Plants or Pills, A Practical Approach to Alternative Therapies

Summary: Dietary supplements (nutraceuticals), herbal remedies, vitamins, minerals, and other forms of complementary, alternative, and integrative therapies are flourishing in today's world of medicine. In this video seminar, nurse educator Barbara Bancroft reviews the myriad of choices patients have at their disposal--from the information (and misinformation) dispensed from the internet, to the wide variety of health food stores, to the ability to purchase dubious products from the “Marts”, and to borrowing homemade remedies from the neighbor's medicine cabinet. She reviews current studies on the top 20 herbal products from Butterbur (migraines) to Chamomile flower (colic in babies, anxiety in adults) to St John’s Wort (depression), Melatonin (sundowning, sleep, cancer prevention?), and Valerian root (Nature's Valium), presenting their pros and cons, their adverse effects, and their interactions with prescription drugs. She discusses the concepts of “Food as Pharmacy," looking at such diets as DASH, Mediterranean, KETO, PALEO, modified Atkin's, and the Eat Right for Your Blood Type Diet." Bancroft considers Vitamins A, B, C, D, E, and K and the evidence-based findings regarding their benefits in the right amounts. Minerals such as magnesium and zinc will be discussed as to their various roles in health and well-being. Bancroft also considers dietary "solutions" for high LDL cholesterol; a surprising “alternative” treatment for menopausal hot flashes; and potential benefits of meditation, acupuncture, massage therapy, sunlight, and humor.