Apothecary is an old term used for a medical professional, similar to a pharmacist. Today the two words are used interchangeably but as for the newly opened Apotheca in Makati, the real essence of an apothecary is practiced. This means pharmacists don’t just dispense medicine but also compound medicine based on your doctor’s prescriptions.
WATCH: Apotheca Integrative Pharmacy
The process of compounding medicine involves, but is not limited to altering ingredients and/or dosage of a prescribed medication. For instance, you can opt to use organic ingredients versus synthetic formulation. Because the medicine is tailored for each individual or patient, the use of and ingestion of medicinal “fillers” are removed.
All of these things were new to me and to be honest, I was dumbfounded on my first visit to Apotheca. The staff puts emphasis on how doctor, patient, and pharmacist should work together. It’s not recommended for persons to visit Apotheca and ask for a medicine to be compounded or custom made for them – especially without prescription.
At my age, most of the medicines I use are over-the-counter. I have heard many times that over using medicine like pain relievers for ordinary headaches, muscle pain, and flu/fever medicine does have an impact on our liver. Sometimes, we ingest more than we need. For example, I do split pain killers in two so I just get 250mg of Mefenamic Acid or Ibuprofen instead of taking a full tablet. It works for minor headaches and I feel I saved my liver from unnecessary stress.
From what I infer, we can do more to address health problems and pains by choosing organic and natural remedies that are proven safe & effective. These may have fewer side-effects and are free from synthetic fillers. I plan to request a prescription for most of the medicines I am using at home, and also for my son who’s always taking cough & flue medicine, and ask Apotheca for healthier alternatives.
Since I was not prepared with any prescription on my first visit, I just browsed the organic and locally sourced products at Apotheca.
There were plenty of hard to find items here like locally grown Chia Seeds, Virgin Coconut Oil, Coconut Sugar, and more.
They also sell healthy rice variety like these brown, red, and black rice.
I was most curious about these Klean Sports Supplements that can replace the whey protein powder I am currently using. From the Klean website: Klean contains no flavoring, sweeteners or other artificial ingredients, and can easily be added to any beverage to enhance daily protein and amino acid intake.
You can find Apotheca at GF, Eurovilla 4 Building, 853 A. Arnaiz Ave, Legazpi Village, Makati. Visit their Facebook Page if you want to check out more of their products – Apotheca Integrative Pharmacy.
