In the spirit of April Fool’s Day, I’m going to discuss a serious topic that many of us wish was just a joke, but really isn’t.

The majority of today’s mainstream health knowledge is filled with misinformation, contradiction, and even intentional deception. This has a significant impact on our health, and at times, it’s so unbelievable that it really could seem like an awful joke.

It took me a long time to realize that most common knowledge is often incorrect, particularly in regards to health. If it weren’t for my critical nature and my tendency to persistently seek truth, I may have never realized it, and some people never do. Coming to this realization and having the confidence to question common knowledge is one of the most important things you can do for your health.

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Although we’ve been conditioned to trust doctors with our health, many people are beginning to realize that prevention is the key to good health and that their doctors are letting them down.

Many of the health books I’ve read were written by medical doctors with a fully qualified MD degree that chose to practice alternative and natural medicine. One opinion they all tend to have in common is that modern health care is seriously flawed and that the problem originates within medical schools.

Medical School or Drug School?

Many doctors openly admit that while in medical school, they received virtually no education on nutrition or lifestyle and very little on vitamins. Nutrition and lifestyle are two of the most significant aspects of good health and are frequently associated with many of today’s most prominent and deadly diseases. Why is it that medical schools don’t recognize this? Perhaps they do but choose to ignore it.

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Television commercials can be downright deceptive and literally bad for your health. Enormous amounts of money are spent on ad campaigns with one purpose in mind – getting you to spend money. Serious effort is put forth to make these ads connect with you emotionally, and in many cases, the connection is harming you.

I rarely watch television, but as a big tennis fan, I’ve been watching the Australian Open. The deceptive marketing power behind the commercials I’ve been seeing is sickening. In just the past week, I’ve seen repeats of three misleading drug commercials for the same product – Bayer Aspirin.

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Are you letting your health deteriorate as you chase symptoms, or are you improving it by getting to the root cause? A shockingly large percentage of people are taking more than one prescription drug, and the ones who aren’t are frequently relying on over the counter medications. The result is a compromised level of health that slowly but surely gets worse and worse.

Are You Just Hiding the Problem?

Typically, when someone isn’t feeling their best, they identify one or more specific symptoms and do what they can to eliminate them. A common example is taking an over the counter pain reliever such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen. The more serious cases involve medications for blood pressure and cholesterol.

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A claim that’s supported by scientific research has a certain seriousness to it that makes it feel verified and trustworthy. But is it?

The Pursuit of Truth

Many of the scientific discoveries and inventions that have occurred up until now are absolutely amazing. Using our advanced knowledge to uncover unknown truths is a marvelous thing. Finding truth is the core of what research is and is what drives scientists to dedicate themselves to it. But that doesn’t mean every piece of published research is worthy of this distinction.

To avoid having any influence on the results of a research study, researchers must have a strictly unbiased outlook on the results. Although this can be hard to accomplish, bias can inadvertently lead to changes in the design and protocol of a study that ultimately alter it’s outcome. A biased study leads to a biased truth which isn’t really the truth at all.

A Conflict of Interest

In today’s fiercely competitive marketplace, corporations are looking for any advantage they can get to sell their products. For a company selling a product in the health and fitness field, one of the most valuable advantages they can get is to back their product’s claim with scientific research. But keep in mind that a scientific study can be very expensive and cost millions of dollars. Unfortunately, this all leads to a situation where potential for profit drives the need for research rather than the need for honest answers.

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