SUPERHEALTH WITH KYLE DREW
"Gulping" Your Way to Good Health
by Kyle Drew

I do a radio show in Oklahoma City called SuperHealth. When the show starts, I say, “Decoding, debunking and demystifying the message of the mainstream medical establishment, giving you simple strategies on your road to SuperHealth.”

In my opinion, the most important part of that whole opening line is, “simple strategies.” I like simple steps, simple ideas and quick tips. Last month, I told you I was going to share something I spoke about when Doug Kaufmann and I were in Michigan in June. As it turns out, it is unbelievably simple.

You may know that I used to be a pharmaceutical drug rep, but I don’t think I’ve ever shared why I got into that business in the first place. It wasn’t because I thought that conventional medicine was the ultimate answer to everyone’s health needs. It wasn’t so that I could impress my friends and family, and it really wasn’t because of the free car. You’re not going to believe this, but I was initially attracted to the pharmaceutical industry because I have always been intrigued by… pills! (I warned you that you wouldn’t believe it.)

It’s true, though. Pills are incredible. Think of it this way: You and I are physically laboring all the time. We work. We work at our jobs. We work in our families. We work in our churches and communities. Some of us even work when we play. But here’s the great thing about pills: Pills do all the work for you! The only thing you have to do is gulp them down.

Unfortunately, in the case of many pharmaceutical drugs, the ease of use comes at a price. That price is in the form of side effects. The synthetic, laboratory-formed chemical hits your body, the body doesn’t recognize it as something “friendly,” and it rebels a little bit. Maybe it gives you a headache. Maybe it gives you a rash. Maybe it gives you watery eyes or flu-like symptoms. Or maybe, in certain instances, the body just shuts down altogether.

Scared by that? Maybe you ought to be.

I was dismayed when I found out that these drugs, though touted as “health care” tools, could actually cause death in some cases. In fact, Dr. Joe Mercola has a report on his Web site of a story done in the Journal of the American Medical Association demonstrating how pharmaceutical drugs, even taken properly, are as high as the third leading cause of death in America! I was further upset when some of my pharmaceutical chemists described why side effects occur in the body. I thought, “If these drugs are so good for you, why are there so many side effects and so many deaths?”

Worried by what I discovered after I joined the pharmaceutical industry, I eventually had to walk away from it. There was just no way that I could continue to promote products for which I had such strong personal misgivings. That’s not to say drugs are never valuable or necessary. It’s just that I found that we were encouraged to aggressively promote them, whether or not there were suitable natural alternatives, and whether or not they were altogether appropriate for a given patient. (I was even told by one drug company that our job was to “push the products” even “when there is no clinical or practical basis for their use.”)

(As an aside, why do you think you were prescribed a particular drug? Do you think it was solely based on "science?" As an ex-drug rep, I would suggest you strongly think through every health recommendation that anyone gives you. You are the CEO of your own health. The rest of us are simply members of your health team. YOU make the decisions, and it’s important that you know all of the reasons why certain recommendations are given to you. I would suggest that some recommendations, even when given by people clad in white lab coats, are worth scrutinizing very closely. More on this in future issues…)

So, I loved pills because they “do the work for you,” but was disillusioned by the side effects and by some marketing practices. Thankfully, that’s not where the story ends.

As time went on, I re-discovered the incredible power of natural, nutritional remedies. I always loved nutrition for my personal use, but I didn’t realize what far-reaching benefits they could provide to everyone else. I began seeing my own symptoms disappear through the right application of nutritional principles. Then, as I made casual recommendations to friends and family, I began getting word that their entire lives were impacted by the power of simple nutrition.

When I spoke in Harbor Beach, I talked about how simple it can be to make incredible health strides. I said that the most basic laws of health are: “What you eat matters, what you supplement with matters and your exercise matters. That’s it.” Truth be told, if you think about all your health goals with those laws in mind, you’ll begin making better health decisions beginning this very day.

I still love pills, but now I love pills with vitamins and herbs, and phytonutrients and other natural ingredients crammed into them. Further, I’m just fascinated by the power of food, and how choosing “berries over bagels” can make such a difference in how you look and feel. In both cases, the hardest thing you’ll have to do is gulp! Oh, sure, it’s fun eating cake and not as fun eating carrots. But the pleasure of cake lasts only for a moment; the benefits of carrots and other powerhouse foods can last your entire lifetime.

One of the simplest things you can do is to wisely choose what you gulp down. If you choose well, the food, the beverages and the supplements will do nearly all of the work for you in turning your energy on and your health around.

Trained in both chemistry and public relations, Kyle Drew has spent his entire professional life either in the conventional or alternative health industries. Drew resigned from the pharmaceutical sales industry after witnessing how medical decisions are made. He has worked with Doug Kaufmann since 2005 and offers nutritional counseling through the Health Food Center in Oklahoma City where he hosts the radio show, SuperHealth.

DISCLAIMER: The information provided here is intended for educational purposes only. It is not meant to either directly or indirectly diagnose, give medical advice or prescribe treatment. Please consult with your physician or other licensed health care professional for medical diagnosis and treatment.