WARNING: Natural Supplements Can Be Dangerous*!
(*Unless comparing them to pharmaceutical medications)
The recent untimely death of Lori McClintock, wife of congressman Tom McClintock, made the news and garnered a feature story in People magazine. A quick scan across many media headlines reveals her death is being attributed to use of the herbal supplement white mulberry leaf, known for its effects on reducing hunger and blood sugar. Reports indicate the herb, which was found in her stomach, is being blamed for the gastritis which led to the dehydration that eventually killed her. This may seem like a bit of an odd conclusion to draw considering the fact that this herb is generally considered to be safe, that gastritis (stomach inflammation) rarely leads to serious complications, let alone death, and that it can have many causes including common things like pain relievers, excessive alcohol intake, and even just stress. What’s more odd is that major media outlets would make such a big deal out of such an apparently rare occurrence.
Unless, of course, you consider the bigger picture.
First, note that properly prescribed, FDA approved medications are the 3rd leading cause of death in the United States, after heart disease and cancer. So technically, media outlets could instead write multiple stories a day, every day for an entire year, and still not account for all the deaths being caused by these products.
Doesn't that seem worthy of a headline or two?
It might, until one then considers the impact the pharmaceutical industry may be having on which headlines are released in the U.S., when it accounts for a whopping 75% of total ad spend per year in these same media outlets. In spite of this effort, the supplement industry continues to gain on the pharmaceutical industry for a significant share of the public’s wallets. This trend is truly becoming more than just a thorn in the side of the drug industry and so it actually makes perfect sense that all efforts within reason to raise doubt about the safety of supplements would be part of their playbook, and that media outlets may be more than willing to play along.
There is, of course, an obvious solution to this back and forth game of cat and mouse, that neither industry may want you to consider; one that requires little to no pills, potions, or creams, pharmaceutical or otherwise:
Living a life that supports health.
In fact, the days of taking a natural or chemical pill to make up for the impacts of living a life out of alignment with the natural world may finally be grinding to a slow but steady halt. A thousand foot view across the landscape of the last 2+ years of effort to keep people “healthy” in the face of Covid-19, via an unprecedented rollout of interventions that were far from aligned with what supports health, could not possibly provide a clearer example of this very necessary evolution.
There is also no pill that can prevent 90% of heart disease (killer #1) cases, but simple health promoting practices like eating well, exercising, and not smoking can. Unfortunately, however, there is also no healthy lifestyle habit that is as simple or easy as popping one.
Indeed, the truth that is unfortunately much more difficult for some to swallow than a pill is that no company’s product, however safe or effective, can possibly save people from the impacts of not living in alignment with the real needs of a human body, mind, and spirit.
Fortunately, signs seem to be popping up everywhere that more people, including more formerly pill-pushing doctors, are finally and fully coming to grips with this undeniable fact, and beginning to act on it. If this groundswell does not continue to gather momentum, however, be sure that more sad media headlines and even sadder though quieter statistics will accrue. Drug and supplement companies will, of course, happily continue trying to prove otherwise, but at the expense of more pocketbooks and many more lives.
So up you get. On your feet. Shake off the cobwebs and go move that amazing body, then fill it with what it yearns for and, if possible, start growing some of that good stuff yourself! Later on, put down those devices and pick up a friend for that chat you should have had last week, or even last year. Tomorrow, instead of a screen, start scrolling through the various shades of green in the closest park to your house, or better yet a forest that’s a bit further away. And, when you’re done with all that, remember to put those feet up and take a much deserved, and proper rest. You’ve earned it, and it didn’t cost you a thing.
And this happened in March of 2021 and we're only NOW seeing this in the headlines?? Fishy...very fishy...another agenda perhaps?