Previously, I left you with two questions to ponder, one of which was, “In the span of time and the history of humankind, which medicine is ‘conventional’ and which medicine is ‘alternative’?” I like to use the phrase, “natural medicine”, for the type of treatments and research discoveries we will be highlighting on this site. Please do not confuse my phrase with Naturopathy, or Naturopathic Medicine, which is based on a belief in vitalism, which theorizes that a unique energy called “vital energy” or “vital force” guides bodily processes, including those related to healing and physiological balance. I am not saying that there is, or is not, any validity to Naturopathy, so those of you who subscribe to that belief, please do not misunderstand my intention. As I have written before, this site will discuss, highlight, and publicize treatments and discoveries that are backed by either scientific study, or a long history of testimonies of effectiveness supported by related scientific study.
I prefer the term natural medicine because I believe that the body and nature where made to interact. Natural medicine is not hocus pocus, but rather understanding what is natural to the human body and that it was designed to live in and receive strength from things found in nature. Regardless of what type of faith or belief a person has, everyone agrees that the human body was designed to live in harmony with nature. So why are most human bodies not, especially in Western societies? So looking to nature, the resources that are naturally occurring, the study of mechanisms and processes in nature that benefit other creatures, and to the study of history and how man survived disease and injury in various cultures since ancient times are all lend to the discoveries of natural medicine. These reveal ancient truths in the light of modern scientific research, with the ability to extract the “why” out the success of some treatment from ancient times or undeveloped cultures. For the Western world to embrace natural medicine, scientific research must discover the mechanisms and interactions with the human body that cause the nature based treatments or remedies to be successful.