Taking charge of our health
I have heard concerns from many people over the amount of fish oil I am ingesting. First, let me say that knowledgeable doctors have and do prescribe this on a regular basis. As I mentioned Randall McCloy’s doctor, Dr. Bailes, consulted with Dr. Barry Sears , a leading expert in nutrition and prescribed 18 mg. per day for Mr. McCloy who made a miraculous recovery. Secondly, it is infinitely healthier than consuming vast quantities of salt and high fructose laden substances which people do every day.
As Dr. Barry Sears points out in his book Toxic Fat: When Good Fat Turns Bad, there is really no definitive answer on the amount of EPA needed. Age, weight, and gender play no part in the answer. The correct amount is determined by the amount of “silent” inflammation existing in the person. There is a blood test that measures this but most doctors don’t do it. This blood test measures the ratio of AA (arachidonic acid) to EPA the substance found in fish oil. Arachidonic Acid is an omega 6 fatty acid found in the human body. It is necessary to have a certain amount but an overload creates inflammation and is then a toxic fat. Fish oil (or omega 3) balances this out. So the blood test checks for the balance. The ration of AA to EPA should be between 1.5 – 3 for optimal wellness.
Reducing your AA/EPA ratio can have a remarkable effect. It aids in weight loss, reduction of chronic pain, improved mood. It helps with depression, ADD, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, high cholesterol, etc.
But the truth is most doctors won’t tell you this. The really sad fact is most doctors don’t know. Doctors are trained to treat disease not prevent it. Doctors receive their information for the most part from pharmaceutical companies who fund all sorts of research and symposiums. Pharmaceutical companies can’t make money on prevention or fish oil. They make money on drugs. So doctors are trained to be drug pushers even when it’s not in the best interests of their patient. Doctors continue to prescribe medications that have potential deadly side effects even when there is a safer more natural solution to the problem. The drugs for the most part not only do not cure the condition they are used for but cause other conditions as well.
How many of us have wound up on 3 or 4 medications when we only needed one because we have to treat the side effects of the last medication.
For instance, NSAIDs, such as Aspirin and ibuprofen used to treat arthritis pain actually promote joint destruction by inhibiting the formation of cartilage. Plus they cause gastrointestinal problems for which you will likely by prescribed some other medication with equally with equally dangerous and unhealthy side effects. A far better alternative for arthritis is fish oil, a glucosamine/chondrointin supplement and the addition of SAM-e or DL-phenalynine which is an essential amino acid that helps inhibit pain. Glucosamine/chondrointin not only treats the arthritis inflammation but helps rebuild cartilage. These supplements are not only safe but in the case of omega 3, DL-phenalynine, and glucosamine are things found naturally in the body and essential to your well being. However, these things are found on the drug store shelf or in a health food store or in the food you eat. There is no money in it for the drug companies and for the most part, doctors won’t prescribe it.
As Dr. Michael Murray points out in What the Drug Companies Won’t Tell You and Your Doctor Doesn’t Know: The Alternative Treatments That May Change Your Life–and the Prescriptions That Could Harm You, “drugs cannot overcome a poor diet or an unhealthy lifestyle.” But most doctors are attempting to do just that. And people, trusting their doctors, are going along with it, sometimes because they don’t know any better and sometimes just because they don’t want to change their unhealthy habits that are making them ill. A person who has high blood pressure finds it easier to take a pill then to exercise, lose weight, or cut back drastically on their salt intake.
Blood tests show a person to have high cholesterol but instead of looking at the individual components and determing why the number is high and counseling the patient on lifestyle and dietary changes, a doctor finds it easier to prescribe a drug. Of course there are potential dangers to these drugs, such as liver damage and in some cases increased risk of heart attack, but doctors won’t tell you this and in fact most studies that doctors read are funded by the very drug companies producing the rug. Talk about the fox guarding the hen house.
It is in our own best interests to be highly informed and aware not only how we can prevent diseases in the first place and how to treat them when they arise but of the impact our choices have on these conditions. The biggest single factor in our health is what we eat or don’t eat. Proper nutrition and supplementation augmented with alternative natural medicines can go a long way in improving the health of everyone you know.
It is up to us to determine our medical treatment by questioning our doctors at to treatments and medications. We need to enlighten ourselves and then ask our doctors for a more natural and alternative approach instead of instantly turning to overpriced and potentially dangerous medications. Find a doctor who is willing to consider these options. If more of us demand safer care and refuse to needlessly put money in the pocket of the big drug companies to the detriment of our health, doctors will take the time to learn a new way to practice medicine, one that is safer, healthier, and puts the interests of the patient ahead of the profit margin of the drug companies.
January 5, 2010
Tags: alternative medicine, blood pressure, diet, doctors, Dr. Barry Sears, Dr. Michael Murray, fat loss, health, healthy, heart disease, high cholesterol, obesity Posted in: Natural health, arthritis, cholesterol, diet, fibromyalgia, fish oil, glucosamine, healthy diet, heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, joint care, natural treatment, nutrition, supplements
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