Just a few of "my" thoughts...
"My" thoughts because I am not a doctor or even in the medical field but I have went through a medical crisis that drove me to dig for some answers to help me and they have. I have went one year without animal products (no meat - red or white, no dairy, no butter, no eggs, no fish, etc.) and I have lived off of veggies and fruits, nuts and lentils, beans and whole grains. A recent visit to the local supermarket sparked another conversation about my grocery cart contents. "Are you one of those vegetarians?" "Well, kind of." He was curious because he had made changes to his diet and dropped 50 pounds and reversed his diabetes status, no medicine. He was asking about taking the next step and dropping chicken and cheese.
Why did I do this? Because I was given chemotherapy and I wanted to do something to rebuild my immune system. Everything that I was watching and reading said in order to rebuild the cells and the immune system was to give it veggies and fruit (whole form). It really worked. My numbers rebounded and my organs were functioning a full capacity. I took out of my diet anything that would slow down digestion or anything that was man made in the form of additives that the body doesn't know what to do with. I gave my body the fuel to thrive and didn't want to give it anything that would slow it down. I am so glad I did and still reaping the benefits of this change.
So this got me thinking about the flu/cold season that we are in. I am a pastor so I see it amongst a group of people and many times it will effect a family from attendance for up to a month as it passes through a home. Is there anything we can do? Well, we are told to wash our hands because of the transference of this ailment. That is good and also the proximity of those infected and protecting yourself from situations that spread the flu. But none of us can be perfect in this area unless we buy a bubble and live in it for 3 months. So if the flu gets past the defense of proximity and cleanliness, do we have another defense ready? That would be our cellular immunity.
Just like building my immunity back up from chemotherapy, I have the opportunity to boost my cellular immunity during this time of the year. I have a choice prior to this time (if it is not going to be lifelong) to change my diet to eating very nutritious foods and to stay away from very heavy and rich foods that slow down our digestive system and taxes our immune system. But guess what? If I was going to be serious about this I would start a few months before the traditional flu season. Know when that is? Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas time. The time of the year that we give excuse to eat heavy and sweet is the time of the year that we should be restraining to get ready for flu season. I know, bah humbug Adam. But could this be why flu season is when it is? We have a large amount of people with reduced immune systems and sluggish digestive systems (because of our holiday choices) going into a time when we need our cells running on all eight cylinders. A perfect storm.
To think about it - we go from Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas and then the flu season hits. Not long after recovering we get to Valentine's Day and another excuse to sugar it up. Then comes Easter that has turned into another excuse to feed the sweet tooth. Then comes summer and the increase of meat consumption on the grill. Throw some birthdays in there and you have a year round system to keep your immune system at a compromised state.
These are "my" thoughts but they seem to be logical to me. I am going to wash my hands and I am going to be careful about proximity to those infected but I am also going to give my inter defense system plenty of good foods to build it up by eating easily digestible foods and increasing the pro-biotics (good bacteria). That inter defense system is really the one that fights the flu but it seems to be the one that we do the least about. I don't know if I have ever heard this point brought up on the "flu segments" on the daily news shows. Plenty about hand washing and staying away but very little is said about watching what you eat during this time of year.
So there. I have gotten that thought out of my mind but for me it is more than a thought. It has been a year long practice that I will continue to follow and hopefully help others to study and eventually try.
Adam
Why did I do this? Because I was given chemotherapy and I wanted to do something to rebuild my immune system. Everything that I was watching and reading said in order to rebuild the cells and the immune system was to give it veggies and fruit (whole form). It really worked. My numbers rebounded and my organs were functioning a full capacity. I took out of my diet anything that would slow down digestion or anything that was man made in the form of additives that the body doesn't know what to do with. I gave my body the fuel to thrive and didn't want to give it anything that would slow it down. I am so glad I did and still reaping the benefits of this change.
So this got me thinking about the flu/cold season that we are in. I am a pastor so I see it amongst a group of people and many times it will effect a family from attendance for up to a month as it passes through a home. Is there anything we can do? Well, we are told to wash our hands because of the transference of this ailment. That is good and also the proximity of those infected and protecting yourself from situations that spread the flu. But none of us can be perfect in this area unless we buy a bubble and live in it for 3 months. So if the flu gets past the defense of proximity and cleanliness, do we have another defense ready? That would be our cellular immunity.
Just like building my immunity back up from chemotherapy, I have the opportunity to boost my cellular immunity during this time of the year. I have a choice prior to this time (if it is not going to be lifelong) to change my diet to eating very nutritious foods and to stay away from very heavy and rich foods that slow down our digestive system and taxes our immune system. But guess what? If I was going to be serious about this I would start a few months before the traditional flu season. Know when that is? Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas time. The time of the year that we give excuse to eat heavy and sweet is the time of the year that we should be restraining to get ready for flu season. I know, bah humbug Adam. But could this be why flu season is when it is? We have a large amount of people with reduced immune systems and sluggish digestive systems (because of our holiday choices) going into a time when we need our cells running on all eight cylinders. A perfect storm.
To think about it - we go from Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas and then the flu season hits. Not long after recovering we get to Valentine's Day and another excuse to sugar it up. Then comes Easter that has turned into another excuse to feed the sweet tooth. Then comes summer and the increase of meat consumption on the grill. Throw some birthdays in there and you have a year round system to keep your immune system at a compromised state.
These are "my" thoughts but they seem to be logical to me. I am going to wash my hands and I am going to be careful about proximity to those infected but I am also going to give my inter defense system plenty of good foods to build it up by eating easily digestible foods and increasing the pro-biotics (good bacteria). That inter defense system is really the one that fights the flu but it seems to be the one that we do the least about. I don't know if I have ever heard this point brought up on the "flu segments" on the daily news shows. Plenty about hand washing and staying away but very little is said about watching what you eat during this time of year.
So there. I have gotten that thought out of my mind but for me it is more than a thought. It has been a year long practice that I will continue to follow and hopefully help others to study and eventually try.
Adam
Comments
Post a Comment