A blog full of contrarian views

Yesterday, I spent the day being sick

Sore throat, nasal congestion, headache, body ache. The day before yesterday, same symptoms, only milder. I took the rapid COVID-19 test then, it came out negative. If we trust these test, so far, I haven't caught this virus, or I have been completely asymptomatic.

The timing was not great because I had to cancel a BBQ with friends. The event was planned months in advance (that's the Dutch way) and I had everything ready. The fridge is now full of BBQ-like food. Some of that will go to the freezer, the rest I'll try to eat it during the week, most likely cooked on the airfryer.

The sick day was spent sleeping, reading, listening music and binging with YouTube videos. I ate once, didn't drink coffee and avoided sugar. Some years ago I learnt that sugar suppress our immune system, so, the best thing one can do when sick is to avoid sugar as much as possible so that our immune system do its work.

The impact of sugar in our immune system is something a dear friend of mine taught me many years ago. She is not a medical doctor, her background is in sociology and economics (PhD level education), but she knows a lot about health and nutrition. I met her at the Buddhist temple, I was in my late teens and she in her early forties. At first, I ignored almost everything she said about health, simply because she's not a doctor. Back then, I still believed only people holding academic degrees had the authority to provide trustworthy advice in their respective area of expertise.

My mom also taught me how to take care of myself using traditional medicine. In the past, this knowledge was passed from generation to generation, she learnt from my grandmother and did it from her. I must admit I disregarded her advice for many years as I consider it “unscientific”—that's what we are taught at school, we should trust more foreign scientific knowledge than in our own mother's advice. I changed my mind during my twenties as I witnessed how my health slowly deteriorated while blindly swallow whatever the official health authorities prescribed.

I digressed. Back to being sick yesterday.

I followed some of my mom and non-doctor friend advice. I listened to what my body asked, too. When sleepy, I slept; when hungry, I ate; when craving sugar, I resisted. Despite taking snaps throughout the day, I went to bed early. This morning I feel another person, full of energy. Still a mild sore throat and occasional cough, but that's it.

I could have made an appointment with my assigned general practitioner, but he doesn't work on the weekends unless there is an emergency. Clearly, this was not an emergency, but if it was, you first need to prove it, which is not easy—I've gone through that process once. If I go there on Monday I know what he is going to say: “Do you feel pain now?” if my answer is yes, he will prescribe paracetamol, if the answer is no, he will say: “okay, make another appointment if you feel sick again”. In any case, I will be out of his office five minutes later and the consultancy costs automatically charged to my health insurance; the Dutch health system is quite efficient.

#Personal #Health