Countless people suffer from an illness that affects their lives every day. Desperate for even just a modicum of reprieve from their illness, they turn to platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to see if there’s anything out there that might help. And on these platforms, it often takes them no time at all to encounter a segment that has seen an unprecedented rise in popularity over the years: Alternative Medicine.

These videos and posts are usually by people who themselves have been impacted by the same illness. And they claim that the alternative remedy that helped them carried far less risk, and was far more effective, than treatments offered by modern medicine. It sounds appealing, and even a safe way to treat their illness. But the problem is, most of the people promoting these alternatives are either not licensed doctors, or simply promoting an alternative that’s a product they sell and make money from.

In this episode, we dive into the world of Alternative Medicine. We discover the factors that have helped contribute to the rise in popularity, discuss the risks associated with this practice, shed light on who owns many of the alternative medicine products that are marketed as “Anti-Big Pharma.” And finally, we discuss what various researchers have found about the effectiveness of alternative medicine, from everything from extreme cleansing and other similar approaches, right down to the most basic daily multivitamins.

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