More Than the Pill: Medications + Your Holistic Health

Medications are a part of life for many people, especially at certain times in our lives. Maybe you have been on them for years, maybe just for a season, or maybe will need them in the future.

✨All of this is okay!✨

Medications can be life-saving, empower personal health, and ultimately be the right choice when needed.

🌿A Little Bit of History:

Medications have evolved over time. Long before our current pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies, doctors and herbalists used remedies drawn from nature, herbs, oils, resins like frankincense, myrrh, willow bark (the natural source of aspirin), and garlic for their healing properties. Over the centuries, we've adapted and refined these natural compounds with science, technology, and manufacturing to create the pharmaceutical medications we use today. They did not just appear out of thin air!

When you think about the origin of medications, holistic health doesn't seem like a far leap from our current pharmaceuticals. The difference is modern medicine tends to focus on cutting edge research and treating conditions directly, while holistic health takes a preventative and full picture approach to health and wellness.

⚖️Finding the Balance:

There is no denying that conversations around medications bring opinions, politics, and belief systems into play. Our approach at Holistically Trained is to keep it simple and as unbiased as possible. 🌱Holistic health is about meeting people where they are and supporting them in the way that's right for them. That means not being anti-medicine🚫💊, but rather looking at the whole picture that person brings to the table (medications included).

❓The bigger questions I want to explore:

• 🤔What is happening in your body while you're taking medications?

• 📆What are the pros and cons of short term vs. long term use?

• 🌿How can you support your health beyond medications, and while taking them?

🔎Why This Matters Now:

Today, more people are taking medications than ever before, often without fully understanding how they work, what side effects they might have, or how they may affect the body's nutrient balance.

As a future pharmacist👩‍⚕️ and an advocate for helath and wellness🌸, I believe there's a missing piece in the conversation: informed consent and empowerment. People deserve to feel confident in their choices and understand what they are putting into their bodies.

Medications don't work in isolation, they can shift how your body absorbs nutrients🥦, energy levels⚡, and how different systems in your body function. For example, research shows heartburn medications (proton pump inhibitors) may lower vitamin B12 levels, which can lead to a bunch of other symptoms. This is just one of many medications that have a role in affecting our helath. They can provide a benefit in symptom relief, but at the same time if you are not properly supporting your body, you may relieve your heartburn but end up with energy problems.

🌸The Holistically Trained Approach:

At Holistically Trained, my goal is to provide the missing link: education📚, awareness👀, and practical support🧘. I want to help you understand how medications fit into the bigger picture of your health and how you can support your body whethere you are on long-term, short-term, or considering alternatives in the future.

This is just the beginning of a much deeper conversation. In future posts, I'll be driving into common medications, what they mean for your health, and how you may be able to support your body in practical, everyday ways.

✨Stay Tuned!✨

REFERENCES:

1. Montinari MR, Minelli S, De Caterina R. The first 3500 years of aspirin history from its roots - A concise summary. Vascul Pharmacol. 2019;113:1-8. doi:10.1016/j.vph.2018.10.008

2. Choudhury A, Jena A, Jearth V, et al. Vitamin B12 deficiency and use of proton pump inhibitors: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Expert Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2023;17(5):479-487. doi:10.1080/17474124.2023.2204229

DISCLAIMER

This content is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure any condition. Always consult with your healthcare provider before making changes to your health routine. Holistically Trained does not offer medical advice or replace professional care.