Time for a Paradigm Shift: Nutritional Medicine

If the Mayo Clinic’s guide is “Integrative Medicine Lite,” the genuine article is found in another new book, Nutritional Medicine by Alan R. Gaby, MD.

Our colleague and friend, Jonathan V. Wright, MD, writes, “Years from now, we’ll all hail it as a landmark, a milestone in the history of 21st century medicine. Even mainstream doctors will revere it as an essential resource.” This thoroughly documented volume—all 1400 pages of it—is meant for healthcare practitioners but is written so lucidly that it’s completely accessible by laypeople. And it is tremendously useful, covering literally hundreds of topics from multiple areas of medicine, and about 420 different medical conditions. Dr. Gaby firmly establishes the scientific basis for the use of diet, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, essential fatty acids, and other important natural metabolites (such as coenzyme Q10, alpha-lipoic acid, and many others).
In addition, Dr. Gaby has written individual chapters on hypoglycemia, food allergies, Candida (yeast infection), intravenous nutrient therapy, interactions between drugs and nutrients, and the health effects of different cooking methods. You can look up any condition, vitamin, or topic as needed. The book puts everything you need to know about nutritional medicine right at your fingertips. While this comprehensive tome is expensive—$295—it will prove to be an essential tool for integrative and complementary practitioners. One ANH-USA board member said, “Last night we had a family having dinner with us whose 22-month-old was suffering from bad eczema. Looked it up in Gaby, and presto, it was clear what the baby’s problem was.”
As a nation, we’re still stuck partway between the old paradigm of the revered physician in a white coat, where patients don’t ask enough questions and turn over the decisions regarding their own bodies to traditional doctors, and a new paradigm of taking more personal control over their health and well-being. An ANH-USA staffer recounted this story:

“On a recent flight, I sat next to a pregnant woman whose doctor had insisted she take warfarin, a blood thinner, to prevent blood clots. The side effects of warfarin include miscarriage and bone loss—just the things for a pregnant woman! I asked her what was causing the blood clots, and she said, ‘My doctor told me this just happens sometimes.’ I asked her about safe and natural alternatives to the very dangerous drug, such as garlic, fish oil, or nattokinase, and she expressed no interest, because ‘My doctor said….’ I was flabbergasted. What is more personal than one’s own body and health? And to be so removed from true personal responsibility or connection to it!”

We believe that as more resources like Dr. Gaby’s become available, more and more folks will begin to connect the dots, and we’ll see a completion of the paradigm shift.