Preventing Disease

What comes to mind when you hear "preventative medicine"? How do you prevent disease? The medical world has drilled into us that prevention is what we do when we visit the doctor for our annual exam. Mammograms, checking blood pressure, cholesterol, blood tests, and the list could go on. But are you really preventing disease when you go for those annual check ups? The medical world says you are... But what is it you are preventing? When the results come back positive, you've already got the disease. In reality you are only diagnosing or testing for an existing condition. The only way you can truly prevent disease is by living a healthy lifestyle so that your immune system can keep your body healthy and fight invaders.

The Immune system
Your body's immune system is an intricate and complex network consisting of macrophages, T-cells, B-cells, antibodies, and memory-cells which all have their part in ensuring that your body stays healthy. Your immune system is wonderful, however, if it becomes overloaded with toxins and other invaders, it cannot keep up, and this is where disease begins. Several factors can be a part of this overload:

Poor eating habits:
With all the additives, preservatives, pesticides, and refining of our food, the ideal diet can be a little difficult to come by these days. What is the ideal diet? I think of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Fruits and vegetables picked right off the tree and eaten. No pesticides, chemical fertilizers, nutrient rich soil, whistle clean H2O. This is what God/Nature intended for our bodies to have. With the SAD (Standard American Diet) it makes sense why so many people are sick these days. Our immune systems must work overtime to compensate for all the chemicals, pesticides, and toxins in our diets.

Stress/depression:
It has been discovered that your nervous- and immune system are interconnected. The hormone cortisol which is produced when you are under stress, has been shown to destroy T-cells in the thymus gland and release T-cells before they mature. This results in shrinking of the thymus gland which is the head gland of the immune system. Hormones produced when you are happy and laughing have been shown to boost immunity.

Antibiotics:
Antibiotics is one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century, but in some cases it would be best to let the body recover naturally. About 10 million annual antibiotic prescriptions for ear infections, somewhere between 8.5 million and 9.5 million prescriptions didn’t actually help the children, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. And according to Dr. Alan Greene (of the popular website www.drgreene.com) "In 5 to 14 percent of children, the antibiotics will take one day off the length of the ear infection. But by comparison, up to 15 percent of children who take antibiotics will develop vomiting or diarrhea, and up to 5 percent will have allergic reactions, some of which may be quite serious". Antibiotics destroy the beneficial bacteria in your body along with the bad and it can take years for the intestinal flora to normalize. Some types of antibiotics have also shown to inhibit proper function of white blood cells, and some inhibit antibody production. Antibiotics can contribute to loss of important nutrients like magnesium and zinc through diarrhea. Overuse also creates a resistance which can result in "super bugs" that do not respond to antibiotic treatment.

Lack of sleep:
When you sleep your body regenerates and renews itself. Lack of sleep leads to fatigue and fewer immune boosting chemicals. A recent study also suggests that lack of sleep can lead to obesity. (Link to the study)

Chemicals/pollution/toxins:
There are pollutants everywhere; outside, in your home, in the food you eat, the clothes you wear, in vaccines, diapers, cleaning products..literally everywhere. All these toxins effect your immune system because it becomes overloaded and cannot keep up. Allergies and most diseases are signs of toxic overload in your body.

Heredity, hygiene, and lifestyle:
Of course genes play an important part in your body's resistance to disease. Parents hand down weaknesses to their children. If the children do not take care of their health, these "weak spots" will eventually flourish. In retrospect to hygiene, we know that dirt and filth attracts bacteria, and in addition to external hygiene, it is equally important to keep your insides clean as well. If your bowels are laden with toxic buildup and waste, this will release into your blood stream and poison you. Lifestyle patterns like exercise, smoking, drinking etc. have a large effect on the power of our immune system.

Disease
In short, disease develops when there aren't enough "good guys" to counter effect the bad. Disease happens when the "bad" get out of hand. It takes time to develop a disease. Disease sneaks up on you so slowly that you don't recognize the symptoms because they become a part of your everyday life. It takes years of unhealthy living (stress, pollution, poor eating habits etc.) for a cancerous tumor to develop, and you often don't recognize it before it is too late. It also takes time to recover from disease. You must go back the same path you came. Drugs and conventional therapy might help get rid of symptoms, but they leave the true cause of disease. Chemo therapy or radiation for cancer might remove the tumor, but the tumor is only the symptom. That is why recurring cancer is so common after conventional treatment. The root of the problem is still there! If you truly want to be healed, you need to remove the root also. If you understand this, you are doing better than most medical doctors out there.

To become healthy and truly prevent disease, you must step back from the advertised ideal, and reject a lot of the hype out there. It takes time and effort to learn about natural health. I once read "the more truth you have, the more alone you go". Is it better to walk alone when you know you are doing the right thing, or is it better to fit in? Every person must decide that for him/her self. It takes work, dedication, and knowledge to stay healthy and free from disease. You'll have to decide whether it's worth it.

Getting well/understanding the healing process
The World Health Organization has said; "The best vaccine against common infectious diseases is an adequate diet." And Dr. Bernard Jensen has said: "Proper nutrition isn't everything, but without it, no other therapy will work to bring about healing. Only foods repair and rebuild tissue." You need to change your diet if you want to start a healing process, because this is where your body draws nutrients to heal and reconnect tissue and fight disease. You need to work from the bottom up.

You might think that your diet is adequate, and according to the RDA you might be getting all the vitamins and minerals you need. But don't rely on the RDA to know your body. Everyone is different. An athlete needs more building blocks than a couch potato, and even men and women have different nutritional needs. Children need more protein because they are growing and so on.

If you really want to heal your body through the food you eat, it is a good idea to read the ingredients list on the food you buy. Your body needs food grown without chemicals. You cannot eat refined, processed, foods loaded with additives and preservatives and expect to be well. Only whole foods build whole bodies.

When making changes to your health, the bowels are a great place to start. This is where assimilation of food takes place, and if your intestines are laden with thick toxic buildup and mucus, you cannot absorb the food you eat. This is also a great place for parasites to live, and parasites steal nutrients from your body so that you have to live on the leftovers. Many people have been healed from chronic problems as a result of cleaning out their bowels because they are able to utilize the food they eat again to heal and build tissue.

An important factor to know about the healing process is there comes a time where you might feel as if you are going backwards. You might feel a little sick, and plagues that you have had before might come back to you. Many people stop here because they think this cleansing is hurting them. This is really a good thing as the body is going through a reversal and beginning to heal itself. As the body becomes stronger, it gathers these toxic accumulations to get rid of them. You might have a fever, because a fever is the body's way of cleansing itself. The body heats up when the immune system is working to fight disease. However, don't cleanse too fast. Make sure your body is getting rid of the toxins. If you start getting terrible head aches or pains, step back a little. I would recommend seeing a chiropractor or naturopathic doctor if you are not experienced with this. But be glad when you experience this "healing crisis", because then you know your body is "cleaning house". Soon, you'll have a clear mind, a body full of energy, and aches and pains will disappear, and you can live your life to the fullest.

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