I’m taking a drug

I thought a title like that might at least make Shayna interested in reading :). I have strep.

I normally treat things naturally, but strep takes more than a week to feel better under the natural Tx options I’m aware of (vs. more than 2 weeks if left untreated). I am on vacation. I don’t want a miserable week, and a sick mom would mean a difficult vacation for the entire family.

I told myself I would start eating better after the 1st (after my birthday…after our anniversary…). Then I changed it to the 4th…Ha. It’s too late. After consuming entirely too much sugar in a week of celebrating and not remembering to take probiotics one time, I have to subject my poor baby boy to penicillin. The bacteria that has perhaps been living inside my body since Ben had strep was finally given the chance to thrive.

Here’s a nutrition lesson for those interested, regarding just one way in which sugar weakens immunity. The immune system’s #1 organ is the intestines. The “good bacteria” (probiotics) and “bad bacteria” in our bodies compete for attachment sites here. The “bad bacteria” feeds on sugar and multiplies. Probiotics are present in natural, raw foods and have been basically stripped from our modern-day overprocessed diets. They are now a necessary supplement. And 90% of probiotic supplements are tested to be dead by the time they leave the store shelf. The only commercial food with a good source of probiotics is yogurt. And unfortunately, even that new “Activia” yogurt that brags about its probiotic content has more sugar than cultures. (So choose plain organic yogurt, which ALWAYS has lots of cultures! It’s probably the same price.)

So it’s no coincidence that Ben’s first episode with strep came a day after eating an entire bag of twizzlers, and then the relapse after the first round of drugs came after an ice cream indulgence. So here’s my idea for a national health care plan – eliminate the refined sugar that’s in almost all our processed foods! Shoot. It sounds like I’m trying to push the burden for my health on government. That’s not very Republican of me.