It’s slowly getting harder and harder to avoid genetically modified foods, but it’s still not that hard, especially if you do your own cooking. As of 2018, GMOs remain unlabeled in the US despite mounting consumer desire to know what exactly we are eating and drinking. Some companies have begun a voluntarily labeling process, but the protocols tend to leave much to be desired. Now we have gene editing capabilities using “CRISPR technology.” We now live in a time when practically anyone can manipulate the genes of practically any living organism.

While science has taken GMOs to whole new levels, the original intent was largely to create vegetation which would be naturally pest-resistant. Prior to the development of GMOs, chemical pesticides were much in the news. Scientists strove to find a way to keep crops free from pests without the need to spray carcinogenic pesticides often, but then GMOs came under attack as being harmful as well. Along the way, GMOs evolved as science found other benefits from modifying the underlying plant in question. Bigger, larger crops were possible which, in turn, was supposed to be a financial boon.

Most of the United States largest trade partners have boycotted GM crops from the U.S, including China, Japan, and much of Europe. Sixty-four countries have enacted GMO labeling requirements. Thirty-eight countries, including 19 in Europe, prohibit GMO cultivation.

Contents

• How Are GMOs Made

• GMOs vs Gene Editing vs Hybrid vs Heirloom

• GMO News

• GMO Labeling

• Do GMOs Increase Crop Yields?

• The Problem with GMO studies

• Current GMO Crops

• How to Avoid GMOs in the Grocery Store

• List of Ingredients That May Be GMO

• At the Farmer’s Market

• Foods Often Mistaken for GMOs

How Are GMOs Made

Genetically modified organisms are created by combining genes from one species into the DNA of a food crop or animal to produce a new trait. Because living organisms have natural barriers to protect themselves against the introduction of DNA from a different species, genetic engineers must force the DNA from one organism into another. Their methods include: Using viruses or bacteria to “infect” animal or plant cells with the new DNA. Coating DNA onto tiny metal pellets and firing it with a special gun into the cells. Injecting the new DNA into fertilized eggs with a very fine needle. Using electric shocks to create holes in the membrane covering sperm and forcing the new DNA into the sperm through these holes. Why is this done, you might ask? By inserting certain bacterial genes into crop seeds it allows farmers to spray otherwise deadly doses of weed-killer directly on the crop without killing it. Other seeds are inserted with soil bacterium Bacillus Thuringiensis (Bt) to produce an insect-killing pesticide within every cell of the plant.” – Vessles That Thrive

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GMOs vs Gene Editing vs Hybrid vs Heirloom

• Heirloom plants have been grown and saved by generations of gardeners because of specific traits.
• Hybridization is when two different varieties of a plant cross-pollinate.
• Genetic engineering is the direct manipulation of an organism’s DNA using any number of methods.
• GMO is the genetic modification of organisms. It’s been around for a while and uses imprecise methods of genetic engineering.
• Gene editing is now a more precise method of genetic engineering which hopes to avoid any bad associations with GMO. CRISPR is one such technique.

If you are anti-GMO, you’ve heard the argument, “All of our food has been genetically modified for years,” too many times. It’s true but the argument is irrelevant and flippant. Let’s clear up the differences between how genes evolve, how genes are manipulated over time, and how we modify the genes.

Heirlooms

The way fruits and vegetables have been grown and propagated for thousands of years is that the seeds get saved from plants with favorable characteristics, like color, shape, size, and flavor. Besides picking seed selection, which favors certain traits, the plant’s genetics are not manipulated. Today we call these plants “heirlooms.” Since these seeds can be harvested and planted year after year, a farmer does not have to purchase the seeds again.

There are downsides to heirlooms. They tend to have a relatively small gene pool. They often lack disease resistance. These reasons are why we discovered and started utilizing hybridization.

Hybrids

Hybrid plants happen in nature when two different varieties of a plant cross-pollinate, and we can do this with many plants fairly easily. Seed companies will cross two specific varieties of plants in an effort to produce a plant that has the best traits of both parent plants.

Hybrids enable more people to grow more food in a variety of climates while decreasing pesticide usage and increasing crop yields, and other desirable traits. The one major downfall of hybrids is that the seeds do not generally result in plants that are identical to the parent, and the seeds are often sterile, so the seeds are typically not saved.

Genetically Modified Foods – GMOs

GMOs are created in laboratories. These plants are the result of specific, manual genetic engineering, done by artificial means. GMO stands for “genetically modified organism.” This process alters the plant’s DNA in a way that cannot occur in nature. Genetic modification usually includes the insertion of genes from other species.

Gene Editing

CRISPR-Cas9 is a new technology that enables geneticists to remove, add, or alter sections of the DNA sequence by introducing molecules into the DNA that can cut the DNA at a specific location in the genome so that bits of DNA can then be added or removed. This method of genetic editing has many advantages over genetic engineering. It is currently the simplest, easiest, most versatile, and most precise method of genetic manipulation available, and the technology continues to get more reliable. The method doesn’t introduce foreign genes to the crop. It’s also relatively cost-effective, so not only are more scientists are gaining access to the technology (compared to GMO), but there are even do-it-yourself CRISPR genome editing kits for the home hobbyist.

GMO News

Scientists have found that insects have become resistant to the resistant GMOs, just as many viruses and bacteria have become resistant to the medications once used to treat infected individuals. GM corn, in particular, is designed to stop caterpillars from eating the corn, and caterpillars have evolved to withstand the technology. Now GM corn is being sprayed with more and more pesticides to combat the ever-evolving pests.

There’s a new kind of GM corn that may be coming soon. Researchers have discovered a way to add a single E. coli gene to corn that enables the corn to be grown with an essential amino acid otherwise that is only found in meat.

The EPA quietly approved Monsanto’s New Genetic-Engineering Technology called RNA interference:

DvSnf7 dsRNA is an unusual insecticide. You don’t spray it on crops. Instead, you encode instructions for manufacturing it in the DNA of the crop itself. If a pesky western corn rootworm comes munching, the plant’s self-made DvSnf7 dsRNA disrupts a critical rootworm gene and kills the pest.

Recommended: Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones

GMO Labeling

The USDA released a proposed rule outlining the ways in which it may implement the mandatory labeling law for GMOs, called the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard (NBFDS). It was passed by the US Congress and signed into law back in the summer of 2016 by Barack Obama. This is still a proposed rule and public comments are accepted until July 3, 2018.

Food manufacturers have been fighting expensive battles against GMO for years. The concern is that they would deter customers, giving an advantage to organic food producers (organic food is not allowed to be genetically modified).

GMO labeling advocates are concerned with the friendly, “smiley” nature of the images.

Will GMO Labels Include All Genetically Modified Foods?

No.

From The New York Times:

New gene-editing technologies let scientists tweak the DNA of plants and animals with great speed and precision, often by deleting a snippet of genetic information, or by inserting a desirable trait from one breed into another of the same species. Crops that contain such changes, which could theoretically be achieved through conventional breeding, or occur through a natural mutation, are excluded from the proposed labels.

The labels may also exempt highly refined sugars and oils, like those made from genetically modified sugar beets and corn, which typically contain no genetic material after being processed. Consumer groups oppose that move, which could significantly curtail the number of foods that carry the label, saying that it’s not just what we ingest that matters but how food is produced. Foods whose primary ingredient is non-G.M.O. meat, like beef stew, also don’t have to be labeled, even if they contain other genetically engineered ingredients.

Vitamin C derived from GM corn, vitamin E derived from soy, and vitamin B2 and B12 derived from GM yeast would also be exempt, and so would CRISPR genome edited foods and Monsanto’s new genetically engineered RNA interference foods as well.

Do GMOs Increase Crop Yields?

At the time of this publication, there is a meta-study being pushed by the pro-GMO media titled, Impact of genetically engineered
maize on agronomic, environmental and toxicological traits: a meta-analysis of 21 years of field data. Articles touting the review read something like:

The analysis 6,006 peer-reviewed studies covering two decades of data found that GM corn increased yields up to 25% and dramatically decreased dangerous food toxins.

