Allopathy or Wellness?
Guest post by Cyndi O’Meara.
What healthcare do you choose; drugs, surgery and/or radiation or environment, diet and lifestyle changes?
I was at a conference over the weekend and I was speaking with one of the delegates who were telling me that many allopathic practitioners (medical) say that changing diet has no consequence to the prognosis of a patient’s condition. I kept shaking my head wondering how any one with a degree in anatomy, physiology and biochemistry could possibly say this.
Mainstream medicine believes that the body is inherently not capable of health because it is flawed due to the genes that are passed on from our parents. The day we are born we are given things to help these so-called inherent weaknesses such as Vitamin K because we are not born with enough, vaccination for immunity, Panadol so that the body won’t fry the brain in a fever, antibiotics to fight infection, pain killers because we can’t handle pain and so on. Every week we hear a new discovery that the cause of cancer, diabetes and other diseases is due to a new gene discovery. The only way mainstream health care deals with this is by prescribing drugs, surgery and/or radiation. Their belief system makes this type of treatment logical. For them, to change the diet and the environment seems a waste of time because they do not have that belief.
But what if that belief system is wrong? And what if the body is perfect and capable of exuberant health? And what if it is not that we have something inherently wrong in the body, but rather we live in a toxic environment and eat a diet low in nutrition? Then the treatment would be to improve the environment (get rid of toxins) and choose foods that will stop nutrient deficiencies, as I’ve talked about for 25 years in Changing Habits Changing Lives.
There are two ways to explain this more fully and to show how powerful diet and environment change can stop gene expression:
The Agouti Mouse
The agouti mouse is a patterned mouse that is prized for research. It has yellow fur, gets fat, develops diabetes and cancer and then dies. No matter what drugs, surgery or radiation they give the agouti mouse, the prognosis for this mouse and its offspring is never encouraging. Until one day someone changed the mouse’s environment by changing the diet of the mother. The offspring were born with brown fur and did not develop diabetes or cancer. Interesting!
The Animal Kingdom
Over the past 30 or so years there are animals that have become extinct, large fish deaths in the great lakes and mass bird deaths around the world. Science has never indicated that it was a genetic deficiency in the organism, but rather environmental factors that caused the extinction or death. Humans are the only species on the planet where the environment and food they eat is not seen as the major problem, but rather the human gene being the culprit.
Let’s put this in perspective. It is your belief system that will dictate what course of treatment you trust for your health. That is using drugs, surgery and radiation or removing the toxins from your environment and addressing nutrient deficiencies.
When you walk into your doctor’s office you are always asked the question “What is wrong?” A diagnosis is given and a specific treatment is prescribed. When you walk into a wellness health practice the concern is not always to find a diagnosis or to find out what is specifically wrong, but rather to help you improve your diet, lifestyle and environment in order for the body to be healthy so that it can get rid of any so-called condition you may have.
People often say to me “I have Graves’ disease”, “I have diabetes”, “I have xxxxx”. There are so many diseases and conditions. I’m never interested in the disease you have. What I want to do is to get you to remove the toxins from your environment and feed the body with high nutrient foods in order for the body to heal itself.
When we change our environment and our diet, the body can live with exuberant energy and health. Trust your body – it has more wisdom than any scientist or doctor; it is a body that has evolved without fault.
Happy Changing Habits
Cyndi O’Meara
Positive affirmation for the day: There is nothing that I am not equipped to handle.
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POSTED IN: agouti mouse, allopathy, alternative medicine, Changing Habits, Changing Habits Changing Lives, Cyndi O'Meara, genetics, mainstream medicine, nutrition, toxins, wellness
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Fantastic post! Keep up the good work Cyndi!
Love this post! My Father in Law is doctor and while he is lovely he has no conception of wellness or nutrition..Hopefully the doctors of the future will take a more holistic approach to treating their patients!
“What healthcare do you choose; drugs, surgery and/or radiation or environment, diet and lifestyle changes?”
Um, it’s not a choice between the two actually.
