Part 2
Relying on other’s suggestions
If you are easy to convince and sway towards decisions somebody else has made, you end up doing a lot of Internet shopping, following trends and chasing things which are at the top today, but gone by tomorrow.
Judging by TV adds, everything is cheap, almost for free and you just have to get it and sign up whether it’s an investment offer, health program, slimming and dieting web, you just have to buy a supplement, new type of food, treatment, cosmetics and numerous other services, endless devices and all of it is made for you. For you. Afterwards, you might wonder: what was so good about it? Frequently, there won’t be any benefit of using that product or you have a big chance to run into new problems.
Careful with pills
It is mind-blowing how many pills, supplements, drugs, medicines and health boosting substances people are using. It is so that there is a pill for anything. Some honestly admit that, in order to feel ok and go through the day and get a decent sleep, they need to take something. It can be even unclear what this particular thing does, but they need the feeling that they are doing something to look better, to feel better, to be energetic or to relax. Certainly, the numbers of offered solutions are so huge that nobody can anymore be sure what is exactly they need or what they can live without.
Synthetic supplements versus natural nutrients
More is not better when it comes to medicine and supplements
It is concerning that we believe the more substances and health improving supplements we take, the better we are going to be. It is forgotten that the human body has so many mechanisms to regulate and adjust everything, and that literary includes every process from tiniest within a part of a cell to the most systemic processes. The body’s natural regulation and adaption mechanisms work until we step in and start unnecessary improving them. We destroy the balance our body works hard to maintain. It was never about more of one substance or nutrient, it was always about balance! Once we recover from one pill or drug, we quickly rush to another: maybe this is going to be the missing miraculous treatment! So, it just goes until we start suffering from allergies, hypo- or hyper levels of some hormone, enzyme, mineral and nutrient. Nature has it safe and right, but we always want to be smarter
Over-the-counter drugs and supplements
OTC medicinal products are designed so that they should not harm one when following the dosage advice. These products are also not designed to treat clinically significant issues and deficiencies; such treatments will take much higher and differently administered doses. Therefore, it is silly to make a serious health issue go away by using OTC drugs and supplements.
The effects of herbal remedies might appear much slower, but they are also safer. With supplement market so huge, it can be dangerous to buy and use unknown substances online, especially, if it is unclear who manufactures and distributes the product. Many supplements claim doing things which they never could. We cannot believe every claim which is not proven in documented and real clinical trials. Most supplements have not been tested clinically because it is a very long and very expensive process. Phrases: dermatologist, dentist, pharmacist or doctor recommended mean literally nothing. It is just a phrase to convince you. For clinically tested medicinal products, there are clinical trial references, as well as clearly identified data about safety, doses and precautions. Lists of recalls are available in any country, and one should check them out at least time to time. You’d be surprised what you will find there.
It might be not what it seems
Our body can take a lot. Sometimes, all the stress signals go off and trigger protective mechanisms which are many and various. We don’t give up without fight, and the survival is encoded in every cell of us assuming there are no brain defects or mental barriers whether chemical, hormonal or substance induced. The signal that we are in danger will trigger all kinds of symptoms, and the body will immediately engage everything what’s available. If you take a pill every time to regulate these symptoms, the self-regulation mechanism might simply die off.
Make distinction between vitally important and unnecessary
There are life-threatening conditions which need to be cured, and there are so many symptoms which do not need interference with heavy drugs. Therefore, whatever the reason, you have decided to supplement your diet with anything synthetic or processed which all capsules, pills and powders are, regardless of their organic or herbal origin, you have to evaluate the necessity of this step. Unbelievably, drugs are trendy and supplements are trendy, too. For the matters explained before, you might not experience any improvement whatsoever, not to mention that when profit is behind the health claim, the ingredients of your capsule or pill might be not even be the ones what are listed.
Supplements versus real food
Placebo effect
One might ask: why somebody reports feeling better if they take a pill which contains no active ingredients or nothing which relates to their actual health problem? Placebo effect has been recognized in practically all clinical trials, and, for the reason of comparing whether some particular drug really treats the condition, first phases of clinical trial involve a patient group which takes or is administered a placebo. This substance is neither improving nor harming a person because it does not contain any active ingredients. Yet, the outcomes frequently reveal that quite significant part of trial population on placebo feels better.
