Cheerios, A pharmaceutical? A drug?

SPEAK ONLY WELLNESS

Do you realize that Cheerios may have to apply for classification as a pharmaceutical? A drug?! Recently, General Mills received a slap on the wrist for using heart healthy claims when they talk about Cheerios. According to the FDA, only drugs treat, mitigate or cure disease and any claim for a product that comes even close to that either has to change the marketing or apply for status as a drug. By definition, food cannot be a drug. This is patently obvious to anyone of us who eats food to live and it's still legal to talk about food...as food.

So, what's next? Well, maybe Mannatech is ahead of it's time in insisting that Associates in the field absolutely do not make any claim that links any illness with any product. While other supplement companies seem to be able to make outlandish promises with abandon to vulnerable people, we know that Mannatech is under a microscope. Why? Our product gets results, is standardized and stabilized and offers an exceptional value and guarantee to the consumer.

Rather than restricting us, I see this move as very free-ing. I've been in the complementary healthcare field for twenty years and my experience has shown me the difference between traditional (allopathic) medicine and holistic (natural) healthcare. I'm more than happy to leave "playing doctor" to those trained in the field that breaks our systems down into parts, than tinier parts and then treats what's wrong and then has to treat what's wrong with the treatment. This may seem to be a harsh critique, but we are often left in that loop.

My job is clear: not to discuss what I'm not trained to talk about and to help people shift their focus from illness to wellness-thinking. to move people from self-diagnosing and into listening to their bodies' response not only to chemicals, but also to foods, lack of sleep, stress...It's a total picture and the whole is greater than it's parts. Hence the term "holistic healthcare." We look at the whole person and support them in their wellness goals. to do anything else is allopathic, "playing doctor."

Who is the "healer", anyway? Is it the doctor?the medication? the herbalist? No! It's the body and it's inherent Intelligent Design towards health. I like this definition of a healer:
"A healer is someone who was sick and got well. A really great healer is someone who was very sick and got well fast."-Richard Gordon RPP, QT

Remember, that when we respect that every body is different, we re-educate people to listen to their own bodies' and to decide for themselves what works for them. This gives ownership of the healing process back to the individual.

I want to share the Hope I've found. And that Hope is in Wellness and in being actively involved in one's own Self-care. We sketch out an Assessment and some goals, but we do not name parts or claim that this goes with this part or this fixes that part. Instead, we move ahead in a directed way toward over-all well-being and expression of a greater Quality of Life through our unique God-given gifts that are right there...under the surface...just waiting for when we decide to be well. !

I am a Quality of Life Coach. I have twenty years of professional experience in guiding others, as well as a track record in my personal story. I've been there. I invite you and your loved ones to join me!

Blessings,
Patricia C. Estes HHP
Holistic Healthcare & Psychology
Woodbury Hill Wellness
(207)344-8292, pece03@gmail.com