If I had a life threatening health condition I would choose the treatments with demonstrated efficacy based on clinical evidence. i.e. drugs (for metabolic/immune conditions, some cancers, pain control etc etc), surgery (as necessary, e.g. for certain cancers, broken bones, inflammations), or radiation (if appropriate to the particular cancer).
However, in order to prevent life threatening health conditions from developing, I follow a healthy diet, I gave up smoking, I exercise, and I keep stress levels low – as advised consistently by my mainstream medical doctor over many years.
Cyndi, mainstream medical practitioners do not dismiss diet as irrelevant, nor do they claim that we are inherently flawed exclusively due to our genes.
I’ll provide some evidence of my statment: here is a submission from the Australian Medical Association (the ‘allopathic’ doctors’ union) on priorities in preventative health. Guess what? It’s all about diet and lifestyle changes:
http://ama.com.au/budget2012-preventivehealth
Please link to some examples which support your claim that real doctors think diet and lifestyle don’t matter (an anecdote that you heard from an alternative practitioner at a conference is not evidence).
Student, is there a reason you come on here to dispute everything that you do? What do you gain from it?
Hi ‘student’, We all have a choice.
A few years ago I broke my arm quite severely, and also a piece of bone broke completely off and moved out of place. I chose surgery to have the broken piece pulled back, and then plated so that it would mend in the correct place. This can probably be called structural damage, and I think you have read something into what Cyndi is trying to convey, that was not there.
For sun-spots & unnatural skin growths my wife and I use cansema cream (a combination of herbs). It’s false economy to go to a medical doctor or plastic surgeon to have sun-spots or skin cancers removed, when it can be done in the convenience of one’s home, for say 10 cents each. You won’t find any demonstrated efficacy (per clinical evidence) on this within the corporate Australian Medical Association, or other conventional medical associations. The majority of medical corporations and similar entities are founded on the ‘almighty’ dollar.
And then there’s the old fashioned potato poultice for drawing out infectious material. That for sure wouldn’t be listed with the A.M.A. as having demonstrated efficacy. There are many other remedies for sickness and disease and dis-ease.
Nutrition may not have prevented me from breaking my arm, but then, it may have, if my bone health had not decreased due to improper diet over many years.
Nutrition can have a great effect on, say, preventing infection, and preventing and curing other sicknesses and diseases.
The A.M.A.’s ‘Priorities in preventive health’ that you quoted is rather superficial.
I would imagine that my diet and lifestyle is far different from yours. Why not share your healthy diet?
Maybe you could give your name too?
Kind regards, Lyall
Hi Kristine and Lyall
Like what you posted on the sun spots. Where is the cansema cream available. Chemist or health care shops ?
Regards kay
I think student you might have wandered into the wrong paddock.
Hi Kay, We bought our cansema on-line from Centreforce (they’re at Gin Gin west of Bundaberg, Qld.) some time back. I just visited their site, & it says that it’s available, however I couldn’t find the product icon to click on to buy it. You might have to get their phone number & call, or email them. They can only sell it as being for cats, dogs & horses. ‘Big Pharma’ can’t patent it so they don’t want us people using it. It’s nature’s scalpal. You won’t find it at a chemist, & I’m not sure if any health care shops would carry it as it’s marked as being for cats, dogs etc.
Otherwise you could google to find another supplier. It has worked wonders with us.
Also it’s worth going to http://www.oneanswertocancermovie.com and buying the DVD “one answer to cancer”, and sharing with family & friends.
Kind regards, Lyall & Kristine
Hi Kay,
A friend of mine has had success with Petty Spurge Ointment (mild) or cream (strong) available from http://www.patcollins.com.au.
Regards, Debbie
Seriously, why do you follow this blog at all?? You clearly disagree with almost everything that is written here so why read it? Do you get off on arguing with people?
After being diagnosed with breast cancer I chose both options – to undergo conventional treatment AND to improve my nutrition and lifestyle.
I have constantly asked doctors what I should and shouldn’t eat and I’m consistently being told “Just keep eating a healthy diet”. They seem to have no concept of holistic healing.
