I’m amazed at home some people can just put stuff in their body because someone tells them it’s good for them. Think for a moment….
- Keep a list of your supplements you take and bring it with you to your doctor
- The name and brand as well as dosage is important
- Do not be afraid that your doctor might think you are “strange”
- Do not believe everything you read on the Internet. Talk with a health professional before jumping into any supplement regime.
When it comes to most herbal supplements, the medical community and the general public may, indeed, have reached a fragile consensus — namely, that these remedies do not count as drugs.
Doctors often discount the effectiveness of herbal supplements, and patients often believe that the so-called natural origin of these preparations sets them apart from other medications.
But when it comes to drug interactions, doctors want to know what supplements their patients are taking — and patients aren’t always willing to fess up on their own.
“Often, if they don’t tell you what supplements they’re taking, it’s not until the point that they have a potentially serious reaction that you know they’re taking one that might interfere with their other drugs,” said John Sutherland, MD, director emeritus of the Northeast Iowa Medical Education Foundation.
One example he cited is St. John’s wort, an herbal supplement available over the counter for mood improvement. He said the supplement has the potential to interact with certain antidepressants the patient might be taking for the same condition.
“We try to do a good job when these patients come in for visits . . . to try and find out what OTC medicines they are taking, as well as medications that they may have received from another physician,” he said. “But they aren’t always forthcoming about this.”
The consequences can be frustrating to doctors and dangerous for patients. Dr. Sutherland said that most patients who take these herbal supplements do so on the recommendations of friends or family, and they don’t necessarily tell their physicians when they start doing so.
“Fortunately, most of these things that people take have limited evidence of value, and so most of the time they don’t hurt them either,” Dr. Sutherland said.
But the guesswork involved when patients don’t come clean about the herbal OTCs they are taking often makes for a major headache.
“These kinds of things, to me, are far more problematic and frustrating than people who don’t adhere to lifestyle recommendations,” he said.
This advice via Med Page Today
Digg This
(low glycemic) or Raw Honey (not good for diabetics)
It’s very simple. In a food processor (you can get away with a blender if you don’t have a food processor) put the avocados (peeled and de-stoned) and the rest of the ingredients. Mix until thick and creamy. Adjust the sweetness and the chocolate for taste. If you are using a blender, please don’t put your finger in a running blender to check the taste 
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