While 6,000 is a big number, only 72 studies were used in the review, and only 32 of the studies were deemed acceptable for the analysis of increased crop yields.

The first step of the selection procedure yielded 6,006 publications. Te subsequent refinement, by adopting the stringent criteria above described, gave 32, 5, 32 and 10 eligible publications, covering, respectively, the following categories: grain yield and quality, TOs, NTOs (non-target organisms), and biogeochemical cycles (e.g. lignin content in stalks and leaves, stalk mass loss and biomass loss, CO2 emission).

Also, it’s important to note that this is a review of many other studies over a 21 year period, not a 21 year study. The individual studies that were accepted into the analysis were comparatively short.

The reality is that GMOs, like pesticides, will increase crop yields for a period of time, but the increase is followed by an eventual and inevitable decrease in yields. Pesticides do their job until pests evolve, and the same is true of GMOs. The only way to keep crop yields high would be to develop GMOs at such a high rate that there would be no time for any reasonable testing, though many argue the tests that are done on GM food now are not adequate. With how easy and inexpensive CRISPR technology is to use, this may be how big agriculture will try to keep up with pest evolution.

From the same study:

Despite the high effectiveness of IR crops, the evolution of resistance in pests and a consequent reduction of
the GE crop efectiveness can not be excluded. Actually, resistance and cross-resistance to Bt maize were recently
detected in Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Puerto Rico, Busseola fusca (Fuller)
(Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in South Africa and in the Coleoptera D. virgifera in Iowa.

From another paper published in Oxford Research:

Repeated use of a single pesticide over time leads to the development of resistance in populations of the target species. The extensive use of a limited number of pesticides facilitated by GM crops does accelerate the evolution of resistant pest populations (Bawa & Anilakumar, 2013). Resistance evolution is a function of selection pressure from use of the pesticide and as such it is not directly a function of GM HT crops for example, but GM HT crops have accelerated the development of glyphosate resistant weeds because they have promoted a tremendous increase in the use of glyphosate (Owen, 2009).” – Pros and Cons of GMO Crop Farming 

Recommended: How to Detox From Plastics and Other Endocrine Disruptors

The problem with GMO studies

There have been some long-term studies of GMOs on animals, but these studies only compare animals in factory farming conditions where their health is already poor compared to free range livestock. Long-term GMO studies generally mean the study looks at a few years, which does not yield adequate time to see the differences in which of the unhealthy groups of animals are less healthy.

Initially, the goal of GM crops was to reduce crop loss from pests and reduce toxic pesticide and herbicide usage. Washington State University researcher Charles Benbrook demonstrated that the net effect of GMOs in the United States has caused a rise in the use of toxic chemical inputs. As the pests adapt to GMOs, more and more pesticides are needed to maintain crop yields.

Humans are the true long-term study participants, and many argue that it’s not looking good for GMOs. Autism rates are skyrocketing, as well as food allergies and other health issues, but the problem is that this can be (and should be) attributed to a wide variety of accumulated toxins, from the air we breathe to the water we drink as well as the medicines we take and inject ourselves with.

But none of this addresses the real problem with GMO studies. The real problem is that are agriculture system is all wrong in a multitude of ways. Good health is not profitable to U.S. industry with the way we have things set up now. Food is grown for high yields, uniform appearance, and shelf-life, not health.

We don’t need a study that compares the benefits of GM soybeans to non-GM soybeans. There may be little difference between GMO corn and conventionally grown corn, and there may even be little difference between GM corn and large-scale “organic” corn, especially considering how organic rules continue to be eroded by agriculture lobbyists.

We need small-scale farming that includes crop rotation and other sustainable practices, and we need to research and see which of these beneficial practices can be scaled up and how.

Current GM Crops

The most prevalent of GM crops grown today are sugar beets, soy, canola, cotton, and corn. In the United States, 93 percent of soybeans and 88 percent of corn is genetically modified, but only a few GM whole foods are available in the produce section, for now. At this time, look out for sweet corn, squash, alfalfa, and the latest addition, Arctic apples. GM potatoes are coming soon. AquAdvantage salmon has been sold in Canada and is coming to the U.S. any time now. Plenty more are on the way.

I’ve color coded the crops. Red means they are prevalent, and one must be vigilant to avoid them. Orange means they are not very common and easily avoidable. Black means that they are not available for consumption at this time. Click each one for more information.

• Yeast – This is approved in the United States for making wine and is used for making vitamins and other things.
• Tomato – The Flavr Savr is no longer available.
• Squash – GM zucchini and summer squash are not very common, but they are available, and they are impossible to detect.
• Flax – Not commercially produced, but GM flax has been found in Canada’s flax crops.
• Soybean – The second-largest US crop after corn, more than 90% are GMO.
• Cotton – 94% of cotton grown in the U.S. is a GMO.
• Corn – Is most prominent GM crop in the world, includes field corn and newly introduced sweet corn.
• Papaya – GM papaya accounts for about 75% of the all papayas produced in the U.S.
• Canola – An estimated 90% of U.S. canola grown is genetically modified. Canola oil is used in cooking and biofuels.
• Plums – The GM plum, called c5, has not yet been approved. It is genetically altered to resist the mutation of the Plum Pox Virus.
• Alfalfa – It’s only supposed to be grown to feed livestock, but there are reports of the GMO contaminating other crops.
• Sugarbeets – The root is white, contains high concentrations of sucrose, and is grown commercially for sugar.
• Pineapple – It’s not available yet. If it is approved, it will be in canned pineapple.
• Wheat – Not commercially available yet, but there have been some reports of GM wheat infiltrating non-GM crops.
• Potatoes – The only GM potato for sale is the White Russet, but other GM potato varieties are coming soon.
• Apples – Non-browning fuji and granny smith apples are available at a few stores, in packages labeled as “Artic Apples”.
• Salmon – Right now they are just sold in Canada and none have escaped confinement that we know of.
• Rice – Two varieties have been approved, but they are not being produced commercially, and are not for sale in the U.S.
• Bananas – They are not on the market yet, but they are expected soon.
• Microbes – Enzymes, Hormones, and bacteria have also been genetically modified. Aspartame is produced from the excreta of GM E. Coli.

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Genetically Modified Microbes – Yeast, Enzymes, and Bacteria

When thinking of genetically modified organisms, usually the plants and animals come to mind. Genetic modification of plants and animals are used to enhance taste, shelf life, nutrition and crop losses from pests and disease.

The very first GMO created was done in the 1970s, and it was bacteria, specifically, E. coli. Researchers created GM bacteria that produced human proteins like as insulin and blood clotting factors. A wide variety of drugs, hormones, and other medical products are created with the use of genetically modified microbes.

Genetically modified enzymes are used to make cheese, bread, alcohols, sugars, and more. Food additives are also made by GM microbes, including, but not limited to vitamin E, B2, B12, C, amino acids (aspartame), xanthan, and nisin (a food preservative). These items typically do not contain any GMO material in the final product.

Since the 1980s, GM bacteria have even been purposefully released into the environment, after approval by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In 1985, researchers took bacteria that normally encourage ice formation on plants, and got rid of a gene that they needed to do this. Consequently, plants with the modified bacteria don’t form frost until around 23°F, saving the plants from damages brought upon by an early frost, or unusually cold weather. Soon after that, researchers made and released bacteria that were even better at nitrogen-fixation to help legume plants (like beans, lentils, peanuts, soy, and more). Bacteria have even been made to clean up the environment – some have been modified to break down a compound related to TNT. Ongoing work is being done to see how long the bacteria persist in the soil (often they’re undetectable after a few weeks or a year, but sometimes they persist for more than two years based on some studies) to address any complications from releasing them, such as interactions with the “normal” bacteria and other organisms.” – Biology Bytes

In recent news, enzymes have been modified to break down plastics, but we also heard this about bacteria a couple of years ago, and our plastic problem is only getting worse, and fast.

