A Natural Approach to Treating Food Poisoning
Food poisoning is a common illness especially when traveling over seas. Many under developed countries do not have high quality sanitation practices and ground water sources. Additionally food is often contaminated by preparers and by unsanitary preparation environments. What is the best and most natural option for treating a serious food poisoning infection, antibiotics, herbs, or nothing?
Antibiotics:
Antibiotics are not the perfect solution to any infection. Bacteria are growing resistant to the present drugs at an alarming rate. Bacterial resistance is when the bacteria that are targeted by a drug are no longer effected. This happens primarily due to current human and food train over exposure. Antibiotics are given to livestock to prevent infection. Some of the bacteria will become resistant to the drug and get into ground water supplies or contaminate the food supply. When these bacteria cause food poisoning or some other infection in a person the antibiotic will not work for the patient. Once infected, that person has also become a carrier of the bacteria and can spread that antibiotic resistant stain of bacteria to others and increasing the number of resistant bacteria.
Another downfall of antibiotics is side effects. Most side effects are dry mouth, sun sensitivity, constipation, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea. Sometimes there are more serious side effects such as jaundice or other infections. Jaundice is a result of an impaired liver or blocked bile secretion. This condition causes the eyes and skin to turn yellow. Some side effects can be life threatening. Recently the New England Journal of Medicine published an article stating that erythromycin increases the possibility of sudden cardiac arrest. By taking erythromycin a person is twice as likely to have sudden cardiac arrest. Erythromycin was invented in 1949 and was considered a safe antibiotic. It took over 50 years to associate this side effect to the drug.
Herbs:
With all the problems and concerns with antibiotics and other medication herbal remedies are increasing in popularity these days. Most herbs taken when a person become ill do not treat an infection but rather boost the immune system or mask the symptoms. Although there are many great properties herbs have there are also negative aspects. Many products have false claims about the success of the herb treating a condition. Herbal medicine does not have to go through FDA approval if it is listed as a dietary supplement. This allows companies to create a product with out fully testing the supplements medicinal properties or side effects.
Generally herbs taken to eliminate an infection would be Echinacea or goldenseal. These herbs have minor antibacterial properties and generally need to be taken before the infection occurs for a quick immune response. They do not reduce the infection significantly. Because these supplements are created from flowers people may even be allergic to them.
The herbs taken to treat food-poisoning symptoms are usually thyme and tea tree oil. Charcoal can absorb the bacteria toxins but does nothing for any other symptoms or to reduce the growing population of bacteria within the gut. The essential oils of thyme and tea tree oil have been shown in test tube studies to have some antibacterial properties to organisms that cause food poisoning. The problem with this course of action is that these essential oils should not be ingested without understanding proper dosing. The taste can also be somewhat of a deterrent.
Like antibiotics many types of herbs can have side effects that can make people feel worse. Echinacea has some side effects including fever, nausea, or vomiting. Herbs can also interact with other medications and cause unwanted reactions. Because the active compounds in herbs are generally not studied as thoroughly as synthetic chemical compounds, interactions and side effects are not generally well known. Herbal remedies administered without careful consideration to dose and combination can be more threatening than thoroughly studied antibiotics.
Other Natural Options:
Fortunately, there is a natural alternative that is neither herbal or synthetic pharmaceutical. There is an effective product on the market that successfully treats food poisoning and other gastrointestinal infections. New research on silver colloid products has shown they are effective at killing the common infection causing bacteria with no adverse reactions. Silver is a naturally occurring element that is found in air, water and food samples and tends to be consumed at around 150 micrograms per day.
Colloidal silver is small silver particles suspended in water. The silver particles react with bacteria, fungi, and certain viruses and kill them. The silver is harmless to humans and has no known side effects. Silver colloid with a concentration of more than 30 parts per million (ppm) is capable of reducing a bacterial load by millions of times with in an hour. Stomach Rescue is a colloidal silver product with synergistic oils that has thoroughly been tested on bacteria and fungi. Tests have shown that Stomach Rescue, by incorporating oils, increases the kill of bacteria and fungi over plain silver colloid by more than 100 times. Tests on salmonella, staphylococcus aureus, and e. coli have found that these bacteria cannot survive during an exposure of more than 30 minutes to the Stomach Rescue. Not only does Stomach Rescue eliminate the bacteria but it may possibly neutralize the toxins produced by the bacteria as well. Because silver colloid is safe there is no concern of overdosing or adverse side effects. Silver works faster and more effectively than antibiotics and is more easily administered than herbal remedies. Retention studies have shown that the silver is eliminated with the solid waste within several days of ingestion.
With the ability to eliminate an infection so rapidly with no side effects, Stomach Rescue is the most promising natural food poisoning treatment available. There is no need to worry about enjoying local delicacies overseas anymore. Next time you are planning a family get away to the Caribbean or Central America make sure to pack Stomach Rescue for healthy travels.