Does anyone know anything about natural herbal remedies vs prescription medicati!

Does anyone know anything about natural herbal remedies vs prescription medications?

I have gone to a couple of chiropractors who both are into body building and both prescribed me natural supplements to take the place of my prescription medicines, such as Zoloft & Vytorin for cholesterol. In place of the Zoloft they said St. John's Wart and instead of the Vytorin it was some kind of fruit pectin something. They said that the pharmaceutical companies take the natural herbs and strip them down to make the prescription medicines. Is this true???

Yes, actually it is. They also remove the fiber and create chains of proteins and other various forms to make their pills. For instance, Willow Bark was originally found to cure headaches and minor fevers, which has now become our familiar "Aspirin". If you have high cholesterol, your aim should be to eliminate meat and dairy from your diet as much as possible since both of these are animal products and contain high amounts of indigestible cholesterol. These cholesterols that you are consuming through your diet are not created by your liver and therefor are like foreign substances in your body. Instead of getting rid of it, your body tends to store them and that causes a high cholesterol problem for your body to cope with that it isn't prepared to.

Hope this helps. As for the Zoloft and St. John's Wort, there is some discrepancy in treatments and how they are administered that are being questioned. Though St. John's does have the capability to reduce depression and mood swings, it can be rather controversial in that it can also create other symptoms. This was taken from the hyperlink below:

"St. John's Wort should not be used by patients taking antidepressant drugs. Combining the two could potentize the affects of each. ..." http://www.advance-health.com/stjohnswor...

Though you are not taking a combination of these types of drugs together, I would still suggest being very careful in regards to taking the two drugs that you are taking together and use caution when taking any substance that you are unfamiliar with. I truly believe in alternative medicines, but remember, just because it is herbal, it doesn't mean that it is harmless. Herbal remedies can be overdone very quickly, it usually only takes a small amount to get the benefits from herbal sources.

If you want to alter your diet to help aid your body in healing itself, you might want to consider a Macrobiotic Diet, or simply a well-balanced Vegan diet. Both of these diets will help your body to heal naturally and rid yourself of high cholesterol and depression. The body responds very quickly to dietary changes and you'll notice the difference within a few days of altering your diet. I changed my diet to Vegan and my cholesterol went from 250 to 130 over a period of 6 months. I have also used the wisdom from the Macrobiotic Diet and lost 56 pounds and dropped my requirement for insulin from 125 units a day to 30 units a day. I recommend both of the diets very highly. I wish you the best of luck, my friend!