Real life placebo effects
We can frequently observe this effect in real life. There are many examples which relate to supplements. While celiac disease according Health Canada statistics is diagnosed only in hardly 1% of population, any grocery store will have large amounts of gluten-free products. Does any person who does not have celiac disease benefit from gluten-free diet? The answer is no. It would be like you are wearing strong glasses when you do not need them. This is treating a disease which one does not have. In fact, they are avoiding very useful and nutrient-dense products, as well as paying more for things they do not need at all. So, why do they feel better? First, that might be becoming more selective when using different products. Secondly, it is for sure the placebo effect. A person feels better because they are convinced that they are doing something for their health.
It’s in your brain, isn’t it?
Body as a whole system can be convinced and affected to a huge extent by being sure about something. There are examples in history how a person can die when they have been told they just took a dose of very strong poison for which there is no antidote. The same goes for miraculous healing. There are numerous examples how a person can recover when taking a pill of pressed mild herbal ingredients and being told that they are given the best drug which currently exists for that condition. We can definitely convince us one way or another. That is why most people want to take something, which is like a dot on “i”. One can talk and discuss their condition endlessly, but if they are given a pill or a capsule, even some powder, they will start feeling better. That certainly won’t be a lasting case with clinically serious or systemic diseases. You can test it for yourself. Give somebody a completely harmless pill of compressed low-dose herbal ingredient or just simple sugar pill (assuming they are not diabetics). You have to tell that person that they will sleep extremely well if they have insomnia, or they will stop experiencing indigestion if they have clinically insignificant digestive disorders, anxiety or depression. There will be results.
Make very careful and individually adjusted decisions
That brings us back to necessity of synthetic supplements. Many of them will be in doses which cannot affect one dramatically. However, buying supplements and vitamins, essential oils, cosmetic products, hair and skin care products from unknown sources can be very dangerous. It is not only because of extra high or low dose, but also there might be ingredients which you did not know about. Many drugs have been recalled since lab testing proved there were harmful substances in an even clinically strictly tested drug. They got there during manufacturing process. Now imagine how supplements which normally do not require strict documented testing could have just about anything! You should also be aware that consuming natural and unmodified food which you cook from scratch will provide you with all necessary nutrients and they will come in naturally suitable doses because you cannot eat 10 kilograms of beets, onions, bread, fish or meat at once. Therefore, whatever the advice, tailor it to your personal needs, condition, preferences and lifestyle, as well as age and gender.
Synthetic isn’t as it occurs in nature, it is easy to overdose or treat non-existing issues
Overdoing with any nutrients and substances, which we call vitamins for simplicity, can have harmful and dangerous sequences, too. More in following posts.
Inese Poga Life School 
These are strange times we live in, with so much information available to sort through. No, there are no magic bullets. A good night’s sleep, stress reduction and good food can fix many things.
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Thanks Lavinia! We could say that there is too much information. Most people also feel that they should follow celebrity or social site influencer (who are generally paid for spreading the word about some particular product or service) advice rather than use their personal approach. Our lifestyles and backgrounds are so different, it’s time we only take into account our personal preferences and needs. It’s important to listen to our body and its unique necessities.
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we also pretty much see it like you
the sad thing is, that people are not very well informed and don’t seem to be willing to take very much responsibility for their own lives.
everything can be researched
but people rather chose to believe that one pill cures all, weather it’s supplements or medication.
I also read your post on your art-blog, but don’t seem to be able to comment, nor like anything there
do you have any idea why that is so?
is it also a wordpress blog or another one?
read about you accident and health issues in your other answer
sorry to hear about that
hope you’re fine now
how did the art show go?
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Thanks very much!
Advertising isn’t always true and honest, if that was so, we wouldn’t have massive recalls. Recalls actually take a while to appear on public info site, sometimes, it takes quite a few people to have fatal outcome until somebody starts worrying: what happened? I remember weight loss drugs containing sibutramine for which I was translating notifications to pharmacies and doctors at that time. Lots of people experienced cardiovascular events and stroke and or new/worsening cardiac function issues until the medication got prohibited. The same about ranitidine containing drugs. The first alert about cancer risk actually appeared in 2003, yet, for all these years this drug was used for treating heartburn and WHO at some point called it the safest drug and the most prescribed drug on the planet. They might taken off their opinion by now.