Genetically modified yeast is used in making wine, and researchers have recently developed a genetically modified yeast that mimics the flavors of hops for beer production.

Genetically Modified Tomatoes

The FLAVR SAVR tomato was the first commercialized GM crop. It was first sold in 1994. It was only available for a few years before production ended in 1997. There are no GM tomatoes in production at this time. There was a disease-resistant GM tomato that designed to eliminate the need for copper pesticides, but researchers were unable to find a partner to commercialize the technology thanks to public fears.

Genetically Modified Squash

Zucchini and yellow summer squash became commercially available in the late-’90s and is grown on an estimated 24,000 acres today. Genetically modified zucchini has an added toxic protein that makes it more resistant to insects. The protein has recently been found in our blood, including pregnant women and their fetuses. To avoid GM squash, always buy organic when buying yellow summer squash or zucchini. Other varieties are not GMO.

Genetically Modified Flax

Canada’s flax crop has been contaminated with trace amounts of a GMO flax, known as Triffid, named after the 1960s horror flick that starred a villainous breed of carnivorous plants. This is proving to be a big problem for Canada’s flax market since Europe has banned further imports of flaxseed from Canada. The contamination is likely to slowly spread. If your flax doesn’t come from Canada you should be safe from the GMO version, but buying organic from a reputable source is the safest option.

Genetically Modified Soybeans

Known as the Roundup Ready soybean, the seed was first introduced in 1996 by Monsanto to make soy crops resistant to Roundup so that farmers were able to spray large amounts of the herbicide on the soy to kill weeds and other unwanted plants without killing the crop.

It’s the second largest U.S. crop after corn is the GM soy. It’s grown for animal feed and soybean oil production, which is widely used for processed foods and is also common in restaurant chains. Reports say that soybean oil makes up 61% of Americans’ vegetable-oil consumption. Soybean oil is used to make an emulsifier called soy lecithin, prevalent in lots of processed foods and health supplements. Any time you see soy listed as an ingredient, make sure it’s certified non-GMO or it’s organic. It’s also important to purchase from a reputable company that tests for GMO contamination since GM soy has been discovered in organic foods, especially processed foods coming from Asia and Latin America.

Genetically Modified Cotton

Non-organic cotton is one of the most chemically-laden crops in the world. Over 90 percent of the cotton grown in the U.S. is GM, designed to make the plant produce a protein that kills insect larva like the bollworm, and it’s also engineered to survive heavy doses of Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide. This genetic modification involves adding a bacterium called Bacillus thuringiensis, hence the name Bt cotton.

GM cotton is turned into cottonseed oil, commonly used for frying in restaurants and in packaged foods like potato chips, oily spreads like margarine, even things like cans of smoked oysters. Much of the plant is also used in animal feed, and what’s left over can be used to create food fillers such as cellulose.

Many consumers are careful to purchase organic cotton clothing, citing concerns of cotton picker’s welfare, environmental issues, and the prevalence of toxic residue on the clothing, but this crop is extremely resource-intensive, and organic cotton crops yield about half of the cotton in the same amount of space compared to GM cotton. For the sake of our ecosystem, please avoid cotton as much as possible, forgo the latest trends in fashion, keep your clothes as long as possible, and shop for used clothing at consignment stores.

Recommended: Doctors Against GMOs

Genetically Modified Corn

Corn, also called maize, is native to Mexico. At the time of publication, there are 142 varieties of genetically modified corn.

About 90% of all the corn grown in the United States goes to feed livestock and to produce biofuels. About 9% is processed into high-fructose corn syrup, corn starch, corn oil, or used as the source material for some alcohols and citric acid. Recent additions of GM corn have been developed for drought tolerance, improved ethanol production, and to increase the lysine.

A few years ago corn on the cobb was safe for GMO opponents, but now we have Performance Series Sweet Corn produced by Seminis and Roundup-ready sweet corn by Monsanto, available on store shelves, and becoming more and more prevalent quickly.

GM corn contamination is becoming more and more prevalent in organic corn crops. If you eat meat or a typically modern diet of processed foods, it’s probably impossible to avoid GM corn without changing your eating habits. If corn is an ingredient on the package, you’ll need to know that the company is very careful to eliminate potential contamination. If you’re eating meat, we suggest only buying from small, local, free-range farms that take great care to ensure that any feed they use is never contaminated. GM corn seems to be taking over the industry, and at this time it seems to be inevitable. Corn is also an extremely resource intensive crop to produce, so we recommend avoiding it whenever possible.

Incidentally, corn is one of the reasons e. Coli can infect and harm us humans. Corn is inflammatory and acidic, especially GM corn. Conventional cows and other livestock are fed lots of GM corn and given lots of antibiotics, and this inhospitable environment mutates the naturally occurring e. Coli into the dangerous food-borne illness we all know and fear, and contaminates nearby waterways via the animal’s defecation and urine.

Genetically Modified Papaya

GM papaya was bred to withstand the ringspot virus, which destroys papaya plants and poised a huge problem for Hawaii’s papaya crops.  Some say the GMOs saved Hawaii’s papaya crops, which were near extinction, but now there is a new problem. Consumers no longer want GMOs, but the gene has spread to the extent that the island has virtually no more GMO-free papaya left. GM papayas account for about 75 percent of the 30 million pounds produced in the United States, almost all coming from Hawaii. And papaya is rarely produced to be certified organic. But there is good news.

Strawberry Papaya, also known as Sunrise papaya, is a Hawaiian grown and is the sweetest and juiciest of all the papayas. Unfortunately, it’s also genetically engineered. It is pear-shaped and weighs about a pound, making it much smaller than the Mexican varieties.

Other GM papayas include the SunUp and Rainbow varieties. They look a lot like the Strawberry Papaya. Check out this link for a better description of these three and the non-GMO Kapoho Solo. The Kapoho solo is the original Hawaiian papaya; it’s not a GMO or a hybrid.

Kapoho solo, Mexican Red, Caribbean Red, Maradol, Royal Star, Singapore Pink, and Higgins papayas are non-GMO.

Genetically Modified Canola

Canola was developed in the 1970s through hybridization of the rapeseed plant. Genetically modified versions of canola came to be in the late 1990s. The plant is primarily insect pollinated, but the pollen is also able to travel by wind for great distances. GM canola is grown for cooking oil, margarine, and to for emulsifier production. It’s estimated that 90% of canola grown in the U.S. and Canada are GMO Organic crops are highly susceptible to windblown contamination if they are anywhere near GM crops. We recommend avoiding canola oil altogether, GMO or not. Studies show it’s not a healthy fat, organic or not.

Genetically Modified Plums

The USDA may soon approve a genetically modified plum for commercial use, which would make it the second GM fruit, following papaya. The GM plum, called c5, is engineered to resist the mutation of the Plum Pox Virus, common among stone fruit trees. This virus is said to have the potential to devastate stone fruit production. The company says approval will open the door for other stone fruits like peaches, apricots, cherries, and almonds, which are all susceptible to the virus.

At this time the Center for Food Safety opposes the GMO approval, saying that the virus is not found in the U.S.

Genetically Modified Alfalfa

Alfalfa is grown on 22 million acres in the US, which makes it the fourth largest crop. To much controversy, the FDA approved the commercial use of GM alfalfa in 2007. The addition of a gene makes it resistant to herbicides like Roundup. GM Alfalfa is grown primarily for hay for cattle feed. This RoundupReady Alfalfa did exactly what anti-GMO advocates knew it would do; it has contaminated other alfalfa crops. A recent study by the USDA shows that this feral GE alfalfa is contaminating fields all over the Midwest, costing American alfalfa growers and exporters millions of dollars in lost revenue. Unlike corn, soybeans, or cotton GM alfalfa is pollinated by bees and other insects that travel great distances, and it grows wild near roads, ditches, and yards.

