Recovery and Bacteria Health
Bacteria came first in evolution, way before people, there was bacteria. Bacteria even created oxygen (through stromatolites), before plants evolved.
Our bodies wouldn’t function properly without the hundreds of favorable varieties of these little buggers placed throughout the many folds, crevices and surfaces of our skin, never mind in our guts, our intestines. There is an estimated 4.5 pounds of bacteria that live just in our adult digestive track alone.
Ideally there should be a ratio of 85% beneficial bacteria to 15% ‘bad guys.’ This ratio keeps us healthy and our immune system strong. Processed foods that contain high amounts of sugar, bad fats, salt and simple carbohydrates, create an environment for bad bacteria to flourish. The ratio between good and bad becomes reversed and the consequences are far reaching and numerous.
This was brought home to me most painfully after taking a 2 pill dose of doxycyline antibiotic to combat the possibility of Lyme Disease. I had a particularly nasty tick bite where the tick literally embedded most of it’s body into my shoulder. Lyme symptoms haven’t emerged but I’ve been suffering from a devastated gut for months: inflamed bowels, hemorrhoids, constipation. The double edged sword of modern medicine has left me Lyme-free but my tummy and gut are traumatized.
Improving my diet to support the good bacteria has included:
- Removing simple carbs, grains and sugars
- Increasing raw and slightly cooked veggies
- Taking prebiotics to set the right environment for favorable bacteria
- Taking regular amounts of broad spectrum probiotics
There are several swell books on this subject of maintaining favorable microbes, here’s a few that I can recommend:
All of us owe it to ourselves to understand what is arguably the single most important aspect to maintaining health. The healthy gut is over 80% responsible for the strength of our immune system.
“Today, more than 95% of all chronic disease is caused by food choice, toxic food ingredients, nutritional deficiencies and lack of physical exercise.” – Mike Adams
“Those who think they have no time for healthy eating will sooner or later have to find time for illness.” -Anonymous
And from the original medical big thinker recorded from history:
“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” - Hippocrates
Couldn’t have said it better myself.