WTF is with all of the BS "medicine" at Whole Foods.

[Patranus]

It corporations scamming hippies with their own crap.
Its quite funny.

 

[Perknose]

Because mainstream western medicine, which is based on science and reason, is motivated by evil capitalists rather than by organic, local folk pharmacists. These herbal homeopathic remedies, based on years of practice by traditional medicine men, is much more inline with what Chairman Mao recommends.

Preach it, brother. Like in Germany and Switzerland!! Everyone knows that the mainstream Germans and Swiss are nothing but a hotbed of starry-eyed hippies who eschew science, precision and reason!

THAT's why, in those two countries, there are tens of thousands of state-sanctioned and regulated heilpraktikers!

Heilpraktiker is the name given to a natural health professional (Non-physician practitioner) in Germany and Switzerland. In Austria there is no such equivalent profession and patients do not have this option for health care. The requirements in Germany to practice as a Heilpraktiker requires an age of at least 25 years, attainment of a Haupt/Volkschule (High School level) education, no criminal record, and the ability to mentally and physically treat patients. A written and oral examination must be taken before admission by the public health office.

In Germany a "Heilpraktiker" <literarily translated: "heal-practitioner" = "non-medical practitioner"> is a person who is licensed by the German state for curing with natural and alternative medicine.

Silly Germans! Dirty Hippie Swiss! :twisted:

There's is the kind of official mindset symptomatic of a backwards society that couldn't even make a good watch or car!

Remember! We're Americans and have NOTHING to learn from other cultures, ever!

Only the AMA and Big Pharma possess the answers to your health problems, and they are totally selfless saints who would never use FUD to maintain their highly lucrative monopolies!

Just don't look behind the curtain!

 

[Pliablemoose]

Some of that stuff works for me. Not from whole foods though, internet FTW.

I am a larger man who runs 6x a week.

I use DMSO on my frequent injuries and calves. Heals much faster.

I piss a glow stick from vitamins I take, feel groggy when I don't take them.

I take a MSM/condriotin supplement for my knees and I think it's like lube. No more grinding.

YMMV

I'm on board with everything but DMSO, it's just a solvent, pointless to use unless you use it to get something to that tissue.

(we use DMSO in our neuro embolization cases with onyx, so it does have medical uses, but it doesn't heal tissue, it's just a solvent)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgxyPzkiNXU

Also, many medications have a base in homeopathic remedies, like Viagra from Yohimbi bark extract...

 

[Locut0s]

Because it doesn't actually cure anything? It wastes money and actually causes damage because people assume this actually does something.

People demand cures. They get bullshit that is sold to them as cures and not the real cure. They assume the bullshit = real deal, but it's actually worthless. People do not buy this stuff going, "Oh this won't work." They buy it thinking, "This will work." But it never does ANYTHING but placebo effect. (Read: not a cure)

blame capitalism.

 

[Locut0s]

Interesting I've never heard of any of these. Safeway is the only one that you have mentioned that seems large enough to have stores here in Canada.

 

[DCal430]

I won't deny that many herbs do have real medicinal purposes, but things like homeopathic is scam. Mint for example was used by people since ancient times for pain has now been proven to have actual analgesic properties and is now found in actual OTC products such as Bengay, Halls, and IcyHot.

 

[Cerb]

Also, many medications have a base in homeopathic remedies, like Viagra from Yohimbi bark extract...

Not the same. Extracts may contain up to a majority of material from the base material (usually a part of a plant). The benefits of the extract are that the extracted material can go to work more quickly, and you can get useful amounts from a given amount of the base, compared to trying to use it whole. In the process of extraction, you remove the physical barrier of the cells, and depending on what the extract is of, may evaporate or distill it for extra concentration, if it can handle it.

A homeopathic remedy is typically reduced to a concentration that would only count for trace minerals (which are typically included in any good multivitamin, which also tends to be cheaper, and have many other meaningful ingredients). Homeopathy is generally regarded as safe, because it's generally nothing.

