The Critical Synergy Between Natural Health Consumers, Health Food Stores and the Manufacturers of Natural Health Products

Currently the decisive battle between the pharmaceutical business with disease and its biggest competitor – science-based natural health – is being waged.  What many people, including members of the natural health community have not yet realized is that there can be only one winner from this battle.

If science-based natural health prevails – and vitamins and certain plant extracts are recognized the world over as the most effective ways to prevent and cure cancer – the multi-billion dollar market with chemotherapy and other patented pharmaceutical drugs will inevitably collapse.

Thus, the pharmaceutical lobby has launched a desperate battle for its survival. In this battle, there will be no tricks they will not use and no moral or ethical laws they will not break. Their key target is to eliminate their fiercest competition: the market of micronutrients and other science-based natural health products. And they will seek to purge the sites where these effective and safe alternatives to synthetic drugs are being offered to the public: your health food store.

If you believe that this analysis is incorrect, we encourage you to have a closer look at the barrage of media attacks launched by the pharmaceutical drug lobby on vitamins and natural health products over the past few months (more ->).

As discussed elsewhere on this web site, the basic legal framework that has allowed the dramatic progress in natural health science over the past two decades was the Vitamin Freedom Act, the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) of 1994. No wonder, that it is precisely this Vitamin Freedom Act that is the key target of the pharmaceutical industry and its media lobbyists (more->).

The Strategic Plan to Win this Historic Battle for Health Freedom

In this situation, it is absolutely essential that we, the natural health community at large, have the correct analysis and take the right steps to win this decisive battle. Everyone can answer the following two sets of questions:

Who loses if DSHEA is defeated:

• The natural health consumers. If DSHEA is destroyed under the pressure of the pharmaceutical lobby, the people of America will be kept deliberately illiterate about the important health benefits of natural health. It will no longer be allowed to provide information about the health benefits of vitamins, micronutrients and other science-based natural health products to consumers and fee access to natural products will be eliminated. Thus, the great breakthroughs in the fight against cancer, heart disease and other health problems affecting the lives of millions would be banned by law. As a result, these diseases would return to epidemic proportions that for decades have been the multi-billion dollar marketplace of the insatiable greed of the pharmaceutical investment business with disease. Tens of millions of people in the USA and beyond would ultimately pay for the loss of DSHEA with their lives.
• The natural health food stores. The loss of DSHEA would eliminate all public health information about vitamins, micronutrients and natural health products from the shelves and counters of the health food stores. Thousands of small and midsize health food stores would no longer be able to survive. Thus, the battle to protect DSHEA is the battle for the survival of the majority of health food stores in America.
• The manufacturers of natural health products. The prohibition of natural health education of consumers, the demise of the majority of health food stores, all that would eventually also lead to the bankruptcy of the majority of manufacturers that today produce vitamins and other natural health products.

In short, the protection of DSHEA lies in the interest of the entire natural health community, of thousands of health food stores and of dozens of manufacturers of natural health products.

Who benefits if we win and DSHEA is protected and expanded:

• The natural health consumers. Protecting DSHEA and expanding the right of the American people for unrestricted access to natural health education and natural therapies has immediate benefits for the health and lives of millions of people. Based on the scientific discoveries already made in this field, further research will inevitably lead to a dramatic reduction of cancer, heart disease, and many others of today’s most common diseases.
• The natural health store. If DSHEA and the right for the dissemination of science-based natural health information and education is protected and expanded, the health food stores will inevitably adapt a new role in their community: Health food stores will become community health education centers that help to educate their communities about the progress of natural health. In this way, the health food stores will contribute to the formation of a new health care system the basis of which is effective, safe and affordable natural health approaches.
• The manufacturer natural health consumers. It goes without saying that such a development will accelerate the manufacturing of effective products based on scientific advancements and further support the health of the American people.

What responsibility does each of us carry in this situation:

Science is the key to win this decisive battle between the pharmaceutical business with disease and the breakthroughs in science-based natural health. The results of scientific research in natural health – addressed to the public at large – is a strategic tool to win this battle. The more scientific knowledge about the advances in natural health that reaches the people at large, the sooner this battle is over.

In this situation, it is critical to outline the key responsibilities for the different members of the natural health community:

• The Manufacturer of Natural Health Products. Since the pharmaceutical companies have no interest to invest in natural health science and since public institutions and universities are slow in doing so, there is only one group that must finance and produce the natural health research results needed to end this war for good: the manufacturers of natural health products. Only they have the financial resources to invest money into scientific research and clinical studies with the products they develop and sell.
• The Natural Health Store. Every health food store has the responsibility to
  1. Accumulate the knowledge about the breakthroughs in natural health science in the fight against cancer, heart disease and many other ailments.
  2. Turn the health food store into an education center for natural health and educate every customer about the progress of science-based natural health in fighting today’s diseases.
  3. Remind the manufacturers of natural health products sold in your stores that they do have the obligation to continuously invest in natural health research and expand the knowledge about the health benefits of their natural health products for customers and the public at large.
  4. Health food stores should support those companies that have made the strategic decision to spend major parts of their profits for natural health research. The stores should communicate to their customers, that through the purchase of products from these research-driven companies, they support further research that ultimately benefits all of us.
• The Natural Health Consumer. The consumer of natural health products should demand from the health food stores to share with them the research behind the products they get in the store. This is important so that more and more consumers are “vaccinated” against the vicious public deception campaigns against natural health approaches launched by the pharmaceutical lobby in the mass media.

The preconditions for winning the battle between the pharmaceutical business with disease and science-based natural health can be summarized as follows:

1. Every health food store must become an Education Center for science-based natural health.
2. Every natural health customer must become an educated advocate to protect natural health in the public and political debate.
3. Every natural health manufacturer must invest in natural health research to rapidly increase the scientific knowledge in the field of natural health and help win this battle.

By following through with these strategic actions, the foundation will be laid for effective, save and affordable health care for all peoples.

The following graphic summarizes the synergy between natural health consumers, health-food stores and the manufacturers of natural health products, which will determine our victory and establish natural health freedom for this generation and all future generations.

Natural Health Stakeholder Synergy –
Partnership for the 21st Century

The stratigic role and responsibility of health food stores and natural health product manufacturers towards creating an effective, safe and affordable health care system for America and beyond.