4 Dangerous Drugs Doctors Gave Your Grandparents

4 Dangerous Drugs Doctors Gave Your Grandparents





1.  Heroin








Natural Alternatives:

For coughs:  Honey and finely ground black pepper is a time tested  ayurvedic remedy for cough and sore throat used for  centuries.


  • All alkaline foods: create balance in the body.  An  acidid body is an inflamed, unsettled body with unbalanced immunity.  Alkaline-forming foods include lemons, spinach, zucchini, watermelon, millet, almonds, and raspberries and even weeds like dandelions. Each one of these foods offers a host of  powerful health benefits which you can enjoy with no long list of side  effects.

2. Cocaine

In the US, cocaine was sold over the counter until 1914 and was commonly  found in products like toothache drops, dandruff remedies, and medicinal  tonics.

Coca leaves, which can be transformed into the more concentrated cocaine,  have been used for centuries in native cultures in South America for day to day  remedies and religious ceremonies.

In America and Europe, the coca leaves were combined with wine “to invigorate  the mind and decrease depression and sleepiness.” It was suggested that you  should take a full glass with or after every meal. Children should only take  half a glass.

Coca-Cola was invented in the late 1800s as a “coca wine,”  but the alcohol and cocaine were later replaced with syrup and coca leaves,  respectively.

It was considered “a valuable brain tonic, and a cure for all nervous  affections — sick head-ache, neuralgia, hysteria, melancholy.”

Natural alternatives for energy and mental  clarity:

Green tea: the second most popular beverage  on earth enlivens the body, mind,  and spirit without overstimulating it. It  also helps with weight loss, cancer and heart disease,

All fruits are smart carbs and thus contain natural sugars for  energy, but are full of the micronutrients which actually make you smarter and  balanced instead of just high on white sugar and chemicals.

3.  Opium

Opium poppy seed (from which heroin is processed) has been cultivated for  food, anesthesia, and ritual purposes since at least the new stone age.

In the 18th century, opium was found to be a good remedy for nervous  disorders: to quiet the mind, help the insane, and to treat insomnia.  In  the American Civil War, the Union Army used 2.8 million ounces of opium  tincture and powder and about 500,000 opium pills. It was called “God’s Own  Medicine.”

Until 1970, Paregoric, whose main ingredient was powdered opium, could be  purchased at a pharmacy without a medical prescription.

4.  Cigarettes

Cigarettes with unknown contents claimed to provide temporary relief for  everything from asthma to colds, canker sores, and bad  breath. They were “not recommended for children under 6.” As the effects of  nicotine became more apparent, cigarette companies had to be more subtle in  their marketing.

During World War II, soldiers were issued free cigarettes, courtesy of the  tobacco companies, resulting in millions of nicotine-addicted G.I.s returning home after the  war.

Natural approaches to asthma:

Asthma is primarily an inflammatory condition so any whole foods that  decreases inflammation helps.

Studies have shown that intakes of apples, tomatoes, carrots, green leafy vegetables and generally lots of fresh  fruit and vegetables reduces the prevalence of asthma.

Omega-3 fatty acids reduce inflammation and asthma. Omega-3s are found in  flax seeds, walnuts, beans and winter squash. Each of these foods have amazing additional  benefits – again without side effects.

But We Know Better Now, Don’t We?

We certainly have come a long way since the era of patent medicines. Our  understanding of how chemistry interacts with our bodies is increasing daily.  But is it far enough?  Future generations may well laugh at our present day  advertisements for Viagra and sleep medication and we already cringe at the  destructive effects of chemotherapy and radiation.

I don’t want to pick on any doctors specifically or in general. They just  tend to represent (sometimes unknowingly) the established medical and  pharmaceutical industries.

Sometimes the same thing happens in the natural health field; new discoveries  which at the beginning sound like the cure for everything turn out to be not  appropriate for everyone and in some cases are even harmful.

As I said before though, I am very cautious of any new discovery that has not  been verified by time. By “time” I don’t mean months or years of testing but  rather decades or centuries of use!

At Real Food For Life, we understand that peak health has been enjoyed by  millions over the centuries using only simple whole foods traditional in their  culture. We call these power  foods and they are probably in your kitchen right now.

It is up to us to take responsibility for our own health and educate  ourselves. We can’t expect a government organization to do it all for us.

This is what many of the people are doing within Care2: learning and sharing  and participating. We congratulate you on your efforts.

I’m sure you know of other deadly medications and procedures that have been  offered to the public.