Food is medicine
**WCH-Denmark** aims to promote the understanding that a traditional varied diet contributes to health and disease prevention. Many vitamins and minerals obtained through food are important for the immune system. When it comes to food, it is important to consider how it is produced and processed. Some fruits are sprayed with artificial "coatings" that may be harmful or of unknown significance to health and, for example, fertility. Many of these fruits and vegetables can be washed or peeled, but many good vitamins are found in the peel. Buying your food from small local farms will, all else being equal, increase the likelihood that processing and packaging are not unhealthy. Having your own kitchen garden will provide ultimate control.
WCH-Denmark wishes to help our fellow humans, through healthy skepticism, to take responsibility for their own health by questioning the treatment they are offered, whether their doctor practices traditional Western medicine or alternative therapies offering supplements or homeopathic medicine with unclear contents.
There are some basic principles in this healthy skepticism.
**It is good to ask yourself and your practitioner:**
- What knowledge and research underlie the recommendation and choice of treatment?
- What happens if I refuse the treatment?
- If the medicine is newly patented (usually very expensive) or poorly researched, be skeptical. Product information on side effects can almost always be found online and read before purchasing prescribed medicine. Ask other practitioners if necessary.
- Does the doctor receive payment for each unit prescribed or for each vaccine administered?
- What is the rationale for giving multiple vaccines in the same consultation?
- Be skeptical when the intake of medicine is highly praised without balanced documentation and information on side effects.
Despite it being well-known and obvious that financial conflicts of interest can influence a doctor's choice of treatment for their patient, and that this can damage trust in the medical profession in the long run and on a larger scale, this conflict of interest is widespread in patient treatment approaches in many parts of the world. In a new study by Sayed et al from March 2024, the authors examined how often doctors were paid to promote or prescribe certain medications .
From 2013 to 2022, more than 85 million payments totaling $12.23 billion were made from the industry to 57.1% of the doctors studied. 93.8% of these payments were associated with a specific medication. Orthopedic surgeons received the largest share of these amounts, followed by neurologists, psychiatrists, and cardiologists. The specialties receiving the lowest amounts were pediatric and trauma surgeons.
The following three drugs were associated with the highest amounts: Xarelto (blood thinner), Eliquis (prevention of blood clots), and Humira (treatment of arthritis).
Some medical equipment was also linked to payments from the industry. Sayed et al's study only included payments to doctors, but payments also occur to nurses, assistants, hospital and clinic buyers, and purchasing associations. This form of corruption also occurs at the state level in health authorities and universities. States and countries with large tax revenues (high tax pressure) combined with public health insurance will be attractive to the pharmaceutical industry and medical equipment manufacturers (e.g., PCR test manufacturers) to influence, as there are large earning opportunities by influencing authorities, politicians, and doctors.
Peter Gøtzsche, former founder of the Nordic Cochrane Institute, explains in June 2023 why medicine is the third leading cause of death . He explains how Big Pharma has corrupted our health and why we cannot trust our health authorities. He also explains what you can do yourself to avoid the medicine spiral. His best advice to patients is not to let their doctor make decisions for them, but to take as little medicine as possible, and if the doctor prescribes medicine, always thoroughly understand the effects and side effects of the medicine before going to the pharmacy.
If medicine is to be avoided, prevention through a healthy lifestyle must be prioritized.
We aim to focus on and disseminate knowledge about food and healthy living that strengthens the immune system and has a positive impact on health. There are many foods and supplements that prevent disease. Therefore, we are launching a "Food is Medicine" campaign.
We will continuously post blog entries about foods and plants that have documented positive effects on health.
Go to the blog entries tab or follow this link:
At WCH-Denmark, we are independent of financial interests from the industry. Our information is solely based on voluntary contributions.
By Jeanne Rungby, specialist
**Sources:**
1. [JAMA Network](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2816900)
2. [Scientific Freedom](https://www.scientificfreedom.dk/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/2023-Gotzsche-Our-medicines-are-the-third-leading-cause-of-death.pdf)