A few weeks ago, one of my family members suffered from what appeared to be food poisoning. As a result, she experienced classic symptoms such as fever, diarrhea, nausea, etc. Obviously, anytime someone goes through this, if you were to ask them: “How are you feeling?” They would immediately come back and say: “Lousy!” But the truth of the matter is that even though they are feeling lousy, their body is expressing HEALTH. Now while they are feverish and curled up in the fetal position to provide relief they might not agree with this and wish for anything to take the pain or symptom away, but it’s the truth.
You see, when a foreign organism such as a bad bacteria from improperly prepared food enters the body, your body recognizes this and immediately starts the necessary processes for you to expel the unwanted bacteria or to prevent it from spreading. For example: bacteria can only live and multiply in a specific environment. Therefore, your body innately raises its core temperature, causing what we call a fever, which in turns diminishes the bacteria’s capability to survive. Another way for the body to expel unwanted bacteria is through vomiting and/or diarrhea. As unpleasant as these may be, this again is an innate, quick, and healthy way to expel something the body does not want.
Often times, I hear of people who decide to take a medication in order to get rid of the fever, diarrhea, or whatever symptom they are experiencing in this scenario. They usually have the best intentions for themselves or the person they are taking care of, but what do you think would do more harm? Letting the body do what it innately wants to do (all while monitoring the degree of the symptoms) or blocking the normal reactions with a medication.
The latter would do more harm. Although the person might experience short term relief from the medication, the processes for expelling the unwanted bacteria have been slowed or stopped which could lead to bigger problems down the road.
In my experience, almost 100% of the time, if we just take a step back and let the body do what it was designed to do, we will always be healthier at the end.
