With Earth Day last week, all the local libraries had displays of "green" books. Being a new home-owner, and having just left a house that was a mess and a detriment to our health, I happily picked up Prescriptions for a Healthy House when I saw it.
It seemed that most of the information was more apropos to those who were building a house instead of those who are making repairs and improvements. Nevertheless, I found some helpful advice as I briefly skimmed various parts of the book.
But there was one thing that particularly clarified a few things for me. Some of the testimonials in the book were about people who seemed "too" sensitive to electromagnetic fields or certain chemical smells or mold or whatever. After all, there are people who scoff at allergies: "It doesn't bother me." "It's all in your head." "Why do so many people have allergies these days when they didn't used to? Is it a fad or something?"
The book helped me realize part of the answer to those questions. People's bodies and immune systems can fight only so much. It's like when you get a cold after being chilled in the rain. The cold wet weather didn't make you sick; a virus did. But the cold wet weather sapped your body's ability to fight the virus, and then the virus could overcome your immune system. Likewise, people with good healthy constitutions can fight all sorts of attacks from pollens and plastics and molds and high-fructose corn syrup and so much more.
But when a person gets overloaded, he loses the battle. Those toxins or electrical fields or pollens just overwhelm the immune system. Maybe a person was exposed to too many chemicals on the job. Maybe a person lived in a mildewy house. Maybe a person was never tremendously healthy and just couldn't take all the average "hits" that Americans today throw at our bodies (McDonalds, vaccinations, white bread, Glade air fresheners, Flonase, etc) and that most people tolerate just fine. Once the person gets knocked down, once a person is sensitized, each little "hit" hurts worse and takes longer to recover from, even though the person could tolerate the annoyance the previous year. That's when people end up on whacky diets, staying away from gluten, or drinking carrot juice and kombucha, and avoiding pesticides on their gardens, and using wind-up alarm clocks instead of plug-in ones. The purpose behind those measures is to simply provide the body a rest, a "no-hit zone" for a while, to have a chance to recuperate from the abuse it took.
The encouraging thing I found in the book was that many of the folks in the testimonials WERE regaining their health and getting stronger, so that they weren't wallopped by every little thing.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
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Susan,
ReplyDeleteThis is how the allergist explained things to me and it made so much sense. Now that I know some of my triggers...pollen, trees, dust mites, and mold...I have been able to minimize some of the ways they attack my body. My body hates spring...I won't be opening windows much until everything blooms, then I will be okay again. Nasalcrom is helping greatly and I don't know the last time I had Sudafed (which was my drug of choice for a very loooong time!). We have covers on our bed and pillows and I just washed everything in hot water this weekend. While I feel bad that I cannot get outside to enjoy the weather...I feel so much better and I know brighter days are coming. It will be interesting to see if you start feeling better in your "new" home. : )
How interesting! I will have to hunt up that book. Glad to hear it had good news in it.
ReplyDeleteYep. My immune system seems to have hit some kind of wall when I was 19. I'll always wonder exactly what tipped me over the edge.
ReplyDeleteI have seen over the past five years the incredible difference that reducing the load on my immune system by using safer cleaning and personal care products can make.
When I take my supplements faithfully and give my body the extra boost, I notice that the things that irritate me when I'm out and about--perfumes, the scent of other people's soaps & lotions, ammonia-based cleaners--don't do as much damage.
I don't know if you are still reading back this far, but I have read of another interesting theory...that our immune systems can't take as much these days because we don't allow them to. Look at products for children today, and how we seem to want to sanitize every nook and cranny of their lives. I read an interesting article on the premise that children growing up on farms are much healthier than suburban and urban children, because they are around animal manure, dust, etc., and their immune systems are more developed. I don't know if this is why, but our family has never experienced any allergies, and we've never been overly careful about any of the things people tend to avoid when they have allergies. Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteKay, my mom is a nurse, and she said the same thing. She said we used to leave the food sitting out on the counter all afternoon at family get-togethers, and now everybody is told to be careful never to let food sit at room temperature for more than 2 hours. I know there are people who need to be particularly careful with their depressed immune systems, and to take particular care. But I think most of us are overly careful. Hey, this kinda sorta fits in with the cold-bath theory in the Beckett movie, and not being too cushy on oneself so as to toughen up!
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