My mother needed potassium according to the doctor. So she ignored his prescription and decided to eat bananas instead. Next doctor visit the doctor was perplexed because her potassium was low. So she explained about the banana substitute. So he cooperated and told her that was fine and he told her that to get the potassium she needed she had to eat 16 bananas a day. She bought the pills.

I trust modern medicine more than "natural" medicines especially when it comes to vaccinations. Thanks to modern medicine hepatitis A, hepatitis B, measles, mumps, polio, rubella, pertussis, tetanus, smallpox, diphtheria, chickenpox, and quite a few other diseases have been eradicated (or nearly so) while "natural" medicines have not. Sure, rubbing aloe plant on a burn will help and taking ginger can ease nausea but for real problems I'd trust modern medicine. If you trust David Wolfe for a cure for your cancer then you're very likely going to die soon.

In food supplements, and food generally, "natural" is a pretty meaningless term and runs the gamut from "not quite organic" to "total bullshit". And generally leans toward the latter.

Then again, a lot of Big Pharma is unadulterated bullshit too.

I usually educate myself about whatever the doctor is pushing and make my own decisions and also push the doctor in the direction I want them to go. Many of them sleepwalk through their job and some of them are lousy diagnosticians. They (usually) have the technical training I need, but many of them need help applying it, particularly to me.

Case in point, I had a lot of joint pain as a teen -- I'm talking, walking-on-crutches joint pain -- and the rural GP we had at the time diagnosed me with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis*. Fast forward thirty years, my dying 2nd wife's doctor noticed I was hobbling around like an old man and wondered what my problem was. I told him of my RA diagnosis. He looked at my hands and said, if you had RA for the past thirty years these hands would be claws by now.

So I had it looked into and it turned out I had chronic lyme disease. I hadn't made the connection that the tick that was attached to me when I came home from summer camp at age 12 roughly marked the beginning of my symptoms. Fortunately according to my new doctor, I had a very good immune system or it might have destroyed my health rather than just make me decrepit.

Anyway, three months of multi-antibiotic therapy, a healing crisis, and I was free of a life of pain.

This, and the multiple doctors my late wife and I juggled, really changed my attitude towards doctors; I no longer assume they (1) know what they are doing and (2) are paying attention to me or my chart. I have taken charge of my own health.

[*] He also put me on aspirin therapy, which didn't really help, and gave me a stomach ulcer at the tender age of 16, but that's another story. That fucker was out in his Corvette a couple of years later and got run over by a freight train so maybe there occasionally IS justice in the world.

I lean that way, but I'm not fanatical about it.

I'm never sick but I would probably prefer natural over chemicals and narcotics. Marijuana and caffeine is the only drugs I like.

I use what medicine I derive from nature first, then will take my synthetics if needed.

I have a lot of issues though.

Let's liven in teepees or mudhuts while we're at it

I'm the same as you.

I will go with what works best. What works best is what has been scientifically proven to work best. If it happens to be a natural remedie so be it, but I will substitute a medication prescribed to me by a doctor. Just my opinion mind

It depends. I'm not a doctor. I'm inclined to defer to experts--but I also know the field of medicine is gravely flawed in certain areas, and can be rigidly dogmatic.

The use of drugs is one of those areas onto which I cast a very skeptical eye. I was in the room when my mother's doctor told her that she wanted to put her on a statin, even though there was nothing out of range about her blood work. I imagine there's some kind of defensible rationale behind this kind of position, but it's still terribly alarming to me to know that medicine is practiced this way.

First things first:

• Nutrition, hydration
• Rest, sleep
• Exercise, mobility
• Emotional health, stress
• Behavioral health, social support
• Addictions? Obsessions?

If my doctor says I'm diabetic and need insulin, I'm going to run out and get syringes without delay. If my doctor says my blood pressure or cholesterol is high, I'm going to at least consider adjusting my diet and/or exercise regimen first, before talking seriously about drugs.

If my doctor suggests a drug without asking about my nutrition, exercise, and sleep, I want a new doctor.

There are some "natural" remedies that do work, such as CBD oil for seizures, but IMO the vast majority of them are pure woo.

I believe both holistic/natural and modern medicine have a seat at the table. Seeking natural remedies is overwhelming for me, although there is plenty of evidence presented. If you look for it. I like this site be cause Reike, meridian stress test, and Whals protocol may be recognized. Also earthing/grounding was very positive. I doubted all the above until I tried them! Still have had modern remedies along with them.

Best relationship I ever had was with a Christian Scientist. Neither went to the doctor. Neither got sick, except in the bed of course. I will trust this body to take me as far as it could go. Then I will worry but only then even if is too late... a life without worry... was worth it. I am very happy how it went. If I need to, I will use what I need to use for as long I need to.... but I am hard to convince with "bullshit".

I actually wanted to be a Herbal Cultural Ethnologist. A mouthful I know. I wanted to study folklore in the pursuit of finding medicines. Natural plants etc. are what in fact medicines are usually made of. There is latent medicinal values to many herbs, some are powerful naturally. Most are very subtle at he most. We have to extract the pertinent chemicals fro said herbs in order for them to be clinically effective. Pharmaceutical medicines are better proven effective while their natural diluted forms usually have not. Can the help? Yes. Should natural remedies be expected to help? No. They may take time even years and be used as a preventative medicine in most cases to be effective. There are some exceptions but usually pharmaceutical grade medicines are he best.

Another thing to consider is that many companies put out pure crap to make money and here is no regulation of "HERBS" so you are actually likely to be buying snake oil as opposed to actual medicine. As much as I dislike the government You can buy exact and regulated doses of medicine thrugh a pharmacy. This ensures hat it works and no one dies. That was my 2 cents.

I am sort of ok with natural meds, but there us do much hokum out there from people trying to scam a buck, and the quality is a bit hit and miss (Is it really Asian Yew bark, or just sawdust?) I am totally ambivalent. I just want something that really, reliably works. On the other side of the coin, pharmaceuticals are extensively tested mostly only on animals. This means there is little real data on their effect on humans. Europe gets drugs in to human trials faster.

It is amazing what our bodies can do when we give them the proper tools. I always prefer to use nutritional and herbal (ones that have been proven scientifically, to be clear) remedies before deferring to allopathic medicine. When I DO choose allopathic medicine and go talk to a doctor, it is from an educated stance and I can usually tell the doctor what drug(s) will be more effective for me and still fit my budget, far better than they can.

I do for many things:

Turmeric
Apple cider vinegar
Cucumber
Ocean water
Yerba mate

I am the same, especially for symptoms.I will use honey to soothe a sore throat, menthol vapour for a stuffy head. I have stuffed my shoulders and they are getting worse, so a Dr visit soon for scans, grrrr.

For some things - sure.

But I had a Grandfather who would use poultices and then go to the Dr and the Dr would be utterly perplexed because whatever it had been was entirely disguised by having been treated with something else. So I'm very aware of that.

You do you, I do me.