A hundred years ago obesity, cancer, or depression didn't run rampant through society. A hundred years ago people didn't suffer with allergies, and nobody had ever heard of autoimmune diseases. For years people argued that this was because such things just weren't diagnosed, but you must have your head in the sand if you aren't noticing that more and more people are aching all over and being diagnosed with all sorts of weird diseases.
So let's take a look at history and see how we got to where we are today....
A hundred years ago people were dying of syphilis, of typhoid, of numerous infectious diseases. Then along came antibiotics, and people not longer had to die when they got sick. The American philosophy that if a little was good more had to be better was alive and well, people started taking antibiotics not just to save their lives but because they thought they might be coming down with a cold and didn't want to miss work; because they were going to have surgery and maybe possibly taking an antibiotic would prevent the rare post surgical infection. In the late 1980's doctors started warning people that the overuse of antibiotics would lead to antibiotic resistant strains, and increased susceptibility to infections. Then along comes a normally benign bacteria like E. Coli (many others) in one of these resistant strains, and starts killing people. Stronger antibiotics are created, people start using antibiotic gels and sprays on everything, and the warnings of overuse are forgotten. Today not only are antibiotics routinely overperscribed (because let's face it no doctor wants to be sued because it was some new strain of bacteria that they did nothing for), but antibiotics are being pumped into the cows, pigs, and chickens you eat.
A hundred years ago people died of and were crippled by polio. Then along came immunizations that eradicated such diseases. These were deadly diseases, and our world has become a much safer place because of immunizations. But I have to wonder about our society's belief that if a little is good, a lot is better. Twenty years ago when I first heard anti-immunization people claiming that multiple sclerosis and many diseases never existed before immunizations, I thought they were crazy. And although I am not 100% against immunizations, I no longer think they are crazy.
What I do believe is that if we do not use our muscles: we become weak; if we do not use our brains: our brains do not function as well; so it seems only logical that if we do not use our immune system, that it will no longer function as it is intended to either. Antibiotics and immunizations both cause our immune system to work in an unnatural way. Yes, this can save lives but at what cost? Open your eyes to all the new diseases; diseases that are becoming more prevalent in our children.
Then we take an already weak body and bombard it with chemical stressors. A hundred years ago we didn't have heavy metals, hormones, BPA, chlorine, and an entire slew of toxins in our drinking water. A hundred years ago we didn't have shampoos, lotions, and soaps made of chemicals we couldn't pronounce and unknowingly infused with hormones. A hundred years ago we didn't genetically modify foods, pesticides, high fructose corn syrup, aspartame, sucralose, and an entire list of chemically engineered 'foods'. What happens? Look around, and if you want to see a better world start with your own.
"We must welcome the future, remembering that soon it will be the past, remembering that it was once all that was humanly possible" - George Santayana
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