BTW, today I conducted an experiment, and consumed 6000 mg vitamin C (acid neutralized calcium ascorbate). I'm not worried about "side effects". But I am worried about someone I know who's been prescribed Levofloxacin. That stuff has side effects that include permanent neuropathy, and detachment of achillies tendon - even 6 months AFTER discontinuing (because it evidently shuts down the body's ability to repair tendons).
"If a healthy person cuts off nutrients, that person will eventually become diseased, and may even die."
And rather than being diagnosed properly what alts do is blame it on chronic lyme disease, leaky gut, and treat everything with an alkaline diet or ACV or blame it all on vitamin C deficiency. They claim that all food is depleted and doesn't support health so here comes the supplements.
"If a healthy person abstains from pharmaceutical drugs, that person will probably remain fine."
A healthy person does not require pharmaceuticals there bright one. They are no more essential than supplements are. Many studies have shown supplements to be useless in preventing anything. Food is essential not supplements. "Pharmaceuticals" including supplements address specific needs. In many cases they provide protection and treatment that regular food can not.
"If a diseased person cuts off nutrients, that person may die. "
Tell me about it or better yet tell Dr Gonzalez that with his raw diet health food cures for cancer when his patients were getting so sick that they couldn't eat over time and so they dropped out of the study and died. His explanation is that because they couldn't eat his miracle cure then that proves nothing. It also proves that alts don't have hospitals that can provide enteral nutrition or basic glucose IV's. How do alts get a stroke patient to eat if they can't swallow food?
"If a diseased person takes drugs, their symptoms may disappear (but the root cause of the disease will probably not be corrected). "
Alternative practitioners are unable to find the root cause of anything because they lack the science. Their ignorance cause them to proclaim a single product as being able to cure cancer, cure blindness and high blood pressure and any other ailment there is. Curing cancer is child's play for them because all cancer is the same to them.
"If a diseased person takes huge amounts of the right supplements (whether oral or IV), that person may reverse or even cure the disease (although some supplementation may be required to perpetuate health)."
That would fit into the definition of a drug and yes pharmaceutical drugs including supplements are used in conventional medicine. The key is that it be evidence based and based on speculation.