Preventive Health & Root-Cause Medicine

Pay the Farmer or Pay the Pharmacist: Why America Spends the Most on Healthcare but Isn’t the Healthiest

Liz James · March 9, 2026 ·

If spending more money on healthcare actually made us healthier, the United States should be leading the world in life expectancy.

See the United States out there in front? That’s not a good thing at all.

Note that the data has been adjusted for inflation and differences in costs between countries.

No other country is even close.

Now, take a look at life expectancy….. you’d think, that with all that spending we do on “health care” there would be the added benefit of a longer life. ….. you’d think.

Reality: The United States spends outrageously on health care for a very mediocre lifespan.

Health expenditures here do not include

gym memberships
eating quality whole foods
using herbs, essential oils, tinctures, and homeopathy to support optimal health

and yet, so many people say they can’t because these items are out of their budget.

The reality is that you can pay for prevention or you can pay for outcome “repairs”. Either way, there is a cost.

I choose to pay the farmer, not the pharmacist.

PS: It’s interesting that Costa Rica’s lifespan is slightly longer than the United States, and yet their medical costs are a fraction of ours (even adjusted for cost of goods ($1,565 vs $12,023)

https://ourworldindata.org/…/life-expectancy-vs-health…

If you are interested in spending less time and money at the doctor’s office….. let’s talk!

xoxo~ Liz

Turmeric For Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD)? What I Learned In Pharmacist CE — And How To Spot Bias

Liz James · February 17, 2026 ·

Working my way through Pharmacist CE’s this month for licensing renewal. It tests me…. not because of difficulty, but because of industry bias and study references that have pharma ties, and quiz questions must be answered as they want them answered, not because of the full truth.

Not all CE’s are like this, but the vast majority are. It’s pharma after all.

Thankfully, I subscribe to a CE and pharmacist education program (NatMed Pro) which focuses on “natural med”…. their words, not mine. Tho I do agree wholeheartedly. I don’t always agree with some of what is said even in these CE’s because there is still some pharma industry bias that shines thru. You’ll never see them cite “Adaptogens in Medical Herbalism” by Yance, “Herbal Medicine, Healing and Cancer” by Yance and Valentine, “Botanical Medicine for Women’s Health” by Romm…. because if they did, there would be more truth in the CE’s than what is portrayed in the watered down version we get in NatMed Pro. Doing this type of CE in between the hardcore pharma CE’s at least lowers my pulse rate and blood pressure and lessens my desire to yell at the screen .

All this to say…. It’s good to stay abreast of all things. To learn what is being said about a product, to parse out the pieces of truth as well as the pieces of fluff or even outright gaslighting (which I see in CE’s quite often. Heavy sigh . )

I’m reading back through this post now, and you can probably see how my brain ping pongs between the two worlds of pharma and herbalism/ natural healing.

I took a couple of screenshots (shared here) of one of these CE’s that I DID actually learn something in. It was quite good…. covering turmeric, elderberry, cranberry, ashwagandha, and a few other herbals. For the most part, I’d give it 4 out of 5 stars (high rating in the pharma CE world when you’re a pharmacist with strong leanings towards the natural! )

Thought you might appreciate this info on turmeric. We tend to think about turmeric as fantastic for supporting proper inflammatory response. I did not know it held some pretty amazing properties benefitting those with NAFLD (non alcoholic fatty liver disease), so bonus points for this particular CE .

Not all turmeric is equal. Do your research…. deeply. Know your sources and understand how THEY (the people you follow) learn what they know. Know your product too….. the supplement world is a tricky one…. just as tricky as pharma in many cases.

I’m here for you if you’ve got questions. xoxo~ Liz

Interesting Journal Article

Liz James · January 19, 2026 ·

Such an interesting journal article….. Did you know that this particular journal (Oncotarget) was the target of massive cyberattacks last week after it released a really interesting (and revealing) article/study?

This is what happens when you are over the target and “they” don’t want the general public to know the truth.

Glad to see it’s back up. This isn’t the article that caused the attack, but if you are a fan of lemongrass as I am, you might find it interesting too!

xoxo~ Liz

Don’t Miss These June Freebies: Essential Oils and Supplements Worth Stocking Up On

Liz James · June 1, 2025 ·

June.

Are you ready for the summer? What’s on your list to go, do, accomplish, vacay? (Do tell! Let us know in the comments so we can either cheer you on or be excited for the cool places you might be headed to!)

