Baby Aspirin (TMD)

The Maker's Diet Chapter 5 How to get sick: A modern prescription for illness.

This chapter gives a list of 27 things that can make us sick and Jordan S. Rubin goes through each one and tells us how not to get sick. I am not going to list them all. I just want to share one that most stood out to me personally.

For those who do not know, I found out while getting tested for infertility that I have a clotting disorder called MTHFR (looks like the days of the week, kind of) Basically, it is a mutation which makes it difficult for my body to absorb folic acid and can cause blood clots.  I take a baby aspirin (or low dose - called either way) every day to help prevent blood clots. Of course when I found out about this disorder, I freaked out and thought the worse that I would get a blood clot and die...I take the baby aspirin everyday to keep my mind at ease. My OBGYN told me that this disorder is more common than it used to be especially if heart attacks run in the family. Since I am adopted, I do not know my family history. When I was pregnant with Landen and Lia, I had to take the baby aspirin and extra folic acid. I also had to visit the doctor more often to monitor their heart rate, blood flow and do a non-stress test. Each time I had these visits, I was anxious... I wanted everything to be fine and it always was. I couldn't wait to see the ultrasound and hear their heartbeat. Thankfully, God answered my prayers and they were both born healthy!

In this chapter, the number 15th way to get sick is to Take lots of medications. He states medications such as antibiotics, oral contraceptives, and corticosteriods my cause major problems with the gastrointestinal terrain, damage the immune system, cause liver problems, and later enzyme function. The practice of taking a baby aspirin a day to prevent heart attacks is dangerous, for instance. Aspirin can cause bleeding in the intestinal track and can be toxic to the liver.

Out of all the medications out there, he focused on baby aspirin. It really bothered me!

But he went onto say You get similar health benefits with no side effects by consuming foods such as cold-water fish, fruits and vegetables high in antioxidants, and certain botanicals that naturally reduce the Cox-2 enzyme and provide other anti-inflammatory benefits. 

So I googled "alternatives to baby aspirin". I found this website Natural News there is a lot of information that I want to talk about...but don't know how to sum it all up...so if interested in reading it, please do! You might find it interesting yourself (even if you don't take a baby aspirin). One alternative mentioned was: simple lifestyle changes such as reducing refined carbohydrate and trans fat intake, eating more alkaline foods (low-carb veggies and fruits) and exercising can  have a tremendously positive effect on your cardiovascular system. Becoming gluten free has become a blessing in more ways than one!

I am certainly going to try these alternatives. I already started to only take the pill every other day instead of every day. It is mentioned in the article that you should never go cold turkey on medication.