It’s been a while since I last wrote, and I have a good reason. My apartment building suffered a massive fire in February and I’ve been homeless ever since. Seeking a temporary place to stay, a new place to live, and managing the continual stream of school demands has been quite a lot for one girl’s plate over the last month, and although I had lofty plans to spend today at the library, I instead find myself forced to take a moment for myself because, well, this girl is SICK!
Yup -- it even happens to medical students!
Have you ever noticed how when you come through a highly stressful period of your life, you inevitably get sick? Have you ever wondered why that is? This happens to me fairly predictably, and I was glad to finally understand this annoying problem this fall when Dr. Jared Zeff, a practicing naturopathic doctor, spoke to my class.
Dr. Zeff began by asking, “Why can’t we find a cure for the common cold?”
His answer:
The cold is the cure!
Practitioners of naturopathic medicine believe that “every acute disease is the result of a cleansing and healing effort of Nature” (Lindlahr, Nature Cure, p.46). That’s why when you’re in an acute state of disease (cold/flu, other “-itis” conditions) you might find your body spewing out all kinds of waste products – sneezing, coughing, vomiting, diarrhea, runny nose, sweating, pus and other bodily discharges. These are all methods the body uses to eliminate “the bad” to restore itself to health. Although these symptoms can be annoying, embarrassing, painful, highly uncomfortable, or outright awful, symptom suppression is not recommended in naturopathic medicine, as it only prevents the body from doing what it knows is best for itself. Rather, focus on nurturing the body through its cleansing process by getting lots of fluids (for me, this means liters and liters of hot water), eating good, wholesome, nutrient-rich foods (that means no sugar or processed foods – sorry!), allow a fever to do its thing (maybe even try to increase it*) and rest if you’re tired, or, if you’re up for it, try some gentle movement to work that lymph fluid and get that river of junk flowing out of your body!
If you tend to get a lot of colds or other infections, a naturopathic doctor can help you to determine why your body isn’t functioning as optimally as you might like, and get you and your health back on track!
* A note on fever: Did you know that there is actually a purpose to a fever? The body raises its temperature in order to kill off invading agents. As long as your fever doesn’t get dangerously high (optimal fever is around 102°C), maybe even consider a hot bath or some heat-inducing foods and herbs (ginger is a good one) and enjoy the knowledge that your body is healing itself. Take the opportunity to catch up on the R&R you’ve been neglecting!
Dr. Zeff began by asking, “Why can’t we find a cure for the common cold?”
His answer:
The cold is the cure!
Practitioners of naturopathic medicine believe that “every acute disease is the result of a cleansing and healing effort of Nature” (Lindlahr, Nature Cure, p.46). That’s why when you’re in an acute state of disease (cold/flu, other “-itis” conditions) you might find your body spewing out all kinds of waste products – sneezing, coughing, vomiting, diarrhea, runny nose, sweating, pus and other bodily discharges. These are all methods the body uses to eliminate “the bad” to restore itself to health. Although these symptoms can be annoying, embarrassing, painful, highly uncomfortable, or outright awful, symptom suppression is not recommended in naturopathic medicine, as it only prevents the body from doing what it knows is best for itself. Rather, focus on nurturing the body through its cleansing process by getting lots of fluids (for me, this means liters and liters of hot water), eating good, wholesome, nutrient-rich foods (that means no sugar or processed foods – sorry!), allow a fever to do its thing (maybe even try to increase it*) and rest if you’re tired, or, if you’re up for it, try some gentle movement to work that lymph fluid and get that river of junk flowing out of your body!
If you tend to get a lot of colds or other infections, a naturopathic doctor can help you to determine why your body isn’t functioning as optimally as you might like, and get you and your health back on track!
* A note on fever: Did you know that there is actually a purpose to a fever? The body raises its temperature in order to kill off invading agents. As long as your fever doesn’t get dangerously high (optimal fever is around 102°C), maybe even consider a hot bath or some heat-inducing foods and herbs (ginger is a good one) and enjoy the knowledge that your body is healing itself. Take the opportunity to catch up on the R&R you’ve been neglecting!
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