70% of modern health problems are directly caused by lifestyle choices. SEVENTY percent! What would your life be like if almost 3 of every 4 illnesses, disorders or concerns that came your way … didn’t.

What troubles me the most about this statistic is that so many of us already know or at least suspect that, but we still don’t make the change. My husband and I (admittedly documentary junkies) were watching a film last night about another health crusader trying to spread the word about prevention.

Normally I avoid such films and shows and last night once again provided evidence of why… whether it’s Jamie Oliver or Joe Cross – or your or I, the response is almost always the same – a combination of 1) it doesn’t really work, 2) it’s too much trouble, or 3) I’ve already tried the natural route (or know someone that did). And I find myself both saddened and frustrated!

To take a closer look at each of these:

1) it doesn’t really work… not so! Epidemiologists, scientists, researchers, professionals, just about ANYONE that spends any time reading through medical literature can verify that yes, prevention does work! The American Cancer Society tells us that 75-80% of all cancer related deaths are directly related to environmental choices. Not genetics! The experts that devote their lives to researching how we get sick are telling us that we don’t usually have to! What would the country look like if we could prevent / save: almost 3/4 of the dollars spent on illness (medication, days lost in work or productivity, treatment, specialist visits), 3 out of 4 or even 4 out of 5 of the deaths lost to cancer, nearly 3 out of 4 of the health concerns we face – lost days from our lives that could have been better spent elsewhere – instead of sick in bed!

2) it’s too hard… I’ve been up close and personal with a struggle to beat cancer – and seen cancer win. I’ve seen children facing life threatening illnesses that emotionally tear up their parents. I’ve seen individuals of all ages in pain, struggling to enjoy their days despite a chronic health concern. *That’s* too much trouble. Cancer occurring at a rate that is quadruple (or more) what it should be is too much trouble. Diabetes, obesity and adrenal fatigue are too much trouble. Changing simple lifestyle habits – a route I’d prefer any day.

3) I’ve tried it – or my friend has – This one needs it’s own blog post really, but here’s what that usually means: I’ve tried the latest fad diet, I’ve tried the gov’t food pyramid (or revised pyramid, or circle), I’ve taken the latest cool health supplement, I’ve been taking the newest MLM product. I’ve had people tell me they need to take medicine because eating raisins didn’t cure their chronic inflammation, coconut oil didn’t cure their cancer and vinegar didn’t cure their GERD. I’ve seen people eat hot dogs while telling me bananas are bad for you, and eating cake while telling me yogurt is bad for you. I’m not at all advocating the trendy, pseudo-science that passes through communities faster than the illnesses they claim to cure. I’m advocating an evidence based, scientific and rational approach to life. Make the claim back itself up with evidence – both modern scientific and time tested. When formula was introduced as the superior infant food, babies died. When margarine was introduced to replace “bad” saturated fats, heart disease and inflammatory conditions skyrocketed. Processed foods result in chronic health concerns. That’s backed by scientific in multiple languages.

So, what to do? Educate yourself! We have more resources available to us than ever before. Thanks to modern conveniences, students study wellness through our school in over a dozen countries across multiple continents. Get a book on real foods, read labels, make simple lifestyle changes. Each of these baby steps will add up – and you’ll see a difference!

One thing natural health is known for is anecdotal evidence. Unfortunately, this trend truly permeates the natural health realm, though it rarely comes from the actual professionals. We’ve all seen it – usually the great health advice comes from a friend on facebook or in a play group. It goes something like this:

• I know they say not to let your baby cry at night, but we did it and my 3 year old turned out ok. You can’t listen to everything they say.
• Epidurals don’t increase your risk of cesarean. I had one with all 3 of my kids and didn’t have a cesarean.
• That new study suggesting that cesareans lead to obesity can’t be true because I was born naturally and am overweight while my kids are thin and were born by cesarean.
• I won’t take milk thistle because it made my friend tired and I already have adrenal fatigue.
• This herb will cure strep throat. I’m pretty sure my kids had it once and we took that and it went away.
• Hawthorne doesn’t help with hypertension. I took it for a month and it didn’t change at all.
• Garlic oil doesn’t help with ear infections because it can’t reach the infection. Here, take these ear drops instead.

