Dr. Ben Reebs Discusses Why He Wrote His Book, “The Serpent & The Butterfly: The Seven Laws of Healing”

I wrote The Serpent & The Butterfly: The Seven Laws of Healing because I saw a need for a small compendium that distills the laws of healing, the laws of nature, the teachings of naturopathic medicine, in one place.

So, my purpose in writing this book, The Serpent & The Butterfly: The Seven Laws of Healing, is that I realized there are seven laws of healing, seven laws of nature, in the human body. I had to read all of the old naturopathic texts, I poured over 100s of books from every avenue of alternative and integrative and functional medicine. I sought out wise elders, teachers. And then I started my own clinical practice and have seen hundreds and hundreds of patients.

The reason that health is a controversial topic is that no randomized controlled trial (RCT) can ever prove once and for all what is good for us. But why? Because of confounding variables which may compete with the treatment in question in a study. (1) 

Diet and lifestyle is multivariate, not single variate. There are so many contributing factors and it is impossible to isolate just one without taking into account others.

However, there are laws of healing in the body which are working 24/7 to help us, and we don’t need an RCT to use them to get well. But we do need a naturopathic physician to help apply them in our lives.

There are seven laws of healing, seven laws of nature, that integrative medicine practitioners have been using for centuries, for millennia, to treat disease in the human body and to restore the sick to health, to restore normal structure and function. Naturopathic doctors have known about these laws of healing for over a century and the scientific literature gives them a significant evidential basis.

My book, The Serpent & The Butterfly: The Seven Laws of Healing, articulates these seven laws of healing so that people can understand how the body is always working to heal itself and they can begin applying these laws of healing today, with the help of their naturopathic doctor or their integrative medicine practitioner.

To quote my colleague, Dr. Jolene Brighten, bestselling author of Beyond the Bill, who endorsed my book: “This book is a starting point for anyone looking to understand how to prevent and reverse chronic disease.

According to the journal, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, globally, hundreds of millions, over 157 million, in fact, estimated by 2020, in the United States alone, are struggling with a chronic disease, a disease such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. (2) 

According to the World Health Organization, nearly 70 percent of Americans are on at least one prescription drug. More than 50 percent take more than two, and one in five are on five or more prescription medications. (3)

Almost 50 percent of all medicines are prescribed, dispensed or sold inappropriately, and 50 percent of patients fail to take them correctly. For example, antibiotics, polypharmacy, and injections are commonly inappropriately prescribed and overused. (4)

According to a 2018 review in the Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, in the United States alone, hundreds of thousands die each year due to adverse drug reactions or ADRs. (5)

In fact, iatrogenesis (which is harm that is induced by a healthcare intervention) is the fifth leading cause of death in the world, according to the Medical Journal of the Armed Forces in India. (6) And it is estimated that 5 to 8 percent of all hospitalizations in the world are due to ADRs. (7)

The Serpent & The Butterfly: The Seven Laws of Healing lays out a paradigm of health, not a paradigm of disease, which can stop the epidemic of chronic disease in its tracks, as patients and practitioners begin to adapt and implement this new paradigm of health. When we work with rather than against our innate healing capacity, wellbeing and good health spring forth naturally.

 This little book is exceedingly practical. It can be read over the course of one to two hours. Share it with your communities, so that we can elevate health and wellbeing through naturopathic medicine. Pick up a copy of my book today.

1. Skelly AC, Dettori JR, Brodt ED. Assessing bias: the importance of considering confounding. Evid Based Spine Care J. 2012;3(1):9-12. doi:10.1055/s-0031-1298595
2. Zhong W, Maradit-Kremers H, St Sauver JL, et al. Age and sex patterns of drug prescribing in a defined American population. Mayo Clin Proc. 2013;88(7):697-707. doi:10.1016/j.mayocp.2013.04.021
3. “The Safety of Medicines in Public Health Programmes: Pharmacovigilance an Essential Tool.” World Health Organization. 2006. https://www.who.int/hiv/pub/pharmacovigilance/safety/en/
4. “The Safety of Medicines in Public Health Programmes: Pharmacovigilance an Essential Tool.” World Health Organization. 2006. https://www.who.int/hiv/pub/pharmacovigilance/safety/en/
5. Peer RF, Shabir N. Iatrogenesis: A review on nature, extent, and distribution of healthcare hazards. J Family Med Prim Care. 2018;7(2):309-314. doi:10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_329_17
6. Taneja N. Patient Safety: Can the Armed Forces show the way?. Med J Armed Forces India. 2003;59(3):274. doi:10.1016/S0377-1237(03)80042-4
7. Makary MA, Daniel M. Medical error-the third leading cause of death in the US. BMJ. 2016;353:i2139. Published 2016 May 3. doi:10.1136/bmj.i21392017;233:51-59. doi:10.1016/j.virusres.2017.03.006b2507