At this point, it’s very difficult for meat eaters to avoid GM alfalfa, and it’s only getting harder. Goats, pigs, cows, horses, chickens, and sheep base their diet on alfalfa, either in fresh, hay or pellet form. Livestock food producers and farms using alfalfa are not regularly testing for GMO contamination. Alfalfa has amazing health benefits, but if you’re buying it for your salads, to avoid the GMOs you’ll need to make sure it’s produced by a company that regular tests for contamination, or is otherwise able to ensure you that contamination is not possible, like with small farms that grow it indoors from organic seed.

Genetically Modified Sugarbeets

The US sugar beet industry coordinated an industry-wide conversion to genetically modified sugar beets, thus eliminating a non-GMO alternative for food manufacturers and consumers. Meanwhile, production of GM sugar beet seed is likely to contaminate organic and conventional vegetable seed production in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. – Non-GMO Project

This is where I’m supposed to tell you how to make sure your sugar isn’t GMO (which is to buy organic), but instead, I’m just going to say, STOP EATING REFINED SUGAR! It doesn’t matter if it’s organic, raw, sugar cane juice, sugar cane crystals, sugar in the raw, brown sugar, etc. Refined sugars are doing far more damage to us than any GMO on the market.

Recommended: Sugar Leads to Depression – World’s First Trial Proves Gut and Brain are Linked (Protocol Included)

Genetically Modified Pineapple

Del Monte’s new pink pineapple has been genetically engineered to produce lower levels of the enzymes that convert lycopene to the beta-carotene. If you are a fan of pineapple, you know that the enzymes are the what makes pineapple such a healthy food. Lycopene is a pigment that makes tomatoes red and watermelons pink, and beta-carotene makes pineapple yellow. Pink pineapple disease is a perplexing problem for the pineapple canned-fruit industry because the disease’s symptoms almost always manifest itself after the fruit is canned, leaving the consumer to discover it. The thinking is that if the pineapple is pink to begin with, problem solved! The pineapple is slated to be grown in Costa Rica and labeled “extra sweet pink flesh pineapple.”

This product is not commercially available yet. When it is on the market, it will likely be sold canned or otherwise processed, as opposed to fresh, at least at first.

Genetically Modified Wheat

Genetically modified wheat developed by Monsanto was never approved for consumption, but the GMO has escaped, it has been found growing wild in Washington State. It’s only going to get worse. While contamination is still fairly rare, the only way to completely avoid it is to avoid any wheat grown in the Pacific Northwest.

GM wheat contamination is somewhat of a sore subject for Monsanto. In 2014, the agritech giant paid $2.4 million to settle a lawsuit filed by U.S. wheat farmers over the GM wheat scare in Oregon. Last year, the company paid another $350,000 to farmers in seven states over the same issue.

The latest discovery of GM wheat could also impact global trade, as many countries have strict regulations over GMOs and GMO imports. – EcoWatch

Genetically Modified Potatoes

The potato is the United States’ most frequently consumed vegetable. The only GM potato currently sold is the “White Russet” potato, engineered by the J.R. Simplot Company. They have designed the potato to reduce browning and bruising and to reduce the amount of a asparagine, a naturally occurring chemical that converts to acrylamide under heat, which is believed to be a cancer-causing carcinogen.

Simplot has also received approval for other GM potatoes which are resistant to late blight, the disease that caused the Irish potato famine. They also last longer in storage through slower conversion of starch to sugars.

The company says they’ve grown only about 6,000 acres of the potato to be sold in 2017. There were more than 955,000 acres of potatoes grown in the U.S. in 2015. McDonald’s chose not to use the potato, for now at least, but other restaurants are buying them. They’re rare right now, but they’re still new.

Update: Potatoes Are Here – How To Avoid Them

Genetically Modified Apples

Another newly approved crop is an apple from a Canadian biotech company that does not brown even after it’s been sliced. It recently received FDA approval for three varieties, Golden, Granny, and Fuji. Gala is coming soon, and more to follow. At this time, they are selling these apples in plastic bags labeled as “Arctic Apples,” so, for now, they are easy to spot.

Genetically Modified Salmon

AquAdvantage, the genetically engineered Atlantic salmon, is now being sold in Canada. Wild salmon is big business for Alaska, so Sen. Lisa Murkowski and other Alaskan officials got Congress to hold up the sale of the GM fish in the U.S. The FDA blocked AquAdvantage imports until new GMO labeling regulations are in effect for food labels. FDA is mandated to issue that regulation by late July but has not indicated when to expect the rules.

Scientists inserted into the fish’s DNA a growth-hormone gene from Chinook salmon, along with genetic regulatory elements from the ocean pout. We expect to see GM salmon in America after new GMO labeling laws take effect.

Genetically Modified Rice

There are two types, but neither are commercially available.

Golden Rice

Millions of people in Asia and Africa don’t get enough vitamin A. Golden rice has been genetically modified so that it contains beta-carotene, the source of vitamin A. Bu the rice has not been successful in test plots.

A few months ago, the Philippine Supreme Court did issue a temporary suspension of GMO crop trials. Depending on how long it lasts, the suspension could definitely impact GMO crop development. But it’s hard to blame the lack of success with Golden Rice on this recent action.” – Glenn Stone, professor of anthropology and environmental studies in Arts & Sciences

Huahui Rice

The rice, known as Huahui 1, was developed by Chinese researchers, and designed be to pest resistant. It has been approved to be exported to the U.S, but China has not approved it to be sold or even cultivated. China does not allow commercial cultivation of GMOs.

Genetically Modified Bananas

Scientists in Australia have developed a banana with a genetic manipulation to increase the vitamin A content. The flesh is described as golden-orange. This project received a $5 million grant from the Bill Gates-funded Grand Challenges in Global Health Initiative.

It’s not available for consumption yet. Other GM bananas are being developed for disease resistance.

Banana is an important staple food crop feeding more than 100 million Africans but is subject to severe productivity constraints due to a range of pests and diseases. [Xanthomonas wilt disease] is capable of entirely destroying a plantation while nematodes can cause losses up to 50% and increase susceptibility to other pests and diseases.

How to Avoid GMOs in the Grocery Store

This list is as complete as I could make it, but it’s likely missing quite a few, and there are more and more coming every year. won’t last long, as new GM food varieties are approved every year. Let me know if I missed any, please!

List of Ingredients That May Be GMO

• Aminosweet
• Aspartame
• Baking Powder
• BeneVia
• Canderel
• Canola Oil (Rapeseed Oil)
• Caramel Color
• Cellulose
• Citric Acid
• Cobalamin (Vitamin B12)
• Colorose
• Condensed Milk
• Confectioners Sugar
• Corn Flour
• Corn Masa
• Corn Meal
• Corn Oil
• Corn Sugar
• Corn Syrup
• Cornstarch
• Cottonseed Oil
• Cyclodextrin
• Cysteine
• Dextrin
• Dextrose
• Diacetyl
• Diglyceride
• E951
• Equal
• Erythritol
• Food Starch
• Fructose (Any Form)
• Glucose
• Glutamate
• Glutamic Acid
• Glycerides
• Glycerin
• Glycerol
• Glycerol Monooleate
• Glycine
• Hemicellulose
• High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)
• Hydrogenated Starch
• Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein
• Inositol
• Inverse Syrup
• Inversol
• Invert Sugar
• Isoflavones
• Lactic Acid
• Lecithin
• Leucine
• Lysine
• Malitol
• Malt
• Malt Extract
• Malt Syrup
• Maltodextrin
• Maltose
• Maltose
• Mannitol
• Methylcellulose
• Milk Powder
• Milo Starch
• Modified Food Starch
• Modified Starch
• Mono And Diglycerides
• Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)
• Nutrasweet
• Oleic Acid
• Phenylalanine
• Phytic Acid
• Protein Isolate
• Shoyu
• Sorbitol
• Soy Flour
• Soy Isolates
• Soy Lecithin
• Soy Milk
• Soy Oil
• Soy Protein
• Soy Protein Isolate
• Soy Sauce
• Starch
• Stearic Acid
• Sugar (Unless Specified As Cane Sugar)
• Tamari
• Tempeh
• Teriyaki Marinades
• Textured Vegetable Protein
• Threonine
• Tocopherols (Vitamin E)
• Tofu
• Trehalose
• Triglyceride
• Vegetable Fat
• Vegetable Oil
• Vitamin B12
• Vitamin E
• Whey
• Whey Powder
• Xanthan Gum

