Last Thanksgiving as I headed out the door on my daily trek around the neighborhood, I broke into a gentle jog. With a few quick stops to greet some dog walkers early on that Sunday morning, I finished two and a half miles not long afterwards. We were enjoying an unseasonably warm Thanksgiving weekend, and as is typical of Coloradans, we were out in force. The following Sunday I ran 2400 steps out at our iconic Red Rocks Amphitheater. It was crowded, too, with lots of folks with their dogs dogging the steps.
That weekend was especially good as it had been nearly four months since I broke my back in four places, the result of feisty horse who decided he would have none of this gallop, at least while mounted. To be able to run nearly three miles, run thousands of steps, that’s a lot to be grateful for, being nearly 65 notwithstanding. However, I’m not an anomaly here.
While Colorado is known for its healthy inhabitants of all ages (many of those out at Red Rocks were my age), being athletic and energized into our later years isn’t all that common any more. Today far more people in their fifties are reporting significant difficulties with basic life activities such as getting out of bed, feeding themselves, even walking across the room. In their fifties. This is appalling.
Land of the free, home of the brave? More like land of the disabled, home of the homebound.
The idea of punching out a paltry few miles of running (my friends are ultrarunners but that’s another story) is beyond the pale. These folks need a tricycle to make it to the toilet.
Prozac Nation Redux
Last Friday I had a brief meeting with a woman in her early forties (my guess) to exchange some products — one I’d bought and didn’t like, and she gave me some cream that she makes as a thank you. This energetic, athletic woman revealed in our conversation that her doctor had put her on Prozac. Now, she said, she was feeling lethargic, low, slow, and was beginning to forget things. Totally unlike her normal upbeat, happy self.
Immediately I challenged her on the Prozac. Those were among the same side effects I’d been dealing with from anti-depressants- until I dumped them completely. It is remarkable how much more energy, enthusiasm, joie de vivre I got back after I detoxed. It’s not an easy process. But never again will I believe “conventional therapies” as prescribed by doctors not willing to do the real work of doctoring: prevention.
My new friend is already committed to detoxing, and getting her brain back.
I don’t need to be a medical professional to know that anti-depressants are bad news. Nobody but nobody needs Prozac or Celexa or Wellbutrin or any of these meds-NONE of us does- because none of them have actually been found to be any more helpful that placebos. Worse still, these meds make us much, much sicker in the long run. If you disagree, please read A Mind of Your Own by Dr. Kelly Brogan. In no uncertain terms, this brilliant, no-nonsense doctor flails the fake claims by the pharmaceutical corporations and ridicules the rationale to take any toxic drugs at all for our so called “chemical imbalances.” She proves that there is no such thing.
Unlike most bought-off bones, she has done her scientific research for why NOT to take pills.
Pills Aren’t the Answer
Millions of us have been hijacked into believing that pills are the answer for all our ills. Big Pharma is very happy about that. Only New Zealand and the US are legally able to advertise pharmaceuticals on TV, and boy do they. And boy, have we bitten the bait. To our universal descent into malaise.
The ancient father of medicine, Hippocrates, made it abundantly clear that food and exercise were our first and greatest medicines. Right food, right movement, and I would add right thinking (some of you will recognize Buddhist principles here and you’re correct) will cure more of our imaginary “chemical imbalances” than any additional pill. In fact, each pill engenders more, sometimes lethal, side effects, from diabetes to kidney stones than it ever does us any good. But each side effect creates the chance to take more pharmaceuticals.
To wit: opioid-caused constipation. GREAT! Lets take more pills! Doctor puts man on truly evil opioids, his body tells him this is a very bad thing by backing up the sewage system. Doctor doesn’t take him off the problematic opioids to find a more natural, healthy answer. Hell no. Let’s give the poor man yet another pill. Big win for pharma-paid-off doctor and Big Pharma. Big lose for our constipated friend, who is likely going to experience new side effects from the constipation medicine. GREAT! Another opportunity to prescribe another pill! How about we address the pain’s root cause first, with alternative modalities and protocols, before we go straight to the pill bottle?
Today, research shows that Ibuprofen and Tylenol are better pain relievers than opioids (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/opioids-no-better-than-tylenol-for-chronic-pain-study-finds/). They have their own side effects if overused, granted, but addiction isn’t one of them.
There’s Little Money in Wellness in a Predatory Health System
The body’s natural set point is vibrant health. It’s natural set point. There is no reason whatsoever for us to be taking all these drugs, nor to be so sick. NONE. While each of us may well have a condition that warrants intervention, for so much of what ails us, better food and more movement would vastly improve our lifestyle, all our numbers, and in many cases, let us get off the pills.
If you want a good look at exactly who loses and who gains, here’s an interesting article: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/ethan-rome/big-pharma-pockets-711-bi_b_3034525.html. This article only lists profits up to 2012. Heaven only knows how they have skyrocketed in the last give years. Big Pharma isn’t interested in researching and producing what the world actually needs, which are new antibiotics. They are profiting far more handsomely on diabetes meds, extremely expensive cures for rare diseases. and vaccines. And we are letting them.
We as a nation gorm 80% of the world’s pills. We are obese, diabetic, sick, tired, diseased, lethargic, and dying younger and younger. Our docs push pills and procedures without truly investigating how to prevent all these illnesses in the first place.
As in get the sugar out of your diet. As in, exercise. As in, get off the damned couch. As in, stop spending so much time on Facebook or whatever, and go outside. As in, eat a really healthy diet that is right for your body, your age, your metabolism. Most docs have barely nineteen hours of nutrition training. Yet, what we eat — as well as regular exercise — have more to do with our relative health than virtually any other factors.
Doctors do not get hero buttons for prevention- unless that is their entire practice.
Be Your Own Best Health Care Provider
We are fast heading towards a time when life expectancy, already shrinking for Americans, is going to drop another ten years because of our toxic drugs, toxic diets and toxic bad habits. Thanks to this administration, soon we can also look forward to toxic water, toxic air, lots more Monsanto toxic chemicals in all our food.
Also, since Monsanto and Bayer are very hard at work trying to gain control of all marijuana seeds, we can also look forward to not being able to use one of Nature’s greatest healers.
My best friend Jill, at the ripe age of 71, takes one baby aspirin a night. One baby aspirin. The elderly often are taking between 9–13 pills, which leads to drug interactions and complications, more drugs, overdoses and death. One baby aspirin. And she is vibrantly healthy.
If you want a long, healthy, energetic life, don’t look to traditional, corporate- owned doctors unless you work with a naturopath, a chiropractor, or a medical practitioner who has broken with the mainstream. Demand alternative nutritional therapies for what ails you. Research them yourself. Look into supplements. Get a license and grow your own weed, or if you can’t, come visit Colorado. It’s legal here. For now. Or, lobby for legalization in your own state. Fight Big Pharma at every single level. Lash out against the lies.
Even better, if you’re in Denver, come join us out at Red Rocks. The view is great. The air is still crisp and clean. For now. There are lots of smiling folks working out. It’s called prevention.
We make our own hero buttons out here. It’s hard work but it’s worth it.
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