Well said, Peg. American civilization is cocksure, self-congratulatory, and complacent...just like the Romans, and for very similar reasons. The Romans ate like pigs and they drank wine out of lead-lined vessels, thus slowly poisoning themselves. Had anyone suggested to them that it was harmful to do that, they would have labelled him a "quack" or whatever their term was for that...and ridiculed him publicly.

The same sort of foolishness goes on today. I found the average Cuban to be noticeably healthier than the average American. The whole lifestyle there is healthier and more active, the food is homecooked on the spot...not precooked and then "nuked" later, and there is virtually no junk food whatsoever.

The AMA does not possess a monopoly on "scientific testing" to back up their chosen methodology. A great many alternative methods of treatment have been rigorously tested in the lab as well, but how would anyone know that if they don't bother to investigate it and find out in the first place?

People's habitual prejudices are usually sufficient to cause them not to bother investigating anything or anyone whom they have already decided not to take seriously... quite regardless of available evidence. If you choose to simply ignore evidence, then it "doesn't exist", does it? :-)

Most people's eyes glaze over when you say "Ayurveda"...they can't even pronounce it, so why would they bother investigating it when there are more important things to worry about..."like how about those Red Wings, eh?" Does Homer Simpson worry about Ayurveda?

Conventionality is the guardian of ignorance. Always has been, and probably always will be. - LH