(and yes, these are all actual examples of things I’ve heard or read! I could go on and on…. )

Here’s the catch:

1. Nothing works for everyone. It is possible that 1 person was the exception to the rule. If the success rate is 99.9%, there will still be that 1 in 1,000.

2. Basic epidemiology tells us to look for confounding factors – other things that are at play in a situation. For example, the milk thistle story – was this person getting enough sleep? Were they fighting off a cold? Were they having a bad day? This is why evidence based medicine uses trials of hundreds, if not thousands of people to find those consistent results.

3. Just as the 1 in 1,000 means that something good won’t happen to everyone, it can also mean something bad won’t happen. You can do something that is known to increase your risks and still be ok – sometimes. I once drive home from my parent’s house to realize that my (then) toddler’s seat hadn’t been properly buckled into the car. My toddler was not injured. I still don’t recommend driving for an hour without having your toddler’s seat properly installed. That case is not an argument for making poor choices, it’s an example of how blessed I was to escape the potential harm that could have taken place due to my oversight.

Case studies are interesting to researchers because they lead to possibilities that result in large scale trials to review these issues and test whether or not they are true. They are leads for potential findings, but not stand alone evidence. However, when we already have large bodies of evidence that show us that *this result* usually happens when *this thing* takes place, we can avoid using our families as guinea pigs and rely on the comfort that comes from scientific evidence. This is the premise for the School of Natural Health and everything that we do at Vintage Remedies.

You’ll find that we err on the side of being conservative when it comes to health. My kids are not guinea pigs and I don’t imagine your kids are either. So, we stick to remedies that are backed with large scale studies verifying the use, safety and effectiveness of what we teach in our programs and our books. Our students know that you’re not going to find the latest (but soon to be disproven) trends, conspiracy theories and scare tactics here – just solid information backed by solid evidence. That’s just the way we do things. While we appreciate the folk medicine from times past and the single case studies, knowing they lead to wider research, we also acknowledge that such tidbits are just the start for real understanding of health.

Its finally here! Our newest program is now available and we’ve already begin registering Natural Living Educators! Our brand new Essential Series is designed to address the massive confusion and misinformation that abounds regarding natural living, public health and real foods.

The United States spends over $6,000 annually per person on health care. That’s nearly 3 times more than the next highest country’s health care costs in the world. What does that get us? Embarrassing life expectancy and infant mortality rates that don’t even begin to measure up to other countries. Our children are the first generation in over a hundred years to face a lower life expectancy rate than their parents enjoyed. Much of this is preventable, due to obesity, lifestyle and simple bad habits. When the rates are already sub-par, that’s a highly disturbing trend.

We want to see that trend reversed, and we know it’s possible through basic lifestyle changes and evidence based prevention. We also know it can be fun and enjoyable to implement new habits; there’s no reason for it to be a chore. So, our new essentials series is designed to do just that – promote the essentials of wellness across the globe. We’re training and certifying Natural Living Educators to take the real foods and natural health programs into homes, churches, physician’s offices and community centers in their local own cities and towns. They’ll provide 4 week classes that are packed with practical information, tips and tools to implement these changes. Each class will feature DVD clips from me, with essential health information for these new habits, and hands on sessions with the Natural Living Educator where participants will learn how to make simple natural remedies at home, how to transform family favorite recipes to feature real foods, how to save money on real foods and so much more! (Supplies for these projects are included in the participant kit, which the Natural Living Educator obtains from us, packaged in a convenient reusable shopping bag!)

If you’re already passionate about real foods and natural health, and already have essentials habits in your home, you’d make a perfect Natural Living Educator! The program is brand new, so you have a special opportunity to be one of the very first in your area to offer these classes! AND, the first 25 educators to purchase training kits will save $100 on their costs! We’ve already begun registering educators, so that won’t last long!

Before I send you over to the website, there’s also one more important aspect of this program. When you attend a Vintage Remedies Essentials Class, you make it possible for us to support health education in less wealthy nations. We’re sponsoring pre-natal and child development classes in Haiti that teach women life saving skills such as malaria prevention, healthy pregnancy and breastfeeding support. Don’t forget to click on the Giving Back tab when you head over to the website.

And of course, we will be posting the next giveaways soon. Today’s are big! To get a head start, you can go ahead and like our brand new Essentials facebook page and follow us on our new Essentials twitter account. Then subscribe to our Essentials newsletter and share us on your social networks.  That will give you bonus entries once the contest is posted!