50+ Lifestyles

Have You Gotten the Bug This Year?

By Robert Scranton, D.C.
Fibromyalgia Centers of America

I remember growing up and having my mother constantly tell me to cover my mouth when I coughed and to wash my hands before I ate. Did your mom tell you the same thing? Probably their mother told them to do that and their mother told them to do that.

Traditional modern medicine and our mothers tell us that germs cause diseases. In order to get over these diseases we have to kill the germs. How do we kill the germs? The usual way is through antibiotics, chemotherapy, surgery or other drugs. Have you ever wondered why the germs aren’t dead if we are taking all the things that are supposed to kill them? I’ve had experiences where I’ve gotten the flu, taken antibiotics gotten better then gotten the flu again. You probably share the same stories. Why is that? Why are people still sick and still dying prematurely? Could it be that germs aren’t the real culprits of sickness?

Over the last few years, the ideas on disease and what causes it has changed. Research and science has gotten better and we can now more accurately diagnose and understand the reason behind illnesses. The new understanding is that disease results from an imbalance in the body. This imbalance that causes chaos and disorder is a nutritional imbalance. In order to get the body back in balance we need to feed it what it needs.

Think of it like this: I’m sure you own a car. Every so many miles you need to fill it up with gas so that it will keep running and getting you to where you need to go. What if one day you decided that gas was too expensive and you added a gallon of milk to top off your tank? You start down the road but after a few hundred feet the car starts making a funny noise. You’ve got the radio turned up and ignore it. But then the car dies. You wonder what has happened. The reason the car died was because the car needs pure gas to run properly. The owner’s manual is pretty specific on that one.

Ok, so you’d have to be pretty silly to put milk in your gas tank, but here’s the thing, we do it every day! Our bodies are just like cars; our ‘gas’ is good food. We need to eat good nutritious food not to torture ourselves, but because without it our car will die. Nutritious food has vitamins and minerals in it that build up our immune system. Our immune system is what protects us from diseases and is the real killer of germs. An immune system that is being fed the right stuff will fight off those germs and stop you getting sick. Now we’re not just talking about stopping colds and flu strains, we’re talking about stopping disease. Good nutrition can save your life and save your wallet as you’ll stop having to shell out money for antibiotics and other drugs.

When we put things into our bodies that shouldn’t be there, like the milk in the cars gas tank, it’s not going to be long before we start to see and feel the effects. Eating too much will cause our pants to be tighter, too much caffeine and we’re up all night, smoke for a while and you’ll be sick with the flu more often. Putting the wrong stuff in causes our bodies to start decaying just like a car that’s been exposed to salt starts to rust.

Living a full and healthy life doesn’t mean you have to give up all the stuff that makes life worth living. It does however mean that we have to make some choices. I plan on living until I’m 100. I’ve got about 65 years ahead of me, and I’m making choices now so that when I’m 100 I can enjoy it. That means I take a good multivitamin supplement and Omega rich fish oil to make sure my body is getting all the nutrients it needs, I eat healthy but still enjoy treats! I also exercise and keep good relationships with friends. I’ve made my choices and I can’t remember when I last had the flu.

You may be surprised what swapping a candy bar for an apple could do. Or trade in a soda for a glass of milk or tea. It may just stop you from getting the flu and keep you ticking till your 100! To your health!