The appropriate medication or supplement at the appropriate time can be powerful, even vital.  While some are life-saving, others help to makes us feel better or help change our laboratory values—but most of the time, medications and supplements don’t address the root of the problem.

An oft repeated metaphor for this is that simply taking a medication (or even a supplement!) is like throwing water on the fire alarm, while the fire continues to smolder. This is key because one disease process–or the environment in which it develops–can often lead to others. The only way to stop the cycle is to figure out the root cause, heal from the source and restore balance.