Back in 2014 when I learned about nutritional supplementation, I remember thinking it was an amazingly different way of addressing health and illness. And soon after that revelation, I learned M.D.’s and other traditional medical sources only trust M.D.’s and think very little, generally, of the value of nutritional supplementation and wholistic health methods and practitioners.
I grew up in the era of M.D.’s being the only people you go to for illness and you took whatever pills they gave you or surgical procedures they said you needed. It was the only path and the only way of thinking I knew. Until my late 60’s.
And then as I dove into the nutritional and naturopathic world of health, so much of it made sense and seemed to work well for me. Like the fact that within 2 weeks of starting to take the foundational pack of minerals and vitamins from Youngevity, my severe pain in the base of both my thumbs disappeared (which M.D.’s said was arthritis and had said I needed surgery to correct my right hand thumb area).
I had been living for several years on 10-12 ibuprofen daily to just be able to function in my job – holding a pen and taking notes, etc. After my relief from the pain, I wanted to learn more about this wholistic health approach.
I read the book written in 2015 by one of the naturopath’s who supported the Youngevity nutritional supplements I took, Joanne Conaway BSN, RN, ND. Her book is titled “Why is America So Sick?”.
She lectures on the latest information available to help us understand how today’s foods, medications, and hidden toxins affect our overall health. She addresses the impact of these choices on our digestive system and how that affects immune system health and health in general.
The important point she makes on her website – “Knowledge is power. Until we understand some of the challenges created by certain foods we eat and the impact certain lifestyle habits have on our health, how can we know what changes we should make?”
Now, to this day, the nutritional supplementation has kept my thumbs and hands working great. Yet, I just went through a severe osteoarthritic hip joint causing serious pain as I walked. And it became clear the best treatment was a surgical hip replacement. My point? I am seeing how we need to have a balance of both worlds.
I have to say that when I told my M.D. in 2014 about the relief I got in the base of my thumbs from the nutritional supplements, he didn’t want to know anything about the supplements that had brought this complete relief. And he had years before, when I told him I was taking so much ibuprofen, just said to be sure I had food in my stomach when I took it. I was shocked in 2014 that he didn’t want to know what I was taking that gave me such amazing relief and results. That is when I realized what a narrow world the M.D.’s accepted as worthwhile and they turn a deaf ear to other important wholistic approaches that also can work so well with no side effects.
It has not been really balanced between those two worlds. Perhaps that is what has brought us to what I am seeing come out of the recent political stage and events.
What am I talking about? Another naturopath I have followed and from whom I received much help in the wholistic health world is Dr. Peter Glidden (author of Everybody is Sick and I Know Why). He last week sent me an application form asking me to nominate him for Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement. When I saw the proposal, it seemed to be addressing that “imbalance” I mentioned above.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr has been nominated as Secretary of the United States Dept. of Health and Human Services in the coming year. The statement he made about this is that he would work for the chance to end America’s chronic disease epidemic once and for all.
One of Dr. Glidden’s statements that I latched onto was that he supports curing disease through proper diet, supplementation and the use of Naturopathic Doctors (NDs) instead of perpetually treating symptoms with medicines that are not intended to cure disease.
Upon completing the nomination form for Dr. Glidden, I received back a confirmation from the RFK submission process that said “Thank you for your time and thoughtful nomination of a person who you think will be a great candidate to serve the interests of the American people through a role in the Trump unity government. This will help the Transition Team garner valuable public comments on nominees to help prepare them for the challenge of appointing over 4000 federal agency positions.” The nomination was addressed to the Dept. of Health and Human Services.
This issue is getting public focus as I heard on a TV program a few days later that the US has one of highest costs of healthcare in the world. It averages out to $13,495 per person on healthcare. But we are not any better in the results arena from that expensive health care. Logic indicates what we are doing is not working. Chronic disease and our health situation have continued to get worse.
I am so aware of how important it is to be healthy, especially as I age through my 70’s . And I am so aware of how much of our environment and the world in which we live has become dangerous to our health. And I am so aware of how out of balance our valuing all effective avenues of treating and supporting our bodies has been. So I am really wanting to pay attention to what is coming in this MAHA effort.
And what should be my focus as this all starts getting rolling in the coming months?
I loved how Gretchen Rubin put it in her blog “A verse that keeps echoing through my mind”. Here is what she shared:
“This week, we in the United States held our presidential election. As I watched the election returns roll in, words from “America the Beautiful” kept running through my mind. We sang this hymn at the memorial service for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, less than a year ago. I clerked for Justice O’Connor, and I was told that she herself chose this hymn. Today, too, the middle verse keeps echoing through my mind:
O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life!
America, America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law.
Thinking of those words makes me tear up. It’s one of the great dreams of my beloved United States…America, America! God mend thine every flaw, confirm thy soul in self-control, thy liberty in law. I’m asking myself: What can I do, in my own life, to live up to the great ideals of my country?”
I am with Gretchen in her patriotic sentiment. It sets me thinking, and I hope it does the same for you – what can I do, in my own life, to live up to the great ideals of my country, especially in this health and wellness area? Let’s work together on this!!’
Food and dietary supplement products sold by Youngevity are intended to contribute to the daily diet and overall health and are not intended for use in the prevention, treatment, mitigation, or cure of any disease or health-related condition. Individuals who have or suspect they have an illness or who wish to commence a diet or exercise program should consult an appropriately licensed health care practitioner for a medical history evaluation, diagnosis, treatment, and health recommendations.
