Proactive vs. Prescriptions #BigPharma #Nutrition

I just glanced through the most recent (August 2013) issue of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, which contains a Position Paper on Functional foods.  One of the main points of the article was that as nutrition research has increased, so has “self-treatment”, in which people are using nutrient dense foods (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds) to treat diseases.  While I ‘m not advocating avoiding doctors whenever possible, people can help themselves a great deal by increasing the nutritional quality of their diets.  Most doctors only take one basic nutrition course in their college studies; as a result nutrition isn’t seen as a prescription in most offices.  There is also another key reason for this.  According to opensecrets.org, a site exposing the influences of lobbying, as for this year $117,495,102 came from the pharmaceutical/health products industry.  This puts big Pharma and associates far above any other industry in terms of lobbying.  Nutrition, as of right now, can’t be patented, so there isn’t a real market for these companies promoting it.  However, many herbs, fruits and vegetables can be as effective, or more effective than over-the-counter and prescription drugs.  Turmeric, for example, has an extensive array of health properties, which, according to GreenMedInfo is “as effective as 14 drugs” http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/science-confirms-turmeric-effective-14-drugs.  There are many other natural compounds, such as phytochemicals, anthocyanins, antioxidants and others which boost the body’s immune system against diseases.  The reason why I’m going into Dietetics is to publicly advocate these natural cures.  I hope, that science and profits don’t become embattled, leaving public health for the worse.