Edit: since putting together this note, I’ve refined my approach and realized a few things: 1. Like viruses, bacterials are much easier to quash than fight after it takes root, 2. I use ACV gargle, colloidal silver, 1g of Vitamin C, and 2-3 drops of ingested DMSO to infallibly KO bacterials, and 3. you get better over time, in regards to differentiating between viral and bacterial. But as long as I get the above ASAP – no problems with bacterial attacks.
This is pure speculation, but I tend to believe that in ye olden days, it was probably primarily contagious bacterial infections that with a source of sickness. What changed this, If I had to guess, would be bioresearch and literally monkeying with things that we should never monkey with – in other words, the age old trend of us being our own source of destruction.
But whatever the history, it’s quite clear to me that now contagious viral infections are predominantly what hits us. Well it’s not always easy to tell in the moment, it’s fairly easy to tell in retrospect whether an infection was viral or bacterial. You can Google charts that explain the difference, and they’re very helpful; but an easy indicator is whether or not you had a stuffy nose shortly after the infection – a heavily stuffed nose is typically an indicator of a viral infection, whereas if no extreme stuffy nose happens, it was probably bacterial. Are you able to ascertain with 100% certainty? As usual, no; But the point isn’t to convince the skeptical online public (who probably don’t care anyways unless they themselves get infected, and they’re perfectly willing to argue all sorts of nonsensical positions until it’s their rear end on the line – But I digress!); the point is to heal yourself.
Another fun little feature of bacterial infections is that you usually don’t get long-lasting immunity from them: you can get infected and reinfected and reinfected ad nauseam. That, and they can really smoke your gut bacteria, although the new lab viruses do that with precision as well.
In terms of figuring out if an infection is bacterial or viral, it can be pretty tricky, especially if it’s on the front end. However, a few things to look for (unfortunately these are not hard and fast – these are generalizations; you can see any of these in either type of infection. Also not that various sources disagree on the below, so for what it’s worth):
Viral:
- Heavily runny nose
- Thin clean mucous
- Sinus pressure/sinus headache/ear fluid
- 1-3 day incubation period (*unless it’s lab designed, then 5-10 days)
- Highly contagious
- Does not respond to antibiotics or natural antibiotics (*don’t recommend antibiotics btw)
- Lung involvement
- Non-strep sore throat
- Morphing symptoms
- Early fever
Bacterial:
- Chills/aches
- Dark green mucuous
- Fatigue
- Whooping cough
- Strep throat
- UTI
- Late fever
- Not always, but sometimes, contagious
- 1-2 day incubation period IF contagious
- Responds to antibiotics, but not viral inhibitors (*wouldn’t recommend drug antibiotics, for other injuries it causes)
- Responds very well to “fake” fever (sauna, heating pad + sleeping bag, noon sun, etc)
- Re-infection after apparent cessation, or getting worse after 6+ days
Both:
- Diarrhea
- Barfing
NasTea is amazing, but it won’t be particularly effective if the infection is bacterial. I’d estimate that for us, the rate of attack is about 20 to 1 – 20 viral infections to everyone bacterial infection. However, simply because it’s rare does not make it any better when you’re feeling like ______. So, it still helpful to take measures to minimize the infection.
Measures that tend to help with bacterial infections:
- Brushing teeth – resets the bacterial microbiome in your mouth, which is of course connected to the rest of your GI tract. I haven’t used big brand toothpaste for almost a decade now; I use water + electric toothbrush, or clay, or handmade tallow soap. The latter is my favorite; it doesn’t taste like anything at all, and it gets things squeaky squeaky clean. However, the electric toothbrush is just too easy, and so I use that 99% of the time.
- High proof alcohol mouthwash – I just use whiskey or something; No reason to go buy a weird product that has fake colors and agrotoxins; I’ll take good old-fashioned poison any day. This data point is one of the reasons I tend to think that infections of ye olden days, when they happened, we’re primarily bacterial, since whiskey or other hard alcohol was so often preferred as a remedy. Clearly, (especially in a day and age where people were more cognizant and self-aware) it must have worked at least a good chunk of the time, which to me means that most of what they experienced was bacterial.
