Did you take your medication today? That's a question you won't hear asked at my house. However, before I got sick and we started the Maker's Diet, I took medication 3-4 x a week. Growing up, I had headaches frequently, and they only worsened as I became a teenager. I started having headaches and migraines 2-3 x per week.
I never left the house without a plastic baggie full of white Ibuprofen pills. In college, the headaches would last for days, and even extra strength Excedrin wouldn't totally get rid of them. And I hated taking the Excedrin because the caffeine in it made me jittery and jumpy.
I'll never forget one time when Mark picked me up for a date. We had just started dating, and as I got in the car, my trusty bag of Ibuprofen fell out of my purse. "What's that?" he asked. "Oh, it's just my Ibuprofen," I casually responded. Glancing sidelong at me, he asked, "Do you always take those with you?" "Uh, yeah," I stuttered. "I mean, I might need them!"
I honestly thought everyone carried Ibuprofen or some other form of pain reliever around with them at all times! It never occurred to me that this practice of mine was abnormal! It also never occurred to me that it wasn't safe to take these drugs. I later found out from a doctor that every single time you take a pain killer of any kind, your liver bleeds. Now that is disturbing!
The good news is that my headaches completely stopped when I started the Maker's Diet. I haven't taken a pain killer or any kind of medication whatsoever for almost 5 years now. I also stopped taking the Pill when I got sick as well. (I plan to do a separate post on the dangers of the Pill!)
And I haven't taken antibiotics since I began the Maker's Diet, and will not ever take them again unless under extreme duress! I will also not allow my kids to take antibiotics unless it is a ridiculously serious and extenuating circumstance. (I'm hoping that never happens!) We take antibiotics incredibly flippantly in our society, with no thought of what is going on inside when we do. About three months before I got sick, I took two rounds of strong antibiotics for a sickness. It was only a few short months later when I woke up sick that fateful day. I really believe that the antibiotics were the straw that broke the camel's back of my digestive, and overall health.
Medications should really be used wisely and incredibly sparingly. I won't even go into the billion-dollar industry that manufacturers of drug products represent, and the incredible greed that is present in these companies. We really have to take control of our own health, instead of following the advice of people who don't necessarily have our best interest in mind, but their own.
So here's what Jordan Rubin has to say about taking medication:
# 5 Way to Get Sick:
A Modern Prescription for Illness: Take Lots of Medications (p.88 of the Maker's Diet)
Every medicine has a side effect. There may be a time and place for the use of medication, but much of the prescription activity in the U.S. perpetuates health problems by treating symptoms rather than their root causes. Medications such as antibiotics, oral contraceptives, and corticosteroids may cause major problems with the gastrointestinal terrain, damage the immune system, cause liver problems, and alter enzyme function. The practice of taking a baby aspirin a day to prevent heart attacks is dangerous, for instance. Aspirin can cause bleeding in the intestinal track and can be toxic to the liver. You get similar health benefits with no side effects by consuming foods in the Maker's Diet such as cold-water fish, fruits and vegetables high in antioxidants, and certain botanicals that naturally reduce the Cox-2 enzyme and provide other anti-inflammatory benefits."
Let's get back on the offensive, instead of the defensive, with our health. Following the Maker's Diet will give us the health we need to avoid medications, and take back control of our health. As Jordan Rubin says, "You'll either pay the farmer now, or the doctor later!"
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