Thank Goodness No One Can Patent Nature

I was reading an advertisement for a supplement the other day and the last thing they mentioned about the product was that it was patented.  Suddenly, this struck me as quite odd.  Why does any nutritional supplement need to be patented?  There are 2 reasons why this may seem to be an advantageous thing to do:

1.     Protect whoever made this product from anyone else making and selling a duplicate of what they make, allowing them to charge higher prices for the product.  This is what the pharmaceutical companies also do.

2.     Attempt to distinguish the product as something superior to what could be obtained naturally.

On the other side of this coin is the concept of natural vs. man made.  Any product that is completely natural cannot be patented.  In order to be patentable, a product must be significantly different than anything found in nature.  The assumption here is if man has tweaked or altered natural ingredients enough, he can lay claim to it as his own for a specific period of time, usually 20 years.

What struck me as odd about this concept is the arrogance of man that he somehow thinks he can do better than nature.  After much rumination on this concept, the question arose in my brain.  Did the affliction that is supposed to be improved arise as a result of a dietary lack of this man made blend of vitamins, minerals, fats, sugars, proteins, or chemicals?  The answer is unequivocally no!  All afflictions (disease) throughout history arose due to a lack of balance of minerals, fats, sugars, proteins, or vitamins within the diseased entity.  Nature, can provide all of these essential nutrients in abundance if the person needing them knows where to look and what to look for, and how much they should consume for optimal health.  Therein lies the problem. Most people today do not have a clue as to where to look, differences in amount that is healthy to consume, or differences in food quality-even the experts.  Consequently, the door remains open for the enterprising person to create a magic pill to fix this problem or that problem.

In reality, there is no magic pill.  There is a magic balance though and this is what we must be focusing on in our quest for optimum health.

So, don’t be duped that because something is patented, it somehow becomes better than what you can find in nature.  Invariably, it comes nowhere as viable as the elemental compound it is supposed to be replacing.  You can go a long way in this quest by yourself just by eating organic, eliminating all refined or man made foods from your diet, and limiting your consumption of animal protein.  Add to this focusing on getting your tissue minerals balanced along with elimination of environmental toxins and you will probably be 95% there.

Be especially leery if the product touted to you is patented or contains compounds not normally found with the element or molecule you are trying to obtain.

Rick Wagner