DO Be Defensive

Our bodies were meant to be lean mean fighting machines. I thought of that today as I read an article regarding some research into the microbes that inhabit our gastrointestinal or GI tract. This system includes our mouth, esophagus and stomach. The National Institutes of Health is awarding grants to various researches to study every microbe that is in or on the human body according to Barbara Martinez of the Wall St Journal.

Scientists at the University of Michigan have been studying mice to see what effect antibiotic use might be having on microbes in the GI tract. They found some instances where the good or worker bacteria was killed along with the invading germs or parasites and that the good bacteria did not always return to its normal levels even six weeks after the antibiotic course had ended. This of course will make a person suscpetable to even more illnesses. Of great concern is a disease called C dif. I recall this disease when I worked in the hospital and now I realize the persons who were diagnosed with it were often being treated with antibiotics for urinary tract infections. C Dif can become serious, even deadly, especially in compromised or elderly persons.

This only drives home the point that we must be mindful of what we are exposing our bodies to, whether elemental or internal. It is very disconcerting to me that we allow exposures even purposely cause them (i.e. tobacco) and then take drugs to treat the consequences which themselves have consequences.

Eating right and preventing illness is best, tolerating some acute illness or pain is also called for at times. Too many times we want a pill for every single thing that ails us. As I said yesterday, even people with the flu should not necessarily take medicine for it.

And with that heavy on my mind, I went grocery shopping today. In front of me at the check out was a family of four. I could see a few new outfits and supplies for school. I thought the parents were doing their duty to prepare their children for now and the future. But also on the conveyor belt was a case of instant noodle lunches and a 12 pack of some juicy drink in a bag. I do not think that the parents realize that they are making a mistake. I do not think that the people who need the message about healthy eating the most are getting it. What our children are consuming in their early years is going to cause them disease as very young adults and will prevent them from achieving all that their parents dream.

I want to get the message out. I want to simplify all this health info and make it practical and possible. I also am aware that it isn’t just the under educated who are misinformed but the college educated as well. Maybe it is information overload.

I say so because in another WSJ feature, “What’s Your Workout” , a perfume company president, Terry Darland, said that her breakfast often includes low calorie orange juice and 2% milk. Her workout sounded perfect, but if I had the chance to talk with her, I would advise that she lose the juice and choose skim milk over 2%.