- ACV (Apple Cider Vinegar) first thing in the morning: This will prompt your system to get going on stomach acid, and make your gut a less friendly place for bacterial invaders. You could also use generic vinegar, but ACV has it’s own biome (“mother”) – another dimension that probably helps tamp down excessive (bad) bacterial activity.
- “pumpkin pie” etc spices: cinnamon, anise, fennel, cloves (especially!), allspice, Ginger, turmeric, blackseed (or blackseed oil), mastic gum, garlic, etc. obviously not all of these are pumpkin spice herbs, but you get the idea: herbs that tamp down bacterial activity. As long as it’s not too aggressive (think: antibiotics) it’s good for your bacteria to be killed off everyday, and regrow at night. And, when there is excessive bacterial activity from a foreign infection, it’s likewise helpful to stomp everything for a bit – again, within certain proportions. The long-term health destruction from modern antibiotics is breathtaking: causing everything from leaky gut to food sensitivities to birth defects if Fathers take them. Bizarre.
- Immune boosters: echinacea, elderberry, astragalus, bee propolis, and even melatonin at night. Personally, I’m less excited about immune boosters for viral infections; viruses, especially synthetic ones, hijack your immune system and turn it against you. The last thing you need to be doing is increasing the firepower of your immune system and blasting yourself with friendly fire. Viral infections are also much more aggressive in their takeover, which is why you get a stuffy nose: that mucus is capturing dead cells that are being ejected. Amping up the immune system for a viral infection is potentially going to cause more die off toxins and more blockage – and therefore more extreme symptoms (and potential damage – too much to handle).
- Colloidal Silver. Some people swear by it; I can’t say I know much about it for bacterial. I have had some (but inconsistent) success with colloidal silver + DMSO on for sore throats – those two together are powerful biofilm busters (think strep etc).
- Activated charcoal. This is probably #1, IF you haven’t eaten anything for a few hours before (and don’t eat for a few hours after). And yes, it does have to be “activated,” otherwise it’s absorption capabilities are dramatically reduced. But basically, this stuff sweeps everything out – it’s a fantastic reset button. But it will also sweep out the good stuff, and be far less effective if you’ve eaten, because it’ll just glob on to your digesting food. This is also why activated charcoal is so awesome for wound healing.
- Live foods with their own aggressive bacteria. Also the best! Raw honey, milk or water kefir (HIGHLY recommend milk kefir anyway – skip kombucha, doesn’t do much for you – but milk kefir will), live sauerkraut, fermented pickles, diy fermented salsa (combine garden ingredients, leave it for a few days. I typically leave mine out of the fridge for 24h, then in the fridge for as long as possible), even diy fermented hot sauce (so good). You get the idea; get some competition going in your gut.
- Fasting: as always, the answer to every health problem. If you must eat: AVOID CARBS (aka sugar). No sugar = no rabidly-reproducing bacteria. No rabidly-reproducing bacteria = only necessary bacteria = not sick. This basic formula is true for everything fasting: true for cancer, true for viral infections, true for your spiritual life, everything. It’s annoying, but fasting is the best, absolutely amazing.
Anyways. If you can’t tell from this, we’re in the midst of a bacterial infection, which prompted me to write this. It’s very much like writing about Celiac: people tend to not be interested, unless they’re VERY interested. Funny how that works. More and more I realize that’s just how human nature works.
Note: this one is strange, insofar as NasTea has definitely still helped. It’s almost certainly bacterial. But this is the first time we’ve been sick in… I can’t remember how long. And by “sick,” I just mean that I feel somewhat icky, a little dizzy. One barf from the 3 year old, but the other kids are functional – definitely a bit off the emotional rails, but functional. Ironically, viral infections tend to be much more devastating in terms of sneaky long-term consequences (“where did THAT [insert child’s chronic health problem] come from? Must be genetics!” No it was from a viral infection + supermarket foods + agrotoxins); however, I’ve just gotten so used to dealing with viral infections, that I’m much more efficient with them, especially with NasTea.
