Money isn’t solving the problem. In fact if you look at the USA’s dismal longevity ranking, it seems to be a cause of the problem. So what is the answer? The answer resides in natural medicine. Natural medicine has been used for thousands of years safely, cheaply and effectively; where conventional medicine is less than two centuries old, kills 300,000 Americans annually and is shamefully overpriced. Natural medicine, even with the limited financial support it has received, has shown promise and results that puts conventional medicine to shame. 

Take for example clinical studies regarding the trace mineral selenium, which has shown as a preventative measure to reduce the risk of contracting cancer by 60%. The Nutritional Prevention of Cancer Trial, published in 1996, included 1,312 men and women who had cancer. Men who had taken selenium for 6.5 years had approximately 60 percent fewer new cases of cancer than men who took the placebo. That is an astoundingly successful result by any medical measure. What pharmaceutical company can make that claim about one of their side effect laden drugs? None come even remotely close to being as safe, effective or cheap. It seems the medical community is asleep at the wheel, perhaps playing those addicting free online games instead of working towards affordable and effective healthcare.

Nutritional supplements in general are the most effective forms of prevention you can consume. But not all nutritional supplements are created equal. Those that are plant derived are the most assimilable by the body, because they absorb the minerals and other nutrients from the soil and convert them into the most bioavailable form for human consumption. So too are liquid form delivery systems. Studies have shown liquid vitamins supplements are assimilated by the body as much as 98%, compared to 3-12% with pills or tablets.

Two-time Nobel Prize winner Dr. Linus Pauling said, “Every human disease is directly linked to a nutritional deficiency.” The credibility of this statement is underscored by the fact that he is one of only four two time Nobel Prize winners in history, and widely regarded as one of the greatest scientists of all time. This means that disease can be entirely preventable if you deal with the root nutritional deficiency. A great way to do that is focus on using quality vitamin and herbal nutritional supplements every single day.

One serious health challenge Americans are now facing is the growing impact of obesity in our culture. In 2000, obesity was linked to 400,000 deaths, or 18 percent of all total deaths in the nation. Nearly two out of three adult Americans, 60 percent, are considered clinically overweight or obese. The conventional medical system has offered no real solutions. They are there when they decide you need a $100,000 quadruple bypass surgery, but offer little in the way of prevention and expertise in keeping you from getting to that point. There are countless natural weight loss pills, products and supplements that claim to help with losing weight and excess fat, but caution must be demonstrated to protect against ineffective, and even harmful, solutions.

The medical industry can offer to buy wholesale products that would seem to benefit the flagging healthcare system, but it is clear that many of these “medical breakthroughs” are nothing more than a moderately competent, but completely overpriced, wholesale gadget.

Back to the subject of weight loss. Fen-phen, an extremely popular weight loss drug that was heavily marketed in the 1990’s as being safe and effective by one of the largest pharmaceutical companies, turned out to cause a serious health crisis. After disturbing reports of valvular heart disease and pulmonary hypertension in people who had been undergoing treatment with fen-phen, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requested its withdrawal from the market in September 1997. As with so many drugs that get to the market too quickly, big drug companies are demonstrating their concern more for profits than for the well being of the customers that trust them with their health and their lives. There are all natural solutions like buy hoodia gordonii, a cactus that has been used as an appetite suppressant for centuries, that can help people to safely and effectively lose weight at low cost. 

Since obesity is one of the most pervasive causes of death in our culture, is makes sense to focus on preventative care, instead of trying to deal with all of the health challenges caused by years of neglect. But we need to focus on healthcare solutions that are generally recognized as safe, as well as effective. Natural medicine is taking the lead in finding real solutions for an entire spectrum of health problems that conventional medicine has failed to impact, even after trillions of dollars invested. Based on the unfortunate facts, we can no longer trust the medical industry with our health, lives or money. They have proven to be undeserving of that trust. Capitalism is far and away the greatest financial system in the world, but it appears incapable of delivering the one thing that means the most to all of us—safe and effective healthcare.