Autoimmune Diseases Suck - Day 130

Today is World Lupus Day:  http://www.lupus.org/newsite/index.html

I spent some time on the above site reading about Lupus.  Lupus is just one of many autoimmune diseases to affect thousands of people every year.  The Autoimmune Epidemic is a frightening thing.  What are we doing to ourselves that is causing our bodies to attack?  We are obviously a society doing just about everything wrong that we can possibly do wrong.  Plastics, harsh chemicals, preservatives, by-products, pollution -- artificial this, artificial that -- the list goes on and on and it's sickening.  It's no wonder our bodies cave under the pressure.  It's like our immune system throws its hands up and says "that's it, I've had ENOUGH!"

I know that's what mine did, and when it did, I wished I would die so the pain would end.  I wouldn't wish what I went through on my worst enemy.  At the time, I wasn't considered "unhealthy", I was very fit, ate fairly well (certainly much better than most), didn't do drugs, had recently quit drinking alcohol, and drank water often.  Thinking back, I drank water from plastic water bottles.  Something was overloading my body, and my immune system didn't like it.  Things finally snapped, and I went through the hardest fight of my life, and I'm still fighting.

We can walk outside, and the pollutants in the air attack our body and our immune system.  Then we go on to eat and drink things that contain chemicals that further overload our systems, until one day, it's too late.  Our immune systems are like someone trapped in a traffic jam that finally snaps and unloads years of pent up frustrations.  There are a shocking number of autoimmune cases every year, and an even more shocking number of autoimmune diseases, with more being added yearly. 

The best advice I can give is to purify what goes into your body.  Eliminate as many toxins from your diet and everyday life as possible.  Do not drink out of plastic, do not cook with plastic, and do not store your food in plastic.  Use glass or BPA free stainless steel.   Eat organic when possible.  Don't smoke.  Pay attention to what goes into your body, you never know, it might be the one thing that sends your immune system over the edge.

For more helpful information on how to possibly avoid an autoimmune disease, I strongly recommend this book:  The Autoimmune Epidemic by Donna Jackson Nakazawa