Many of us, as patients and consumers, do not understand the details of our anatomy. Our complicated physiology is difficult to understand! Our bodies are complex and, as consumers, we tend to take ignorance or confusion and turn to the “experts” rather than educating ourselves. It is tempting to believe whatever the medical world says. Commercials advise us to “ask your doctor” before trying a new drug. We must understand that these doctors make money off each pharmaceutical sale. Some sign contracts with drug companies, agreeing to push their products. There are certainly examples of medical doctors who focus on long-term health and well-being but most doctors, I have found, focus on their bottom line—selling pills. The medical world is full of pill-pushers and blatant disregard for our well-being. If they can sell us a pill that causes side effects, that means we need another pill! They win. Our healthcare system is reactive rather than proactive. We buy a pill to relieve a symptom rather than altering our diet and lifestyle to promote true healing and prevent disease.

The medical world exploits our ignorance of the human body. We have a large population of sick and overweight people who struggle with numerous health problems. When they seek advice from the medical world, many times it offers no real solutions, only drugs that treat symptoms. All medications come with some type of side effect. Some are immediately problematic and some are slower to destroy our bodies, allowing for life to continue with symptomatic relief but chronic sickness and poor quality of life. The limited options offered to us are always the same: cutting (surgery), burning (radiation), drugging (pills), and poisoning (chemotherapy).

There is another option that will not come up in your average medical doctor’s office. It promotes healing via nutrients, not drugs, using nutrient-dense food and quality supplementation. Unfortunately, because the traditional healthcare model is kept in place by national and local law, medical personnel advocating for natural methods of healing can get into legal trouble. Doctors can lose their medical license and face charges of malpractice for offering methods of treatment other than those the pharmaceutical industry provides! About a century ago, people in positions of power began to form laws that govern the medical industry. These laws were used to mold our medical system in favor of the new chemical “wonder drugs” that were being manufactured from chemical weapons made during WWI. (This is also where chemical plant fertilizers came from—scientists created RoundUp^® and others from the chemicals used in biological warfare. Because, what better way to use them than to spray them all over our nation’s crops?)

This marked a significant turning point in our nation’s healthcare. Natural remedies were now a thing of the past when we did not know any better. Plant medicines were disparaged as “snake oil” and the art of natural healing was thrown out, in favor of “modern medicine” and scientific “progress”. The consequences have been disastrous to our health. We lost many of the natural medicines humans have used since the beginning of time and, thanks to our modern culture of industrialized food, we then lost access to clean, whole, nutrient-dense food, crippling our nation with health care costs that will eventually bankrupt us. The government estimates current national healthcare costs at over $3 trillion – and growing each year. This works out to $9,523 per person in 2014¹. For you economics folks, that’s 17.5% of our nation’s GDP¹. That’s one and a half times more than any other country spends on healthcare². America also has fewer physicians than many developed countries, falling behind much of the EU, North Korea, Israel and Cuba. With the tremendous demand for healthcare and shortage of doctors (we’ve all been to the doctor and know how busy they are!) writing a prescription is always the easiest option. It gets money into the hands of your doctor and eliminates your symptoms in the short run, while causing massive financial and health implications further down the line.

Why is conventional medicine so misleading?

Believe it or not, it is against the law to make a claim that anything other than a drug can heal. The lunacy of this law is obvious. This is a way to keep the power on the side of the pharmaceutical industry and remove our ability to heal ourselves. Just like our food pyramid was designed with pressure (and lots of money changing hands) from the meat, dairy and grain industries, so too our medical system is determined by industry power—whoever has the most money calls the shots.

In conventional medicine, we are trained to believe medical treatment is one-size-fits-all. In reality, our bodies differ widely and one person’s poison can be another’s cure. Therefore, it is crucial to take into consideration every person’s individual biological needs. Using nutrients from whole foods and assisting the healing process with supplementation is the only way to ensure safe, long-term health and meet the specific needs of our bodies.

A medical doctor who sees you in his or her office for 15 minutes cannot get to the root of your health problems. Our medical personnel need time to do some detective work and discuss symptoms, health history and eating habits in depth. Unfortunately, this is rare in our modern medical system, where the goal is to make money for drug companies rather than truly heal patients. This system could not be more broken. There is no drug that actually heals, our drugs only treat the symptoms. Nutrients give our bodies the necessary building blocks to make repairs and positive changes to our physiology so we can heal. Our bodies are designed to heal! Our cells’ inherent wisdom have mastered the art of healing—but only if the proper raw materials are provided.

There is a movement now. Many people recognize that they are not living to their full, healthy potential. I see depression, diabetes, muscle pain, chronic fatigue, inability to focus, insomnia, sexual dysfunction, migraines, vision problems, digestive issues, brain fog and weight issues every day in my practice. All of these common issues are related to the chronic lack of nutrients in the standard western diet and ALL are preventable with a healthy diet and lifestyle.

Some of us have begun to question the wisdom of modern medicine. There are just too many people who don’t feel their best any more—chronic pain has truly become our new normal. Some of us now look to our diets for healing and relief from a diseased state. But, in a world full of so many uninformed and untrue health messages, where do we possibly begin?

How can we turn the tables?

We all need access to clean, organic foods that have been cultivated in soil that is teaming with microbes and high in nutrients. (See my article The Wisdom of Our Ancestors.) Small family farms that produce this kind of food for their region are on the decline. Farms have been steadily disappearing, as the average age of farmers continues to rise³, meaning the future of our country’s food system is bleak. The small farmer is going extinct. Our country used to be full of small farms but bit by bit they are being driven out by industrial farming. The immediate profits of industrial farming are tempting (though organic farming is more profitable in the long run⁴). It is expensive to obtain an organic farming license and fields of GMO crops poison organic fields, making it difficult for organic farmers to protect their land. Often, these small farmers are fighting a losing battle—the powerful agriculture corporations will always win.

We need to ignore mainstream beliefs about health and nutrition and stop letting our children become indoctrinated by advertisements. As consumers, we need to demand access to the foods that create a healthy body. Consumer demand drives the market so if we choose to purchase healthy, organic produce, supply will shift and more will become available, lowering the costs and making it affordable for all. (See my article The Healing Power of Ordinary Foods.)

Functional nutritionists help those who want to reclaim control of their health, even those of us who may be considered too old and therefore foolish to wish for a healthy body again! I believe it is possible to turn back the hands of time and I have seen it happen many times. There is no reason to accept a broken body as a normal part of the human experience. We do not need to live with chronic sickness and pain. There are many options available—I recommend starting with nutritional counseling to begin your journey of healthy eating. This journey may be the best decision you have ever made.

Many thanks Sara Scheler for your contributions to this article.

Cited References:

Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. National Health Expenditures 2014 Highlights. Baltimore, MD. CMS; 2014. Accessed June 2016. Available here.
Kane, J. Health Costs: How the U.S. Compares with Other Countries. PBS Health; October 22, 2012. Accessed June 2016. Available here.
Rodale Institute. Farming Systems Trial. Kutztown, PA. Rodale Institute; 2015. Accessed June 2016. Available here.
United States Department of Agriculture. 2012 Census Highlights: Farm Demographics. USDA; May 2014. Accessed June 2016. Available here.