YL is always thinking ahead when they plan our gifts with purchase for the month.

Tea Tree: This might be one of the most well known essential oils (next to Lavender). I mean, even people who don’t know the power of 100% pure essential oils know about Tea Tree! Just a few things it’s good for….. skin care (have you tried it on a zit?

), respiratory health, insect deterrent, wound care…… it is another Swiss Army Knife (like lavender!).

Copaiba: One of my personal all time FAVES, and not because it has a dreamy aroma. It’s actually very mild in odor. You know the phrase, “speak softly, but carry a big stick”? That phrase reminds me of this team player. It is gentle enough for use on a baby, but powerful enough in supporting healthy inflammatory response that you can “handle things at home”. (This is one oil I’ll never have more than a “few” bottles on the shelf of!). It can be used internally or externally. Tell me one of your Copaiba stories (and I’ll tell you one of the dozens I have of my own!). What a hero in a bottle

this one is!

AminoWise: Many people tend to think of branched chain amino acids as “just for gym rats”. True…. BCAA’s are fantastic for post workout recovery and muscle building…… but there are many other life moments where BCAA’s would also benefit the body. A day filled with yardwork

or hiking

. But what if someone has muscle wasting because of an extended illness….. or as a natural part of aging (PS: this is why eating proper amounts of protein as we age is SOOOO important!). AminoWise is for everyone….. not just

! I do love that Young Living has been gifting us supplements recently. This is a beautiful opportunity to try some thing for free…… give it a 30 day test run, if you will…. and see if you don’t notice a difference!

Happy June! ….. and do tell, don’t forget to share your Summer plans

. While I don’t have anything huge planned for June (other than picking blackberries daily for the month in our garden… they are getting close to being ripe, and we’ve got about 250 plants), I’ll be taking this time to prep for some big travel in July!

xoxo~ liz

essential oils and muscle recovery supplement free gifts with purchase from Young Living in June 2025

Is Your Antidepressant Just a Band-Aid? Why Root Cause Healing Matters

Liz James · March 24, 2025 ·

One of the pharmacy facts I am passionate about getting people to understand is this: EVERY medication out there only addresses symptoms… not root cause. And only addressing symptoms without addressing the cause would be like continuously patching cracks in a wall without addressing the shifting cracked foundation of a house.

We are so unique. Each one of us. In mind, body, spirit, soul, emotions, experiences. Mental health medications aren’t about “fixing” the problem….. they are the patch on the crack-y wall without addressing the foundational problem (which could be something as complex as a childhood trauma, lack of community, a toxicity, or something as seemingly simple as a nutrient deficiency).

To be clear, in my opinion, most mental health drugs should be listed as a type of drug very similar to drugs with addictive potential. No, your body will not ever “crave” Prozac, Lexapro or anything else in the SSRI or other psych med categories, but once you’ve been on them for a period of time, it can be incredibly hard to get off of them because your body and brain become rewired to depend on the medication. It then takes a fierce desire to correct that dependency, and that fierce desire includes working on oneself in all the areas ….mind, body, and spirit.

SSRI’s are by far the most common class of mental health meds. Roughly 1 in 6 people in the USA take them not knowing or understanding the ramifications of taking them long term. Informed Consent is so very important (and required by law, but rarely enforced

even if something goes really wrong… part of our broken medical system). How often does a doctor tell their patients what I just said above?

How often does a doctor explain that what they’d like to do, with the patient’s cooperation, is to give them an opportunity to get to the root cause of mental health issues (with help from avenues of mind, body, and spirit professionals), perhaps agreeing to use medication on the short term to get over a hump but with the understanding that the medication would be used as a short term tool to be used while discovering the root cause and then healing from the traumas, toxicities, and/or deficiencies the body is experiencing. (I have much much more to say about this, but I would be writing a novel).

I have so much compassion for people walking through mental health crises, coupled with a desire to see people truly healed and walking in freedom….. and that won’t happen with long term use of these meds. In fact, over time, studies have repeatedly shown that one med will translate to multiple medications because of the side effect profiles.

You are worth doing the behind the scenes work. We all are

xoxo~ liz

(Please read this article written by a medical doctor for a better understanding. I don’t encourage anyone to cold turkey stop their medications, or to do so without the help of their preferred medical professional)

What I Have Learned in Working With 300+ People in Their Journey of Tapering