Forget vaccines and put away that antibacterial soap.

If you want to avoid infectious diseases, anything from the common cold to food poisoning to parasites, learn how to bolster your natural defenses.

We are natural infection-fighting machines! When your body is working like it was meant to, you won’t need to look outside yourself for disease fighting protection.

Knowing THE TRUTH about what does and doesn’t make you sick is your best protection, because it will inspire you to take the right disease-preventing action.

Most people underestimate the power of a strong immune system. But strong immunity is what makes the difference between getting sick and staying healthy.

And here’s the problem. Most people believe their chance of getting sick hinges on their exposure to infectious bugs. Preventing exposure is not a useful strategy. The enemy is microscopic, they can be anywhere and you’ll never see them coming.

And ironically, the fear of getting sick increases your chances of getting sick because stress further lowers immunity. Also, using antibacterial and antibiotic products and medications only makes it worse. This only kills the weak germs. The strong germs that survive, multiply and grow stronger, leading to antibiotic-resistant monster germs.

Trying to avoid infectious diseases might seem scary, but it doesn’t have to be.

You were born to do it.

Most of the immune system is located in the gut and beneficial bacteria are its tiny foot soldier that battle foreign invaders. Beneficial bacteria have all sorts of healing and protective functions, including producing vitamins.

This is what you need to know: Your susceptibility to illness is determined by the balance of good bacteria in your gut. Your chances of getting sick increase as the level of good bacteria in your gut decrease.

But here’s the good news: There are many things you can do to bolster your bacteria and immunity. I’ll have some suggestions later in this article.

 

Probiotic balance and Post infectious IBS

Some people develop IBS after a severe gut infection or food poisoning episode.

They believe their  troubles began with the infection. When in fact, the infection was simply the last straw, and the real cause of digestive problems was a slowly dwindling population of beneficial bacteria, making the body vulnerable to infectious threats.

As our scientists begin to study the health ramifications of bacterial ecology (also called the Microbiome) studies have begun to link some of our health issues to bacterial imbalance. Digestive issues in particular, but also autoimmune issues and inflammatory diseases.

Twenty years from now it will be common knowledge that:

The bacteria inside your body is what determines how you get sick.

 

Respected doctors, like Joel Fuhrman, are raising awareness about the powerful role of beneficial bacteria in immunity and health. Read Dr. Fuhrman’s advice on bolstering the immune system here.

 

Not convinced? Here are some real life examples…

For 5 years, my dog has been drinking out of the muddle puddles that have infected other dogs with a parasite called Giardia.

The dog owners at our local dog park warn each other to avoid the puddles AND the dog water fountain because of Giardia risk.  My dog has drinks out of the fountain and the puddles and has never had Giardia symptoms.

Is it just luck? 

In a way, yes.

Because I’m a digestive health nut, I feed my dog a grain-free, raw meat and veggie diet, designed to bolster his good bacteria. He gets probiotic supplements, anti inflammatory fish oil and never eats processed human food.

His good luck and health is based on what I feed him. The other dog owners would have better luck preventing Giardia by simply changing their dog’s diet from commercial dog foods to holistic grain-free, raw food.

Then they too can have a Superhealer dog, who eats dirt but is equipped to handle it.

 

Another example

I’ve had my own immune system miracle take place. Before healing my gut and building up my beneficial bacteria, I used to get sick all the time. Chronically. Colds, flus, migraines, allergies, yeast infections, you name it.

After balancing my bacteria, I’ve only been sick once in the last 8 years and that was right after my wedding. Chronic stress is one of the things that kills beneficial bacteria.

Because of my new and improved immune system, I have confidence in my body’s ability to fight off disease. I never worry about getting sick because I know I’ve got an army of microscopic body guards to protect me wherever I go.

 

How to strengthen your immune system?

According to, The Human Food Project, an organization dedicated to studying our Microbiome, the best way to improve your bacterial health is to expose yourself to as many germs as possible. Being in a germ-ridden place can have a vaccine-like effect on the body, as it learns to fight off pathogenic bugs and develops a resistance to them.

Exposure to dirt and germs strengthens our immune system and adds bacterial diversity, but we first have to make sure than our immune systems are strong enough to handle what we throw at them.

We must cultivate our probiotic population and immunity with a bacteria-bolstering diet!

An immunity-boosting diet is high in fermented foods (yogurt, sauerkraut, miso) and extremely low in grains and sugar. Bad bacteria feed on sugar and grains. Good bacteria thrive on fiber from fruits and veggies. You can learn more about probiotic foods here.

It’s also common sense that an immune/bacteria boosting diet is an unprocessed, whole foods diet that is low in chemicals, preservatives and commercially raised dairy and meat (which are loaded with bacterial killing antibiotics).

More immunity-building tips:

Use natural, chemical-free products (skincare, cleaning, etc.)

Get sunshine

Get exercise

Get rest

Keep stress in balance (by finding ways to release it)

This is a big one (and few people know about): Limit your use of pharmaceuticals because they are one of the worst bacterial killing offenders.

 

HERE IS THE PARADIGM SHIFT I WANT TO LEAVE YOU WITH:

YOU’RE DESIGNED BY NATURE TO BE STRONG AND NATURALLY DISEASE RESISTANT.

STOP FOCUSING ON THE OUTWARD CAUSE OF DISEASE AND START BOLSTERING YOUR INNER RESISTANCE.

 

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