Watch out for doctors who just give advice without taking a patient's history. You have to get to know a person before you can help him. If a person is constipated, for example, it could be because of excessive use of antibiotics or not enough fiber in the diet. Just suggesting an herbal laxative could cause more of a problem. Stay away from what I call "mobile" doctors who tell you what to do without an examination. They don't understand that multiple therapies may be needed. A common cold could be caused by too many mucous forming foods like milk or grains, and it really wouldn't be an infection at all. In this case, dietary changes would be needed along with a cleansing diet.

What is even more important is that the patient often has a condition that needs to be monitored. Medications and supplements can sometimes cause more harm than good. Noting the age and condition of the patient is an important factor. Just putting someone on a cleansing diet without checking to see the condition of the bowel, liver, and gall bladder could be detrimental. If the liver is too congested to handle a fast or a cleanse, a smart physician would go slowly and make dietary changes slowly, not to stress these organs. A 25 year-old patient may be able to handle a certain therapy better than a 70 year-old individual. A person may be either too acidic or too alkaline. If someone is acidic, you wouldn't put them on a high protein diet; it would cause even more acid build up in the body.

Different companies process their supplements differently. There never is a one size fits all supplement. There are ways to test patients to see what supplements or companies would be best for that individual. Some B vitamins can be extracts from foods; others are synthetic.

So we have all these considerations-multiple causes, multiple therapies, and the individuals may have many different hidden causes of their conditions. And, most important in chronic problems, more than one type of therapy is necessary. Make sure there is primary research on the supplements you are taking. See my article on Primary Research.

Foundational nutrition is usually a whole food supplement that most people can use. This type of supplement usually has a variety of concentrated foods. Juice Plus+® is one of these whole food supplements. Juice Plus+® also has more primary research than any other nutraceutical product in the world. Thousands of people in over 20 countries have been using it for more than 17 years. Its research has proven it to affect the immune system, increase vitamins and minerals in the blood, help protect the body from free radical damage, the heart, and even it even helps to protect the DNA from damage.

This is what I mean by being foundational--a supplement that has a positive systemic effect on the body. Once you've chosen your foundational foods and supplements, then and only then can you be specific with other supplements for your specific needs. Find a qualified physician who works along these lines.

My book, Your Body Speaks--Your Body Heals, gives more insight into the subjects I've mentioned in this article. A book I wrote years ago, Natural Healing with Herbs, gives multiple therapies for over 120 conditions or health challenges. For example, on page 297 in this book, for cramps and spasms, it mentions the juices and foods to avoid and foods to use for this condition. It also suggests a homeopathic remedy, several herbs that can be taken, and different types of water baths or hydrotherapy. If you really want to get educated, learn the monitoring system in ProMetabolics.

Stay well..

Dr. Smokey Santillo
SmokeySantillo.com