Most people would agree with this quote.. Strength does come through the struggle, work and effort makes one strong, overcoming challenges builds up, Adversity produces success. So many ways to say it, but all the same. Yet there is an irony... When it comes to our own immune system, we go exactly the opposite direction! We tend to embrace weakness!
It's true, hear me out!
Every part of our bodies must be used to remain healthy, must be exercised to become strong. That includes.. the immune system. If it is not exercised, utilized, trained.. it remains weak and ineffective. Why would we expect anything else?
What am I referring to? The american notion of "health care".
We get a fever.. oh no! bring it down with pharmaceuticals!
We feel a cold coming on... on no! Get an antiobiotic from the doctor!
We get our hands dirty... on no! Grab the antibacterial soap!
It seems that every thing we do is to eliminate the need for our bodies to fight it. We eliminate the struggle from our immune system. but then, how will it ever strengthen? How can we strengthen a muscle without challenging it?
But the reality is even worse... everything we do IS in fact training our immune system. It is learning, adapting, to the environment and challenges we face. It's not just the type of bacteria or virus, but the intensity, exposure method, and even the battle itself.
For instance.. consider this...
Every time we get an infection, we reach for an antibiotic. What is that doing to the immune system? Lay aside for moment the direct damage caused in the digestive track. Yes, I know.. that damage is significant and real, and sometimes barely recoverable, sometimes fatal. But for the sake of this concept of training, lay the direct damage aside. Consider how we have TRAINED our own immune system!
The bacteria invades.
The immune system identifies the intruder and mounts a defense based on best knowledge of the past.
Inflammation, fever, swelling, all the symptoms of the battle are produced becasue our system is beginning to fight
Then
We take an antibiotic.
Bacteria die off, not because of the immune system's actions, but becasue of the chemicals.
but how does the immune system know?
IT doesn't!
The immune system thinks that what it did totally killed off the intruder.
We just trained our immune system to fight poorly, to assume success with flawed methods
Next time we get an infection, it will try to do what worked last time...
and over and over.
So think about a person after a lifetime of taking medicines to cure minor infections. How will their immune system ever learn? The answer is, sadly, it DID learn... it learned to do the wrong thing and expect the invader to just die off. In other words, the person has become totally dependent on the antibiotic! Without it, their immune system is powerless, weak, and wrong.
Don't believe me? Consider this.. Do you use vaccines? IF so (we should talk!) but you used the vaccine to train the immune system to battle the real thing. All vaccines are based on this premise, that the immune system is trained, adapts to what it encounters that works. In fact, they purposefully put toxins into the vaccine specifically to increase the level of reaction of the immune system. They need a severe reaction to teach it to fight hard. Without that, the vaccine is ineffective.
So think it through... relying on external resources to kill an infection is actually training the immune system to fail to kill the infection! And every time we do this, it gets worse! The faulty memory, improper training, gets stronger and harder to unlearn. Wonder why elderly today tend to be weaker, more susceptible to disease?
We personally experienced this. For years we "did the right thing" Every runny nose, every ear infection, every cold, every scratch, everything got an antibiotic or antiseptic. And our family got sicker and sicker. the frequency increased, the intensity increased. Once we caught the flu.. it was absolutely devastating! 3 weeks of pure misery. Until we started to actually train our immune system to fight, to succeed on its own. We used herbal assistance, but nothing stronger unless it is life threatening. And now, only a few years later... we rarely get sick, and when we do, rarely does everyone (a big deal in a family of 9!) and both intensity and duration is lighter.
Sure, we did a LOT of stuff to increase health, but it all adds together and builds up. Understanding that the immune system MUST be exercised and not fooled, is a major key to achieving true health. Are we "anti antibiotics"? OF COURSE NOT... we recognize the need for proper judicial use. When something is needed, it is needed. But using an antibiotic when unnecessary, when not life threatening, can be devastating.
Suffering is not fun. No one like to feel sick. But just as the pain of exercise, or working out to produce a desired goal, going naturally through a sickness is a necessary part of proper immune system training.
True health means freedom from need for healthcare.
Freedom from need for healthcare comes from a strong immune system.
- therefore -
Fooling the immune system, or constantly being easy on it,
creates a higher need for health care.
