Jun 2, 2011

Health and Wellness: Dig Deep to Find Relief

tcardona / Health & Fitness Tips, SUCCESS / cold relief, health, low carb / 1 Comment

Right now I’ve got a cold.

I used to believe that drinking meds was my last resort because I used to believe in the body’s natural healing abilities.

Fast forward a decade later, and between juggling the demands of being a full-time mum, a full-time employee, activities for church, friends and extended family, it’s been oh-so-convenient to just reach for a pill and wish my cold to go away — just go away!

But we all know quick fixes don’t work for long. Deep down, I know that. I do.

So the key for me now is to dig deeper. Why do I have a cold? What is this cold doing for me? And how can I make myself stronger in the future so I can prevent having another cold?

Being Sick Can Be Good For Me

Why is it that the thing we fight against the most is the one that is actually trying to help us out after all?

A cold, or a fever or any sort of pain in our bodies, is actually a sign that our body is fighting for our health. Any move to suppress it eventually backfires on us, and it may not be immediate but it will come back to bite us even if it is in our old age. This I learned from mercola.com, one of my go-to sites for all things health:

What happens when you treat the symptom of a runny nose from a cold and you take a decongestant? Well, it certainly decongests you by shutting off the mucus, but why do you have the mucus? It’s because your body is trying to clean and wash out the membranes. What else is in mucus? Secretory IgA, a very strong antibody to kill the virus. If there is no mucus, there is no secretory IgA.

So if I suppress my cold, it means whatever virus it is fighting will win and I’ll get an even bigger symptom come up eventually, like sinusitis or maybe the flu. Not a very good Jedi move.

It’s My Body Telling Me To Rest

Oftentimes, we just want to keep going and going because we fear that if we stop, the world will fall apart. That’s all good, until we ourselves fall apart and that turns out to be worse, doesn’t it?

If he saw the doctor, the doctor might tell him to take an antibiotic along with the decongestant. You see this all the time because the doctor wants to get rid of the patient. In almost all cases of an upper respiratory infection, it is a virus, and the antibiotic is going to do worse than nothing, because it is going to kill the bacterial flora in the gut and impair the immune system, making the immune system worse.

The patient might see someone else more knowledgeable who will say, “No, you caught a virus, don‘t do anything, go home and sleep, let your body heal itself.” That‘s better.

If we really want to hack at the problem at the roots, then it’s best not to compound a problem with another problem, like drugs that cause more annoying side effects.

Sometimes, the stress we put ourselves through, imagined or not, need to be simply left behind while we rest and let our bodies heal. Be mature enough to know when that’s what is needed, and just do it.

Stop.

And rest.

Eating Well Isn’t Just About Looking Good

Taking care of myself is my best Jedi move in the fight for my health, and it starts with eating well.

The most important thing I got out of the above health article is that my overall health is fundamentally based on what I put into my mouth. Carbs in most of its forms — sugar, white rice, white bread, cakes, donuts, pies and other junk — is one way I let my immune system down and leave myself vulnerable to getting a cold again.

You may think it’s just about health and beauty when you cut the carbs — like losing weight and clearing up acne.

But it could eventually get to an issue of survival if I’m stupid enough to let it happen. Yes, I’m talking about the ugly “C” word — cancer. And the article goes on to name osteoporosis, high cholesterol and angina as other health risks associated with insulin, carbohydrates and its ilk.

It’s good to know that I’m not only making myself look good and helping myself out in the style department, but whether I know it or not, eating well and living a low-carb lifestyle translates into quantity and quality of life overall.

And a lot less of these nasty ah-choos!