Is Alternative Medicine Really the Alternative?
Just in case you thought the title of this blog couldn’t be more random when you read it, I do have a background in integrative medicine :) Go ahead and check out my About & Services pages!
When you’re under the weather, what’s your go-to? Is it an over-the-counter drug or do you start pulling out great-grandma’s herbal remedy? Personally, it always made more sense to drink ginger juice, eat a lemon, and take “spoon-shots” of honey whenever I got a cold. Herbs, fruits, vegetables, and the likes have not only been traditionally used as a food source, but for their medicinal properties as well. We’ve all heard of the phrase, “Food is medicine”, and it sure is! Here’s some fun facts: walnuts can benefit the brain, ginger the stomach, and avocado the uterus. Have you ever noticed that different foods tend to resemble the organ that they benefit?!
On a further note, its an ancient understanding that the non-physical aspects of a person can most certainly affect their physical. Did you know that stress inhibits the immune system and can even decrease breast-milk production? Traditionally, healing went beyond just treating the body - in some cases, it takes treating the mind first, in order to heal the body. True healing is holistic.
A funny question to ask is, “Why is alternative medicine called alternative medicine”? Just to give a few examples of it, there’s herbal medicine, acupuncture, yoga, massage, meditation, chiropractic, and so forth. A lot of these therapeutic treatments that I’ve just mentioned are as ancient as the bible and are therefore most certainly older than conventional medicine. They’ve been around for thousands of years, and all of a sudden they’re the alternative?
The purpose of this article is in no way to criticize any medicine, but rather to reintroduce, repopularize, and renormalize natural and holistic healing.
The body is a natural self-healer however, sometimes stressors of life can inhibit its innate capability to maintain a healthy environment. In today’s day and age, it is nearly impossible to escape them, whether it be poor diet - because why cook when there’s a fast food restaurant right across the street? Or lack of physical activity - because why walk when I can drive? This current way of living encourages us to be inert. Naturally, when something that should be free-flowing has become stagnant, there’s going to be issues, and in the body’s case - illness.
For many patients, the root of their illness is stasis. For whatever reason, bodily fluids aren’t circulating properly and now all of a sudden there’s clots, constipation, reflux, migraines, dysmenorrhea, PCOS, and so forth. Now here’s where natural medicine comes into play. Essentially, it addresses the root: stasis, in this case. Once addressed, the body isn’t suddenly healed. No, once addressed, this now gives the body a chance to heal itself by restoring cell integrity, thus repairing damaged tissue and organs, and ultimately revitalizing the immune system to defend itself against pathogens.
Bacteria, viruses, and germs, collectively known as pathogens or microbes, are naturally all around us - always have been, always will be. They only become problematic once the immune system is weakened, compromising the body to become a hosting ground for these opportunists. What can weaken the immune system? Again, stress… both mental and physical, along with other factors. Holistic medicine seeks to treat the sick person as a whole by addressing the body, mind, and spirit.
Today, we’re conditioned to think, “Treat only the body and forget about the mind & spirit. And while you’re treating the body, just treat the symptoms and not the root”. An alternative way or rather the original way, is quite the opposite - treat the person as a whole and get to the root of the problem.
Hopefully, this article shined a little light on some areas of your life, where you can start doing your own research and rethinking some daily habits!
“And God said, ‘See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food’. ”
