You can never make all the germs in your life go away. A strong immune system is your best defense. And sometimes getting sick is a good thing!

     Hi there, it’s Elaine Gardner, the founder of DesignYourHealthyLife.com. It seems like everyone is afraid of getting sick these days. And I’m not talking about long-term illnesses, I’m talking about short-term illnesses like colds, viruses and flus. Especially when other people are sick around them, there’s a lot of fear I see in people that they’re going to come down with it. And they get upset with those people for spreading germs, and they’re washing their hands like crazy or using antibacterial wipes and things of that nature. But they’re overlooking the basic physiology in terms of how your body works, and that it’s not always a bad thing to get sick.  
 
     So I’m going to, hopefully, help you shift your mindset. There’s so many different scenarios, it’s a little difficult to cover everything, but being sick is not always a bad thing. Bugs are prolific; they’re around us all the time. Some of them are good, some of them are bad. Trying to rage war and kill all the bugs is a war that can’t be won. They are very… I don’t want to use the word intelligent because obviously they can’t think, but all of the entities fight for survival. So microorganisms, bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites – are very adaptive. They work hard to stay alive and they’re always changing and adapting to their environment so they can stay alive.  
 
     While basic hand washing is a very wise thing to do, we tend to go overboard with those hand sanitizers and antibacterial wipes. I don’t think those things are going to win the war against germs because they’re always going to adapt and change so those things are going to be ineffective in combating them. And not only that, those items typically contain things that are damaging to the human body. So I don’t recommend hand sanitizers. While there are some natural ones that can be helpful, most hand sanitizers and most antibacterial soaps are going to be harmful to the human body, and the microbes will adapt to them so they will be ineffective over time and make the bugs stronger.  
 
     What your best tool is, besides those basic sanitary things like changing hand towels, hand washing with regular soap and water, is keeping your immune system strong. We have a very, very sophisticated immune system and it’s always working in our favor. But you need to work for it by taking care of your body so you can keep your immune system nice and strong and healthy, so it can do the job it needs to do for you when it gets exposed to those microbes. So that’s the first thing to keep in mind in keeping a healthy lifestyle so you can keep your immune system nice and strong.  
 
     And there are basic things that we should be doing to enhance our health and our life in other ways as well. Getting enough sleep, (which is so undervalued in our society), eating the right foods, reducing your stress, having joy in your life, just feeling good all around – those things help you feel good and strengthen your immune system. But as I mentioned, it’s not always a bad thing to get sick. Yes it always feels bad. Symptoms of colds and flus just feel awful. But again, going back to the fact that microbes are always shifting and changing, and if your body has never been exposed to that particular microbe or this particular version of that microbe, when it does get exposed to it, it needs some time to figure out how to mount an effective defense to defend you and protect your body. And while your body is figuring out what that microbe is and how to defeat it, you’re going to feel sick.  
 
     Some symptoms, one way or another, whether mild, moderate, severe, short-term, long-term – it really depends on the strength of your body going into it, the strength of your immune system, and then whatever microbe is going around at that particular time. But if you support your body during that time when you’re not feeling well and let your immune system do its job, then it will have figured out how to defeat that microorganism. And so the next time it sees it, it’s going to react to it so much more quickly, that you should not have to experience those same symptoms to that same degree, intensity or duration if you’ve been keeping your immune system nice and strong and healthy.  
 
     So there’s definitely an upside to getting sick that nobody ever talks about it seems. So I just want to encourage that shift in your in your mindset for you to take care of your body and your immune system on a daily basis, and not always to view microbes as a bad thing. We’re never going to defeat them, they’re always going to be around us. Having a good, strong immune system and letting it do its job, is a really, really positive healthy thing to do.  
 
     So I hope that serves you well. As always, I want you to have all the tools you need to get as strong and healthy as possible, so you can have the health you need to live the life that you deserve.