Winter is coming...
You’re going to get sick with a cold, flu or stomach bug. It’s inevitable. Getting sick is a healthy part of being human. It’s just that our entire culture is fucked up about it. We get sick and think that something is wrong, that we have failed and we focus on how inconvenient it is. We run to the “good doctor” to get drugs and lower fevers when the body should be left to handle it on its own with the help of the right foods, herbs and lifestyle interventions.
Plus, money makes the world go round and when you’re sick, you can’t work. I don’t want to minimize anyone’s financial stress with acute illness. But that we have an economic system that doesn’t allow space for being sick beyond pisses me off. Until we stop valuing productivity more than healthy immune function, then we can continue to enjoy our dysfunctional bodies in the form of chronic inflammation, including allergies, autoimmune disease and cancer.
Look, many cultural shifts often happen when enough individuals change. So let me ask you this…
Are you up for celebrating your mucus membranes this fall and winter?
When you get sick, can you set your ego aside and really lean into it? Effectively saying, “I’m not a goddamn machine! I am a human being!”
Can you engage in one of the most holy acts of resistance against capitalism and the patriarchy by staying in bed and caring for yourself? This isn’t weakness; this is great feminine strength!
If you’re a parent, can you let your child have a fever or cough or whatever…can you tolerate your child being miserable or do you just want to make it all go away?
Can you embrace the reality that when you get sick and do it right, you and your child are really getting stronger and that you haven’t failed?
Well managed acute infections in childhood can set the stage for a healthy a immune system in adulthood. If you fuck this early stage up, you may not be able to fix it later.
So I don’t want to talk about prevention right now. We know how to prevent illness: good clean air and water, nutrient dense foods, less carbohydrates and sugar, minimal alcohol, the right amount of movement, avoidance of food allergies, stress management (whatever the fuck that means), rest, and appropriate nutritional and herbal supplements (please note the absence of vaccines). Yep, we know what prevention looks like…until our healthy habits get compromised and the body becomes hospitable to a bug. Then what? That’s what I want to talk about: how to be sick like a motherfucking rock star.
Ok. Are you ready? Are your mucus membranes all pumped up about getting exercised? Good.
Here’s how we ensure that we make the best of acute illness:
Stay hydrated. I know - boring! But this is a necessary reminder that the best part of your immune system resides in the mucus membranes which are moist. Your mucus membranes are performing a barrier function AND sending important messages to the rest of your body. If you’re dehydrated, then they can’t do their jobs properly. We want that mucus to flow! So drink plenty of room temperature water and hot h