Salmonella has been in the news lately because of wide spread outbreaks of food poisoning around the country (particularly the southwest US). At first they blamed it on tomato imports, but then discovered that that couldn't account for most of the cases. Because of how wide spread the infection is they are having a lot of trouble pinning it down to a root cause.

I have an idea of what that cause may be.

Remember, as discussed in my article on Salmonella and Eggs, the truth about Salmonella is that it really can't take hold and cause any problems in a healthy human body. In fact most of us have some small amount of Salmonella introduced into our systems all the time. In a healthy body the Salmonella is controlled and killed by healthy intestinal flora in the gut.

In the laboratory when they take a sample from someone that they suspect may have Salmonella poisoning they have to add an "enrichment culture" to the sample to get the Salmonella to grow. Otherwise the other "beneficial bacteria" from the gut inhibits it's growth.

In other words, Salmonella can only cause trouble in a system with compromised intestinal flora. So if you keep a healthy intestinal environment you don't need to worry about Salmonella poisoning, unless you could somehow ingest a whole bunch of it at one time.

These outbreaks of Salmonella poisoning could just be that the Standard American Diet (SAD) is catching up to a larger and larger portion of our society. And the larger outbreaks would be where the Salmonella can grow the best. Remember that Salmonella is all around us all the time in small quantities. If we give it conditions conducive to it's growth, it will grow.

Processed foods create an unhealthy intestinal environment. The more processed foods we eat the more acidic our bodies become. Salmonella thrives in warm, moist, acidic conditions. Processed foods and chlorinated water, as well as all of our other environmental toxins in our modern world, combine to kill off much of the beneficial intestinal flora that keeps our digestive systems healthy.

People need to get away from the Standard American Diet and start eating whole healthy foods that are conducive to a healthy intestinal environment.

The medical establishment, in my opinion, is only making things worse. They basically tell people to eat foods that have been sterilized. Sterilized foods worsen the condition of the intestines. You can not stay alive eating dead food. They give people antibiotics which kill the good bacteria in the gut that keep us healthy. The antibiotics are less and less effective all the time as the bad bacteria adapt to survive them.

Individually the Salmonella bacterium are a stronger more resilient bacteria than the intestinal 'good bacterium' that would keep them in check (at least in an acidic environment). But, usually in a healthy system the 'good' far outnumber the 'bad' bacteria. Thus the healthy body simply casts aside the bad stuff and gets back to business as usual.

However, the modern American lifestyle has depleted the health of the intestinal environment of many people to the point where a Salmonella type bacteria can throw the whole system out of kilter, simply because there aren't enough 'good guys' left to keep the 'bad guys' out.

So, how do you make sure that you and your family and friends have a healthy intestinal environment?

First, don't do things that will kill off your good intestinal bacteria. That means don't drink a lot of chlorinated water. Chlorine will kill off the bacteria. Don't smoke. Don't drink alcohol. Avoid foods treated with pesticides as much as possible. Avoid antibiotics.

Second, do things that are good for your intestinal flora. Eat fresh fruit and vegetables and whole grains. Perhaps add Jerusalem artichokes to your diet. Get plenty of healthy natural fiber which is also good for the intestines. You can also use natural yogurts that contain live beneficial bacteria, or drink raw milk which contains those beneficial bacteria.

Make sure that you are drinking a bare minimum of 10 glasses of water everyday. Exercise regularly to help keep the immune system in good shape. Whole raw grains, fruits, and vegetables, along with plenty of water will keep your intestinal 'good guys' alive and well.

If you live a healthy lifestyle your immune system will take care of any stray bacteria that happens to come along.

Also make sure that you are not growing a lot of excess Salmonella bacteria in your kitchen. Remember it loves warm, moist places. Keep your kitchen clean and dry. Many people unknowingly grow Salmonella on their kitchen counter tops. (That's the other major source the officials should be looking for.)

If you already have a weakened immune system, it may be a good idea to take some extra vitamin C for a while until your body can rebuild with good healthy foods. (See my article on Vitamin C.)

Remember that health comes from within. We need to give our bodies the resources that they need to take care of themselves.

Just eat a high quality natural foods diet, exercise, drink plenty of good clean water, make sure you get fiber (whole raw foods), get plenty of sleep, breathe deeply and have a gratitude attitude.

Your body will take care of you, if you take care of it.

Coach G.

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Success in health comes from lifestyle described at http://ghlcom.com.

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Tags: bacteria, digestion, eggs, health, intestinal flora, salmonella, intestinal health, healthy bowel, poison

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