Originally published September 10 2008
The Secret Truth About Big Pharma
by Craig Pepin-Donat, The Fit Advocate
(NaturalNews) Panelist for The International Health and Fitness Symposium and "The People's Chemist," Shane Ellison, Shares the Secret Truth about Big Pharma. We live in the "age of drugs." Not illegal, addictive substances, but legal over-the-counter and prescription medications. These substances can be just as
dangerous as cocaine and crystal meth when they take the place of a healthy lifestyle, good nutrition and regular exercise.
High blood pressure? Pop a pill. High cholesterol? Take this. Sexual problems? A little blue pill will fix that. There's a pill for every ailment, but society, as a whole, is getting sicker by the day. What's to be done? Craig Pepin-Donat, The Fit Advocate, author and international fitness expert, recently gathered a group of top experts in the fields of health, fitness and nutrition to address this topic and more. The International Health and Fitness Symposium brings together, in one composition called 'The People's Guide to Health, Happiness and Longevity', what it would take the
average person years to research and discover.
Shane Ellison, "the People's Chemist," began his career as an organic chemist, working for Big Pharma. But his dedication to natural health prompted him to empower thousands of people to say "no" to prescription drugs and "yes" to natural medicine and better health. In this important segment from
'The People's Guide to Health, Happiness and Longevity,' Ellison talks with Symposium host Craig Pepin-Donat about the "pill-popping culture" and its dangers. (Learn more about Shane Ellison at
(www.thepeoplesguidetohealth.com/ThePanelist....) .
Craig Pepin-Donat: Let's start out with an overview of the current health status in our society and the path we're on.
Shane Ellison: If we look at the big picture of health in America, we have to say we're the sickest we've ever been. It's attributable, paradoxically, to the prescription drug epidemic. We have an average of 14 prescriptions being written for every single individual. At the same time, we have over 200,000 deaths as a result of it. On top of that, we have 2 million people who suffer from what's known as drug-induced illness.
We're not sick from any type of infectious disease; we're sick from all the toxins that we're being fed by prescription drugs and, of course, our lifestyle habits.
Every single drug is known chemically as a "xenobiotic". That's just a fancy term for toxin. When you swallow these drugs, your kidney and liver have to process them. Over time, if you're using drugs just as you would take vitamins, the kidney and the liver can fail. We have about 19,000 people who die every single year with some type of kidney or liver failure.
Pepin-Donat: Shane, you often talk about how diseases are invented or created by either pharmaceutical companies or in some cases, the FDA. People have been conditioned to believe they can have better living through chemistry, haven't they?
Ellison: Absolutely. The business model of the drug companies is to create a need for drugs, when, in fact, it's our own lifestyle habits that are killing us. When you run these drugs through the clinical trial, you see that not a single drug is increasing our lifespan. We don't need the drugs, and we're not suffering from a disease; we're suffering from poor lifestyle habits.
Big Pharma likes to proliferate the lie that everyone's health is predetermined by genetics, when, in fact, genetics only play a role about 1% of the time. Even today's biggest killers, diabetes, insulin-resistance, and Type 2 diabetes, have nothing to do whatsoever with genetics.
It's a disease of lifestyle -- a sickness of lifestyle. A lot of people will say, "Well, my mom died of Type 2 diabetes. My dad had Type 2 diabetes, and his dad had Type 2 diabetes." But in fact, we're just sharing the same habits. We do share the same genes, but the genes are just a loaded gun, and lifestyle factors pull the trigger. Most people are following the habits of their parents when it
comes to eating or being sedentary or taking drugs, and that's why they have the same poor health outcome.
Pepin-Donat: What are your thoughts about direct-to-consumer marketing, and how should it change?
Ellison: In the 70s, the drug industry needed something to proliferate their business model of inventing disease. They lobbied for the FDA to approve Direct-To-Consumer Advertising, and it gave the drug industry the right to sell their products directly to the consumer, to drive the consumer to the doctor so they could ask the questions: 'Is the purple pill right for me? Is the erection pill right for me?'
Of course, what's the doctor going to say? It's about 10 minutes worth of diagnosis, and the patient is out the door with their new drug.
It drives our 'pill-popping' culture because the children who grow up under this ad regime grow up with the false belief that they need drugs to heal, when, in reality, you need Mother Nature and the body's own natural health intelligence to heal.
To be in charge of your own health, you do have to do your own research; you have to read. If you are obese; if you're diabetic; if you're looking for the best workout plan; or, if you're looking for the best supplement, then you can try natural health solutions. If you're seeing results, great, but if you're not seeing results then get rid of it and move on with your research process.
Everything has to be results-based. You shouldn't just take my word for it. You have to invest in your own education, and then you have to apply this stuff, and if you're getting results, stick to it.
You can learn more about Craig Pepin-Donat at
(www.ThePeoplesGuidetoHealth.com) or at (http://www.FitAdvocate.com) .
About the author
Craig Pepin-Donat is uniquely qualified to speak on issues related to health and fitness. With over a quarter century of experience, Craig led two of the largest fitness organizations in the U.S. as president and he was the executive vice president for the world's largest fitness organization, 24 Hour Fitness. He has operated more than 450 fitness clubs in 11 countries and has visited over 30 countries while studying health and fitness trends worldwide. He has researched and purchased millions of dollars worth of fitness equipment, dietary supplements and other health and fitness related products.
A dynamic public speaker and educator, Craig Pepin-Donat has trained literally thousands of people within the fitness industry all over the world. Craig has created numerous professional training programs, seminars and workshops, based on his simple formula for success that have helped millions of people get on the path to living a healthier and more active lifestyle. He has dedicated his life to helping people through health and fitness education and now brings that knowledge and expertise to you in his ground breaking book, The Big Fat Health and Fitness Lie. He founded www.FitAdvocate.com as an ongoing platform to �protect and enhance the lives of health and fitness consumers".
Craig is also the founder, chairman and host of The International Health and Fitness Symposium with a mission of delivering professional, unbiased and often suppressed information needed to make healthy lifestyle changes.
The International Health and Fitness Symposium experts are �united to improve and extend lives� through an advanced program called The People�s Guide to Health, Happiness and Longevity.
You can learn more about Craig Pepin-Donat at www.ThePeoplesGuidetoHealth.com or at www.FitAdvocate.com.
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