Babi like anything it takes a desire to read and learn - and of course more than one book
I do find that the formulas that were the original Dr. Christopher formulas are great - not too many around any longer since he sold to Nature's Way I guess it must be 20 years ago - but I notice the on-line Vitacost has many of his formulas for sale today -and then the other I found to be really good is Michael's out of San Antonio - they are Kosher prepared so that give a level of cleanliness and safety beyond the usual.
And then I found some retail locations t hat have a very knowledgeable sales staff and they often have a copy of
Prescriptions for Nontraditional Healing a huge tome that new costs about $30 but I was able to purchase a used copy for $4. - explains the particulars on every vitamin, Mineral, Herb and Food Supplement as well as everything you want to know abut nearly any malady with recommendations to relieve the problem. .
And if you can locate a copy of
How To Be Your Own Herbal Pharmacist by Linda Rector N.D. Ph.D published 1991 you have landed a gold mine - however, it helps to have done some extensive reading beforehand - years ago Whole Foods had a wonderful library of books - yes, for sale - but I parked myself by the hour and read - Now if you want a quick resource without all the study you must find a location that most often has a Nurse Practitioner on staff - not one of these big national vitamin companies who cater to the athlete - takes some poking around. and if you can find a Dr. who trained at Berkley they for years include what the media lits to call Alternative Medicine to their curriculum.
You have to be willing to try as well - for instance there was a brand that was produced in NC that was not nearly as affective as Michaels and yet, it may be that it works for others whose systems do benefit - because that is the thing - working with treatments that are close to the source as foods and herbs our bodies react as individual systems - we also carry what we are drinking in our water and the air we are breathing and how much natural food we cook versus prepared foods which have preservative chemicals - on and on it goes.
And if you think you can garden as a solution remember most seeds purchased at typical mail order or nurseries are altered - you have to find the few nurseries on-line that sell un-altered seeds. It is a trick and a half to stay healthy these days but once you get it down like anything it is clear sailing - and no I am not a vegetarian and yes, I do eat a frozen dinner now and again, But having been in a two day class last week with a couple of Doctor's wives in attendance they also said Doctors do not know what they are prescribing - they read the handout on the free samples they are given and then prescribe - if it works great. I am not a Dr. but many things are not so serious that a Dr. is needed -
There are blood pressure machines in most pharmacies - and most towns have a place where you can take a blood sample and get what ever test you need for as little as $29 to $109 according to the test you require. And so for many things you can monitor your own health.
I successfully brought my blood pressure down from 172 and at times as much as 190 over 90 to 122 over 80 by taking Michael's
Blood Pressure Factors - It took about 3 weeks to get it down and then I could hardly believe my success but it has been in this normal range now for over a year - most days I take the three tablets and many days I only take one or two tablets The Doctors had prescribed two different Diuretics and both gave me severe headaches - where as the Michael's formula worked for me.
There are also tons of books on using foods to heal - this is a big area of treatment in Asia and so I have not gotten there yet but I plan on trying the Asian market in town to learn about and try a few foods that are new to me. One that I have tried which is an all round dried berry are Jujube -
http://www.nutritionalwellness.com/nutrition/herbs/j/jujube.php
