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I'm a natural kinda guy.

I avoid the doctor, I eat organic foods, and I rarely take pharmaceuticals.

But sometimes the alternative medicine camp really pisses me off.

Case in point: I recently heard about Patrick Swayze's pancreatic cancer that turned fatal. I don't pay attention to stars, but the natural vs. chemo treatment debate that it sparked certainly caught my attention.

And when his cancer/chemo proved fatal, the natural medicine camp had a field day blaming mainstream cancer treatment.

Modern medicine has saved my own life at least 3 times that I can remember:

• 1992: My appendix got infected and nearly burst. Without surgery and antibiotics, I would be dead.

• 2005: Scraped my toe on a piece of coral while diving. Severe blood infection. If not for antibiotics, I would have lost my leg or my life.

• 2006: Sliced a tiny chunk off my thumb with a dirty knife (kitchen accident). By the time I went to the doc, I had a blood infection all the way up my arm and neck.

Now I'm a guy who rolls his eyes at 90-plus percent of the garbage medications people are taking, and I've personally been clinically diagnosed with a laughable list of nonsense conditions – simple ailments that a salad and some exercise could fix in a week.

But if some day they find a baseball of a tumor in my brain, you better believe I'm going to the health food store...

... right AFTER I go see the oncologist.

You see, mainstream medicine is TERRIBLE at prevention because that's not their business. Prevention doesn't sell.

So what they DO sell is treatment, and yes, sometimes cures. And for that, they are the pros.

Do they mess up? Of course. Hundreds die daily from medical mess ups. But hundreds of thousands live that would otherwise have died.

The natural health camp goes to the other extreme, saying everything is preventable with a little ginger root and positive vibrations.

(People actually suggested that Patrick Swayze treat advanced pancreatic cancer with oleander and black cumin seed oil alone.)

And this natural fanaticism is just as crazy and illogical as the doctor who puts women patients on Prozac for PMS.

Preferring natural treatments is a great way to live, but recognizing that someday you might need that doc and his prescription pad is also important.

Here's what we know:

• 87 percent of patients accept the first recommendation for a major surgery WITHOUT a 2nd opinion.

That's foolish.

But flying to Mexico and doing H202 enemas for months while starving yourself on Acai Berry juice is beyond foolish. It's asinine.

My man, Dr. Mark Hyman is part of the new "functional medicine" crew who approach health holistically and focus on natural, natural, natural – until you need something stronger.

I think this makes a lot of sense.

Stay bendy,

Lucas
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YOGABODY NATURALS

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