Hypothetical illustrative example:
Herbal medicine: a coca leaf to chew, or make tea from (check Wikipedia, WebMD, what-have-you, for known side effects; it's on your head).
Extract: effectively liquid cocaine. One or two drops under your tongue, to relieve pain (check Wikipedia, WebMD, what-have-you, for known side effects; it's on your head) .
Big Pharmaceutical pill: cocaine, but in a colored pill, with one atom slightly off, so that the manufacturing process can be patented (get out a microscope, and dedicate half an hour to reading the fold-out paper in the box, for known side effects; it's either on your doc's head, or the pharm company, though).
Homeopathic medicine: put a drop of poison into a swimming pool, strain the swimming pool, and claim a shotglass' worth of that water will ease pain. Alternatively, use a drop of the extract from above, so that people who aren't quite gullible enough to fall for sympathetic magic will fall for your water.

 

[DCal430]

Not the same. Extracts and teas may contain up to a majority of material from the base material (usually a part of a plant). The benefits of the extract are that the extracted material can go to work more quickly, and you can get useful amounts from a given amount of the base, compared to trying to use it whole. In the process of extraction, you remove the physical barrier of the cells, and depending on what the extract is of, may evaporate or distill it for extra concentration, if it can handle it.

A homeopathic remedy is typically reduced to a concentration that would only count for trace minerals (which are typically included in any good multivitamin, which also tends to be cheaper, and have many other meaningful ingredients). Homeopathy is generally regarded as safe, because it's generally nothing.

Analogy:
Herbal medicine: a coca leaf to chew.
Extract: effectively liquid cocaine. One or two drops under your tongue, to relieve pain.
Homeopathic medicine: grind a coca leaf up, drop it into a big swimming pool, strain the swimming pool, and claim that it's more effective than chewing a coca leaf.

Actually in Homeopathy you give them what causes the symptoms to relieve it. So to relieve pain you give them something that causes pain.

 

[Cerb]

Actually in Homeopathy you give them what causes the symptoms to relieve it. So to relieve pain you give them something that causes pain.

Grrr, I was editing that in, right then. Right after I clicked save, I realized that I'd gone afoul of the traditional/official definition. Most stuff in sold as such in the US follows the dilution part, but uses ingredients that aren't bad to start off from, many of which are used in drugs and plants used to treat the same. So, it's very common for the difference between something possibly useful, and the "homeopathic" version to be one of millions of times concentration, not claimed ingredients. I'm sure possibly poisonous substances being a legal red flag has nothing to do with that, of course...

 

[Soundmanred]

You wouldn't call a $10b company with 300+ stores a major chain?

Cartman and Cthulu destroyed them all, how could they not be considered a big deal.

 

[SparkyJJO]

Drugs don't have to be made artificially in a lab to be useful.

And if they are just a placebo anyway, who cares, that placebo sure seems to work OK and is a heck of a lot cheaper than the "real" drugs that have oodles of side effects

 

[Slew Foot]

Because the stupid hippies with more money than brains that shop at Whole Foods like thinking that Essence of ass extract will cure them of their ills.

 

[alkemyst]

YADFALP.

Yet Another DCal Fails At Life Post.

 

[alkemyst]

Because the stupid hippies with more money than brains that shop at Whole Foods like thinking that Essence of ass extract will cure them of their ills.

Actually there are quite a few great products that you really can't get elsewhere (save unless you have farmer's markets or asian/ethnic stores).

There are a lot of alternatives now at grocery stores in my area, but we are in a more metropolitan area with lots of international long-term travelers.

Most people really can't afford to make Whole Foods their everyday grocery store though.

 

[WelshBloke]

...

Also, many medications have a base in homeopathic remedies, like Viagra from Yohimbi bark extract...

Homoeopathy<> Herbalism

You can make a decent scientific argument for herbalism.

Homoeopathy is just bollocks

 

[kranky]

Just wondering, OP, do you ever encounter anything that makes you happy?

 

[JMapleton]

Because it doesn't actually cure anything? It wastes money and actually causes damage because people assume this actually does something.

