• 8 million adults die each year as a result of being overweight
• Little or no preventative self-care education is offered
• Little or no nutritional education is offered
• Expensive medications are prescribed instead of lifestyle changes
• Harmful side effects and addictive qualities of medications are minimized
• Patients are on multiple costly medications for the rest of their lives
• Invasive surgeries are offered without first exploring natural alternatives
• Hospitals make a profit on the misery of patients and their families
• Insurance companies avoid providing the support they exist to provide
• Pharmaceutical companies profit by sickness rather than healing
• Doctors are expected to prescribe drugs and avoid costly tests or treatments at the expense of their patient’s health
• Doctors are prohibited from using the miraculous power of the placebo effect or even learn about it.

I saw a TED talk by Dr. Lissa Rankin who tells her story from a doctor’s point of view.  She said she pursued a career in medicine because she wanted to help people, but after incurring $150k debt for her education and another $150 to set up her practice she found that she absolutely hated being a doctor.  She felt strangled by the insurance companies and controlled by medical protocols to such a degree that she was unable to give her patients the care they deserved.  She left her practice and encourages doctors to utilize the power of hope instead of being the voice of doom, knowing that every word that comes out of their mouths will affect the outcome of the patient’s recovery process.

Dr Kelly Brogan, holistic psychiatrist, author of the new book “A Mind of Your Own” and co-editor of the textbook “Integrative Therapies for Depression” believes that the future of psychiatry is to move away from medication in search of the root causes of depression and other related illnesses. She believes that the notion that mental illness is an indication of a "chemical imbalance" best treated by medication is false.  She further states that the root cause of depression is in the gut and requires a cleansing diet instead of addictive anti-depressants.

Watch the videos.

Screening Question: Does it prevent disease?