When I first heard the words “natural healing” and “herbalist” I immediately thought of plants, herbs, and green things. It sounded difficult to learn, confusing, and specialized. I have come to find that it is easy, accessible, fun, and rewarding. Best of all, it works. Everyone reading this has the ability to learn and be responsible for their own health.

I do think that two better words to start with would have been “natural health”. Healing is something that is needed when there is a problem; something broken, cut, sick, bitten, etc. And yes, often times there are these problems to start out with. I am sure most people have at least one small complaint they consider health-related that they wish to remedy. While there probably is an herb out there that could do the trick, often times there are other issues that need to be addressed in addition to taking an herbal remedy.

I have been asked about all kinds of health problems and the one thing we tend to want to overlook is prevention, nourishment, and maintenance of our bodies. We eat food every day and don’t always think much about what that food is doing to or not doing for our bodies. We work every day and we don’t think about how the position we are sitting in will affect our posture and later cause the neck tension that causes the headache that keeps us awake at night. It can go on and on. We can sometimes set ourselves up for some awful health problems without even realizing it.

I have noticed that every time I am asked a question about a specific ailment there is this list of questions I tend to want to ask to find out more about why a problem is happening in the first place. For example, if a person is getting sick very often I wonder how strong their immune system is. This is a very important place to start.

Your immune system
With so many bacteria strains becoming resistant to antibiotics, it is more important than ever to strengthen our immune system. Being sick is going to happen, but it doesn’t have to happen all the time. Not getting sick in the first place is so much nicer than trying to heal once sickness has set in. Chances are you will end up sick for at least a few days if you wait to treat a problem. Having a strong immune system isn’t only about not getting sick, but about healing quickly when you are sick.

The best thing to do is not get sick in the first place. Sure, if you start to feel sick there are things you can do. I touched on that a bit in the June newsletter with products like Berry Well, Ultra Immune, and even using garlic as an antibiotic. However, prevention is best. God gave us all an immune system to help our bodies cleanse themselves and destroy invaders that will harm it. Our immune system was designed to eliminate everything from parasites to bacteria and viruses. It is truly an amazing system with capabilities that boggle the mind.

The GI tract
The estimated surface area of the digestive tract is about the size of a football field. This system includes everything from your mouth and tongue, stomach, colon, and small intestine. It is all connected and plays a major role in keeping us well. When you eat something, your body begins to break it down. This process starts in the mouth with your saliva.

Mom was right when she told you to eat slowly and chew your food. This is the beginning of good digestion. The chewed food then goes to the stomach where it is further broken down and then is sent on to the small intestine. Once in the small intestine, it is further digested and broken down so that nutrients can be absorbed by your body. In the colon, or large intestine, the food is finished being digested. It is in the large intestine primarily where you will find there is a battle of good and bad bacteria. We come into contact with bacteria every day and our bodies are always dealing with it.

You may be surprised to find out that your large intestine houses over 700 species of bacteria. Not all bacteria is bad. The bad bacteria can make us sick and the good bacteria keeps us well. Maintaining a healthy intestinal flora of around 85 percent beneficial bacteria to 20 percent harmful bacteria is very important. Good bacteria, sometimes called bifidobacteria, are responsible for controlling harmful bacteria, parasites, yeast, and the production of vitamins.

Antibiotics
I have been on antibiotics many times in my life. I remember loving the taste of that pink, bubble gum-flavored medicine when I was a child. The medicine was tasty, but it did a number on my intestines! Antibiotics do their job in that they kill off bacterial infections that make you miserable, but they don’t distinguish between bad and good bacteria. Anytime you take an anti-biotic, you must follow up with consuming a lot of beneficial bacteria. After a round of antibiotics, your immune system is weaker and you may get a yeast infection.

Many women have at some point or another suffered from a yeast infection. However, men too suffer from yeast-related ailments. Yeast (candida albicans) exists in your body at all times. The good bacteria in your colon keep it from becoming a problem. When you don’t have enough good bacteria, the yeast will continue to grow, causing health problems like excessive gas, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, and other colon-related issues. Other times yeast can cause or add to problems like hanging on to weight, acne, and lack of energy.

Seeing as good bacteria is so important to our health, it is important to make sure we get it every day. Most of the time, we don’t get nearly enough from the food we eat. It is very popular to try and get this bacteria from cultured foods like yogurt. However, yogurt feeds yeast with all the sugar it contains and it doesn’t offer enough organisms in terms of quantity and variety. To get what the body really needs when it comes to helpful bacteria, look to probiotics.

Beeyoutful has a wonderful line of probiotics that will repopulate your entire GI tract with good bacteria, thus keeping your immune systems functioning at its best. Ultimate Defense is one that packs a big punch with 1 billion good bacteria from 13 different strains. Ultimate Defense also is equipped with a delivery system of fermented greens which feed the bacteria to ensure they make it to your stomach, intestines, and colon.

Tummy Tuneup is a great “first aid” for tummies. It is enteric coated, so no refrigeration is required, making it great to take in your purse or diaper bag and on trips. Capsules can be broken open to be put in your children’s food or bottle.

Acidophilus Blast is a three-strain probiotic and is a very economical choice for daily use. This probiotic is simple basic upkeep for your colon.