As reported in the New York times the shocking latest statistic, The state of North Carolina uses more antibiotics for livestock production than the entire United States uses for the human population! There chickens, cattle and hogs are fed antibiotics not on a case-specific need but to treat diseases that haven't happened yet. That indiscriminate use makes the animals grow faster, which just happens to increase their profit margins and prevent disease from teeming in filthy conditions, rather than clean up the filth! The farmers add antibiotics to the animals food and water so they are constantly medicated.

What Is So WRONG with this premise?

This excessive use of antibiotics in animal food production is leading to the creation of antibiotic-resistant disease. Human overuse of antibiotic is but one aspect. The greatest and most hidden factor is the extreme indiscriminate use of antibiotics in food production. Up to now it was unclear just how many antibiotics were really used in the manufacturing of our foods.

According to the the first-ever report by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the subject of factory farmers using a HUGE 29 million pounds of antibiotics in 2009 alone!

In 2001, a report issued by the Union of Concerned Scientists estimated that livestock use of indiscriminate antibiotic use accounted for 70 percent of total antibiotic use in the United States. Then when all agricultural uses were considered, they then estimated the share was closer to 84 percent. That report revealed similar statistics estimating that nearly 25 million pounds of antimicrobials were uses in poultry, cattle and pork production for non-therapeutic purposes. Only 3 million pounds were used in human medicine.

That ration appears to be 8 times more in agriculture uses versus human medicine!

Understanding Why!

Your body houses this unique balanced ecosystem beginning with the stomach then the miles of large and small intestine  in charge of distributing the nutrients to nourish your bodily organs. Residing in that ecosystem is more than 400 species of bacteria. Bacteria are not all bad! These good bacterial colonies function in harmony with one another and if either is out of balance your system is going to go awry at some point in time. 

There are three main types of friendly bacteria: Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifido-bacterium bifidum and Lactobacillus bulgaricus. Acidophilus works in the small intestine. Bifidus predominates in the large intestine and bulgaricus is a transient bacterium that passes through the entire intestinal tract. These bacteria exist outside the body as well but not in the ordinary places you would expect. These bacterium are vital to your health and if you have added to your ecosystem an antibiotic, anti-inflammatories (ibuprofen, advil, aspirin, motrin, aleve, etc.) or chlorinated products ingested or bathed in, you have killed both friendly and unfriendly bacteria… If you eat prepackaged, processed, fast, excessive fatty or sugary foods weekly you have set up and unbalanced ecosystem and severely weakened your immune system! 

One of the common problems caused from taking antibiotics is a yeast infection. Yeast/Candida is a good bacteria but one that can hide when antibiotics are introduced then will continue to produce without the other good bacteria to keep it in a healthful balance  therefore will overgrow into dangerous illness producing levels. No fun, and can be dangerous if left to run amok in the body.

In addition to antibiotics you are being bombarded with food additives, chlorinated water and some medications that can upset the balance of bodily flora. Hormonal drugs such as birth control pills and cortisone are especially detrimental to the body's ecosystem. Even if you are not taking these things you may be without your knowledge!  Your body is strong and fights so hard to stay healthy that you may not notice the imbalance for years but it will catch up to you eventually, I guarantee it… Also if you come in contact with Ecoli, Salmonella or other illness producing bacteria your body will not be able to stop it from attaching to your body!

One way of balancing out the ecosystem in your body is with Digestive Enzymes for the stomach and Probiotics (good bacteria), which improve liver and circulatory functions, improve resistance to allergies and decrease the presence of yeast infections. Probiotics along with healthful foods enhance and restore the good bacteria. Small amounts of good bacteria are found in foods like yogurt and fermented foods. Larger amounts are found in probiotic supplements found in your local health food store or in a lesser balanced Acidophilus Milk in the dairy case.
 
If you have encountered any of the aforementioned, antibiotics, chlorinated water (chlorine by products exist in over-the-counter bottled water as well), drink or bath in municipal tap water, hormones, birth control pills, cortisone or anti-inflammatories you need to get your ecosystem back into balance now before other systems start to break down.

You say, "but I'm not ill." No, you may not feel as if you are now but if you frequently catch colds, have fever blisters, vaginal or rectal itching, dry skin, allergies, sleep less than 7 hours a night or a host of other small annoying symptoms you are well on your way to becoming more seriously ill! 

To balance your immune system talk to your local health food store nutritionists to get the proper digestive enzymes and probiotics for you. Or do like I do and take Probiotics that include balanced digestive enzymes, to start a healthy digestive process, from Dr. Wayne Garlands' arsenal of nutrients and supplements. Dr. Garlands' Probiotics have the correct balance of acidophilus, lactobacillus and billions of other needed good bacteria with which to balance out your system. Look online at  Probiotic Max Herbal/nutritional Formula 

My wish is for you to have a Healthy ecosystem, which means you will have a healthy Immune System!
 

***Lena Sanchez a happy Retired Medical Office Nurse/Administrator, Medical Office Consultant turned Alternative Health Consultant took charge of her life in 1992 substituted healthy drug-free alternatives getting actual pain relief after 30 years with fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue and never ending illnesses all kinds never solved with conventional medicine . Now committed to helping others do the same by educating on truly treating illness and disease rather than masking symptoms. See http://www.antibiotic-alternatives.com  Other informative health articles regarding prevention and steps to take to be the healthiest you can be found at Free Healthy Natural Alternatives To Drugs Articles