The Natural Path

Canadians spend $24 billion dollars a year on prescription drugs. That’s six billion dollars more per annum than we spend on doctors. The only difference between prescription drugs and poison is dosage. There are thought to be approximately 10,000 deaths in Canada outside of hospitals caused by patients taking the wrong drug, the wrong dosage or adverse reactions.

Most of these prescriptions are composed of chemicals that the average person can’t even pronounce, let alone have any idea where they come from. Yet we put these pills into our bodies without a second thought because our doctor tells us it’ll help.

The reality of the situation is that the clinical lab tests do not actually measure the effect of the drug itself. It is not tested against whatever prescription already exists; it is measured only against the effectiveness of a sugar pill. What would you say if the doctor told you that the best treatment for your disease is to eat two lumps of sugar twice a day?

I say it’s time to stop the days of Mary Poppins medicine. Be it ancient Aboriginal ancestral knowledge or those “Old Wives’ Tales,” the treatments are often effective…that’s why they still exist.

There are many advantages to Naturopathic Medicine. First of all, herbal remedies come from plants. Plants grow with soil, water and light from the sun. I know what those things are and seeing as all of our sustenance originates from plants, I have no qualms putting something like that into my body.

Another advantage to natural medicine is the lack of side effects. You know those commercials for the latest pill that will make your life ten times better instantly? They’re always followed by a voice or text rolling on the screen that is something to the effect of “Side effects may include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, blurred vision, vertigo, memory loss, loss of appetite, dementia, headaches and fever.” If your drugs come from plants that don’t cause those effects - then the drugs won’t have those effects.

Taking prescription drugs can help you. It can also hinder you and often does. The amount of complications that arise from prescriptions grows larger every year, as does the amount of prescriptions written and the amount of revenue brought in from the prescription drug industry. I don’t know what’s inside of any prescription I’ve ever taken…and that’s an extremely scary thought to me. So before you reach  out and grab a pill bottle, at least take a little bit of time to look into some Naturopathic cures…a few minutes now could save you a lifetime later.