It turns out that the drug acetaminophen – which causes carpal syndrome just from being typed – can ruin the liver. It’s not just in Tylenol, but also Excedrin, Midol Teen Formula, Theraflu, Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold Medicine, and NyQuil Cold and Flu, Vicodin and Percocet.

Basically, we’re talking about the all-American medicine cabinet.

These aren’t exotic drugs. They’re the ones advertised during prime time, on ABC afterschool specials. Go through your medicine cabinet and see how many you can find.

And they’re toxic. Poisonous. Deadly. But they work slowly, over time, and they’re manufactured by some of the biggest companies in America. And America is the land of the quick fix, where we have a right to life, liberty, and freedom from discomfort of any kind.

I’m not advocating discomfort by any means – but let’s get clear about where most of our routine aches and pains come from: from lifestyles that disrespect and abuse our bodies.

Just raise your standards of eating, and you’ll eliminate the need for 90% of your pain, cold and flu medication. As an added bonus, you’ll develop immunities that will protect you again nasty viruses and you’ll virtually eliminate your risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes and stroke.

Needing acetaminophen (ouch, my wrist) on a regular basis is a symptom of current and future ill-health. When we stop medicating our aches and pains and start listening to them, we’ll be in touch with our true condition and be in a place to take intelligent and motivated action.