Poor old Hippocrates
Believing that man has within him the ability to heal, and nature holds all the medicine we require in our food and herbs, Hippocrates has been quoted as saying: ‘The physician treats, but nature heals.’ It’s probably better then, that poor old Hippocrates isn’t alive today to see what we’ve done to our food supply and to the way we apply ‘health care’.
Even though our current doctors still pay allegiance to the Father of Medicine by reciting the Oath of Medical Ethics including the phrase “Above all, do no harm.” I’m sure Hippocrates would be rolling over in his grave if he knew that properly prescribed medicine(from our current doctors) is the 4th leading cause of death in North America.
It’s actually sad to think that the doctors of today have strayed so far from the teachings and doctrines of Hippocrates but, it’s really no wonder when we consider that their education comes from pharmaceutical sponsored universities, with very little or no instruction on nutrition found in Nature. For me, that’s a bit of a head scratcher because, if we look at a number of drugs produced by the pharmaceutical companies today, many of them have their origins in Nature. I’m not saying that pharmaceutical companies are still out foraging for plants in order to make their drugs. No, that’s not the way they work. What they have done is taken the plant into the lab to find out what the healing action of the plant is, then chemically ‘replicated’ that to make their pills, potions, elixirs and creams. Here’s a small sample of some of the plants they have tried to mimic:
– morphine and codeine came from poppies
– digoxin used for atrial fibrillation came from foxglove
– aspirin, used to treat rheumatism, headache pain and fever came from white willow
– Taxol (a cancer drug) came from the Pacific Yew tree
– quinine used to prevent malaria came from the cinchona tree
– atropine used to treat a slow heart beat came from belladonna
– bromelain is an anti-inflammatory found in pineapple
– glycyrrhin used in pectoral conditions like asthma came from licorice
-thymol found in topical antifungal creams came from thyme.
– and the list goes on and on
Although these chemical concoctions appear to work on paper or lab rats, when used in the human body there is still something missing. I’m not going to get into a discussion on chemistry here because that’s never been my strong suit. As much as these drugs may appear to work, they are working in a way that is really foreign to our physiology. Most drugs don’t work on finding the cause of the symptom; they generally suppress the symptom by overriding our physiology, so the symptom ‘appears’ to go away. Typically, that symptom gets driven deeper into another part of the body only to surface again later and possibly worse than before.
In Hippocrates day, he never had to worry about chemicals because there was no true understanding of chemistry yet. However, he did know the value of food, herbs and other plants that had an effect on human health. His famous quote “Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food” sheds light on that knowledge. He also said, “All disease begins in the gut” which science and medicine is realizing that the validity of that quote still holds true today. Actually, its even more important today than it was in Hippocrate’s time, since our food offers far fewer nutrients than the food of his day. Most holistic practitioners employ the wisdom in these two statements in a very effective way while treating their clients today. Even though the whole foods and natural supplements route may seem to take a little longer than the ‘quick fix’ harmful chemicals, the relief is generally longer lasting. There is a synergy in plant components that works seamlessly with human physiology. Our bodies were designed to absorb and utilize the nutrients that plants have to offer. In reality, they are vital for our health. The sooner we realize that and get back to providing our bodies with real food, the healthier our bodies and our planet will be. Before I end, I would like to leave you with a few more quotes to think about.
“Natural forces within us are the true healers of disease.” – Hippocrates
“If you are not your own doctor, you are a fool.” – Hippocrates
“The physician treats, but the body heals” – Hippocrates
“The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will instruct his patient in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease – Thomas Edison





