train in the Holistic Health Certification course under Dr. Llaila Afrika, a world-renowned author and natural healer.

His knowledge and training soon led to the opening of the Livet Centre, which now offers treatments for conditions including:

Some of the therapies offered at the Centre include:

Flotation therapy

This involves a nine-inch detoxifying bath with one thousand pounds (1,000 lbs) of magnesium sulfate (commonly referred to as epsom salt). This releases endorphins and activates the Theta brain state, which in turn can inhibit the growth of certain cancer cells, tumours and carcinogenic agents. Flotation therapy induces the body into a state of zero gravity, and is a powerful treatment for chronic pain, hypertension, migraines, anxiety disorders, rheumatism, arthritis, pre-menopausal syndrome (PMS), and psycho-physiological problems. It also relieves insomnia and improves blood circulation.

Needle-less Acupuncture

This uses magnets instead of needles to stimulate acupressure points, and can help to eliminate pain, restore mobility from injury, relieve allergies, ease anxiety and insomnia, and boost the immune system.

Ozone Colonic Hydrotherapy

This method removes waste from the large intestine by inserting a tube approximately two (2) inches into the rectum. Ozonated water is introduced through the tube to flush out toxic poisons, gas, parasites, bacteria and fecal matter. Ozone Colonic Hydrotherapy restores proper digestion, assists with cholesterol, stops infection and inflammation, helps the liver to produce more bile to absorb lipids, reverses digestive problems, helps to control blood pressure, restores a healthy pH balance, and reduces bad odors.

Magnetic Cupping

This uses suction cups applied to the skin’s surface, which create a suction effect in combination with a suction gun. This relaxes tissues and muscles through pressure and stimulates acupressure points on the body. It can be useful to treat stretch marks, fat and cellulite, chronic pain, uterine fibroids, and tumours and cysts that are close to the skin’s surface.

Massage Therapy

Research indicates that massage therapy can help significantly to deal with pain, stress and anxiety associated with chronic diseases, neurological disorders, injuries, and other forms of tension. Regular massage sessions can contribute to overall health and well-being.

These, among other therapies, form part of the treatment plan for each client, which is individualised based on the client’s needs as demonstrated by the comprehensive, holistic assessment of each client that examines urine, saliva, blood pressure, glands and skin conditions. The Centre also features an infra-red sauna, and inversion equipment which helps to relieve pressure and decompress the spine.

A full family history is factored into the recommended approach, as well as an emotional eating assessment.

The Livet Way of Life

“A Livet is the opposite of a Diet, which from its very name connotes negativity — ‘die’,” explains Uchenna.

“The body needs specific vitamins and minerals to be at optimal performance, and a Livet lifestyle introduces these through nutrition, herbal supplements, therapeutic treatments and lifestyle changes. A Livet is a holistic lifestyle centred on the natural balance of mental, physical, spiritual and emotional aspects.”

He notes that diabetes, for instance, is an ’emotional disease’ — someone who is not happy will turn to refined carbohydrates to increase serotonin to induce happiness.

“You can’t heal a condition unless you understand the whole picture,” he adds. “Medicine often looks at numbers only — but the Livet approach looks at the human being, and the combination. These numbers mean something.”

Another concern is that, with regard to food and nutrition, most of the theories we deem to be medical ‘fact’ today has been developed by Europeans.

“We have adopted it as though that is the only race, but the fact is that Africans and their descendants have a different biochemistry than Europeans,” he says.

“There are physical realities we can’t avoid. The research is lacking, which we need to fix. We need to learn ourselves and not generalise from the food pyramid put forward by Europeans who were not exposed to the same conditions and genetic makeup.”

For example, because of climate conditions, Europeans were deficient in Vitamin D and ate food such as dairy and eggs; this same food that is beneficial to a European can be detrimental to person of African descent living in another part of the world.

In the Caribbean, it is particularly unique in that there are many mixed-race persons, a ‘genetic curve ball’ as he terms it, as it is even more difficult to pinpoint the underlying health issues and food sensitivities.

The Challenge of Naturopathy

Uchenna admits that he has been faced by staunch cynicism from some, but it does not daunt him.

“People hear of these instances and automatically think it is not real; it sounds far-fetched; I’m just another quack — but the evidence speaks for itself — most of my clients are referrals from others who have had success with the programme,” he states.

Notably, his background prior to the Livet Centre was in technology, as the CEO of a company providing IT solutions. This aspect of technology can still be seen today — he fuses ‘herbal’ remedies with the latest state-of-the-art technology such as the flotation and hydro-colonic therapies, which are backed by scientific research.

Another factor that informs his practice is the belief that the healthcare industry can be resistant to change.

“It is profitable for medical experts to disregard holistic therapies,” he says.

“Some medical treatments require consistent care — and thus consistent expense. It is profitable to make a sick person feel just better enough to continue taking treatment, and continue paying for it. Even though Dr. Coldwell has been proven to have cured cancer, the industry has not adopted his treatments into mainstream practice. This is a multi-billion dollar industry — ‘curing’ does not benefit their pockets.”

At the Livet Centre, the focus is on tackling disease at its root, and eliminating the need for consistent medication.

“We have accepted weakness, disease and pain as part of life — just about everyone is always complaining of some problem or the other: overweight, tired, infertile, sick, in pain… this is not the ‘norm’, nor is it the way to live,” Uchenna states. “You only have one life to live — it is best to live it… the Livet way.”