Why are
Antibiotics a Serious and Growing Health Risk? |
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Antibiotics, those "cure-all" pills that we've
all been taking since we were kids, are a true double-edged sword. While they
have saved many lives when prescribed for bacterial infections-things like
pneumonia, tuberculosis and meningitis-antibiotics are vastly overused and
wreaking havoc inside our bodies. Part of the problem is that, as a culture, we expect our
doctors to prescribe an antibiotic to fix our (and our children's) cold, flu,
earache and more. At the first sign of a sniffle, many of us still run to our
doctor for a prescription, and some may request-or even demand-one. But, while some 40 years ago antibiotics were thought to
be the magic miracle pill and doctors prescribed them for everything from
colds to acne, today we know that antibiotics are useless against viruses.
Viruses are the most frequent cause of infections. Upper
respiratory infections, measles, mumps, chickenpox, shingles, glandular
fever, cold sores, flu and gastroenteritis are common examples of a viral
infection.
The Baby with the Bathwater Antibiotics, however, do kill bacteria, and they do
this quite well. The problem is that they not only kill the bad bacteria that
may be causing your illness, but they also kill ALL bacteria, including the
good kind in your digestive tract that your body needs, leaving barren
territory for all sorts of trouble to brew. You may already know the names of some of the friendly -
acidophilus and bifidus. You can buy these in supplements called probiotics.
Antibiotics upset the balance of these good bacteria in your intestines,
paving the way for an alarming number of diseases to flourish. One of the
most common is a systemic fungal infection. Yeast are also a normal inhabitant of your digestive
tract, but when the friendly bacteria are destroyed, they changed into a
pathogenic form and create havoc if left unchecked. They can move into your
bloodstream quickly and cause a very serious and very common infection called
candidiasis. If your gut is a perfectly balanced, or even fairly well
balanced, environment, you are well on your way to enjoying a healthy,
disease-free life. If, on the other hand, you were to look inside your gut to
see it overridden with pathogenic bacteria, and yeast with very few friendly
bacteria, disease will be just around the corner. Antibiotics and the Superbug How many of you have taken one round of antibiotics, found
that you are still sick, and then taken a second and even third round? When antibiotics were first used they could kill off most
any strain of infection-causing bacteria. But all bacteria are highly
intelligent and future strains of pathogenic bacteria mutated to become
stronger and meaner. These new, genetically changed bacteria are resistant to
even our strongest antibiotics, and newer generations of these
antibiotic-resistant bacteria are multiplying. The result is that we are now
forced to create even more potent antibiotics to kill these more virile
bacteria. In the end we humans lose the vicious cycle. Now that we know that pathogenic bacteria have an
astounding ability to adapt and will continue to overcome even our most
powerful antibiotics we must find another way to fight back. The key to build your own natural immunity and protect
against these pathogens is to change your inner environment so no unfriendly
bacteria would want to live there. And the way to do this is to make sure you
have enough good bacteria present to keep the bad bacteria at bay.
The intestinal tract should normally be comprised of 15
percent beneficial bacteria and 85 percent neutral, but with the onslaught of
antibiotics, chlorine in our water, birth control pills and steroids, all of
which upset this balance, most of us have more like 85 percent bad bacteria
and 15 percent good or neutral. How to Reduce Your Need for Antibiotics ... and Protect
Yourself in Case You Must Use Them Fortunately for us, our bodies are remarkably intelligent
and quite capable of keeping us healthy if we give them the right
"tools." The key to fighting off illness within your body (this
includes not only bacterial infections but also viruses too) is to balance
the good and bad bacteria in your gut. Probiotic supplements have recently become increasingly
popular in the United States for this reason, but there's another way to get
good bacteria in your system-and it's quite tasty! Cultured foods, things
like kefir (a fermented milk drink that tastes like tart yogurt) and traditionally
fermented sauerkraut and other vegetables and are the best sources of
probiotics around. So whichever method you choose (choosing both the
supplements and the cultured foods is best), be sure that your body is
getting a steady source of good bacteria. Once your gut is balanced and
healthy, you'll have to worry much less about illness in the first place,
because at this point your immune system will be functioning at its optimal,
disease-fighting level. IMPORTANT NOTE #1: It is absolutely
essential to eat probiotic foods and drink probiotic beverages like kefir if
you must take an antibiotic. They are a much smarter "antibiotic",
as nature, which is far smarter than humans, has equipped them with the
innate ability to know which bad bacteria to attack, and which bacteria to
leave alone. If you consume them during antibiotic therapy, they
will continually replace the good bacteria that the antibiotics wipe out.
Then continue eating them for a minimum of three months to ensure that you
renew a new, healthy "inner ecosystem" in your intestines. Best
yet, incorporate these delicious new foods into your diet forever. You'll be
very glad you did. IMPORTANT NOTE #2: If you purchase
probiotic supplements like acidophilus and bifidus from your local
health food store, please know that they are not as hardy as probiotic foods.
So take very large amounts of these supplements if you must take antibiotics. |