Do you consider personal philosophies about health aligning more with a natural approach, that of Western Medicine, or somewhere in-between? Regardless of where your alliance falls, I think you’ll find this post from Butter Nutrition pretty insightful. With so many doctors helping patients “chase symptoms” it really leaves you thinking if the root cause ever gets addressed…
“Like many of you, I grew up in the world of Western medicine and rarely thought outside the box when it came to health. But the older I got, the more I saw how often mainstream medicine had very few answers other than quick fixes (like taking Rx drugs that mask symptoms that often cause MORE problems long term) and expensive diagnostic tests. My narrow-minded perspective quickly grew, and quite frankly I wish I had thought beyond the walls doctor’s office far earlier. Some may say I have my “head in the sand” for thinking this way, but that’s OKAY, I really like the beach, so the sand is not all bad. 🙂
The integrated approach works best for me; use preventative methods (like nutrition) to actively prevent and heal underlying imbalances that cause illness, but understand that sometimes something happens and you need a quick fix, temporary support or attention FAST from Western medicine. But just for fun, let’s compare these two different perspectives on some common health issues! Please note, I am not a medical doctor (nor do I play one on the internet).
6 Scenarios: Natural Health vs. Western Medicine
1) Example: Young woman with chronic PMS
Natural health: use nutrition therapeutically to build up the body and support hormone synthesis, see a decrease in PMS symptoms over 3-9 months. Usually hormonal imbalance is caused by low thyroid, poor detoxification or a low nutrient diet (or sometimes all 3).
Western medicine: take the pill to “manage” PMS with synthetic hormones, while masking symptoms and underlying imbalances in the body!”