The overmedication of Americans

Sadly, our state of “health” in the US is anything BUT health.

Currently 70 percent of us take one prescription medication per day, half of us take at least two, and 20 percent take five or more drugs every single day!

That’s not to say that medications aren’t needed at times—they certainly have helped many people.

But when it’s the norm and not the exception to be medicated every day, something is seriously wrong.

What’s more disturbing is that the class of drugs that has recently shown the greatest increase is mind-altering, body-numbing drugs—ADHD drugs, anti-anxiety drugs, painkillers and antidepressants.

Let’s take a closer look at these, as well as explore ways you can safely and naturally help create REAL health in your body.

ADHD drugs

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in seven children in the US is diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) by the time they turn 18, and that includes one in five high school boys. 

At least 70 percent are prescribed ADHD medications like Adderall or Ritalin.

Plus ADHD drugs have also become “cognition enhancers” among college students and young professionals—many of whom have not even been diagnosed with ADHD.   

Naturally prescriptions for these have exploded.  48.4 million prescriptions for ADHD stimulants were written in 2011, up 39 percent from 2007.

If you think these drugs are “mild,” you couldn’t be more wrong.

They're Class 2 narcotics, regulated by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) as a controlled substance.

Here are some of their side effects:

• Permanent brain damage
• Increased cancer risk
• Changes in personality, depression and suicide
• Bipolar illness 
• Aggressive behavior or hostility 
• Psychotic symptoms (hearing voices, hallucinations, paranoia) 
• Sudden death 
• Stroke 
• Heart attack 
• Increased blood pressure 
• Slowed growth 
• Seizures

Let me remind you that at the same time these drugs are being taken in record numbers, we’re also seeing increasing acts of violence and shootings in our schools, and I don’t think that’s a coincidence.

Anti-anxiety medications

Benzodiazepines--including Valium, Xanax, Klonopin and Ativan--are used to treat anxiety, mood disorders and insomnia. 

According to the World Health Organization, 11 percent of women aged 45‐64 were on an anti‐anxiety drugs in 2010, and 5.7 percent of men.

But the most disturbing trend was seen in children aged 10‐19—their use increased by almost 50 percent from 2001 to 2010!

Side effects from benzodiazepines include drowsiness, dizziness, change in sex drive/ability, hallucinations, suicidal thoughts, slurred speech, loss of coordination and memory problems.

Anxiety medications can produce a very strong physical dependence in as little as 14 days, and can cause life-threatening withdrawal seizures. 

Plus benzodiazepines are frequently prescribed along with opiates—narcotic painkillers such as morphine, codeine, oxycodone, hydrocodone, and fentanyl—which can increase your risk of death! 

Both benzodiazepines and opiates are sedatives that slow down respiration and therefore the death risk is multiplied when the two are combined. According to the CDC, the combination of benzodiazepines and opioids accounts for about 30 percent of all opioid-related deaths.

Prescription painkillers

Our use of painkillers has increased 600 percent from 1997-2007!

By the year 2010, the US, with only 5 percent of the world’s population, was consuming 99 percent of the world’s hydrocodone (Vicodin), along with 80 percent of the oxycodone (Percocet and OxyContin), and 65 percent of the hydromorphone (Dilaudid)!

Sadly, overdoses have increased as well. 

According to the CDC, from 1999-2010, deaths from prescription painkiller overdose shot up 400 percent among women and 265 percent in men.

Plus painkillers can increase your risk of depression. 

Antidepressants

The list of antidepressant side effects is staggering and includes nausea, nervousness, headaches, sleepiness, sexual dysfunction, dizziness, digestive problems and weight gain. 

Plus studies continue to show that antidepressants do not work as advertised.  Most disturbingly, they can cause suicidal and homicidal tendencies, as well as deterioration into even more severe mental illness.

And if you don’t think that there’s even a remote connection between these “side effects” and the increasing acts of random violence we’re seeing in this country, then there’s a bridge in Brooklyn I’d like to sell you.

What you can do

The ray of hope in this grim situation is that there’s plenty you can do to help create a state of health, safely and naturally, so that you are less likely to need prescription drugs to begin with!

Here are three effective steps you can take:

1)  Have a nutritious diet of real foods

Nutrient deficiencies are behind many mental and physical problems.

For example, kids diagnosed with ADHD have been shown to be deficient in magnesium, iron, zinc and vitamin B6.

Many people with depression are deficient in B-complex vitamins, vitamin C, zinc and magnesium.  Plus Candida overgrowth has been linked to depression, and that’s caused by eating too many refined carbs.

Plus the excess acid wastes created by a poor diet can trigger the inflammation that’s behind the chronic pain that people on opioids suffer from.

So having a nutrient-rich diet can go a lot farther than you think in helping to make you feel better in body and mind!

The Great Taste No Pain health system can show you how to enjoy delicious nutritious foods and help promote better digestion!

You’ll get easy to understand instructions that show you why eating nutrient-packed real foods and having efficient digestion is SO important, and learn how easy it is to create delicious meals that are far less of a burden on your system.

2) Bring your gut into balance

The Standard American Diet is murder on your friendly gut flora.  Over time, this can affect your absorption of essential nutrients, as well as contribute to anxiety and depression.

Plus medication residue in your intestinal tract also throws off your flora balance. 

Eating nourishing real foods can help rebuild your flora, but for many people, that's not enough...especially if you've had a typical diet or have taken medications for a long time.

That's why repopulating your supply of friendly microbes with a multi-strain probiotic supplement like Super Shield can be so helpful.

Super Shield's 13 strains of friendly flora each have their own unique job in terms of how they help enhance your health.  More strains means a wider variety of protection against sickness! 

3) Get enough Omega-3 essential fatty acids

A deficiency in Omega-3 essential fatty acids is a leading cause of inflammation and pain, as well as poor mental functioning!

So it's crucial to make sure your Omega-3 supply is what is should be.

The best ways to do this are to eat more fatty fish as well as take a fish oil supplement.

VitalMega-3 is a potent pharmaceutical-grade fish oil that delivers a full 1,000 mg. of the necessary EPA and DHA essential fatty acids in every daily 2-capsule serving.

VitalMega-3 can help bring your Omega-3 EFA level to a more healthful range, as well as pamper your brain with the ever-important DHA that it desperately needs.

Medications do have their place in our society, and sometimes they are necessary.

However, you must DO YOUR PART to make sure your body and mind function like they are supposed to! 

And if you are on medications, by helping to promote better overall health, you may be able to talk to your doctor about reducing your dose, or eventually weaning off them altogether!

Wouldn’t that be nice?