Alternative Practitioners: Consumers Beware

We all know that the healthcare system in the U.S. is in serious trouble. Millions of families are without adequate health coverage and are turning to other forms of care, often enticing consumers by offering free consultations and/or products.

The most abused and misrepresented category is dietary supplementation (vitamins, minerals, enzymes, etc). I have read so many articles (and ads) that claim, in absolute terms, that dietary supplements are the only way to ensure optimal health because the body can’t get what it needs from food alone. It is true that science has been able to prove that many diseases are caused by deficiencies in our foods. Children living in poverty tend to have diets with little protein, vegetables, and dairy. Cheaper food choices are often highly refined and overly processed (which means the nutritional components are processed and refined right out of the food). And we know that foods manufactured in this way have been linked to diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease, just to name a few.

Still, I don’t believe that the average consumer, eating a well-balanced diet, needs to supplement their meals with a variety of vitamins and minerals. Many supplements can adversely interact with prescription medication, cause imbalances, and could result in toxicity. The word supplement comes from the Latin supplementum or from suppire, meaning to complete. Supplements are not meant to take the place of food, they are meant to enhance its benefits; that is why they are called supplements.

The moral of the story is that you have to protect yourself by checking on the credentials of your provider. Unfortunately, the field of alternative practice is lacking in strict regulation, which allows opportunistic and inadequate practitioners the freedom to claim physician status. The litmus test will be whether that person has had training in some form or another in healthcare. A background in health will provide the foundation needed to incorporate alternative medicine into the doctor’s practice. Think about it. How can you provide an alternative to something if you have no training or knowledge of the subject? With training, the keen eye can pick up potential harm that the non-trained eye can’t see.

In some states, practically anyone can hang a shingle and call him or herself a natural practitioner. For this reason and others, I strongly believe that everyone should have a primary care physician to coordinate their care and to confirm or negate information received elsewhere. Be a savvy healthcare shopper—for the person you seek may cause more harm than good.

Just like everything else in life, cheaper is not always better. Stay away from those cheaper cuts of meat, cheaper loaves of refined and processed breads, overly salted canned vegetables, or the local practitioner who claims to have the answer to longevity! The extra steps you take to stay healthy will save you in the long run in how you look physically, reduction in sick days, and even how much money you have in your pocket.

In health and wellness,
Dr. Linda Mundorff, MPH, MSN, ND, RN, CNC, CTN