rant against western medicine

And in the category of Advantages of Not Having a Real Job, I've just discovered been introduced to another great writer whose blog I've been gobbling all morning. And he's Canadian! Poor lad, suffering the bitter cold I've escaped, but making good use of his time with brilliant blogging. In his post What Wellness Really Means he encapsulates with genius the thing that has always bothered me most about the medical establishment:

The problem with mainstream medicine is that when you medicate the body to deal with the symptom, the body figures it doesn't need to deal with the cause. You might get rid of symptoms of cancer by radiating cell-killing waves at the body, but you've waged war with the entire body. You still haven't stopped the cause of disease.

Which is not, of course, to say that mainstream medical intervention isn't what you want in certain circumstances -- we all do, when we're desperate -- but the problem is our lifetime's worth of the mainstream medical approach which has tended to undermine the immune system, the body's natural forces to heal itself, since infancy. Instead of immune-system building with an organic (or at least healthy-choice) diet, exercise, vitamin therapy, or whatever you believe works for you, we have a powerful medical establishment that rules society via government subsidies and Big Pharma -- since alternative approaches are never subsidized and always expensive. Antibiotics, rather than echinacea or vitamin C, are prescribed willy-nilly in the face of a simple viral infection; Tums, rather than digestive enzymes, are guzzled for heartburn; painkillers rather than chiropractors for backaches; and it goes on. You can provide your own examples of killing symptoms rather than dealing with sources. And it continues to infuriate me that western society funds that which weakens us, rather than that which strengthens us. But the continued weakening of the tobacco lobby is at least an optimistic sign.

Speaking of good old-fashioned alternative therapy, I made a great big pot of chicken soup yesterday along with my own favorite comfort food, kneidelach (matza balls for the yiddishly-challenged). And although it may not be the most heart-healthy recipe, I love that I don't need to throw away the shmaltz (chicken fat). These go so well with chicken soup, and they take only 10 minutes to prepare and throw in the boiling water, so go ahead, make like a doctor and treat yourself.

And don't forget to take your echinacea and vitamin C at the very first signs of a cold -- once the cold sets in it won't help much -- nothing beats it!!

incredibly easy and delicious kneidelach recipe
2 beaten eggs
3 Tablespoons chicken fat (or oil)
1/2 Cup warm chicken soup (or water)
3/4 Teaspoon salt
3/4 Cup matza meal (this also works with ordinary bread or cracker crumbs if you can't find matza meal)

Mix the ingredients together, and allow mixture to cool in the freezer for a few minutes so it won't be runny. Meanwhile, get a pot of water boiling. With wet hands (so batter won't stick), make small balls (they expand while cooking) and drop them into strongly boiling water. (If water isn't boiling, balls may disintegrate.) Let them cook for about 20 minutes in simmering water, then remove with slotted spoon and straight into your soup bowl.

Et voila! Instant self-mothering!