One of the anecdotes I like to share, is:
I come from a big family (youngest of 6) and my Mum is also from a big family (youngest of 11); the eldest of grandparents (my Mum's Dad) was born in 1887.... 132 years ago. Which means I am only the second generation in over 100 years.
If we think about how much the world has changed in this time, it is no wonder that our bodies have difficulty keeping up.
One of the major changes I have noticed in my life-time is how germ crazy we've become. "When I was a girl...", all kids got dirty. We were outside playing in the mud, the stagnant creek or pond, rolling around in the grass, having the dog lick our face and share our food and so on, and I was rarely sick. Occasionally I would get a cold and when I did, my Mum would give me some lemon and honey for my sore throat, some chicken soup and/or a cup of tea, and stroke my forehead while I suffered through the fever. She certainly didn't give me antibiotics or any other pills.
Today, I watched Episode 2 of the Human Longevity Project (click the logo below to watch):
In this episode I learned that the human body is a holobiont (a super-organism) that is made up of more bacteria than human gene cells. How we treat our bacterial garden can severely impact our health. Avoiding getting sick actually reduces our immunity to illness and disease!
If you are a parent, are facing immune issues yourself, or have just wondered why all of a sudden people seem to have food and other allergies and are constantly sick, then I encourage you to watch this episode. At time of writing, just over 18 hours to watch it for free.
The highlights document can be downloaded off my website.
When was the last time you walked around outside without shoes, or allowed yourself to get dirty?