People demand cures. They get bullshit that is sold to them as cures and not the real cure. They assume the bullshit = real deal, but it's actually worthless. People do not buy this stuff going, "Oh this won't work." They buy it thinking, "This will work." But it never does ANYTHING but placebo effect. (Read: not a cure)

What are you smoking? I know that stuff doesn't work.

But some people believe in it and want to buy it, why not sell it? And I think this discussion is completely mislead. Many of you are confusing homeopathy with real vitamin and herbal treatments. I don't think WholeFoods sells homeopathy, which are nothing but sugar pills.

 

[TridenT]

What are you smoking? I know that stuff doesn't work.

But some people believe in it and want to buy it, why not sell it? And I think this discussion is completely mislead. Many of you are confusing homeopathy with real vitamin and herbal treatments. I don't think WholeFoods sells homeopathy, which are nothing but sugar pills.

Most vitamin and herbal treatments are just about as effective as homeopathy. Science shows this.

 

[zerocool84]

I don't care if people shop at Whole Foods. It's their right to pay 3x as much for a tomato than I do. Them being scammed into buying store bought "organic" is fine with me.

 

[JMapleton]

Most vitamin and herbal treatments are just about as effective as homeopathy. Science shows this.

I'm not putting you down, I'm tell you this for your own good.

Find something useful to do instead of trolling. You don't want to spend your whole life on a computer just saying dumb things just to incite responses from people. You'll regret the time you wasted when you're older.

You're telling me your body doesn't need vitamins. I'm telling you to get a life. I'm not being mean, you'll thank me later.

 

[TridenT]

I'm not putting you down, I'm tell you this for your own good.

Find something useful to do instead of trolling. You don't want to spend your whole life on a computer just saying dumb things just to incite responses from people. You'll regret the time you wasted when you're older.

You're telling me your body doesn't need vitamins. I'm telling you to get a life. I'm not being mean, you'll thank me later.

lol @ your strawman. I mean, I thought I made good strawmans, but you sir... You should make the stuff for burning man.

 

[Whisper]

I'm not putting you down, I'm tell you this for your own good.

Find something useful to do instead of trolling. You don't want to spend your whole life on a computer just saying dumb things just to incite responses from people. You'll regret the time you wasted when you're older.

You're telling me your body doesn't need vitamins. I'm telling you to get a life. I'm not being mean, you'll thank me later.

Actually, in this case, I don't think TridenT is far off. Of course your body needs vitamins, but I believe there is limited scientific data supporting the existence of any health benefit of taking something like a multi-vitamin if the individual already has a reasonably well-rounded diet. Also depends on the "vitamins and minerals" we're talking about, though. And of course if all someone does is sit around and eat cheeseburgers for a living, they're probably going to need some vitamin supplementation.

 

[alkemyst]

Actually many homeopathic and vitamins do work, they work well. However, most do not take things properly, take contradictory things or do not have the real symptoms/problem the remedy is supposed to help. They take every 'next best thing' hoping for miracles.

Black Cohosh is something you will find at a Whole Foods (and some pharmacies). It's a natural remedy that is very effective for menopause. It's often prescribed down here for it. Unfortunately most insurance companies will not cover it under the veil of 'unproven' medications.

 

[Whisper]

Actually many homeopathic and vitamins do work, they work well. However, most do not take things properly, take contradictory things or do not have the real symptoms/problem the remedy is supposed to help. They take every 'next best thing' hoping for miracles.

This is a key point. Some homeopathic remedies (St. John's wort, for example) can interact with existing prescriptions, decreasing their effectiveness and/or leading to additional health problems.

 

[Bignate603]

It sounds like people are confusing homeopathic remedies with herbal remedies. Homeopathy involves making INCREDIBLY dilute mixtures of things, to the point where the solution is almost completely the solvent (typically water) and only a minute amount of the active ingredient. Additionally, in traditional homeopathy they active ingredient that they used created the same symptoms that you're trying to solve. For example, if you have joint pain a traditional homeopathic solution would be a very very dilute mixture of something that causes joint pain. Now people are using the term "homeopathic" for very dilute mixtures in general and they may include ingredients that supposedly solve your symptoms, rather than cause your symptoms.