Bacteria is everywhere but contrary to popular belief, not all bacteria are bad! Bacteria range from the essential and useful, to the harmful. Good bacteria help with decomposition, including food digestion. As a matter of fact, bacteria are used to create several foods that we love, including yogurt, cheese, pickles, soy sauce and vinegar. However, there are a few bad bacteria; the kind that will make you sick. If bacteria are everywhere, how can you keep from getting ill? Keep reading to learn how to fight bad bacteria to stay healthy all year long.
What are bad bacteria?
Only a small handful of known bacteria can cause disease. These bacteria are termed pathogenic. To cause disease, the bacteria must invade the cells of a living organism. Most bacteria will not invade another living organism, and many more bacteria are rendered harmless by our immune systems if our system is strong and healthy. In many developing countries, poor hygiene, limited access to clean water and poor (or no) sewage treatment leads to huge numbers of deaths from bacterial infections.
What happens if you encounter bad bacteria?
Bad bacteria can make you sick, while other bad bacteria spoil your food and water, making it unsafe. What’s worse, it can make copies of itself very quickly so just one bad bacterium can make you very sick. Bad bacteria can make your life miserable. Some bad bacteria are worse than others; especially those that are contagious. Different bacteria can cause different illnesses including the flu all the way to illnesses that are much worse, including leprosy, cholera and the black plague. Other bacteria can directly invade and damage tissues.
How can you protect yourself from bad bacteria?
One of the best ways to protect yourself from any kind of germ or bacteria is sanitation, including the simple task of washing your hands! There are also some medications and vaccines that may help protect you from bad bacteria. As more and more people seek more natural alternatives to vaccines and medications, it’s becoming more important to understand what mother nature provides for us as natural anti-bacterial options.
Rosemary: A natural antibacterial
Several studies have reported that rosemary extracts show biological bioactivities such as hepatoprotective, antifungal, insecticide, antioxidant and antibacterial. In the United States and Europe, rosemary is a unique spice commercially available for use as an antioxidant. One study suggests that rosemary may be useful in counteracting gram-positive bacterial, fungal, and drug-resistant infections. According to RxList, rosemary can be used in treatment for ulcer, inflammatory disease, liver toxicity, atherosclerosis, stroke, ischemic heart disease, cataracts, leukemia, high blood pressure, rheumatism, and as an antiviral agent.
Getting healthy rosemary into your routine
While you could add more rosemary into your cooking routine, many find the taste of rosemary a bit harsh. Future Pharm offers a supplement combining wild oil of oregano and rosemary, and will soon introduce natural honey flavor into the supplement. For many, a supplement makes the most sense to increase rosemary consumption. Fight bad bacteria all year long with rosemary and enjoy a healthier you!
