4 Ways To Protect Yourself Against Ebola and Other Viruses

As FDR said "The only thing we have to fear.....is fear itself."  I will not deny many things we fear are real and should be feared.  Fear is a lot like worry.  95% of what we worry about, never happens. Fear is much the same.

We fear failure - so we don't try.  We fear relationships - so we seclude ourselves.  We fear weight gain - so we eat less than we should.  We fear our children might be abused or bullied - we shelter them to the point we instill fear in them.  The list goes on.

There are real fears that warrant our concern and one that is sweeping the world now, is Ebola.  There is a host of articles, news casts, and posts written on this subject.  We do not have to look far to find all the information we need to understand this virus and its path to destruction.  We are warned to take precautions, especially in our decisions as to where we travel.

What I want to address here is our immune system.  I was born sick.  I died when I was nine months old and was resuscitated.  Throughout my childhood and teenage years I struggled with illnesses.  In my mid-twenties, the doctor told me I had cancer -- terminal, unless I had a hysterectomy.

I had had ENOUGH!  Something rose up from deep inside and I stood up in the doctor's office and said, "NO, I will not accept your diagnosis.  I will walk in here pregnant one day."  The rage on this doctor's face was evident as he spit his words at me, "Then, lady, you go home....you suffer... and you DIE!"

I had no idea what I was going to do and my only source of treatment was my doctor.  Sticking my foot into my mouth this far, there was no turning back.  In my memoir, I share how I turned my health and my life around but what I want to share here are two things.

First, fear of dying was a good thing.  It prompted me to take matters into my own hands and find my own cure.  Second, in my quest to improve my own health, I became a health coach, nutritionist and symptomologist.  Every single day, I am privileged to help people regain their health, to help them feel younger, look better and have a better sense of well-being as a result of better health.

1) What does all this have to do with Ebola?  A lot.

Every time I walk into a grocery store or a bank or numerous other places of business, I see the hand sanitizers and antibacterial wipes for public use.  I cringe each time realizing what people are doing to their own immune systems.  Every time we use these products, we may be killing germs but we are killing much more.  We are breaking down our own immunity.

2) Avoid many products in your home that could destroy your immunity

Triclosan, the main ingredient in hand sanitizers, weakens the immune system.  The School of Public Health at the University of Michigan shows that people exposed to Triclosan actually have a higher risk of developing allergies and asthma.  It kills off all bacteria, good and bad, allowing yeast to overgrow internally.  Triclosan has been shown to increase drug resistance to antibiotics and, like Bisphenol A (BPA)  it messes with your hormones.  Triclosan is actually in a ton of personal care products, such as soaps, deodorants, toothpaste and lotions.

Thinking we are protecting ourselves by using these products, we are actually putting ourselves at a greater risk.  I am proud to say our home is virtually chemical free.

3) The same goes for antibiotics.  The more we take, the better our chances are of DESTROYING our own immunity.  In our family, we never gave our children antibiotics.  There was no need.  The same is true for my husband and myself for the past 40 years.  Why is there no need?  Because we have strong immune systems.  We give our bodies the tools it needs to build immunity - not destroy it.

4) DISEASE CANNOT PENETRATE A HEALTHY CELL.  The stronger our cells, the more difficult it is for disease to take hold.  Neither my husband or me have had a cold or flu or any other type of virus in over three decades.  I never worry about being around sick people because I know I will not get whatever ails them.  It is a wonderful place to live - a place of no fear of illness. As a nation, we are so quick to take a pill to mask our symptoms, without realizing we are actually making ourselves more susceptible to illness.

My husband and I are closer to seventy than sixty and neither one of us takes any medication of any description.  Every time we have our annual blood work done, the doctors are amazed.  "You are off the charts,"  they tell us.  "Every year your health improves."  This is not a result of good genes or luck.  It is a result of giving our bodies the tools it needs to build a strong immune system, a healthy body and a healthy attitude.

What do you do to prevent disease in your family?

Photos courtesy of foodmatters.tv, drleonardcoldwell.com, scentastics.com