We’ve all seen it before. Those dreaded and yet negligible words that we all tend to gloss over when we’re in the middle of reading a natural medicine advertisement.
These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to prevent, treat, or cure any disease.”
Without giving it any conscious thought, we all just presume that the company is following protocol, and we don’t let these words discourage us too much. We don’t lose all faith in a product just because the Food and Drug Administration hasn’t given it its rubber stamp of approval. Since when do we turn down the chance for relief or self-improvement when we have so little to lose and so much to gain? Why let a little government biased get in the way of our healing journey? They’re so cozied up with the pharmaceutical industry that we can’t take their statements too serious anyway. And yet still, those words seem to loom in the back of our mind, detracting to some subtle degree, from our faith in natural remedies.
Do you ever stop and ask yourself why the FDA doesn’t approve herbal medicine and nutrient therapy for the prevention, treatment, and cure of disease? Now that 22 state governments within the US license and approve Naturopaths to practice medicine, you would think that our federal government would begin evaluating the scientific validity of the therapies they prescribe to their patients. Well, think again because the FDA has refused to devote any attention to approving natural therapies for medical purposes. I guess those patients who prefer Naturopaths over conventional doctors are just taking a gamble with their lives because our regulatory agencies have decided to snub natural medicine. Honest and objective inquiry, however, reveals the opposite. Just by applying a little age-old science and coupling it with our God-given common sense, we can determine the healing power of natural medicine all on our own.
PHARMA DRUGS - THE ONLY FORM OF MEDICINE?
The FDA asserts that medical claims can legitimately only be made for synthetic drugs. But why? For instance, we all know that vitamin C cures scurvy, right? Scurvy is that dreaded disease sailors would get while bound by sea for prolonged periods. That is until they began travelling with an abundant supply of citrus fruits. So then why is it illegal for Vitamin C manufacturers to state that Vitamin C can prevent, treat, and cure scurvy? For that matter, why can’t vitamin and mineral companies, as well as the practitioners that prescribe them, inform their patients of the healing power of every vitamin and mineral? Considering that nutrient deficiencies are known to cause chronic disease, and replenishing these deficiencies is shown to alleviate them, nutriceutical companies should be well within their rights to state the facts about what their products can do.
Calcium deficiency causes:
- Osteoporosis- a disease where increased bone weakness increases the risk of a broken bone. It is the most common reason for a broken bone among the elderly.
- Rickets- a condition that results in weak or soft bones in children. Symptoms include bowed legs, stunted growth, bone pain, large forehead, and trouble sleeping.
- Tetany- a condition that causes the involuntary contraction (spasm) of muscles.
Iodine deficiency causes:
- Goiter- a swelling in the neck resulting from an enlarged thyroid gland, associated with a thyroid that is not functioning properly.
- Hypothyroidism- a condition in which the thyroid does not produce enough thyroid hormone.
Magnesium deficiency causes:
- Hypomagnesium- a magnesium deficiency, which can cause a myriad of different symptoms, including hyperexcitability, muscular cramps, muscular weakness, tremor, fatigue, loss of appetite, apathy, confusion, sound and light sensitivity, anxiety, insomnia, irritability, poor memory, reduced ability to learn, tingling or numbness, heart changes, rapid heartbeat, nausea, vomiting, migraines, personality changes, delirium, hallucinations, and death from heart failure.
Zinc deficiency causes:
- Growth retardation- an inhibition of physical development.
- Immunodeficiency- failure of the immune system to protect the body adequately from infection.
Niacin (Vitamin B3) deficiency causes:
- Pellagra- a niacin deficiency that can manifest a number of conditions, including inflamed skin, diarrhea, dementia, and sores in the mouth.
Vitamin C deficiency causes:
- Scurvy- a condition in which symptoms include gum disease, weakness, feeling tired, and sore arms and legs.
Chromium deficiency causes:
- Diabetes- a disease in which the body’s ability to produce or respond to the hormone insulin is impaired, resulting in abnormal metabolism of carbohydrates and elevated levels of glucose in the blood and urine.
- Metabolic syndrome- a condition composed of two or more of the following morbidities: increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist, and abnormal cholesterol or triglyceride levels — occurring together to increase your risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes.
Iron deficiency causes:
- Anemia- a condition defined by a decrease in the number of red blood cells or the amount of hemoglobin in the blood.
Selenium deficiency causes:
- Keshan disease- a cardiovascular disease characterized by heart failure and pulmonary edema.
- Hypothyroidism
Thiamine (Vitamin B1) deficiency causes:
- Beriberi- “Wet beriberi” affects the cardiovascular system resulting in a fast heart rate, shortness of breath, and leg swelling. “Dry beriberi” affects the nervous system resulting in numbness of the hands and feet, confusion, trouble moving the legs, and pain.
