Industry convinces us that we are sick

Re: “Worried about overuse of drugs in health-care system? Better call Saul,” column, Oct. 1. One should question any product marketed by any industry. For example, there’s nothing “natural” about vitamin supplements; they’re unnatural, processed isolates — pills.

The tactics used by the pharmaceutical industry to sell its pills are the same used by the supplement industry to sell its pills: Convince you there’s a problem, then sell you the solution.

Dr. W. Gifford-Jones’s statement: “Those who live in northern climates receive zero vitamin D during winter months” would convince many there’s a problem, but this statement is false. People in northern climates do not rely on the sun for vitamin D. They consume it via the foods nature provides them.

Shellfish, salmon, whale, seal, walrus, kelp, caribou, muktuk, eggs, seasonal plants and berries, etc. are full of vitamin D. These same foods also provide northerners with all the vitamin C and E they need.

The multibillion-dollar health-care industry has done a good job of convincing the masses they’re sick and thus need drugs to be healthy. It’s a con, and so is the supplement industry.

You are not as weak as your corporate masters would have you believe. Simply eat natural, whole foods, once or twice a day, drinking water exclusively (only when thirsty) for a month or two, and your body will rid itself of the medical “epidemics” outlined in the article, you’ll be drug-free and it won’t cost you a penny. Mike Mullen Victoria