A brief look at warnings and alternative medicine
By Thea Steinmetz
Insights
Published Jan. 27, 2010

“Eco-friendly” and “eat organic” seem to be the mantras for the beginning of the 21st Century. There are so many conflicting messages out there that make it difficult to know with certainty what is good, what is bad and what should just be ignored.

One warning that needs to be taken seriously is smoking. There has been ample research data that confirms how this bad habit can impact our overall health. Other warnings are less conclusive. Coffee and eggs quickly come to mind. We were inundated with information about how bad coffee is and advised to drink decaffeinated. Only months later, we were told the chemicals used in the process were not good for us. The next news item was that when it comes to your overall liquid intake, coffee and tea did not count. Last week some researcher countered that and proclaimed that coffee indeed may be counted as a liquid.

Excuse me while I reach for my morning cup of coffee. While I am at it, perhaps an egg would go well with it. Now that eggs are good for us again, let’s celebrate. Even the yolk is proclaimed not to be as unhealthy as first advised.

There is no other field than medicine where so much confusion reigns. (Except maybe global warming.) This is not directed toward all that is accomplished to serve mankind with life-saving knowledge. It goes toward the rather confusing statements regarding wellness. Think about exercise. How many bad knees and hips are being replaced on baby boomers because they abused their body with punishing behavior? Seldom are they told that the constant pounding on cement when running can only lead to the deterioration of knees and hips. The latest craze, spinning on a bicycle, is especially popular by younger women wanting to keep their shape. It is doubtful that knees were created to withstand this obsessive repetitive maneuver.

We all know by now that movement is crucial to good health. The 10,000 steps a day movement is much gentler compared to constant pounding on the cement. Stretching and toning the body and faithfully engaging in a planned exercise routine, we now know, is the best way to keep the body limber.

Calorie intake is the undoing for so many of us. We no longer are active with physical chores as our forefathers were. We shudder when we see a young mother with a few children in tow, loading her shopping cart with many mega-sized bottles of pop and bags of chips. Where are the vegetables and the fruits? “An apple a day keeps the doctor away” no longer seems to be on the mind of many.

Coincidentally, a 20-year-old copy of the German magazine, “Der Spiegel,” landed on my desk. With a picture of a physician’s medical bag filled with herbs, it makes for an attention-getting cover. The headline suggests, as translated, “Alternative Medicine, the soft healing art.” At that time, 60 percent of physicians practicing general medicine, questioning their patients, revealed that there was a whole subculture of alternative medicine. It is of interest because it will give us a clue of how far we have come in the last 20 years and what we have learned. We now also accept massage and acupuncture. Herbal teas, forever utilized as an adjunct to promoting good health, have always been popular in Europe and now find favor here.

Alternative medicine is not new. It is just that any physician will tell you it was not covered in medical school.

We are at the point when we no longer believe everything a doctor tells us is the absolute gospel and a physician is always 100-percent right. On the flip side of this is the danger of self-diagnosing via the Internet. It is a case where too much information is just that — too much information.

What the Spiegel article suggests is that we should not discount everything that has come from the wisdom of the ages over thousands of years. A certain amount of distrust for modern medicine as the only source for wellness keeps percolating to the top, as evidenced by the latest Tylenol recall. We might remember the commercial that promised us “better living through chemistry” when we are disappointed by unsubstantiated promises. And yet, as consumers, we are dependant on modern medicine, no matter how much we might mistrust it.

It would be informative to see how many products we now consider essential on the shelves of the medicine cabinet that were not available as short as 20 years ago. Monitoring our eating, drinking and even sleeping habits is a good, straightforward and uncomplicated way to start a more healthful everyday existence.

Perhaps we are entering a renaissance of extending a nod to capturing the best of nature’s medicine. We have swallowed many bitter pills when there could be a sweeter method to help ourselves. What is the answer? Education! The first step is not to believe every commercial that airs. We are so obsessed by looking better, looking younger, feeling happier and never experiencing discomfort that we tune in to impossible messages. With credit card in hand, we chase after anything that promises a better way to feel good and be happy. Conscious participation will point us in the right direction.

Does this sound like a new year’s resolution? Why not? Alternative medicine, in consort with your doctor and your own particular health needs, is an excellent way to follow, not matter what the time of year.