Dosis Sola Facit Venenum

That's Latin for "The dose alone makes the poison". That quote is attributed to a man who lived in Europe from 1493 to 1541. His name was Theophrastus Philippus Aureolus Bombastus von Hohenheim. He is better known by a name that he took later in life (can you blame him?). Paracelsus. The above line isn’t a direct quote, actually what he said was "All things are poisons, for there is nothing without poisonous qualities...it is only the dose which makes a thing poison." That concept is the very basis for modern pharmacology and the other side of the same coin, toxicology. Paracelsus studied metallurgy, alchemy, and medicine and got most of his education nomadically. He never stayed in one place too long mainly because he had a (well earned) reputation for being bad tempered and hot headed. He challenged the established scientific and medical beliefs of the day and quarreled with the wrong people which caused him to hastily leave a place in the middle of the night on more than one occasion.

He was the person to name the metal “zinc”. He discovered the ill health effects that miners and metal workers suffered from when exposed to metals and metal fumes. He learned about that new “French Disease”, syphilis, and figured out how to cure it with mercury (I’m not sure which is worse). While treating wounded soldiers he discovered that treating the surgical instrument rather than the wound before an amputation resulted in no infection which lead him to conclude "If you prevent infection… nature will heal the wound all by herself."

Paracelsus was a breathing contradiction. He believed in God and the devil, angels and demons. He also believed in natural spirits and Astrology. He believed in science and advancing “modern” healing techniques. He believed in natural medicine and using plants, herbs, minerals, and elements in healing. He admonished alchemists to “stop making gold” and “instead find medicines”. He observed similarities between the workings of the body and the workings of nature as a whole and believed that the health of the body depended on the harmony between man and nature. He was a man who was lousy at making friends and influencing people but he never compromised his ideas. His life ended at the age of forty-eight. There are a couple of accounts that say he died as a result of a bar fight. I don’t know if that’s true but on some level I hope that it is. It somehow seems…right.

This guy from the 1500’s like most freethinkers, was somewhat ahead of his time. He challenged authority and the prevailing beliefs of the day and made significant contributions to medical science. The one he’s most remembered for is “dosis sola facit venenum”. What that really means in English is BALANCE. Finding the right dose. The right balance between too little and too much. This scientific concept has been proven over and over again in recent years. Two cups of coffee a day is beneficial, four is harmful. Two glasses of beer or wine is healthy, four or more causes a whole host of problems. Seven hours of sleep a night is juuuuust right but any more or less can lead to double the risk of heart disease. Not enough exercise, too much? The total absence of stress in your life is, well, basically death. Too much stress keeps you (chemically at least) in a heightened, constant state of fight or flight without ever coming down and will lead to…the total absence of stress in your life.

I think you see where I’m heading with this. Paracelsus believed in natural healing. He was focusing on using natural elements to make medicinal cures. But as I said he also noted the importance of balance between man (woman too) and nature. His life wasn’t filled with most of the life invading things that we’re dealing with, nor was it moving at it’s current nitro-fueled pace. If it had been I think he would have extended his dose makes the poison premise beyond medicinal cures and into every facet of living. Too much internet, email, television, video games, cell phone, pager, multitasking, consumerism, self-indulgence, intolerance, credit debt, religious extremism, super-sizing, pop culture, etc, etc, etc. Not enough down time, quiet, thought, reflection, personal interaction, physical activity, compassion, reading, spirituality, understanding, modesty, courtesy, reason, laughter, vegetables (you know you don’t eat enough), etc, etc, etc.

You get my point. Balance is more than important, it’s essential to a physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually healthy life. The key is finding the right balance for each of the ingredients then balancing them within the whole. But it’s made even harder by the fact that what’s balance for me isn’t balance for you. Not for the individual things nor the whole mess combined. Then of course you’re barraged with people trying to force their brand of balance on you through legislation, proselytizing, advertising, coercion, immersion, subversion, perversion, moral authority, superiority, and who know’s what else. Finding balance in life these days is a life’s work. The only advice I can offer is to repeat the words of Paracelsus.

"All things are poisons, for there is nothing without poisonous qualities...it is only the dose which makes a thing poison."