The Worst Part About the Natural Health Movement

It was 4 years ago when my entire view of health, nutrition, and medicine turned around. Before 2004, I could eat anything and not think twice about; I could just not have to worry too much about reading labels. Before that time, I knew next to nothing about natural health, good nutrition, and frankly, I shared the same prejudiced and biased view of those in the natural health community - that they were all a bunch of quacks who were just trying to stir things up. Before that fateful year, when everything was so uncomplicated, high-fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, GMO's, pesticides didn't exist or matter, that was for other people to debate about - not me.

Who knew a simple 30-minute infomercial could change a whole life? It was a Sunday, at around 8am, before Meet the Press, I saw with my brothers and dad an infomercial about a new and controversial book: Natural Cures 'They' Don't Want You To Know About by Kevin Trudeau. Its amazing that before that very moment, I was as ignorant and unknowing as the next person. It made me see life as it was then, and life as it could be.

After watching the infomercial, buying and reading the book, I was able to see this whole new world of health that offered more answers than I could imagine. The book made me research, it made me want to learn, it made me grow. But it also made me stressed, and it made me worry about things that I could change. I began to worry about everything: how many vegetables me and me family were not eating, how little nutrients we actually were getting, the almost non-existent exercise I was getting. Everything was magnified, and every thing that went into my mouth came under intense scrutiny. Whether it was pizza, ice cream, cookies: whatever it was, it received a lot of attention and a lot of thought. Even today, thoughts of the unfair treatment the natural health movement has received in the media - from snide episodes of Seinfeld to the propaganda of main stream media - can keep me up for hours at night and keep me from sleeping.

The unending stress and worry the I feel is well worth it, however. I have learned so much in my 4 years of study, and I was really blessed by God to have been able to learn the things I have, done the things I have done, and been able to help myself and my family to become healthier and ultimately, happier. I now know how to keep my future family happy and healthy, and I am still learning about that every day. But I have developed a deep love for learning all about true health and nutrition, and not just what I see on The Today Show. I hope I am able to spread the word as much as I can about natural health, and I hope to join the many natural health practitioners myself by becoming a naturopathic nutritionist, so in the end, all the stress, all the hardship, all the heart ache was well worth it.

Since the book was published, many have sought to discredit it and make it seem like Kevin Trudeau is a fraud. As if all the things he said in the book were false. Whether or not he is a fraud, I cannot judge; however, I can discern that most of what he said was true, and that he did a good work by exposing millions to the world of Alternative Medicine, offering many answers that conventional medicine has suppressed and kept from the public. So what is the worst part about the Natural Health Movement? -- the stress that comes with being so health-conscious, but being so health-conscious is also what makes it great because you reap the benefits of your concern.

At any rate, I want to say once more that I am so very grateful to God and all the answers he has given and also for all of his wonderful creations.