The Battle for Health
Dr. Bonnie Wick
“Since we have no drugs or vaccines, there is no way to fight this virus”. This was a statement made by an official in our government. This is the epitome of arrogant ignorance. That statement is assuming that the government and pharmaceutical companies are the only ones who treat and/or cure diseases. This assumes that our bodies are unable to survive without drugs or vaccines.
For thousands of years humans have gone through epidemics of mass proportions. During these epidemics, some people die, many survive. Some don’t even fall ill at all, even though they are exposed to the same microorganisms as everyone else. That has held true for everything from measles to the Black Plaque to very bad flu seasons. For the majority of those thousands of years, there were no all-knowing, all-powerful pharmaceutical companies to tell people that they are the only ones with cures. Diseases went away without the “miracle drugs” or without vaccines, and the population grew. Many people were helped with herbal remedies, others with homeopathy. Some just fought their way through it without any external assistance. The flu epidemic of 1918 brought out an amazing benefit with homeopathy. The homeopathic hospital displayed over 80% survival rate, while the regular hospitals had only about a 10% survival rate. It’s very sad that those facts were ignored and homeopathy was attacked and its hospitals eliminated.
Epidemiology (the study of epidemics, basically), tells us that epidemics or pandemics will strike throughout every lifetime. Some are extremely virulent, others not so much. But what they all have in common is that they all diminish, usually within a few months, some can last longer. Sometimes they return, usually not as virulent or as long as before unless too many weren’t exposed, then it can be worse. As we have seen, with this virus especially, some people get very ill and some even die, and others are slightly to moderately ill. Since there are no “wonder drugs” or vaccines to treat them, and we have “no way to fight” the sickness, why is that? Why do any survive if there is “no way to fight”?
If drugs or vaccines are the only way to fight illnesses, how is it that people have survived thousands of years without them? We have available to most of us, at all times, the best and most efficient healing mechanism available. It’s called our immune system. To this day, even with their “vast knowledge” and expertise, our smartest scientists and doctors admit that they know only a portion of how our immune system is supposed to function, and yet they feel arrogant enough to interfere in this finely-tuned symphony of communication. Our immune system is an amazing, organized, and intricate system of delicate communication and exchange functions. This vastly detailed system is the perfect healing mechanism when at its peak performance, with the sole goal to keep us healthy and kill invaders. That is the best way we have to fight any illness, no matter what.
Why would any government insist that only they can tell people how they can fight a disease, if they don’t even know exactly how the immune system functions? When someone says that we have no way to fight disease without drugs or vaccines, it appears they’ve forgotten about our own body’s ability to fight, and they have no idea how to strengthen this perfect weapon, even with many years of evidence using food, plants, and other body-friendly therapies.
In this battle for health, we should never rely on a government or large corporations to tell us what to do when we have this perfect weapon within us. To say nothing of the amazing plants and foods that have been proven over centuries to help fight disease, usually without any harm to the body. We should always do what we can do to strengthen and help our body live well to fight these battles within us. It should be the first line of defense, with our doctors helping guide us through the best ways to stimulate this system, and, if necessary, use whatever medications might help. But no one should ever say that we have nothing to fight disease except for medications from pharmaceutical companies. Even though our government has made a law saying that no one can say that any substance, other than a pharmaceutical, can cure anything, we do know that our bodies can heal themselves when given the chance and proper tools. Additionally, there are many plants, foods, and different safe treatments that help this healing process. The Natural Choice Family Health Clinic, in Mesa, AZ, can help you implement these tools into an individualized plan.
There are many things we can do to help strengthen our immune weapons. (NOTE: Remember, this is obviously for people who do have immune function that hasn’t been damaged by toxins or illness. For those people, we can bring in heavy doses of vitamins and herbs that help them, but their struggle is more difficult for sure.) We’ve all heard of most of these strategies to be healthy. Did you know that refined sugar, that sweet, addictive, wonderful-tasting poison, will attack the immune system and drop our natural killer cells? It’s been well-documented, with blood levels studied under microscope before and after eating treats with refined sugar. It was also noted during the Black Plaque in London that those who didn’t eat that newly discovered sugar did not get sick, or didn’t get as sick as those who ate it. Also, there were several doctors during the polio epidemic who noticed the correlation between ice cream, and other sugary diets, and developing polio. Both of those epidemics were also directly related to sanitation.
