Take Care of Yourself

God made our bodies to produce health unless we interfere.
Lately I have received many e-mails from Christians who are filled with fear about their health. My passion is to help people overcome health challenges by balancing their bodies with proper nutrition, herbs, vitamins and minerals, and their minds and emotions with the Word of God. But I believe too many people are ingesting supplements without proper supervision. They are running “to and fro” seeking the latest elixir for vitality or the latest pill for eternal youth.

Some people are so desperate for a pill to “fix” them that they forget the true source of all healing–God.

Nutritional supplements do have a place in our lives. They fill nutritional gaps left by our poor American diets. But if searching for the perfect supplement or newest supernutrient has become a way of life for you, you may have allowed fear to take the throne in place of God.

Take comfort in this fact: God wonderfully designed your body with an immune system that acts as the greatest pharmacy in the world. It makes more than 100 billion types of medicines, called antibodies, to attack just about any unwanted germ or virus that enters your body.

It helps keep you well and healthy and makes you well after a viral, bacterial or fungal infection. It can even manage to stop a cancer cell from setting up shop in your body and multiplying.

All the medicines made by your own internal pharmacy are completely natural and custom-tailored to work specifically for you. They do not produce side effects, are free and are the most powerful healing agents known to man.

Your faith in God and education about your body can arm you with the knowledge you need to stimulate and support your body, especially during times of stress, poor eating, lack of sleep and negative thinking. In addition, renewing your mind will reverse negative thoughts that can destroy your health.

I recommend that you become educated on the subject of your body. The Bible says, “‘My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge'” (Hos. 4:6, NKJV). A good source of information for you is my book The 90-Day Immune System Makeover (Siloam).

Also, continue to focus on God as your source for healing. Have faith and take part in the process, but do not become a slave to it! Before your eyes, you will see and feel signs that will cause you to be in awe of God’s intelligence at work in your body.

Here are some practical things you can do to improve your health:

Get enough rest. Regeneration takes place while you sleep. Sleep experts agree that although seven hours of sleep per night is the minimum amount needed for a properly functioning immune system, eight hours is still optimal.

Control stress. Stress and a depressed outlook can lower immunity. Prayer is especially effective in managing stress.

Go low-fat. According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, eating a low-fat diet may help boost the activity of your natural killer-cells, thereby enhancing your immune response.

Eat less sugar. Consumption of refined sugar can interfere with immunity. A study reported by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that sugar slowed the ability of the immune system to eradicate, engulf and consume alien material.

Eliminate alcohol. Alcohol lowers immunity by inhibiting the ability of your white blood cells to react to infection.

God made our bodies to produce health unless we interfere. Notice the self-curing nature of many conditions such as colds, fevers, cuts, swelling and bruises. These are examples of how the body always strives for health and healing unless we do something to stop the process.

If you are too preoccupied with your health, take comfort in Philippians 3:20-21: “We are citizens of heaven … and we are eagerly waiting for Him to return as our Savior. He will take these weak mortal bodies of ours and change them into glorious bodies like His own, using the same mighty power that He will use to conquer everything, everywhere” (New Living Translation).