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[Neonivek]

A friend of mine is studying herbal medicine. For the most part I don't think it has any advantage over traditional medicine (and at times it's pure nonsense),

My view on alternative medicine is as such: For every single thing it can actually do there are ten things it cannot but we are told it can.

[Sappho]

A friend of mine is studying herbal medicine. For the most part I don't think it has any advantage over traditional medicine (and at times it's pure nonsense),

My view on alternative medicine is as such: For every single thing it can actually do there are ten things it cannot but we are told it can.

And ten things it can but we are told it cannot.

You can say the same about western medicine as well. In any case, there are many types of "alternative" medicine. The one my friend is studying is Chinese medicine, which has a strong scientific basis. She has to spend a lot of time in a laboratory with microscopes watching how the compounds made from the herbs behave. There's nothing mystical about it. All I know for sure is, I never believed this stuff could work, but after I started drinking this tea, things got better. I really don't give a damn if the herbs work the way Chinese medicine says they do, or if they contain some other chemical which helps stop the allergies, or if it's just a pure placebo effect (despite the fact I didn't believe it could work and initially only started trying it to please this friend). If I drink the tea, I feel better. If I take allergy pills, I feel somewhat better but I have to deal with awful side effects. I'll stick with the tea.

[penguinofhonor]

If meat is expensive, lobby your government to subsidize it heavily. It's the American way! Also corn.

[Neonivek]

The point is mostly that there is a very good uses for Alternative medicine and we should probably be exploring it more then we currently are... Yet there is a lot of sewage to go through.

So be very vigilant if you are going through that route because they will promise you anything.

Also I wont ever give alternative medicine a pass... and the Western medicine's flaws are separate altogether (usually in that western medicine makes up problems to give you cures). Then again I don't give anything a pass EVER!

If meat is expensive, lobby your government to subsidize it heavily. It's the American way!

There are cheap meats out there that even Sappho can afford. Though some require you to actually go to a butcher.

[Sappho]

The cheap meats are cheap for a reason. They're either terrible quality, or parts of the animal that no one would want to eat. I'm not a big fan of meat unless it's high quality. Technically I could afford meat, at least chicken, a few times a week, but it would cost about the same as all my Taiji training and I'd rather have that money going there.

Cornbread is in the oven at last. It was really quite easy to prepare, which says something about how lethargic and miserable I've been this week, that I couldn't even bring myself to make this. The only concern I have is that the only non-dairy milk readily available is soya milk, and I'm not sure if it will work properly. Will find out soon!

[Neonivek]

The cheap meats are cheap for a reason. They're either terrible quality, or parts of the animal that no one would want to eat.

The same could be said about expensive meats.

Some of the best meats you can buy, the most delicious ones, are cheap. Their cheapness tends to come from demand and not from quality.

Heck some of the best steaks I ever had were cheap cuts with marinade, it certainly was better then the 50 dollar steak I had.

[DWC]

Traditional/ herbal medicine isn't hocus-pocus. The chemical compounds in commercial drugs are found in particular plants, that's how they make them. It's scientifically documented what medicinal uses certain plants have due to what chemicals are present in them. Which is why the form your doctor hands you asks that you list any medicinal herbs you might be taking along with your prescription drugs. The crystal rubbing new age bullshit or Chinese recipes for curing cancer with shark penises or whatever is another thing entirely.

That isn't to say it's better then modern medicine, it's pretty much a DIY version of the same shit, which implies that you need know a little bit about medicine and how it works.

[Sappho]

Well the cornbread is done. It smelled amazing in the oven, but it tastes... not great. Not bad, just not very good. And it's really spongy. At least it's not dry. I think it would be better with less egg or more cornmeal to balance it. But at least it doesn't taste *bad*, and it will be a good filling snack for tomorrow.

Who knows, maybe the school lunch will be something I can eat tomorrow. Would be a nice change.

[DeKaFu]

Herbal medicine has a lot of...issues.
It's not that it does nothing, but that for the most part it's basically a form of medicine with a big pile of added drawbacks that regular medicine doesn't have. Unlike regular medicine, it generally doesn't have standardized doses and it doesn't undergo the same level of scrutiny. When you're taking a single dose each of two different batches of the same herbal remedy, you might be getting 10x the dose of active ingredient in one than the other, just because the chemical concentration varies greatly from plant to plant. Herbal remedies can also be contaminated with plant matter from other species (or non-plant matter, like heavy metals), which can have effects varying from nothing to loss of effectiveness to organ damage and death.

It's not a scam like homeopathy, but it's certainly not "healthier" than mainstream medicines. It's much more of a gamble with your health, but many people don't realize it due to the "natural = harmless" misconception.

[Neonivek]

Alternative medicine convo in spoilers.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The crystal rubbing new age bullshit or Chinese recipes for curing cancer with shark penises or whatever is another thing entirely.

It is the same thing but taken to its extreme. There are no checks and balances for alternative medicine.

Chinese medicine has a lot of real genuine medicine in it that do exactly what they say it does. While at the same time it is bogged down with all this junk.

Think of it like I have this rock that cures arthritis, lets just assume it actually does this, at first I start curing people with this rock and I have created a legitimate alternative medicine. Yet someone down the street takes the exact same rock and says that it also cures headaches.