Back to ways to stay as healthy as possible. Most of us are familiar with what we should do to stay healthy, but we often forget or ignore because of inconvenience or just have other things to do or more “fun” things to eat. As a reminder, here is a list of what we can be doing:
1. Think right – it is well-known that happier, kinder thoughts help boost the immunity, and of course, laughter is great for health.2. Sleep right – sleep is very important. During sleep, especially the hours beforemidnight, the body heals and repairs.3. Eat right – this means eat food the body can use, organic, though imperfect, is better than our processed, chemical-laden junk that our culture has produced, and definitely no refined sugar, flour, or corn. Just eat real food as we were made to eat.4. Drink right – plenty of good, clean water, purified. You can add a pinch or two ofHimalayan salt for minerals, it doesn’t taste salty since it’s just a small amount.We should be drinking about half our body weight in ounces of water daily.5. Move right – exercise is a must! Preferably in the outdoors in the sunshine, but inreality, whatever works. Do not sit for long periods of time. Get up, walk around, domini-squats for a minute, or whatever you can do, then go for walks or hikes when able.6. Poop right – funny? Yes, but extremely important! This means at least once a day, but preferably after each meal. We must remove the waste from the body. If it sits toolong in the intestines, there is literal rotting and toxic resorption going on.Note: Although we say all these in different ways, I credit Dr. Bob Ratkowski for thisspecific wording. It makes it easier for people to remember.
Supplements are a controversial subject for some. Which ones, how much, and are they really necessary if we eat healthy? In this day and age, with our agriculture suffering lack of essential nutrients plus so many chemicals, yes we need supplements to supply the lack. The best are food-based multivitamins, extra vitamin D3/K2 unless your blood levels of D3 are ok with sunshine exposure, extra vitamin C, selenium, zinc, B vitamins, and others possibly if the multivitamin doesn’t have enough. Dosages are individualized. Supplements should be from a company that has shown integrity and dedication to quality control and pure sources. Do not get generic multivitamins from the grocery store. The best supplements are often sold through integrative/naturopathic doctors’ offices or, yes, some network marketing companies have excellent, high-quality, effective supplements, but not all of them. I’ve found a couple that are better even than our nutriceutical companies, but again, that’s individualized.
During epidemics, we should pay particular attention to all the above. If we feel like we’re coming down with something we can do some proactive practices like sit in the sun for a little while (if there is any), or take extra vitamin D3 (unless your levels are too high). 10,000-20,000 i.u. is usually ok for helping to fight a virus. Suck on zinc lozenges, that can kill viruses in the mouth where they often start. Take extra vitamin C – to bowel tolerance is a good way to figure that level out. Take 1000 mg an hour IF you’re feeling sick. Your body will tell you if it’s too much, but it won’t hurt you. Take extra vitamin A, yes it’s ok for a brief period of time. In fact, vitamin A can be an amazing antiviral. You may take 200,000 iu for a few days of a virus then down to 100,000 i.u. a day for the next week, then 50,000 a day for another week if still needed. You shouldn’t take the high dose of 100,000-200,000 i.u. daily for long periods of time as it can become toxic. But for short periods it’s not toxic, and in fact, very beneficial and a well-known impedance to measles. Best to ask advice of your naturopathic physician or functional medicine doctor or chiropractor, those trained in supplements and nutrition.
Herbal remedies as prescribed by Dr. Bonnie Wick and other naturopathic physicians, have been around for centuries, proven effective through use. Herbs like garlic, ginger, oregano, turmeric, mushrooms (shitake, reishi, and others), and many others are very effective as antimicrobials and some help the immune system directly, others indirectly.
Essential oils can be lifesavers for some people. Frankincense, myrrh, eucalyptus, peppermint, clove, bergamot, and others are all very beneficial in their own right. Usually, diffusing them through the room, or mixing with carrier oil such as fractionated coconut oil, olive oil, or grapeseed oil, and rubbing on soles of the feet or over the chest area. This blog is a basic guide, but for more detail, many articles can be found with more specific recommendations.
In conclusion, we do have ways to fight diseases, whether they are viruses, bacteria, fungi, or any others. It starts with our own internal weapon called our immune system, then we add food, sleep, water, elimination, exercises, sunshine, common sense, herbs, vitamins, homeopathy, and other naturopathic or integrative therapies to support the body’s health battle.
Remember: Unless there is a compromised immune system, exposure to viruses and other pathogens is important for our bodies to build up proper immune responses. Isolation is only the answer for those at risk. We cannot survive wearing masks and gloves everywhere and becoming isolated people.
Smile, laugh, love, enjoy each day with your friends and loved ones and be healthy!
Author Dr. Bonnie Wick