The modern age has brought with it questions of how best to maintain our health without synthesized drugs, whose complete effects are not fully known. How did our ancestors keep certain diseases at bay? How did they treat illness? These questions often plague us as we look for a more natural way of living. The carnivore diet is one of many that has touted benefits which include weight loss and reversal of some major chronic diseases, simply by the food we eat. Will these interventions cause waves in the conventional medicine circles? In this article, we will delve into this perspective and shed much needed light.
Conventional medicine can be described as the type of medicine that those who control the medical education system have deemed to be the most appropriate system of medical care. In the United States, conventional medicine consists primarily of drugs and surgery, which are the most widely used treatment methods. Other treatments such as nutritional therapy, chiropractic, acupuncture and herbal medicine, are not generally considered to be a part of conventional medicine, even though they have been shown to be safe, effective and relatively inexpensive.
Alternative medicine is defined loosely as a set of products, practices, and theories that are believed or perceived by their users to have the healing effects of medicine, but whose effectiveness has not been established using scientific methods, or whose theory and practice is not part of biomedicine, or whose theories or practices are directly contradicted by scientific evidence or scientific principles used in biomedicine
Many different areas make up the practice of complementary and alternative medicine. In addition, many parts of one field may overlap with the parts of another field. For example, acupuncture may also be incorporated into conventional medicine. Examples of Complementary and alternative medicine include:
The carnivore diet as an alternative medicine
Many people embark on the carnivore diet as a lifestyle change to reap the benefits of the diet as a whole. On the other hand, others take it to help manage and cure the chronic health conditions they have. As no conclusive scientific studies have been carried out to prove or disprove these curative claims, the onus remains strictly with the “patient”, of whether to experiment with this diet.
Conditions that have been reported to be helped by the carnivore diet are:
Are the carnivore diet and other alternative medicine forms likely to impact conventional forms of medicine?
In this age where information is available to everyone at the click of a button, more and more people are beginning to take their health into their own hands. Engaging in forms of alternative medicine such as the carnivore diet is one such decision. Case by case, this intervention might have significant changes in ones’ health. Does this mean that conventional medicine will be out of business? Not necessarily. Primary healthcare is still gotten from medical practioners as is methods of measurement and monitoring.
However, once knowing their status, more people will opt to either compliment their conventional treatment with alternative means or fully embark on an alternative method like the carnivore diet to manage their condition.
More scientific studies should be carried out within conventional circles to prove or disprove these methods and to build on them for better comprehensive care.
Will we see a shift from conventional medicine?
Although the carnivore diet is very safe for most people, caution should be practiced when practicing it. It is also advisable that medical supervision be sought in people taking medications for diabetes or high blood pressure. Because rapid changes are experienced in patients following a carnivore diet, when medication is not adjusted accordingly, there is a risk of low blood sugar or dizziness. A doctor can help you track the improvements the diet is causing through blood tests and other monitoring techniques. That way, you can get hard facts about whether or not the diet is working for you.