Aisle by Aisle

In the produce section, to avoid GMOs, you’ll need to be careful of conventional summer squash (yellow and zucchini), sweet corn, alfalfa sprouts, and the smaller pear-shaped papaya. These foods should be organic, and hopefully, the company tests their products for contamination. Also, avoid the Arctic apples, which are at this time being sold in easily identifiable plastic bags (see previous image). They will likely be out of their bags and sold individually soon, and conventional apples are sprayed with tons of chemicals, so we recommend yougo organic whenever possible.

In the bulk section, you’ll need to make sure any grain that could be a GMO is certified as not GMO, via USDA Organic, Kosher, or Non-GMO Project Verified. The same goes for the packaged and processed foods that we shouldn’t really be buying. There are other labels as well, and you should be able to trust packages that say they are GMO-free, but these are the three most popular certifications to look for:

Forget the PLU Numbers!

The PLU numbers won’t help you. Articles still circulate on the web stating that PLU numbers indicate GM foods, but this is not true. Organic produce has a 5 digit PLU number, beginning with 9. Conventionally grown produce has a 4 digit PLU number. GM food was supposed to have a 5 digit PLU number beginning with 8, but this labeling is optional, and rarely if ever used.

At the Farmer’s Market

The farmer’s market is usually the best place to shop for produce for a multitude of reasons, but you’ll often that the best food at your local farmer’s market is not certified organic or GMO-free. The organic label, while still strict regarding GMOs, is allowing more and more chemicals to be sprayed on crops every year. I prefer small farmers, and they typically don’t have the time, money. or inclination to get such certifications. Just ask. Farmers are proud of their growing methods and you’re more likely to get a lecture about the benefits of GMOs than you will get someone lying to you. The trick is to go to the farmer’s market every chance you get and get to know your favorite stalls. Ask good questions, take your time, and develop relationships.

Foods Often Mistaken for GMOs

Seedless watermelons are not GMO, their genetics are modified through hybridization methods, but I don’t recommend them.

Seedless watermelon is grown two ways. Usually, watermelons are diploid, meaning they have two sets of 11 chromosomes. Seedless watermelon is a triploid because they have 3 sets of chromosomes and are sterile. In order to produce seedless watermelons, a diploid watermelon is pollinated by a tetraploid (4 chromosomes) watermelon. In the process of reproduction, the new watermelon gets one chromosome from the diploid parent and two from the tetraploid which makes it triploid. Since the triploids have three sets, the eggs inside the watermelon are never formed and thus, seeds don’t grow. The second way to grow seedless watermelon is by using a drug called Colchicine, a chromosome-altering chemical. This US drug is toxic (though people have been using it for the treatment of rheumatism and gout without FDA approval). Colchicine changes the chromosome number in the seeds from 2 to 4. After which, the seeds are pollinated with the natural 2 chromosome watermelon. The product – a genetically modified watermelon with 3 chromosomes.” – LA Healthy Living

Seedless watermelons have too much sugar as well.

Large apples are often assumed to be GMOs, but they are not, unless they are of the new non-browning variety. Neither are purple carrots or blood oranges, any other produce that’s not listed above as a GMO crop regardless of how large or funky they look. As stated above, we do modify the genetics of foods through hybridization, but that’s not what we call GMO, or genetically engineered, even though they are in a sense. Also, a lot of the funky looking produce is actually heirloom fruits and vegetables that you’re not used to seeing.

Popcorn is made with a kind of corn that is not genetically modified, though it’s not the healthy snack many people think it is. Healthy corn is raw, organic corn on the cobb grown on a small farm that doesn’t spray chemicals. I find the inflammatory properties to be unnoticeable with raw sweet corn, but when cooked it feels different. I have no scientific evidence for this theory yet, but maybe you can compare the two and see for yourself.

To recap, within the produce section, at this time, the foods you should be concerned with in order to avoid GMOs are summer squash (including zucchini), corn, papaya, alfalfa, Arctic apples. We may see the White Russet potato and GE salmon in stores soon with plenty more to follow.

Conclusion

I’m not opposed to the idea of genetic modification of food, but until food companies are not primarily profit-driven and science has a much better understanding of health, I won’t trust the GMO companies. And they should be better controlled so as not to be allowed to contaminate other crops, and not grown in uncontrollable environments at all. There is likely no turning back for alfalfa and corn, and soon, others will likely follow. I’ll never be a fan of genetic modification designed to kill pests, or designed to allow heavy dosages of chemicals to be sprayed on them. These GMOs disrupt our gut’s ecosystem and consequently, they are never going to be a good idea. If the GMOs are designed to kill anything, it’s nearly certain they will kill gut microbes as well. I’m also not a fan of genetic modification to increase shelf-life, but I certainly do appreciate the motives, as we waste massive amounts of food. The problem with this approach is that our distribution is flawed due to corruption because of greed. We also have a serious lack of education that is keeping consumers in the dark. People should be taught natural health and how to grow their own food. On that note, are you growing your own food yet?

Sources

• Monsanto’s Genetically Engineered Roundup Ready Alfalfa Has Gone Wild – EcoWatch
• Attack of the Triffids has flax farmers baffled – The Globe Mail
• USDA may approve GM plum – The Organic & Non-GMO Report
• Is there a GMO pineapple – GMO Apples
• Non-GMO papayas: Tips on how to choose non–gmo papayas – Juicing For Health
• USDA confirms unapproved GMO wheat found in Washington state – Reuters
• Hidden GMO Ingredients: 100 to lookout for – Mamavation
• GMO salmon swimming slowly to U.S. market – Agri-Pulse
• Beyond Monsanto’s GMO Cotton: Why Consumers Need to Care What We Wear – Organic Consumers Association
• Corn – The Non-GMO Project
• Disease-resistant GMO tomato that could eliminate need for copper pesticides blocked by public fears – Genetic Literacy Project
• US—but not China—approves GMO rice developed by Chinese scientists – Genetic Literacy Project
• Current GMO Crops – GMO Answers
• GMO Food: List of Genetically Engineered Food – Organic Hawaii
• Applications of Food Biotechnology – Journal of Ecosystem & Ecography
• Banned Chinese GMO rice approved to be sold in the U.S. – The Organic Dream
• GMOs in the News: Evidence That Pests Have Become Immune – The Global Dispatch
• How to Choose a Papaya That’s Not Genetically Modified – Organic Planet

A new study sampled twelve different beers in the Great Lakes area and found all to be contaminated with microplastics. Researchers also surveyed tap water from the same region and found microplastics in eight of the nine samples as well.

Rates of autism continue to increase worldwide. An estimated 1 in 66 children are in the spectrum (0.0151515152%). Canada reported in March of this year that autism as of 2015 affect 1.52% of youth, putting Canada among the “top ten” for autism among developed nations.

The World Mercury Project reports that there is more autism in regions where vaccine coverage is most prevalent.

What might explain the variation in ASD prevalence within Canada’s borders? … autism prevalence is highest in the Canadian provinces that also have the highest vaccination coverage.”