Exactly!
They are not trained in nutrition.
I have a friend who is a GP, she said she did 6 weeks of Nutrition in her approximately 10 years of learning! How can you know that much about the body and not learn the correct fuel to put into it…? it’s like a mechanic not knowing which fuel to put into the car…
Our family Dr genuinely believes that self care, a healthy diet and exercise are all good things and vital for ones well being, the thing is that his version of a healthy diet and mine are two very different things. He would say, for instance, that cows milk is good for my bones, or that sugar in moderation is fine when I completely disagree with that for many reasons. He also believes in pharmaceutical meds as the be all and end all and I do not. It’s not that he doesn’t want to see us healthy, he just thinks his way is best. I guess you could say he is deluded. 
Love Cyndi!!! She is so very right. We are what we eat. As a Naturopath, I talk to my patients every day who are looking for a miracle pill or a quick solution to their problem. ‘It doesn’t exist’ I say. Eat unprocessed, colorful, fresh, mostly raw foods and smile every day!!
Great idea to read positive and educational posts like the ones here on Wellness Warrior as a frequent reminder and motivator. I love it! Keeps me on track.
This article is so refreshing! Nutrition is at the core of our overall health & wellness. When will the medical community start to realize that? We need to treat the problem before is becomes one! I really wish they spent more time training doctors in the area of nutrition.
This article really sits well with my own beliefs. As a health coach, I encourage peopel to look at their diet and lifestyle factors that might be affecting their overall health and wellness. Often there are other underlying factots that are making people sick that can be fixed through changes to diet and lifestyle without having to turn to drugs as a stop-gap. I will investigate what factors might be causing sickness, unhappiness, and other problems rather than just trying to fix the problem without looking at the cause in the first place. I am in total agree-ance with Cyndi and do believe the body knows exactly what it needs and how to heal itself.
Love your work Cyndi ! xx
@Student
I am thrilled to hear your mention of the AMA website inclusion ..
However,in my personal experience .. I have seen over 50-60 doctors due to a severe health condition, and less than 5 have asked me a single question regarding nutrition or lifestyle & environmental factors. I have also been dismissed MANY times for even raising these topics.
This is not an anti-doctor discussion, on the contrary, I’ve met many highly intelligent and skilled physicians I would certainly recommend. But my own experienc (not unlike a clinical study on the topic) highlights a urgent need for urgent medical training reform.
Nutrition, lifestyle & environmental factors play a HUGE role in disease/illness (including the biggies- genome behaviour, tumour growth & Natural Killer Cell/Immune activity) and therefore, play a HUGE role in healing.
So despite this latest AMA reference, it is clear the vast majority of the medical community still do not embrace this wholistic mindset. And, the sooner this is accepted & taught to our next generation of allopathic practicioners, the sooner we will all benefit.
PS.. Thanks Cyndi & Jess for posting!
I think we may have a predisposition to certain weaknesses that run through the family. For example, on my mother’s side we seem to be susceptible to respiratory illnesses. BUT this is just a predisposition, I don’t believe you are bound by these things and that if you are aware of them you can certainly avoid problems in that area with nutrition! I have, and my mother has also turned her health around through diet and Chinese herbs.
There is a place for allopathic medicine, for example surgery, but the buck absolutely stops at diet. nutrition and lifestyle. We have to take responsibility for our health, and what is the cheapest, most accessible medicine available? Food!
great post! I walked in to a chemist warehouse today where they have a huge range of natural supplements and vitamins superfoods etc. I was looking for a natural anti inflammatory for acute pain. I quizzed the chemist and he had no idea. I said that I had used vitamins C successfully for anti inflammatory along with systemic enzymes but I had sudden strong pain. He tried his best to discount their uses other that what was written on the bottle. The assistant quietly said to me “he is a chemist and only trained in pharmaceuticals” Same as for my own doctor, whom I rarely visit now, until recently and I really listened to him this time to what he said, and his dialogue has not changed really in 20 years!! that is a worry.
Jen
Thank you to Jessica and Cyndi for the ever inspiring information.