I mean, it’s not always possible to prevent bad side-effects and lethal outcome, but it is always possible to try using less drugs even for serious conditions. I have seen how some people are taking 20 different meds, numerous supplements and, quite frequently, many of them are not needed or double the same action.
I saw your like on my art website. It looks like you cannot see it or something, but I see it. It is a self-managed website on WordPress platform. This one is blog, that is a website, both on WordPress.
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thanks for the technical details on the blog
I will let one of my kids know; perhaps they know why it’s like that
I really can’t see my own likes and the I try again and again, not knowing if I now have liked something or unliked
I have this problem with around 10% of the blogs I visit
so now to your comment:
interesting what you have experienced
but you know that’s what I would expect
it’s only: why are so many people so incredibly stupid that they don’t expect it?
unbelievable, that people would take 20 meds plus supplements where you are!
over here they’re up to 5 meds and I am completely shocked as well
in our family we don’t take any meds, not even antibiotics
we used to sell supplements together with a friend many years ago, but they we high quality supplements and not all that crap you see these days and our friend sold at the same time health books saying you should eat well and natural and take no supplements and he said it on the website and he also said if you want something that isn’t here, don’t bother asking, because it’s not safe and we won’t sell rubbish
But what did people do?
Do you think they bought the books and live healthily ever after?
no!
they only wanted magic pills!
we eventually broke up the business relationship due to technical problems
and my own family and I do hardly ever take supplements
we just live and eat very healthy instead – about 90 5 of our diet are probably fruit and veggies and we eat a lot of it raw
still we’re not fanatic about it; we just eat what we love and try to stay away from sugar
but I am startiong to realize that this is quite unusual, that people our age don’t take any drugs at all and are in good health
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Thanks very much for your very interesting comment!
I think, you told me already once that you tried to leave a comment or like on the art website and it wasn’t possible.
Who knows what causes that? Comment goes into moderation and you won’t see it right away, but I do see. I might not always have time to moderate it immediately. I use moderation because experienced some scammers and stalkers.
I have very strong medical background, as I’m saying I was dealing with all that for more than 35 years, less now because I simply cannot take on all assignments.
It’s good you do not take meds. My husband falls straight into the same category, he is 1 years older than me. The story is different with me. I had a terrible accident in 1992, coma, clinical pass out, extreme blood loss, etc. I returned, they told I wouldn’t walk, I managed over years to get back to normal with practically no help from outside. I have had crazy pain at some moments, but I mostly manage it without pills. Due to all 15 surgeries and extreme antibiotic therapy I lost pancreas function completely with all the sequences.
What is good? I have never ever had blood pressure, cardio-vascular or weight problems. I am as I was at 21. Unbelievably, all clothes still fit. I am actually sewing them myself, everything from coats and jackets to evening gowns, and I have done wedding dresses, too.
So, yes, I am against all pills which will always cause something.
That is exactly what I am talking about: it is difficult to cook from scratch a few times a day and it is difficult not to eat everything what happens.
Comparatively, after observing people, who live on natural food and people, who live on artificial and synthetic things, I dare to admit that all diseases except for traumas and viral and bacterial infections are cause by unnatural life style and food.
That includes the huge decline in mental health, as well.
We are experiencing now illnesses caused by over-use, misuse or abuse of synthetic supplements and any booster products.
They are not innocent, labels are sometimes so misleading. Natural on a label means nothing nowadays.
Organic labels are misused, too.
It doesn’t really take a scientist to see how everything correlates. I just want people to work and think more and rely less on the miracle pill.
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we think the same way about health as you do
we also think that most people would not be ill, if it wasn’t due to some kind of abuse or unhealthy lifestyle, pretty much how you write it as well
so sorry about your accident
was it a car crash?
i once had 2 accidents and then years later i had sepsis in the bone/tissue area which had been traumatized during the accidents
that was also quite a shock
but you are not going to believe this
i healed it without antibiotics, just by eating very healthily and mainly living of citrus fruits
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It was a car accident, yes, the driver passed away on scene. For me, it took more than a year at hospital and then quite a while on crutches, we didn’t have there any wheelchairs. I also didn’t elevator where I lived, so, I had to think hard to get out or back in. It was 5th floor with very high steps, a bit of torture.