ASD prevalence by province and territory

NASS gathers data from the health, education, and social services sectors for youth aged 5-17 years who have a confirmed autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis. Six provinces (British Columbia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Quebec) and one territory (Yukon) provided the data for 2015. ASD prevalence in 2015 was highest in Newfoundland and Labrador (1 in 57), Prince Edward Island (1 in 59) and Quebec (1 in 65). Prevalence was lower in the Yukon territory (1 in 125). See chart:

Autism prevalence is highest in the Canadian provinces that have the highest vaccination coverage. A 2013 survey, also done by the Public Health Agency of Canada, examined vaccine coverage by province/territory and type of vaccine. Newfoundland/Labrador and Quebec had five to fifteen percent higher vaccination rates than in Yukon.

For more on this check out Official Canadian Data Show That There Is More Autism in Regions Where Vaccine Coverage Is Highest

Recommended:

• How To Detoxify and Heal From Vaccinations – For Adults and Children
• Doctors Against Vaccines – Hear From Those Who Have Done the Research

Sources:

• Summary of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Prevalence Studies – CDC
• Autism Rates across the Developed World – Focus For Health
• AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER AMONG CHILDREN AND YOUTH IN CANADA 2018 – Canada.org
• Report on Autism Prevalence in Canada Mirrors Vaccination Coverage Rates in Different Provinces – Dr. Zimmerman

Lyme disease is grossly under-reported in the United States. Lyme cases have more than doubled since the 1990s. The number of counties that are now deemed high-risk for Lyme has increased by more than 320 percent. About 329,000 cases of Lyme disease occur every year according to the latest researcher from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Lyme disease is the fastest growing infectious diseases in the US and in Western Europe. Public funding for this disease is still far below that of less common illnesses, receiving less than 2% of public funding for West Nile and 0.2% of funding for HIV/AIDS even though Lyme effects for more people, but fortunately, awareness is rapidly evolving.

Contents

• • Lyme Disease 101

• • Is Lyme Contagious?

• • Borrelia burgdorferi

• • Symptoms of Lyme Disease

• • Testing For Lyme

• • Why Antibiotics May Not Work for Lyme Disease

• • The Lyme Timeline

• • Leaky Gut and Lyme

• • Lyme Disease and Co-infections

• • Lyme and Candida Overgrowth

• • Lyme Disease and Amalgam Fillings, Vaccines, and Other Toxic Compounds

• • Supplements, Herbs Used For Killing Lyme

• The Lyme Protocol That Works

Lyme Disease 101

Infected ticks have been verified in 42 of 58 counties in California. The primary carrier on the West Coast is the Western black-legged tick, and it’s preferred host is the grey squirrel. On the East Coast the Eastern Black-legged tick is the principal carrier. This tick prefers the white-footed mouse.

Climate change seems to be giving this disease an advantage by helping ticks reproduce, and helping them live in more parts of the US. Ticks can’t survive in very cold climates. We are experiencing warmer winters, and ticks are able to live further and further north. The warmer temperatures also increase the growth rate of ticks. Some researchers estimate that global warming has increased tick reproduction by up to two times in the US, and up to five times in Canada.

Lyme disease is named after where it was first discovered, which was in Connecticut in a town called Lyme. In the 1960s and 1970s, with a population of 12,000 living in Old Lyme, Lyme, and East Haddam, 39 children were diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and 12 adults were diagnosed with arthritis that was said to be from an unknown cause.

In 1975, frustrated by the lack of answers from their medical community, two mothers started gathering information from residents and then relayed that information to the  Connecticut State Department of Health and the Yale School of Medicine. The researchers were able to identify the disease and recognize its symptoms, nobody knew what the cause was until the early 80. We owe the discovery to Willy Burgdorfer, a scientist who was studying Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. He discovered the tick connection and the bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi, which is named after him.

Many still attribute its transmission only to ticks, but a growing number of researchers including one of the leading authorities on Lyme disease, Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt, believes that the bacteria can be spread by other biting or blood-sucking insects, including mosquitoes, fleas, spiders, and mites. We now know that dogs and cats can get infected too.

Is Lyme Contagious?

Numorous reports indicate that Lyme-causing bacteria appears to be passed down gestationally. A new study published in the Journal of Investigative Medicine suggests that Lyme disease may also be sexually transmitted.

“Our findings will change the way Lyme disease is viewed by doctors and patients. It explains why the disease is more common than one would think if only ticks were involved in transmission.” – Marianne Middelveen, lead author of the study

Borrelia burgdorferi

Borrelia burgdorferi is a bacterial species of the spirochete class of the genus Borrelia. These spirochetes infect many vertebrate animals including small mammals, lizards, and birds. Ticks most frequently acquire spirochetes from infected rodents during their larval feeding.

Spirochetes and known for their unique corkscrew shape and the way they move in a corkscrew type of motion. They are very slow to replicate and they survive without iron, which is very rare for bacteria. Instead, they use manganese for their survival. Unlike most disease-causing bacteria and fungi, it is believed that Borrelia burgdorferi does not emit a toxin. But the bacteria do seem to have a direct interaction with the cell tissues it infects.

Animal studies have shown that the bacteria can be found in low numbers in many tissues and organs including the skin, joints, heart, brain, urinary tract, and more. Aside from the initial infection, Borrelia does not seem to circulate in the blood.

Borrelia burgdorferi, with its corkscrew shape, bores deep into tissues and cartilage (including the brain and nervous system). This leaves the bacteria out of reach of most antibiotics. This bacteria can also mutate out of its corkscrew shape to a form that is able to live inside our cells (“intracellular”), once again leaving hard to kill with antibiotics. Borrelia burgdorferi and other spirochete bacteria form dormant cysts inside the body that block antibiotic activity, and the higher the dosage of antibiotics, the more resistant it becomes.

As if that wasn’t enough, Lyme disease is usually accompanied and aided by co-infections of other stealth microbes that also live inside our cells as well.

Symptoms of Lyme Disease

• Rashes
• Fatigue
• Joint pain
• Flu-like symptoms
• Sleep disturbances
• Cognitive decline
• Vision changes
• Other neurological problems
• Skin outbreaks
• Heart problems
• Mood changes
• Pain

Check out this full list of symptoms provided by Joseph Burrascano, MD

Most people who have been diagnosed with Lyme, including those who test positive, never recall being bitten, or show the telltale bullseye rash.

Testing For Lyme

Current diagnostics miss up to 60% of acute cases. This is what’s so infuriating for those trying to figure out what’s going on with their bodies: Testing for Lyme is inaccurate, but especially so in the beginning. By the time the tests are likely to show positive for someone with Lyme, antibiotic treatments are typically no longer effective. In other words, people would go to their doctor and ask if they have Lyme, the doctors would say how rare it is (fortunately doctors are getting much better about this lately), but would reluctantly perform the tests, only to find no trace of Lyme. So the person would assume some other autoimmune disease while the Lyme slowly proliferates. Then the person would eventually seek another opinion, get another round of tests, and maybe (but often not) find out they do in fact have Lyme. Or, they often find out that one can have Lyme and still test negative indefinitely, but at this stage, the person is showing enough symptoms that the new more knowledgeable doctor can easily conclude that it’s Lyme.

But now the antibiotics will no longer be effective. It’s too late. Many people try anyways, wrecking their immune system in the process.

I suspect that often times a heavy round of antibiotics works to kill the bacteria, but the body is left so badly damaged that new infection (often Candida being the first) takes over, and all of the symptoms remain.

Borrelia does not seem to circulate in the blood. This is the main reason it is so difficult to detect. The bacteria also have a very slow replication rate, so the number of bacteria found in a host remains small, at least for a long time.

There are multiple tests for Lyme. The CDC recommends screening with the ELISA test and then confirming the results with the Western blot test. As mentioned, these tests are completely unreliable during the first 4-6 weeks of infection. The tests only measure the patient’s antibody response to the infection, not the presence of the bacteria itself.

