GMO Death Fields

Forrest Pritchard, a farmer who grew GMO's in the past, recently said, "In order for those crops to grow, it requires death on a massive scale." He was pointing out that many of the GMO crops are genetically modified to resist herbicides that would usually kill the plants. This means these herbicides are now sprayed continuously on the food you eat and the land. They are sprayed over and over and over again. He says, "You can see it from outer space. According to the USDA, this year in America alone, more than 170 million acres of corn and soybeans are in production. At a conservative estimate of 10 gallons of glyphosate (the herbicide most commonly used in conjunction with GMO crops) per acre in dilution, this translates to roughly two billion gallons of herbicide poured onto American soils this year alone. "  Read Forrest's whole article here and see the photos of dead fields awaiting planting of GMOs.

The soil on our planet can be likened to the gut of a human being. Forrest Pritchard mentions that glyphosate ends up killing off all the plants on the property except for the ones resistant to the herbicide, but you should also know it kills off the natural soil bacterial biome. Just like our gut needs bacteria for us to be healthy, the soil also needs bacteria to be healthy. According to Don Huber, a world renowned soil scientist, glyphosate (RoundUp is one of the brand name's for glyphosate and the most commonly used herbicide sprayed on GMOs.) kills off good bacteria but seems to allow some of the pathogenic bacteria to live and thrive. Do we want to destroy the digestive capacity of our planet? This is what we support every time we purchase a GMO vegetable or eat meat raised with GMOs. 

Regarding your own digestion, you might find it interesting to know that Don Huber also says glyphosate chelates minerals so they are no longer as biologically available to us when we eat the food. Therefore, when you eat food that is a GMO it will provide less minerals that are actually biologically available as they are tied up and not available for digestion. Our gut bugs also appear to be harmed by glyphosate, so GMOs are bad news for our digestion too. Additionally the GMOs that are modified to produce the insecticide called Bacillus thuringiensis also appear to alter our gut biome and possibly cause intestinal inflammation.

The GMO farmers are now able to spray much more weed killer than before. They are able to spray it to kill the weeds prior to planting and spray the whole time the plant is growing to keep the weeds killed off. Prior to the GMO era they were not able to spray glyphosate when the crop was in the ground. Now they can spray glyphosate all the year around and this is why we now have so much more glyphosate being sprayed in the USA than previously.

Realize that we now  have soy and corn resistant to the agent orange derived 2,4-D herbicide. More fall-out awaits us in the future unless we refuse to purchase these vegetables and meat grown with GMOs. You and I have the ability to stop it in its tracks by deciding what we purchase. Just purchase organic and you are voting with your dollars to end planetary destruction.

I wrote up some pertinent details on a long glyphosate review that covered 286 research articles on the hazards of glyphosate written by Stephanie Seneff and Anthony Samsel in 2013. You can find it here.

I plan to read a more recent review of glyphosate and if it is interesting and you would like to know more (tell me below), I will write up pertinent points about that review in a coming blog for you all to read.

Please forward this to your family and friends. Please share with them why you do not eat GMOs. Purchase the book Seeds of Deception by Jeffrey Smith and give it to them. I am providing both a book or DVD link for the book below. The book is quite a bit less expensive.

Bacteria and Mold in Cigarettes and Other Tobacco

There are more hazards in cigarettes than chemicals.

We know that cigarette smoke is associated with chronic inflammation that leads to malignant transformations of the mouth, and respiratory tract. We have associated these health issues with the more than 5,300 chemicals in the smoke.  However, could it be possible that this chronic inflammation is in part due to the bacteria, fungi and their endotoxins/exotoxins and mycotoxins that are found in tobacco? A research review was undertaken in 2011 by John Pauly and Geraldine Paszkiewicz to answer this question. I read the review and I am sharing some of the tidbits in this article. For the full review of  tobacco research go to Cigarette Smoke, Bacteria, Mold, Microbial Toxins, and Chronic Lung Inflammation. http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jo/2011/819129/ 

There is plenty of evidence that bacteria and fungi as well as their toxic products may contribute to the health risks of smoking and of smokeless tobacco products.

Some of the tobacco-associated microbial/fungal elements include Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria, as well as bacterial spores and bacterial endotoxins and exotoxins such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (an inflammatory factor), yeast and molds as well as fungal spores and mycotoxins such as aflatoxin B1 (associated with liver cancer),  and fungal cell wall components such as glucans and flagellum.

These organisms can colonize the respiratory tract while they and their by-products can cause chronic inflammation in the respiratory tract and may cause inflammation in other parts of the body. Microbial/fungal-toxin-induced pathologies include instigation of malignant transformation leading to tumor growth.

Mold has been identified in the tobacco of popular brand cigarettes and in marijuana. It has been known that cigarettes are contaminated with tobacco since 1971. Some people switch to “natural” tobaccos thinking they are safer as they lack some of the chemicals. However, they too can harbor mold and bacteria.

In 2000, The Journal of the American Medical Association, addressed the heath risks associated with fungal contaminates of tobacco and marijuana and they concluded that all of the 14 brands of cigarette tested had some degree of fungal contamination, although not every cigarette was found to have a positive culture.