Well, I never heard in all the medical history it was possible to cure sepsis with just food, I am sorry, it is probably just the use of language. After a few surgeries I got resistant bacteria to mainstream treatments and that took me 5 years to somehow get cured, I mean, somehow, because it can return. The wounds simply cannot close when there are resistant bacteria present. I’m actually seeing the surgeon next week, one more bone fragment to remove. That is minor surgery.
My guess is you didn’t have sepsis, it spreads through blood stream quickly, and there is no way one come overcome that with food. It’s treated with massive i/v doses of strong antibiotics, not any antibiotics. They come in different spectrum ranges and different mechanisms of action.
I asked the doctor back then what where my chances to survive and recover and whether they ever had any patients with that many bad injuries and open wounds. He said they did once, but that lady passed away of sepsis since they couldn’t prevent some germs from getting in her blood stream due to very large open wounds., just like mine were. I am very lucky to have survived, but I needed numerous blood transfusions due to massive blood loss, I sometimes had that high fever and body temperature that I was passing out and the feeling was of a real burning all over.
You probably had some infection in that tissue or bone and your body was able to create enough fighting force to cure them naturally. Bone marrow creates specific white blood cells which then travel to the infection site, that’s why blood test can show whether there is any serious inflammation or infection which is also not the same.
Unfortunately, there are more and more treatment resistant infections nowadays and therefore, it isn’t possible to save everybody’s life.
Anyway, we used to have no pharmaceuticals at home and I practically never needed to see a doctor, too. Until the accident.
Grandma was my teacher about herbal treatments and we used only herbal remedies. I wrote about apple tree leaves and plum tree leaves, they really help., then ashberries, up to 10 a day, then all kinds of mixed dried herbs in tea, dandelion and thistle roots, nettle tea for blood cleaning, pine buds, oh, there are countless of them.
If you live long enough in one place, you will have anything you need growing in your front and backyard. It is surprising how nature knows that, but it does.
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I did have sepsis
it was absolutely not easy to survive that
and it also wasn’t quite that simple
btw we’re an english family
how did you manage your daily day when living up on the 5th floor
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I did everything on crutches for a few years, everything. It was difficult and painful, but there was no other way. It took a while to get upstairs and downstairs, I fell sometimes because when one is tired or dizzy it’s kind of not easy to use stairs. No, that wasn’t easy, even to cook or to wash floors or do dishes and manually laundry. There were very little conveniences.
They gave me sort of disability pension at that time, but since Latvia had just started its independence, that pension was hilariously small, equivalent of some 50 bucks maybe, it was meant for month, but if you bought some food, it only was enough for 3 days, tops.
My daughter was 12 and we frequently had absolutely nothing for dinner or so, lived on water. I know what it means to be really hungry. I simply didn’t have medications, not even gauze or dressings to put on all wounds. Daughter made me literally to go to the Red Cross, and that was another story which started a completely other story.
I will just mention that the Red Cross was also in an old building with no elevator and on the 5th floor. That was so difficult that I simply was standing there and crying from pain, but I had to get up there and so I did. Oh well, it was crazy. I was only 33 then, definitely strong, but terrible pain is terrible pain.
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so very sorry about all the hardship you have experienced!
are you doing much better now?
how did you come to Canada?
did you decide back then, to go to CN with your 12-year old daughter?
you mentioned your family and your husband in some posts… were they able to help you?
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I am very fine now. Well, that was 30 years ago. No need to be sorry because lots of people do not wake up after their comas.
As soon as one can walk, move and work, everything is what they want it to be.
That accident led me to Canada 20 years later, that’s just how chains of events happen.
I never feel sorry about myself and I prohibited myself long ago to fall in self-pity.
The only thing is that when I read how people complain how difficult, upsetting or depressing their life is, I quite frequently think they have no idea what difficult is.
I never identified me with such obstacles, pain and so on, but with things which I create, like art or writing. I have lots of publications in my native language.
My husband is a native Canadian, he didn’t have an idea I existed those times. He is definitely a great person.
MY daughter is doing very well, too, she is a bit past 40 this year. She lives in Latvia.
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Thanks for the useful post..
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I hope it’s useful. I’ve been in medical research for more than 35 years and I also have learnt something during my quite adventurous life on two sides of the planet. I usually share my observations and conclusions.
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