Vitamin B12 deficiency causes:
- Anemia
Vitamin D deficiency causes:
- Osteoporosis
- Rickets
- Immunodeficiency
- Depression- a mental health disorder characterized by persistently depressed mood or loss of interest in activities, causing significant impairment in daily life.
NUTRIENT DEFICIENCIES ARE AN OVERLOOKED CAUSE OF MANY CHRONIC HEALTH CONDITIONS
Listed above are only 12 different vitamin and mineral deficiencies, and we haven’t even begun to address amino acids (the molecules that form proteins). There are a total of 13 vitamins, 21 amino acids, and 65 minerals that the human body depends upon to function properly and prevent disease. When nutrient deficiencies are restored, the human body has the amazing ability to heal itself!
This is the basis of Orthomolecular Medicine, developed by two-time Nobel Prize laureate Linus Pauling who coined the term to mean “the right molecules in the right amounts.” Orthomolecular Medicine seeks to maintain health and prevent and treat disease by optimizing nutritional intake by prescribing nutritional supplements. Many nutrients have pharmacological effects when administered in clinical dosages. For example, the B vitamin niacin is well known as a lipid-lowering agent when given at high dosages (2-6 grams per day in divided doses). Methyl-folate (the bio-active form of folate) is also known to treat depression in doses between 7.5-15 mg.
The advantage of using nutrients at pharmacological dosages is that they are more recognizable to the body and better metabolized than synthetic drugs, as evidenced by a better safety profile. Even so, the use of nutrients as pharmacological agents is closely akin to drug therapy. That being the case, it is imperative that they be used and monitored appropriately.
NUTRIENT SUPPORT FOR MENTAL HEALTH
What about dietary influence on mental health? Can nutritional deficiencies result in mental illness? Most people are unaware that amino acids are the precursors to every major neurotransmitter the brain produces. In fact, when your brain cells need to manufacture neurotransmitters for proper mood regulation and mental focus, they use amino acids as the essential raw material.
Amino acids are what proteins are composed of, and they are extracted during the process of digestion to be used by your body in the production of neurochemicals. For example, the amino acids tryptophan, taurine, tyrosine, and phenylalanine are the bio-synthesizers for the neurotransmitters serotonin, gaba, dopamine, and norepinephrine.
But for the pharmaceutical industry, it only makes sense for them to dispense patentable, manmade drugs that will artificially manipulate neurotransmitter levels. The latter option is obviously not a more rational or scientifically-sound option, but it is a much more financially incentivized one.
YOU DON'T HAVE A PROZAC DEFICIENCY
Medical scientists have revealed that mental disorders are caused by an imbalance of neurotransmitters, and it has been ascertained that the cause of these neurochemical imbalances that lead to mood and mental disorders is the result of deficiencies in amino acids and the nutrients that help convert them to neurotransmitters. By replenishing amino acids and their nutrient cofactors, health practitioners and scientists are correcting mental health disorders without the use of dangerous psych meds. One such scientist is Dr. William Walsh, who has been a pioneer in the development of advanced nutrient therapies since his collaboration with Dr. Carl Pfeiffer of Princeton, New Jersey.
Their work recognizes that nutrient deficiencies and imbalances can alter brain levels of key neurotransmitters, disrupt gene expression of proteins and enzymes, and cripple the body’s protection against environmental toxins. Their clinical system, now in use by leading-edge health practitioners, consists of specialized lab testing, an assessment of chemical imbalances, and an individualized protocol aimed at normalizing brain chemistry. Practitioners who have employed Dr. Walsh’s system have recovered the health of people challenged by behavioral disorders, ADHD, autism, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorders, schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease.
A CONFLICT OF INTEREST
If nutritional deficiencies are a primary cause of disease, why are therapeutic dosages of nutrients not approved for the prevention, treatment, and cure of disease? If Hippocrates, the founder of Western Medicine, considered nutrition to be the very backbone of medicine, why do doctors receive little to no nutritional training in medical school? Why don’t doctors prescribe clinical nutrition or educate their patients on the healing power of foods and micronutrients? Why is a doctor’s toolbox limited to synthetic drugs and surgeries? These questions can be answered by following the money. Powerful pharmaceutical companies heavily influence the curriculum taught in medical schools by financing medical research, funding medical schools and hospitals, and advertising in medical journals. With deep pockets, they entice scientists and legislators to support their efforts. Such funding has completely changed the practice of medicine, and the public is mostly unaware of these interlocking interests.
Synthetic drugs are not the only means you have of addressing your chronic health problems. Instead of treating your condition in a roundabout way by artificially manipulating your body’s biochemistry, you can eliminate your health problems by replenishing the very nutrient deficiencies that precipitate their onset. Just because the FDA has cozied up with the pharmaceutical industry doesn’t mean you have any less control over your own health. You still have the freedom, and now the knowledge, to begin utilizing the healing power of nutrient therapy. By addressing the underlying cause of your symptoms and providing your body with the nourishment it needs to heal itself, you can recover your health safely and naturally!