So for today’s open-thread I’d like to toss out a question – how’d you get interested in natural health?
I can thank my father for getting me interested. My dad is a retired doctor, an oral surgeon to be specific. Unlike most of his peers, dad has always believed in the value of nutrition.
At a very early age (I was probably 11 or so) I remember having a conversation with him about the difference between isolated vitamins and their whole food counterparts. I remember him saying, ‘You know, that’s not really 1,000mg of vitamin C. If it were, the pill would be the size of a softball,’ or something like that.
Dad was constantly lecturing or attending lectures on nutrition. When asked why a doctor would be so interested in nutrition he often responds, ‘all health starts with digestion, and as digestion begins in the mouth, it’s only natural for an oral surgeon to make nutrition a priority.’
A guess some of his passion rubbed off…
How about you? What brought you to be interested in natural health?
This may seem a little grim, but for me it was watching my dad struggle with prostate cancer. It’s not the fear of getting it myself (though I certainly make sure to get enough of the supplements that are said to help prevent it), but rather watching how much of his treatment was simple trial and error on the part of his doctors. It gave me a lot to think about regarding how we approach health in this country. I think your dad’s approach is exactly right: It’s all connected, and we need to look at the whole picture.
I think for a lot of people, “holistic medicine” seems like a very new-agey concept. But if a doctor doesn’t approach his work holistically, then he is by definition not looking at the whole picture — and he’s doing a disservice to his patients.