An article appearing in the NY Times, 4/14/09, "Stomach Bug Crystallizes Antibiotic Threat," talks about the dangers of infections that can take root once the healthy bacteria in the gut have been killed off by antibiotics.
What the article fails to mention is that "probiotics" - substances that contain healthy, living bacteria - can be used to re-introduce the healthy bacteria into the gut and thus lessen the threat of pathogenic bacteria like the one the article mentions.
In fact, most traditional cultures have relied on many fermented products - things like yogurt, miso, naturally fermented pickles such as are used by the Koreans (kimchi) and the Japanese. These, forming part of the diet, kept the natural flora in abundance and helped compete with pathogenic bacteria. Our lack of use of these traditional items, with the advent of refrigeration and the loss of more tradtional food preparation customs (enter "fast food" and microwave cooking) - has had an unexpetded side effect - diets deficient in healthy bacteria!
The book, Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon, talks about traditional foods that can help restore health, and has many great recipes for preparing these.
This deficiency may be one reason that we get infections in the first place, as the healthy flora not only compete with pathogens, but they also produce vitamins such as the B vitamins which maintain health. Additionally, healthy flora maintains the integrity of the digestive tract so that digestion and assimilation are improved.
Recently, I had the misfortune of landing in the hospital... and had to have antibiotics administered. Normally, I avoid them in favor of more benign solutions. More about that, later. But, after getting the needed antibiotics, I did ask for something to replace my natural flora. And, the doctors were all too glad to prescribe a product called "Lactonex" which contained one of the common bacteria found in Yogurt, Lactobacillus Acidophilus. This was given to me several times a day, and I'm sure that this not only speeded my recovery, helped my digestion, but also staved off any possible secondary infections that might have appeared as a result of the antibiotics.
As mentioned, there are alternatives to using antibiotics in many cases, and these should be considered if an infection isn't too bad. Certainly, antibiotics shouldn't be carelessly or needlessly administered. Some of the natural solutions to infection that don't included antibiotics are preparations like Oil of Oregano, Olive Leaf Extract, and Colloidal Silver. These are things that can be found in a health food store and may take care of a minor infection, along with good nutrition and things like probiotics added to the diet to help build up the immune system.
Oregano Oil, for instance, has great antiseptic properties, and was at one time used to sterilize medical instruments. Note that it's not the same variety of Oregano that is used in cooking, so just eating that oregano is not going to give you the same benefits. You can read more about it, here:
http://www.homeremediesweb.com/oil_of_oregano_health_benefits.php
The product I use, Oreganol, is a standardized concentrate that has the beneficial elements of the oil, and can be obtained from your local health food store or online at Amazon.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
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