It's not a scam like homeopathy

Like this. Homeopathy has genuine use... but they hit such a point of "it can do anything" that it is impossible to cut through the BS.

many people don't realize it due to the "natural = harmless" misconception.

It is also because modern medicine is VERY thorough with what a drug does and if one in a thousand people who take the drug experience spasms then they will report it. Thus it would seem like to someone that modern medicine is a lot more dangerous.

Well the cornbread is done. It smelled amazing in the oven, but it tastes... not great.

I can't stand Cornbread... but I do love Corn Cake.

If you ever get coarse corn meal I suggest making some, some day. It goes especially good with honey.

Though I have no idea how much your diet lets you eat of sweets.

[DeKaFu]

Spoiler: Homeopathy (click to show/hide)

It's not a scam like homeopathy

Like this. Homeopathy has genuine use... but they hit such a point of "it can do anything" that it is impossible to cut through the BS.

If you think homeopathy has its uses, you aren't aware of the actual definition of homeopathy. Homeopathy specifically refers to medicines where the active ingredient (which is usually toxic) is diluted with water thousands of times until no molecules of the original ingredient remain. At this point, the remaining water is supposed to "remember" the original substance and...cure ailments similar to those the original substance would have caused, for some reason. It's pure pseudoscience.

When you buy a homeopathic remedy, you are literally buying a spectacularly overpriced bottle of water.

Don't want to derail so I'll leave it there.

[Neonivek]

If you think homeopathy has its uses, you aren't aware of the actual definition of homeopathy

Apparently not, I thought it was something else entirely... (posted because it ends the argument)

I'd still try that Corn Cake.

[DJ]

I just can't believe meat is that expensive in Czech Republic. I make 500€/month and I can still eat meat almost every day. It's about 6€ for a kilo of pork here in Bosnia, which means it's about 1.5€ for a hefty pork chop that will keep you fed for most of a day. My brother lives in Germany and says the prices are similar over there, so I find it a bit odd for Czech Republic to be a lot more expensive.

[Sappho]

Pass on the recipe for the corn cake! I don't have too much of a sweet tooth these days but I don't mind eating more sweets, especially honey which isn't nearly as concentrated as pure sugar.

I don't want to argue about herbal medicine. I have my own opinions on it but I'm sure it's not the kind of thing you can easily persuade others to change their minds about, especially online. I will continue to drink my tea because for whatever reason, it seems to help with no side effects. Aside from that I don't generally use herbal medicine. I don't generally use western medicine either, except in really severe circumstances. Too many bad experiences.

Anyway, very little time this morning, have to run to work.

Spoiler: Friday notes (click to show/hide)

Breakfast: banana, glass of diluted apple juice, glass of double-strength anti-allergy tea (which means double bad taste, bleeeccchhhhh)

Woke up with whole system feeling clogged up from allergies. Must be some new pollen in the air or something. Maybe birch trees? Those tend to be really terrible. Hoping that things get better as I continue to drink the tea. Not looking forward to work, but less lethargic and miserable than I've been. Hormone levels might finally be stabilizing. I've noted over the past few days that toilet habits have not changed at all under this gluten-free diet. I know it's only been just under a week, but I would have expected at least a small difference by now if I was gluten intolerant. Add to that the fact that I was tested for celiac about ten years ago and the test came back negative (false negatives are possible though, and I could have developed it by now anyway), and I'm leaning even more heavily towards "no gluten intolerance." I suppose the real test will come when I add the gluten back to my diet.

[DWC]

Herbal medicine has a lot of...issues.
It's not that it does nothing, but that for the most part it's basically a form of medicine with a big pile of added drawbacks that regular medicine doesn't have. Unlike regular medicine, it generally doesn't have standardized doses and it doesn't undergo the same level of scrutiny. When you're taking a single dose each of two different batches of the same herbal remedy, you might be getting 10x the dose of active ingredient in one than the other, just because the chemical concentration varies greatly from plant to plant. Herbal remedies can also be contaminated with plant matter from other species (or non-plant matter, like heavy metals), which can have effects varying from nothing to loss of effectiveness to organ damage and death.

It's not a scam like homeopathy, but it's certainly not "healthier" than mainstream medicines. It's much more of a gamble with your health, but many people don't realize it due to the "natural = harmless" misconception.

Also @ Sappho I want to say you might not eating enough. With vegetables and fruits you really got to pile them in because they don't have the same energy density as foods you might otherwise be used to. I'm hard pressed to think of any people that get fat or sick by eating too many vegetables. I eat vegetables until I can't fit anymore in, personally.

Well yeah. Like I said, you gotta know a bit about medicine and dosages to do it properly otherwise you could conceivably OD on herbal medication like you can any other drug. I see alternative medicine as more a survivalist skill or really, something you do to skirt around the issue of getting a prescription or relying on commercial products, or if you cannot afford the prescription, so long as you know what you are doing. I can think of things like vasodilators that you'd normally need a prescription for that people could benefit from without being diagnosed with something. Or something you could use in an emergency.

Not saying people should empty their medicine cabinet in the toilet and start gathering plants out in the forest instead.