Tired of all the drug ads?

“Ten years after a rule change allowed drug companies to advertise directly to U.S. consumers, the overall amount spent promoting medicines is 2.6 times what it was in 1996. But direct-to-consumer advertising, which increased by 330% during that period, still only makes up 14% of the nearly $30 billion the companies spend to promote their drugs. The researchers also found evidence that regulators are doing less to police such ads” states and article on MSNBC.

Sadly most Americans can probably name as many drug names as they can US presidents. And all these companies offer a magic pill that will solve your health problem, then in a really fast voice and small print, “disclose” the other problems you may gain from their magic pill.

But are there bigger problems still with taking these pills? As I just learned, yes there is! Most are made from synthetic materials that are “toxic” to your body. Recently, I’ve heard several people from the more holistic health background explain that since the ingredients in drugs aren’t natural elements, our bodies don’t know how to process them properly and it causes extra strain on our already overworked organs. When you take in more toxins than your body can handle (which most of us do), the toxins are stored in your fat…and is related to the reason most people have a hard time losing weight. If your body gets rid of the fat, it must deal with the toxins which it was too overloaded to deal with in the first place.

So in essence, it’s time to rethink the brainwashing from the drug companies. Instead of, “talk to your doctor to see if [fill in the blank] drug is right for you.” Talk to your health care professional to see what you can do you improve your health to the point where you don’t need the drugs or can at least find a natural replacement.

If your doctor isn’t open to reducing your dependence on synthetic chemical drugs, keep in mind the statistic above. If only 14% of drug company marketing money is spent on you, the rest is spent on the doctors (and there’s an awful lot spent communicating directly to us…so I can’t even imagine the brainwashing the doctors get).

Being healthy is about more than good food and exercise…

Wasteful because we can?

According to an article on treehugger, there is a garbage strike in Vancouver and instead of letting garbage pile up, stores are running out of composters!

Visiting a friend in Morton recently, I learned that they have to pay for garbage (I believe there is a charge for each garbage can a house sets out) and recycling is free. I bet that's motivating. Do you know anyone in Morton who doesn't recycle?

Not that I am encouraging a Peoria garbage strike, but it is amazing to see what people are willing do when the pressure is on.

Anyone have a compost? What was your driving force to start composting? Are you taking advantage of curbside recycling? If not, what's stopping you.

Landfills are a health issue. It's time we start looking more closely at what we put in them and what we don't have to.