I like things to be black and white. Obviously, as per my blog title. It’s not that I expect everyone in the world to agree on issues – that is way too idealistic. I just want to feel assured that I am informed and correct. That sounds arrogant, but it’s not meant that way. I just like feeling “sure” about things.

Lately I’ve been a party to a lot of conversations regarding health, prescription drugs, alternative treatments, etc., and I will be the first to admit that I am not well informed or well-researched, but I wish that I could be.

Two of the products that it seems like keep coming up in conversation or life are Mannatech and Mona Vie. I’m not sure if they are the new “rage” or if I just keep bumping into them.

The only problem is, it seems like very educated people can have very opposite opinions on these issues.

For instance: If you go to a doctor (who has years and years of education on the subject), they will most likely tell you that medications in general are good, and that “health and wellness products” are scams, don’t do anything, or my favorite that I heard someone say their doctor said recently, “well if you grow a third leg, don’t say I didn’t tell you so.”

If you talk to someone who sells, uses or believes in health and wellness products, they will tell you that it cured their diabetes, cancer, disease, blood pressure, sleeping problems and freed them from taking any and all medications. You name it, someone out there will claim it.

Some of the claims that I have heard recently regarding the need for these supplemental nutritional products are:
1. Fruits and Vegetables get most of their nutrients as they do their final ripening on the vine. However, since very few products are allowed to vine ripen anymore, we are getting no nutrients, even if we THINK we are eating healthily, and even if we are eating organic.

2. Cancer, disease, obesity, etc. have drastically risen in this country (which I agree with) and the lack of nutrients is why. We are “poisoning” ourselves by what we eat, which is why we are all sick or dying.

3. Prescription medications all have side effects, and the side effects cause as much harm as what we are curing. Therefore, by taking these (which are needed due to lack of nutrition), we are hurting ourselves worse. (By the way, on this note, my current favorite drug commercial is for a new drug that treats Asthma. At the end of the commercial, it says “This medication may increase the risk of Asthma-related death.” L-O-V-E it!!)

I have never been very “hippy” when it comes to supplemental products but I have tried a few here and there (but nothing so all-encompassing and expensive as Mannatech and Mona Vie), and I certainly will take medication when and where medication is called for. But the claims that I wrote about above, although maybe exaggerated, do sound logical and reasonable. But then again, people can pretty much shape “anything” to sound logical and reasonable (for evidence of this, I hereby present all of our presidential debates this year, and the pundits who analyze them).

And then there’s the cost – Mona Vie is $45 per week per person!! Mannatech is around $150 per month per person. This seems crazy unless you have some super illness that is miraculously being cured by these products. And – what about the knock offs out there? I saw a juice that looked like Mona Vie at Sam’s last night for $13. Is it the same?

So I feel like no matter how much I research it, I will not be able to come up with a correct conclusion. THE correct conclusion. Because I like things being right or wrong, black or white – no gray areas please.

What do you think? How do you feel about nutrition, organic, supplemental products, medications, etc.? Is it worth researching? Is there a way to come to correct conclusions out there?

I would love to hear more opinions and thoughts on this subject.

6 thoughts on “Grasping for Objectivity in Health and Wellness

  1. While I to will take prescription medications when they are needed, I also think that people are too quick to want them especially now that every prescription seems to have a commercial. I know people who have gone to their dr asking for the drug just because they have some of the symtoms. I also think that they prescribe antibiotics way more than they need too.
    Recently, I have begun to take more vitamins and supplements to see if it would help some the problems I have been having with extreme fatigue and not healing when I get a sore since everytime I go to the dr my diabetes and Thyroid test come back negative. And I have to admit I feel better, have more energy and my most recent bruise has gone away quicker than before. I don’t believe all the holistic new agey supplements work but vitamins and minerals are always good. I certainly wouldn’t pay the prices you mentioned when I could just eat more veggies,that I bought from a local farmer or go to my Walmart and stock up on vitamins.