Lyme disease is notoriously difficult to diagnose using conventional tests. And there’s great variation in the presentation of the disease as well, depending on where you contracted it, and whether or not you have any other coexisting infections. There is a group of seven or eight microbes that are the most common. The worst ones are Babesia microti and the different forms of Bartonella.

It is said that an initial course of antibiotics given in stage one cures the disease most of the time, but why not all the time? Is the course of antibiotics too short? Should more be given? Should they be given long term, especially for those who have stage 3 symptoms? What if blood tests no longer show spirochetes? If the antibiotics don’t work, the patient now has to combat Lyme with a very depleted immune system.” – Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt, MD, PhD

Why Antibiotics May Not Work for Lyme Disease

These days, early treatment is typically successful, according to the latest science, but most patients go undiagnosed for years. At least 20% of those who are said to be successfully treated for Lyme will experience the same symptoms after treatment, which as mentioned, can easily be attributed to a depleted immune system leading to Candida overgrowth or other fungal pathogens, opening the door for many other infections as well.

Antibiotic resistance occurs at a high rate with spirochete bacteria. Borrelia (and also its co-infections), will respond slowly to antibiotics. They will develop resistance. The bacteria that survive antibiotics can become completely antibiotic resistant. This is why doctors are starting to use multiple antibiotics at once seems, and this does lead to better chance of defeating Lyme, and depleting the immune system. If the medication fails, the bacteria that have survived will not only become resistant, but it will also become much more entrenched in the host.

The Lyme Timeline

Phase One – 3 to 30 Days

Also called early localized infection

Some say less than 50%, others say up to 70-75% develop the bullseye rash, starting at the site of the tick bite. It is not itchy or painful but they are usually warm to the touch. Sometimes flu-like symptoms develop soon after, including fever, chills, swollen lymph glands, headaches, muscle pain, and joint pain.

Phase Two – Days to Weeks After Bite

Also called early disseminated infection

• Rash spreads
• Large joints may become swollen and painful
• Stiff neck in some cases
• Meningitis may develop
• Dizziness
• Heart palpitations

Phase Three – Later Months to Years

Also called late disseminated infection

Many infectious disease specialists believe that “chronic Lyme disease” does not exist, and that Lyme disease from a tick bite can be cured with a short course of antibiotics. It is possible that those who have undergone antibiotic treatments are suffering from the side effects of antibiotics, but more and more experts are coming around to the idea that Lyme disease can survive and cause long-term autoimmune symptoms when antibiotics don’t work. We all know (or at least, we all should know) that antibiotics do not always work and can cause more problems.

• Arthritis symptoms – swollen, painful joints (fluid-filled joints)
• Neurological symptoms – numbness, tingling, shooting pains
• Cognitive symptoms – brain fog, short-term memory deficits, confusion
• Mood disturbance – depression
• Fatigue
• Abnormal heart rhythms and heart failure

Facial paralysis sometimes occurs in this stage or stage two.

Scary Lyme Facts You Should Know

How does Lyme make us sick, and why is it so damn resilient?!?!

• Spiders, mosquitoes, fleas, and mites may also be spreading the same or similar bacterial infections.
• Tests are unreliable because they measure the patient’s antibody response to the infection, not the bacteria itself.
• There’s great variation in the presentation of the disease, depending on where it’s contracted, and whether there are other coexisting infections. At least eight other microbes make up the most common co-infections., including Babesia microti and different forms of Bartonella.
• Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria that causes Lyme disease, has a corkscrew shape that allows it to bore deep into tissues and cartilage (including the brain and nervous system), safely out of reach of most antibiotics.
• Borrelia burgdorferi can give up its corkscrew shape and convert to a form that is able to live inside cells (“intracellular”) where again, antibiotics have less reach.
• Borrelia burgdorferi, along with other similar microbes, can form dormant cysts that are completely resistant to antibiotics; the harder you hit it, the more resistant it becomes.
• Most ticks carry multiple disease-causing pathogens called co-infections. Borrelia burgdorferi is usually accompanied and aided by co-infections of other stealth microbes.
• Lyme disease has been reported in all 50 states.
• Lyme disease has been found on every continent except Antarctica.
• Ticks carrying Lyme can be smaller than the period at the end of this sentence.
• Many, perhaps most, do not get the bull’s eye rash. Some develop flu-like symptoms a week or so after becoming infected, however, many people are asymptomatic but can develop Lyme symptoms months, years or decades later.
• It is called the great imitator; looking like many other health problems (Fibromyalgia, Arthritis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Bells Palsy, ADD, MS, and Lupus).
• People with other chronic disease are much more susceptible to Lyme disease, making Lyme even more likely to go undetectedcted.
• The medical community is divided over the diagnosis and treatment guidelines.
• Health insurance still often won’t cover the treatment for Chronic Lyme disease.
• Lyme Disease transmission may be possible through intercourse, and can likely be passed down through the womb.
• There are 12 strains of Borrelia that are known to cause Lyme Disease, and standard testing only tests for one.
• Lyme Disease is more epidemic than Aids, West Nile and Avian Flu combined.
• Lyme Disease can cause more than 300 different symptoms.
• The average Lyme patient takes 2-3 years to get diagnosed correctly.
• 25% of the reported cases are children.

Lyme Disease Cofactors

Leaky Gut and Lyme

In response to pathogenic toxins leaking from the intestines, the immune system produces multiple inflammatory compounds: Transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGF Beta-1), Matrix metallopeptidase 9 (MMP-9), Interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), and Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1). These inflammatory compounds affect multiple systems of the body. Because of the inflammatory compounds that become elevated in people with Lyme disease or co-infections, they are at greater risk of leaky gut. In a study on Lyme disease patients, Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) and Interleukin-13 (IL-13) were found to be elevated in different phases of infection. TNFα has also been found to be elevated in Bartonella infections, mice infected with Babesia, mice receiving Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever antigens, Ehrlichia infections, and in Brucellosis patients. Both TNFα and IL-13 have a direct effect on increasing intestinal lining leakage. Unfortunately, western medicine lacks a way to accurately diagnose and to treat leaky gut syndrome.” – Plugging the Holes in Lyme Disease Leaky Gut

I am of the opinion that a leaky gut is the root of most chronic disease. True or not, a leaky gut always exacerbates every ailment, every disease, every single health issue. You cannot cure any chronic disease without a healthy gut.

Lyme Disease and Co-infections

Ticks can carry many bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoans within them, and transmit these pathogens with a single bite.

The most common tick-borne diseases in the United States include Lyme disease, babesiosis, anaplasmosis, ehrlichiosis, relapsing fever, tularemia, Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF). Diseases acquired together like this are called co-infections. Click below to learn more about specific Lyme disease co-infections. – About Lyme Disease Co-Infections

We also borrowed their chart:

Lyme and Candida Overgrowth

Yeast overgrowth is a common concern for Lyme patients who undergo antibiotic therapy. Whether or not the Lyme or other bacterial pathogens are killed, the immune system is depleted, the body;’s beneficial bacteria is eradicated, and the body is almost guaranteed to be overrun with fungal pathogens. If one is cured of Lyme disease they will then have to rebuild their immune system (along with healthy gut flora). Most people don’t know how to do this. If they did, they most likely would not have been susceptible to Lyme in the first place. But for those who do the Lyme treatment without successful elimination of Lyme now have to deal with a body that soon inundated with fungi.

Lyme Disease and Amalgam Fillings, Vaccines, and Other Toxic Compounds

Mercury toxicity has been linked to chronic fatigue syndrome, depression, panic attacks, insomnia, cognitive decline (Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, and more), chronic headaches including migraines, joint pain, Candida overgrowth, and much more. The body cannot fend off Lyme under such conditions. People with a history or poor diet, antibiotic use, mercury fillings, or immunizations, are extremely susceptible to Lyme disease and the many co-infections the come with it.