Bacterial lipopolysaccharides (LPS)  have been shown to be a component in cigarette tobacco and cigarette smoke. High levels of LPS are inhaled during active cigarette smoking and second hand smoke appears to involve inhalation of amounts that are dramatically greater than those existing in indoor environments that are free from tobacco smoke.

We can see that both smokers and people around smokers should not only be concerned about the thousands of chemicals in the cigarette smoke. We also need to be concerned about the bacteria, fungi and their endotoxins, exotoxins and mycotoxins.

The reviewers pointed out that the FDA does not apply the same standards to leaf tobacco or any of the smoking products or smokeless tobacco as it does food. I agree with the reviewers and think mycotoxin, endotoxin/exotoxin levels should be established to provide an adequate margin of safety to protect not just human tobacco users, but also those of us who are accosted with their second hand smoke unwillingly.

Rainbow Breakfast

A friend told me I need to start sharing some of my daily "secrets" of healthy/sustainable living in addition to the herbal medicine tips I share. So, I am starting that today.

I start by sharing my standard breakfast with you as it is the easiest way to eat well and get the nutrients your body needs.

I eat a rather unconventional breakfast.  However, it is a very healthy and yummy way to start the day. I call it my rainbow breakfast. I would like to share it with you, as everyone could benefit from eating one meal each day that is a rainbow meal. It is basically a big salad. However, many of them do not contain the conventional lettuce as it is not always available in my garden. As the seasons change, my rainbow breakfast changes. In the winter my body wants warm food for breakfast, so I eat my rainbow salad for lunch or I might make a rainbow savory hot oatmeal on occasion. I feel much better when I get one of these salads inside of me each day. Some days I even eat two. You might consider a rainbow salad each day as you can get a variety of healthy flavonoids, vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids etc to start your day off. Additionally, you get tons of prebiotics in these meals to feed your healthy gut bacteria.

The contents of the salad bowl are decided by the vegetables, herbs and fruit in season as well as the stored booty such as nuts, dried beans, grains, fruit, herbs, fermented veggies/vinegars, refrigerated fruit and vegetables, frozen vegetables, meat, oils, etc.

Today's breakfast in the photo contains raw orange and purple carrots, a raw yellow beet, cooked beans called Tongue of Fire, a few snap peas, hazel nuts and a salad dressing of raw garlic, balsamic vinegar, tamari and cod liver oil made by Nordic Naturals. (The fish oil tastes good.) I also added a few spoons of home made sauerkraut on the side.

Todays breakfast was super yummy and it contained dietary fiber - both insoluble and soluble (prebiotics), catechins, epicatechins, epigallocatechins, gallocatechins, apigenin, luteolin, kaempferol, myricetin, quercetin, protein, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin E, b vitamins, including folate, riboflavin, niacin, thiamin, pantothenic acid, b-6. It also contained minerals such as copper, manganese, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, (No selenium as it is not in our soil here, we have to supplement.) These are just a few of the nutritional elements I know are in here.  You can see having a rainbow meal provides you with a lot of health in one little bowl. 

For folks who eat meat, various meats can be included if you wish. I add a little chicken or fish to mine sometimes.  For those who don't eat meat they can make sure they are getting a variety of nuts, seeds, beans and grains that ensure they are getting all the necessary amino acids and don't forget B12 is often neglected. (If you are vegan or vegetarian and don't know what that means, please find out.) 

Make sure you change it up as new fresh vegetables, herbs and fruits come into season.

Planting Trees as a Solution to Your CO2 Problem

Have you noticed planting trees is slowly becoming a popular hobby? I am happy to see this, as tree planting is a passion of mine. The first thing I do when I buy a new property is to plant trees. Fruit trees for food, birches, willows, maples and populars for the bees, oaks for longevity, ashes because they are a nice wood for many things and they grow easily in my area. Evergreens such as pine and fir etc... As the trees grow, I notice more insects, birds and other critters appear.

I like to plant a variety of trees as they fulfill different functions for various critters. Each tree has numerous functions in the environment as well as things we can do with them. Some are edible or used as medicine, some for fire wood, or making furniture etc. The uses are endless for some of the trees. They all provide food for mycelium which make huge underground networks that are necessary to the health of the planet. If you don't know what I am talking about, check out a video or book by Paul Stamets.

All the trees use carbon dioxide and make oxygen. This is an important point which I think the world is catching onto. All of us critters like that oxygen and there is a lot of people concerned about too much CO2 and how to stop making it. When I hear folks worried about it, I tell them to plant trees and many of them think I am silly to present them with such a simplistic solution. However, if they took the time they spent complaining about CO2 and simply planted trees they could be helping the planet.

I hear many folks complain about too many slugs in their garden. I tell them their issue is not too many slugs, it is a lack of ducks. The same goes for folks who complain about too much CO2, I think we have a lack of trees.

GMO Companies Exposed for Using Scientists and Professors as Secret Front Groups

The US Right to Know organization has went public with a collection of emails unveiling how corrupt Monsanto and various research scientists are.

The emails show how Monsanto uses "independent" third-party scientists and professors to deliver their messages to the public.

The U.S. Right to Know group has filed state freedom of information act requests to obtain the emails and documents of 43 public university faculty who are secretly associated with Monsanto.  They have received nine so far.

To learn more about how Monsanto uses professors and scientists to spread their message that GMOs are the greatest thing since sliced bread go to  U.S. Right to Know.