Day #42: Curative Powers of my body (100 days Gratitude Challenge)

Day #42:     Curative Powers of my body
(100 days Gratitude Challenge)

I have been ill for the past two days and have been sleeping and sleeping and sleeping non-stop. I’m the third person in my family to fall ill in the last 2 weeks, first my younger son, then my wife and now me.  Today I feel much better and hopefully, by tomorrow I should be able to venture out of the home. Thankfully I missed the chaos caused by the torrential rains in the last 2 days since I could not get out of my bed.

A friend of mine asked me yesterday, how come you fell sick. You take care of yourself so well that you should not be sick at all. I laughed it off yesterday but it got me thinking.  Is it possible to live a life without a day of illness in this day and age? We know of people who have lived an illness-free life and died peacefully in their sleep when they are 90 or 100 years old.

How did they do it and why can’t it happen now? Do you know any 50-year old who has never been sick? I am yet to meet anyone below 50 who have not had a single day of sickness.

Did you know why we get a fever? It is our body’s reaction to an infection and is a sign that our body is fighting it. Fever is a good sign. Your immune system is working and it is attacking the infection that has entered your system. Sometimes you get shivering before the onset of fever. That is a quick-fire method that the body uses to raise its temperature and fight the infection.  If this is so, why do people immediately take pills to fight the fever? Shouldn’t we allow the body to fight and recover itself? Yes, we can unless the fever persists for more than a day or if the fever goes over 103 for more than half hour. If we give the body adequate rest and water it should heal itself soon.

Our body has amazing curative properties that help it to heal itself. Dead or damaged cells are being replaced with healthy ones every second as we speak. We would have noticed it in injuries that we sustain where the bleeding is arrested by blood clotting at the injured spot and then healthy cells being born and growing the skin in the affected area. This happens internally too every day.

Our body is able to heal and repair itself. Are we going to make its work more difficult or are we going ot help it?

Here are a few things you could do to help your body repair itself.

1.       Get adequate sleep. You can argue about it, but the evidence is damning, you must get the 7 to 8 hours of sleep and that too between 10 or 11 pm to 6 am

2.       Avoid caffeine. You are messing with your body and it can take only so much abuse. Be kind to your temple

3.       Eat healthily. Avoid processed foods.

4.       Exercise. An active lifestyle gives you more energy and a more productive life.  Take the stairs. Walk rather than drive if it is less than a km.

5.       Drink 2 litres of water every day – one glass every hour is ideal.

6.       Give yourself a break every day for one hour – sit in a garden, walk, meditate, play with a child, don’t be yourself, etc.

Live healthy. Be happy. Your body needs your help to repair itself. Support it.