On another thread someone stated:
"Asprin is still synthetic therefore poison to our system"

Is this statement actually true or is it just part of the "natural = healthier" and "pharmaceuticals = evil" fads?

By what mechanism are synthetic substances poisonous to us? Why is a synthetic version of a compound more poisonous than a naturally occuring one?

it seems an overly-generalised and misleading statement to me.

S

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My understanding/perspective on this is that the herbal preparations work in symbiosis with our bodies -they work as a whole so although they may not be as 'fast' as synthetic drugs they do not tend to have the side effects (if taken correctly)
Modern drugs often have their basis formulated on plants but the 'manmade' versions have copied what is seen to be the 'active' componant and ignored how the herbal remedy works in complexity.
Herbs can be poisonous as well though..........it is the knowledge of how to make/apply them built over 1000's of years which makes the difference!

A good example is the Kava Kava herb which was grown and traditionally used on a pacific island (to help reduce anxiety I think...) The stems were traditionally never used in the preparation and the popularity of the herb grew in the west and as the main active chemical in the leaves was also in the stems, they started to use them as well as it was thought it was wasteful to discard them
Thats when the problems began as people began to report being ill.......and it was found that their livers were being affected.
The Kava industry then collapsed on this small island as the plant was then banned from being sold as a remedy although it had been used very successfully up to this point.

So no not as simple as synthetic= poison / Natural=beneficial but I believe everything we need already exists in nature that we need to be healthy and whole

Last edited: 3-10-2008 06:31:11 PM

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Jayne, your points are excellent and correct.
Steph, think of it this way. Biologically our bodies are designed to absorb living foods, not dead foods. Herbs are living foods, synthetics are not actually food and they are also not living. I may seem strong to suggest the synthetic drugs are poison, but what else would you call them when our bodies don't recognise them as food? There are no half way measures here when it comes to ingesting a substance, either it is absorbed or not. If not, our bodies try to eliminate the substance (side effects). There are so many substances out there that try to mimic active ingredients in foods but because they are not alive they fail. The point Jayne made about active ingredients is valid. It is not ONLY the active ingredient that does the work in herbs, it is the whole thing. Using only the active ingredient misses the point, as the active ingredient is not the only thing working in restoring health.

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Hi Jon,
When you talk of dead foods you are actually including meat which is one reason why yogis don't eat meat.Another explanation I was given is that if one takes a cow to the slaughterhouse, when it realises it's 'time is up' it will release toxins into it's body due to the fear.I don't know if there is scientific research to validate this but it certainly sounds feasible to me.
L&L
Dave

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Hi David, I have heard about the release if various endorphins when an animal believes it is about to die, and also about meat not being living food. Firstly, like you, I have not seen any scientific evidence and believe it sounds logical. Meat on the other hand is only dead when cooked, especially over-cooked. For many thousands of years man has eaten meat, meat that came wild and RAW. Modern society has barstardised meat so much in growing and preparation, that is is hardly recognised as meat anymore.

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Hi Jon,
If the animal is dead then surely the meat is dead????????? As soon as the beast dies the meat starts to detiorate. Well if modern meat is not recognised maybe it's already dead.ouch
L&L
Dave

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Hi David, I don't have a solid opinion on this. The question then is, if the meat is dead when the animal is killed, then the plant must be dead when it is cut, which we both know is not true. Fruit starts to deteriate when it is pick, although is still what we call fresh for some days and even weeks, why not meat?

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Interesting discussion guys but think we're going a wee bit off topic with the vegetarian versus meat eating ......think its better to continue under with a new thread on the healthy eating forum

Thanks J

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