Systems of medicine, Ayurvedic medicine

"Ayurvedic medicine" is a system of holistic medicine practiced widely in India and throughout Southeast Asia. It is also gaining popularity and recognition in the United States, Europe, Australia and many other areas of the world as people come to recognize the inherent wisdom and innate safety of Ayurvedic medicine. Based on thousands of years of development and use, Ayurvedic medicine is organized around the energy patterns of individuals (the way they use their bodies, what they eat, how they digest, levels of body heat, etc.) and treatment using a wide array of medicinal herbs and substances (like essential oils, coconut oil, and so on). There is also a prominent recognition of the mind/body link in Ayurvedic medicine.

Recent scientific studies have shown popular Ayurvedic herbs to exhibit powerful medicinal effects, even from a Western point of view. Turmeric, for example, halts the growth of cancer tumors. Cinnamon stabilizes blood sugar, and gymnema sylvestre helps block dietary sugars while supporting the regeneration of insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. Ayurvedic medicine has known all this -- and much more -- for centuries. Western doctors, of course, completely dismiss the entire system of Ayurvedic medicine as quackery, ignoring its many thousands of years of safe, effective use on literally billions of people, and overlooking its enormous knowledge base of wisdom and experience in supporting balanced, holistic health.

Exotic systems / emerging systems: Many "undiscovered" systems of natural medicine are slowly making their way to Western societies. "Tibetan medicine" is beginning to gain momentum, partially thanks to the outstanding work of the Dalai Lama and the accelerating movement of Tibetan Buddhism in Western culture. Australian aborigines have their own system of medicine, as do various native populations in the South Pacific, Africa, and throughout many areas of South America including Peru, Brazil and Argentina.