For those not satisfied with those facilities there are stores dedicated solely to the sales of oxidants, minerals, molecules and electrons (at least that’s how it looks) that will tone and buff your cellular makeup. Why bother going to the gym and beautifully sculpting your muscles and the spa to revitalize your appearance, it you don't have the energy to stand up because you haven't bothered to leave time to eat properly?
But that's okay because now you can buy work out regimes for your molecular structure. If you don't eat enough green vegetables there is a program you can follow for a couple of hundred dollars. Anything you're missing can be replaced.
As I mentioned earlier the idea behind a holistic approach to medicine is to treat the whole body and not just the symptoms. When a holistic doctor notices that a patient is deficient in iron for instance, the doctor will recommend the patient take a supplement temporarily until a balance is achieved again. The doctor will also treat the various other ailments that are causing the client's illness and give suggestions for a change in diet that might prevent underlying conditions from recurring, like the iron deficiency for instance, that may have contributed to the problem.
Supplements are not used as replacements for anything that can be readily obtained through eating properly. Some individuals can have temporary deficiencies, or in chronic cases long term ones, where it would be impractical to correct them using diet so the use of a supplement makes sense.
But far too often now these items are being used instead of people eating properly. We don't know enough about the molecular structure and how some of these supplements work on the system to know what sort of long term affects large doses will have. We've already seen the disasters that can happen when people abuse herbal remedies thinking they are harmless because they come from plants.
Ephedra is an asthma medicine that people were taking for weight loss and who knows what else. It is only to be used in very specific conditions; otherwise it can be harmful and potentially fatal. Well too many people found that out about Ephedra by dying of strokes because it was misused and sold under false pretences.
Article comments
1 - Chris C
You want to try a suppliment that can and will help you? Take the 90 day Xango challenge. take it for 90 days and then decide before you judge. Look into the research.
www.thatsgreatjuice.com
2 - Brain Fog
There is a *massive* amount of hype regarding supplements. A definitive list is needed to narrow it down, backed up by scientific studies. Problem is, many supplements have studies that assert there are definite benefits to some compound, and other studies assert the opposite - that such a compound may be detrimental. It's a slippery slope to use supplements, especially those which contain multiple ingredients which may interact with the body in unpredictable ways, and in ways which aren't simply the same as specific ingredients taken in isolation! The brain is a fragile device but you can tinker with it and improve it, that's for sure. Unfortunately you also can make it worse in the process, so supplements need to be carefully assessed!
3 - Jeannie Danna
Richard,
This a great article. Holistic health is a wonderful approach to living a full and happy life.
We started watching "You Are what You Eat" with Gillian McKeith, just five short months ago, and let me tell you how wonderful both my husband and I feel today!
It didn't take many episodes before I really started looking at what we put in our bodies..OMG
Today, if you look in our pantry you can actually read all the ingredients. The fridge is stocked with fresh whole foods absent of meat and dairy products.
Before starting this life style change, we were both bloated and tired. I had aches and pains all over at night...plus horrible night-sweats!
After about two weeks, we both started to physically and mentally change: more energy-now we excersise, improved immune systems- not one cold or cough since..not even a sniffle!
Some people might say "I don't have time to prepare these meals."
Yes, it did take time to learn a whole new way of cooking and not cooking..but now meals take around an hour to prepare, sometimes just twenty minutes!!
Can I suggest sweat potatoes? or is your wife also allergic to these?
Also, maybe you could buy fruit just for you.
I like your doctor! There are not many Docs here in the States with a holistic approach to medicine; with the Food and Drug administration, the Big Pharmas pushing all those additives and the big farmers pumping out massive amounts of High Fructose corn syrup.. it's a wonder that we are not all sick and dying here!
My sister-in -law suffers from FM, and I am so angry at her doctors; their answer has been Morphine for the last four years!