Antibiotics are heavily overprescribed by doctors, especially for our children. Sore throats, colds, flu, ear infection…none of these will get better because of antibiotics. Most of the time they simply run their course. Complications from these common illnesses are very rare, and if a complication was to occur then obviously take action. However, antibiotics in the first instance are rarely the right way to go. Ok, so I’m pretty sure we already knew that right?
But, what’s the big deal about having antibiotics anyway?
Well, your body is the master of protecting itself. You have an internal army ready and waiting to fight off viruses and infections. This army is your internal “good bacteria” and they are MUNDO important. Yes you may get sick sometimes, but all the while your body is fighting to get you through it. Most of the time, you should leave your internal army to it instead of looking for ways to “heal” yourself. YOU ALREADY HAVE AN INTERNAL HEALING SYSTEM!
Putting it bluntly, antibiotics are poisons used to kill bacteria – good or bad. There are many options for natural antiviral treatments if you wanted to explore an option more suited to regular use:
http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-8990/6-all-natural-antivirals-to-kick-illness-to-the-curb.html
Fungus: In your body you have about 3 pounds of beneficial bacteria and yeast living in your intestines. When you have a healthy gut, your good bacteria keep the yeast in check and even causes them to produce nutrients like B vitamins. It’s all a fine balance.
Antibiotics will kill your good bacteria, so the yeast can then party on and proliferate in your intestines. Yeast is pretty indestructible once it gets going and it grows like CRAZY, forming into large colonies. Conditions such as candida and dysbiosi can result because of this.
The yeast can form into root-like systems, poking little holes in your intestinal wall. When this happens faecal matter, food particles and other nasties escape into your blood stream. This is called leaky gut. These toxins can cause severe physical illness, and the neurotoxins can even cause emotional and mental health issues too, conditions including depression and anxiety, as well as adversely affecting schizophrenia, ME, ADHD and autism.
By altering the flora in your gut, food allergies and intolerance become more common. Ok so you’ll take it easy on the prescribed antibiotics? Great!
But, what about the antibiotics in our food system? DA DA DAAAAA. Yup. It’s in our food. Check this out:
“Genetically modified organisms, animals who either eat GM food or who are given growth hormones or antibiotics to treat the diseases inherent in high density food production, and human consumption of animals and/or foods made from products containing these organisms are contributing to our unknowing consumption of antibiotics. Transfer resistance, from animals to humans, is an ongoing problem and one which has been proven again and again to be a reality. It is also thought that what we call food allergies may, in some cases, be an allergy to the antibiotic residue in common foods.
The medical press has been rife with arguments for banning antibiotics as growth promoting agents in animals. Salmonella drug resistance can be passed on through poultry products. Avoparcin and vancomycin are both used throughout Europe to improve the digestibility of feeds for cows, pigs and poultry. In Germany, strains of vancomycin resistant enterococci have been found in minced meat from separate butchers as well as in human fecal samples. In the US milk is full of a growth hormone known as BST. American dairy products are shipped quite legally to Europe. While US farmers argue that BST is destroyed in the pasteurizing process, antibiotics and resistant strains of bacteria have been found in both hamburger and dairy products.”
So, when i suggest cutting down or cutting out animal products, its not just to save poor daisy or to because I feel sorry for little cluck cluck chicken. It’s because its making us sick!
Factory farming is how your general “food” is produced. Yes you’ll be able to source other means if you wanted to. But is it worth it? With the abundance of plant based foods and plant based protein you may wish to start weighing up the evidence, which appears to be risk after risk after risk.
No, its not 100% bad, meat and other animal products do have positive health aspects of course, but at what cost? Your lifestyle is your decision, but it’s always worth looking more into this stuff. Times are changing.
Sources:
(Lancet, 1994; 344: 323)
(Nature;1976; 260: 40-2; Lancet, 1993; 342: 1371-2; Scand J Infect Dis, 1988; 20: 573)
(Vet Microbiol, 1993; 35: 213-26)
(N Eng J Med, 1984; 311: 617-22)
(Lancet, 1996; 347: 1047)
(Lancet, 1996; 348: 619)
(N Eng J Med, 1987; 316: 565-70)
