Lately after suffering from side-effects from over-the-counter pills, I’ve encountered this ‘wellness’ movement which disdains such treatments in favor of natural remedies.
I myself aim not to be biased; I don’t like pharmaceuticals because of the side effects, and wish there were another way, but at the same time I do not like leaving the protection and understanding of the scientific method which the mainstream doctors follow more strictly. The mainstream docs have hardcore lab results and double-blind studies to back their solutions; the wellness docs claim natural remedies can’t be patented, so there is no money to fund studies. They also point out some studies that have been done showing effectiveness. (And no doubt the big docs can claim in response that some natural remedies have side effects too).
Detoxify or die was written by a legitimate Board Certified MD who has published so many books on her sort of ‘holistic’ views that she has her own mini-publishing company. Her flagship book seems to be “Detoxify or Die”, from the promo, edited for length:
*We are all a toxic cesspool of the lifetime accumulation of chemicals from our air, food, and water. U.S. EPA studies of chemicals stored in the fat of humans show that 100% of people had dioxins, PCBs, dichlorobenzene, . . . the steady silent accumulation [of which] over a lifetime that produces most diseases, including cancer. But medicine merely sees every disease as a deficiency of some drug or surgery, or tells us there is no known cause or cure.
If we get these ubiquitously unavoidable toxic chemicals out of the body, we can reverse and even cure the most hopeless diseases. . . . Learn how to find the underlying causes and get rid of them with the only proven way to reverse disease and slow down aging. *
People in the know (Whole Foods shoppers) claim this book is the light. From what I gather, it says that plastic should not be near food, so you should take your produce out of the plastic bags you put them in at the produce section, as soon as you get home. Other solutions are using shower filters or you will absorb impurities in tap water through your skin. (This is not just a concern for dermatology, but that it will sink through and cause poisoning-induced disease later).
Her other books are titled provocatively like “High Blood pressure hoax!” and “Depression cured at last!” Both argue that pharmas are unnecessary.
Another book recommends Pepto-Bismol as a treatment for H.Pylori infections of the stomach, combined with certain foods and herbs to increase acid to kill the infection; she repudiates the current anti-biotic cocktail used, saying it increases risk of stomach cancer. She also believes in “Leaky Gut”, that food allergies (or other damage) can cause permeability to develop in the bowels, triggering extreme food allergies. She also believes that Candida is the cause of many digestive problems and the yeast must be cleansed.
She does quote studies in some of her books; for example, a study showed positive effects of DGL (Licorice pills) in preventing ulcers in rodents; that’s an over-the-counter herb.
Enough of the details – I know “leaky gut syndrome” is not recognized by the majority of doctors, and from what I can tell, the vast majority of doctors, perhaps over 99/100, follow the 'cut 'em and drug ‘em’ pharmaceutical strict science method. And I know the Candida thing is controversial and probably makes most MD’s eye’s roll.
So what is the STRAIGHT DOPE on this whole wellness “Treat your symptoms in a single whole foods shopping trip” thing? Science, or less than science?