    I guess I see the benefit in both and I am definitly not a hippie…

  2. yeah I kinda agree w/ Leane above…i think RX meds are fine, but you do need to be careful on addictions, etc (we tend to see that a good bit in our pain clinic) and be aware of poss side effects of any meds youtake.
    i tend to shy away from antibiotics if i’m not really that sick b/c i’m allergic to a ton of them, so my “pool” of avail antibiotics is small and i dont want to “grow immune” to the ones i’m not allergic to, SO, in case I DO get really sick (like when i had pnomonia) i have options in that department.
    and i dont take cold meds cause theymake me crazy, so i usually let a cold do its thing and stick with homeopathic treatment (Vick’s, humidifier, vitamins, AirBorne) hmmm…maybe I’m more of a hippie than i thought…
    i have recently started taking JuicePlus suppliments (when I remember that is) and they are good option thats fairly affordable. not a multivitamin, but a “health suppliment”

  3. yeah I kinda agree w/ Leane above…i think RX meds are fine, but you do need to be careful on addictions, etc (we tend to see that a good bit in our pain clinic) and be aware of poss side effects of any meds youtake.
    i tend to shy away from antibiotics if i’m not really that sick b/c i’m allergic to a ton of them, so my “pool” of avail antibiotics is small and i dont want to “grow immune” to the ones i’m not allergic to, SO, in case I DO get really sick (like when i had pnomonia) i have options in that department.
    and i dont take cold meds cause theymake me crazy, so i usually let a cold do its thing and stick with homeopathic treatment (Vick’s, humidifier, vitamins, AirBorne) hmmm…maybe I’m more of a hippie than i thought…
    i have recently started taking JuicePlus suppliments (when I remember that is) and they are good option thats fairly affordable. not a multivitamin, but a “health suppliment”

  4. yeah I kinda agree w/ Leane above…i think RX meds are fine, but you do need to be careful on addictions, etc (we tend to see that a good bit in our pain clinic) and be aware of poss side effects of any meds youtake.
    i tend to shy away from antibiotics if i’m not really that sick b/c i’m allergic to a ton of them, so my “pool” of avail antibiotics is small and i dont want to “grow immune” to the ones i’m not allergic to, SO, in case I DO get really sick (like when i had pnomonia) i have options in that department.
    and i dont take cold meds cause theymake me crazy, so i usually let a cold do its thing and stick with homeopathic treatment (Vick’s, humidifier, vitamins, AirBorne) hmmm…maybe I’m more of a hippie than i thought…
    i have recently started taking JuicePlus suppliments (when I remember that is) and they are good option thats fairly affordable. not a multivitamin, but a “health suppliment”

  5. yeah I kinda agree w/ Leane above…i think RX meds are fine, but you do need to be careful on addictions, etc (we tend to see that a good bit in our pain clinic) and be aware of poss side effects of any meds youtake.
    i tend to shy away from antibiotics if i’m not really that sick b/c i’m allergic to a ton of them, so my “pool” of avail antibiotics is small and i dont want to “grow immune” to the ones i’m not allergic to, SO, in case I DO get really sick (like when i had pnomonia) i have options in that department.
    and i dont take cold meds cause theymake me crazy, so i usually let a cold do its thing and stick with homeopathic treatment (Vick’s, humidifier, vitamins, AirBorne) hmmm…maybe I’m more of a hippie than i thought…
    i have recently started taking JuicePlus suppliments (when I remember that is) and they are good option thats fairly affordable. not a multivitamin, but a “health suppliment”

  6. You said you keep bumping into Mannatech these days. I got into the company about a year ago because of the business opportunity. I was more than pleasantly surprised by how good their products are. Nevertheless, if I didn’t have a decent business going I would have given up on the supplements because of the price. Fortunately Mannatech is one of the few network marketing companies that allow you to at least break even on your products almost from the beginning. I’ve discovered that some people love this form of business and others despise it. Personally, I like buying something that I can also make money at. No matter how good the sale is at WalMart, they never write me a commission cheque or let my purchase be a tax write off.

    I also like the flexibility of the business. It doesn’t interfere with my other job as a professor at a community college. Even more surprisingly I have made some great friendships through the business that I would not have pursued without that motivation.

    All in all, its been a good experience for me. Learning about the the products has actually awakened me to greater interest in wellness in general: eating the right foods, exercise and supplements. Building a nice little business that will likely grow beyond my current college salary has been a great boost to my retirement plans as well.

    David Grant
    ttdgrant@hotmail.com

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