FARMACY vs PHARMACY

In today's world there seems to be a pill, patch or injection available to combat symptoms of any number of ills plaguing us.

If you still subscribe to cable TV, you'll know exactly what I mean as it seems like every second commercial is advertising a new and different drug. In spite of this, many people are looking for a more wholistic, natural approach to prevent and even reverse disease rather than simply manage the symptoms. Of course I'm all for this.

For those who don't know my story, growing up, I saw first hand how my dad was able to reverse high blood sugar, high cholesterol and high blood pressure solely by using food and filling his nutritional gaps. Side note, there isn't much height in my family and dad has never weighed more than 136 lbs. Just goes to show that the outside isn't always indicative of what's going on inside.

As a young adult I saw how, when my mom had breast cancer and was going through treatment, dad researched what foods she should or shouldn't eat and how best to consume them to keep her from feeling sick. It worked so well that the only time she did get sick from chemo was the one and only time she didn't follow what dad suggested.

Then as a young mom, the youngest of my three kids had a blocked colon when she was about two years old. I noticed patterns when she ate certain things, yet the only advice given by her paediatrician was to not let her stay on what they had prescribed her for too long or it would become addictive, adjust as necessary, drink lots of water and come back in six months. This really is where my personal deep dive into what food is, what it does in the body and how resilient the human body really is, all began.

Just to clarify, I do believe there is a place for medicine. I also believe that with every prescription written for a lifestyle/metabolic disease – pre-diabetes, diabetes, high cholesterol/blood pressure, heart disease, cancer to but a few – should also with a food plan and an appointment schedule of follow up. The intent being to help the patient focus on addressing the six “plates” of health – “nutrition, exercise, water, sleep, stress, supplementation - in an effort to educate and help them restore health to their body and subsequently reduce and/or come off of the prescribed medications.

In a perfect world this would be the case. Unfortunately nothing is perfect. Doctors have a limited amount of time with each patient as well as limited knowledge of nutrition. The doctors and nurses I have worked with and coached have all said that in their medical training, they only have between one and four hours of nutrition education. I was shocked when I learned this. It's no wonder there are more prescriptions for drugs being written than grocery lists and gym passes.

Food is medicine. Or it can be when you're choosing foods that are nutrient dense while avoiding the packaged/processed food-like substances. And when you do this, and put your food together in the right portions and in the right frequencies throughout the day, move your body daily, drink enough water, get enough sound sleep, minimize stress, and fill your nutritional gaps, you'll be amazed at how quickly your body will respond in a positive way. Our bodies are designed to heal, and they will when we give it what it needs.

I'll wrap this up with some stats and encourage you to look into some more natural ways to restore health to your body. Data from the American Association of Poison Control over a 27 year period recorded just 11 deaths attributed to vitamins. While an article in the Johns Hopkins Magazine online show deaths due to medical error, totalled 250,000 in 2016. I'm not much of a gambler, I don't even buy lottery tickets, but according to these numbers, I'll put my money on the natural options every time.

To hear more about those six plates, watch Tania's FREE 15 mins video.