“Remedy”: Is it worth it? Pt. 1

By Lauren Clement

Hey other human beings! Hope you had a great week, and indeed have a great weekend! As I mentioned in the last post, I have been increasingly drawn to herbalism (I’m seriously considering investing in a program, actually!); along this path, I found Nick Polizzi’s documentary series, “Remedy”.

It looked intriguing, and so I signed up for the free screening of each of the nine episodes, which are being released nightly from the 6th of September onward.

So far, so good. 

Polizzi, known for “The Sacred Science” documentary film, is a staunch advocate for herbalism. As he reminds you. A lot. 

Not that this intensity isn’t well placed. Quite the opposite, in fact.

This series is in many ways attached to his previous work, and certainly furthers his mission of getting herbalism and its millenia-old knowledge out to the public. So what does Remedy have to offer?

Well, for starters, he’s brought in a wide variety of experts on herbalism (using herbs as medicine) and how it's different from allopathic medicine (what we would think of as modern medicine that uses pharmaceutical drugs). He’s doing a good job so far of letting these guys talk about their unique perspectives, while also showing how they eventually unify in many ways. If you want to go further, I would definitely recommend looking up the basics of Eastern traditions before watching, since a lot of the concepts have to do with Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine.

Back to the series thus far: its claims are backed up by evidence both scientific and historical in nature. One of my favorite parts in the first episode was when one of the speakers, Dr. Michael Balick, points out the inherent fallacy of dismissing centuries of what would be considered clinical trials today. If we’ve been using these things for so long…there’s gotta be something to it.

In the next two episodes, the audience is introduced to some of the main contributors to illness and disease: stress, anxiety, and our poor cultural understanding of the immune system and the microbiome. They emphasize the importance of preventative care - namely, long-term use of herbs such as ashwagandha instead of popping a pill for instant relief. Even something seemingly simple and harmless, like ibuprofen, has been shown to cause serious damage to the body when used constantly.

The third episode’s dive into the concept of the microbiome is fascinating and integral to understanding the basics of what modern science itself has discovered: we need bacteria. Without a solid balance in our system, bad things happen. Being overly hygienic is just as bad as the opposite. When we feed our microbiome correctly (mushrooms are integral to this!), our little buddies are happy, and we flourish along with them.

These examples weave perfectly into the overall message of the series thus far: it’s not that modern allopathic medicine is wrong, it’s just not the whole picture. 

I’m excited for the next episodes, and will write again soon!