Interesting to have someone on such a positive website post something negative as “student”.
I take full responsibility for my own health. I can’t bear the thought of someone else making a decision about my body and my health. I had melanoma 10 years ago, which is around the time that I first met Cyndi. I grew up on a sugar cane farm…laden with heavy duty chemicals. Since reading Changing Habits Changing Lives, I eat organically, detox (including colon cleansing) embrace meditation and stress alleviation, and practice living a very conscious lifestyle. I also treat any suspicious lesions with Cansema…wish I had known about it before the surgery resulting in several big scars…which could never guarantee that all of the cancer was removed. Our bodies are designed to win, and with the correct love and nurturing it can be done. But it is about so much more than what we eat. We need to be in touch with nature, our innate self and be aware of universal love….all of that really cukoo stuff that the “professionals” would make you feel like a total idiot if you mentioned it in their practice.
I am so happy to have been directed to the Wellness Warrior website, and I look forward to each new email.
All the very best.
Amanda.
I must be very fortunate. My medical doctor for the last 34 yrs has always pushed healthy lifestyle and eating and provided detailed info on what foods to eat and not eat. when I wanted a quick fix (meds) for an aliment, he did not always perscribe one, (unless he felt it was absolutly needed) before I changed in what I put in my body. Love him…sadly, he retired this month.
Hey Jess, just letting you know your PIN IT links are coming up as error 404 I was hoping to pin some of your posts?
15 years ago my husband was scheduled to have double bypass surgery due to blocked artheries and angina. His cardiologist (european education) said: you can have this fixed via oeration or give your body chance to do it itself. He chose to change lifestyle and diet and allowed his boduy do develop smaler artheries around haearth into major ones. He is now 60 and did not have buypas surgery. Go figure…
Great post! Thanks Cyndi!
Thank you so much for a great post. It is everything I believe in. I believe in body’s ability to heal itself being in a right environment and being treated with love and care it desreves. We need to look after our heart, body, mind and our soul together if we are going to achieve that balance and wellness. And having a healthy environment, internal and external is a crucial part…
To Your Healthy Intelligent Heart
Marina
Very interesting posts…let’s not get our knickers in a knot, peops! A healthy debate is good for the soul, just try not to take it so personally 
I’m interested in peoples’ ideas on mental health… I suffered severe panic attacks after dislocating my shoulder one night ( I leapt out of bed after having a nightmare that my then- 6 month old was flying out of her cot). I believe I then suffered post-traumatic stress, which produced the most sickening panic attacks. I’m currently taking anti-d, and have enjoyed a wholesome veg diet for 18 years. I excersise and love to laugh..I tried hypnotherapy, but this only made things worse.
While I totally feel diet and lifestyle factors are crucial, I’m so grateful that these attacks haven’t returned since taking the pills…it still haunts me, but at least I don’t feel the need to call an ambulance to take me to the funny farm.
Hi Kath, I know what panic attacks are like, but they were mild; but I have experienced very severe clinical depression. I heard years ago that St. Johns Wort was good for depression – however it’s not effective for bad or severe clinical depression. I succumbed to the idea that chemical anti-d’s were the only solution for a number of years and then just late last year I came across information on high dose vitamin B3/niacin (nicotinic acid) being used to treat severe clinical depression and schizophrenia. Abram Hoffer (M.D. Ph.D.) discovered this in the 1950′s and brought this info out into the open and was ‘crucified’ by the medical establishment. He died just a few years ago, however Andrew Saul and Harold Foster assisted in finishing his book “NIACIN -The Real Story”. I ordered this book late last year through Amazon but the1st publishing sold out quickly so had to wait for the 2nd publishing – it arrived in March. I want to ‘cross over’ to niacin soon and get off the chemical anti-d’s. This might work for you.
Andrew Saul has said that some people have a vitamin B3 deficiency, but some people have a vitamin B3 dependency. Hope this is helpful. Kind regards, Lyall
Thank you, Lyall! Very helpful, I will certainly keep an eye open for this book. Kath.