Supplements, Herbs Used For Killing Lyme

• Astragalus: A potent antimicrobial that also is anti-inflammatory, boosts the immune system, slows tumor growth, helps prevent and reverse diabetes, and more.
• Berberine: This plant-root alkaloid extract has confirmed potent anti-viral, antibacterial, and anti-fungal properties.
• Black Walnut: Studies have shown that black walnut can effectively kill canker sores, herpes, and syphilis sores. Syphilis is another spirochete bacteria.
• Cloves: This strong smelling spice contains some of the same compounds as oregano oil (see below). Studies have shown that cloves contain powerful antimicrobial and anti-fungal compounds.
• Enzymes: Hemicellulase, protease, and Cellulase can dissolve Biofilms (which Lyme often resides in and procreates within) and Lyme Cysts (which, as stated above, shield the bacteria from intrusion). More on enzymes.
• Garlic: Allicin, a compound in garlic, has antifungal, antibacterial and antiviral properties, and garlic helps strengthen the immune system in other ways too. Read more about garlic.
• Goldenseal: A popular herb that has been used by Native Americans for hundreds of years, with potent antibacterial properties.
• Goldenrod: Goldenrod is antibacterial, antifungal, diuretic, diaphoretic, anti-inflammatory, expectorant, astringent, antiseptic, and carminative.
• Mushrooms: Many mushrooms produce powerful antibacterial factors. The reishi mushroom is well known throughout the world for its plethora of health benefits, including powerful antimicrobial properties, but there are many other mushrooms that help as well.
• Neem: This plant’s properties include immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, antihyperglycaemic, antiulcer, antimalarial, antifungal, antibacterial, antioxidant, antimutagenic and anticarcinogenic.
• Oil of Oregano: This extract is very well known for its ability to kill off pathogenic activity, and there are plenty of studies that demonstrate its efficacy.
• Pau D’Arco: Also known as Lapacho, this supplement has received worldwide attention in recent years due to the numerous studies proving its amazing health benefits including the ability to kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria and difficult fungal infections like Candida.
• Turmeric: Turmeric is potent antimicrobial herb with proven antifungal properties and a host of other amazing health benefits. Check out How to Optimize Curcumin.
• Wormwood: This is a potent antimicrobial’s active ingredient is Artemisia, and it is better known the world over for its ability to kill parasites.

The Lyme Protocol That Works

I’ll bet someone is going to ask why I don’t mention colloidal silver. I don’t think it’s good for you, I’ve never found it particularly helpful, and I just don’t trust it. But to each their own; you can find tons of very intelligent naturopaths who are much more educated than I am who will vehemently disagree with me on colloidal silver. And, the key to killing off Lyme with supplements, like with antibiotics, you need to use more than one. You’ve got to attack from every angle you can or else they build up immunity. The good news is that natural remedies affords many more options with fewer if any side effects and in my experience (when done right), a much better success rate. Like, 100%.

Now here’s the bad news. Actually, it’s not bad news, but it sure sounds like it to most people at first. You may not be able to kill the Lyme any time soon. I recommend a plethora of supplements with differing properties to attack any and all pathogenic bacteria, but you will never eradicate systemic pathogenic disease completely with supplements alone. And even with a perfect diet and all the best supplements, it takes time! A few of these Lyme-bacteria bastards, and other pathogens, will survive anything and everything you do to it at first. Don’t think that just because you are symptom free that your body has rid itself of all virulent infection. It doesn’t work that way.

The protocol calls for a phase of antimicrobials, but the foundation of the program is the diet. It’s the most important aspect of the program. Nobody gets well without eating right. At best, you’ll trade one disease for another if you skimp on the diet. Heal the gut, eat right, rebuild the body, and after a round of antimicrobial bombardment you rebuild the beneficial bacteria and let your immune system slowly finish off the survivors. This means being highly disciplined with diet for six months after the last ailment is gone. Think of it this way: Once you feel well, if you’re eating perfectly, it’ll take another six months to completely finish off the disease. A glass of wine or some refined sugar consumed before then could cause a resurgence.

In my experience, every single person who has Lyme disease has gut issues. I don’t believe that Lyme disease causes the gut issues, though it can exacerbate them. I contend that anyone who is susceptible to Lyme had a depleted immune system before they contracted Lyme, and virtually anyone with a depleted immune system has poor gut health. This protocol focus on gut health first and foremost. The gut is the foundation of your health. You can know how healthy someone is by the quality of microbes that reside within us.

Anti-Lyme Diet

Here are three articles I put together on diet. Most people, even those with Lyme and even worse diseases, will get completely well on this diet without supplements, but it takes a lot longer.

• Detox Cheap and Easy Without Fasting – Recipes Included
• Start Eating Like That and Start Eating Like This – Your Guide to Homeostasis Through Diet
• How to Make the Healthiest Smoothies – 4 Recipes

This is indicative of how my family eats every single day.

We start off with cranberry lemonade and a huge salad every morning. For lunch, we sometimes do a smoothie or we snack on some nuts and/or fruit or we just finish our massive 11-cup salads. For those with serious gut issues, hold off on the nuts for a week or two. Anyone with lots of Candida should wait on the smoothies as well. Double up on the salads for the first week or two if you’re very ill.

For dinner, we always cook from scratch, which takes preparation and time, but it gets easier, I promise. Rice and beans, quinoa, lentils, millet, oatmeal, and amaranth are common staples for our cooked meals, but don’t do the oats or millet until most of the inflammation subsides. We add lots of raw vegetables and herbs to our dinners as well, for instance, the rice and beans go great with chopped tomatoes and avocado, diced onions and garlic, and shredded turmeric and ginger. Eat raw herbs and cooked herbs together for maximum health benefits. There are some very interesting benefits to cooking many foods, but raw generally yields more benefits, so I mix it up.

This is truly a lifestyle, not just a diet, and it’s one we live every day. It’s also the same exact protocol I recommend for almost everyone who is sick, including anyone with Lyme. There’s a lot of conflicting information on what people with Lyme should eat, but I implore you, give this a try for at least 10 days, and you’ll see why. You may not need to go to this extreme to rid your body of disease, but I find that most who are dealing with chronic illness need to take it this far, at least for at least for a few months. With Lyme, it behooves you to err on the side of caution.

The salads are the most important part of this protocol. More than supplements, more than anything save getting enough water, the salads are imperative. Eat lots of it. Make sure they are diverse with at least 15 different vegetables and herbs. Read the article linked above, and make your salad recipe. If you could see what packing your gut with salad does to your ecosystem under a microscope, you’d understand why I’m so passionate about them. There is nothing more beneficially life-changing than developing a salad habit when the salads are big and diverse and homemade. They do more than any supplement or any other food to clean the intestinal walls of filth and develop a beneficial gut ecosystem. I cannot stress this enough – BIG DIVERSE SALADS!!! Mine are 9-11 cups a day. Throw on some beans or meat or eggs, whatever it takes to get them down, but get them down. If you can’t digest salads, get to where you can. I can’t digest McDonald’s. I don’t have the ecosystem in my gut to do that. If you can’t digest salads properly, you don’t have the right ecosystem for them. You need to build the right gut bacteria. How? Salads, that’s how. Eat salads!

Did I mention how important salads are? Ok, moving on.

The cranberry lemonade helps keep the kidneys and liver working optimally. These organs typically get sluggish quickly when lots of pathogens are killed. If salads are #1, this cranberry lemonade is #2, and supplements are a distant 3rd. The recipe for cranberry lemonade resides within the first link above where the salad recipe is.

For those with very serious gut issues, legumes and grains may be a no-no for the first two to three weeks, but when enough salad has been consumed, the gut should be able to reap many benefits from many other foods including cooked foods like the dinner meals aforementioned.

Sweet fruit should be severely limited, and for the very ill, avoided until the gut is working better. Grapefruit, tomatoes, cranberry, avocado, lime, and lemon do not fall under this category.

Juicing with fruits is not much better than refined sugar, so don’t make the common mistake of thinking a fresh-juice fast is going to get you well. Same goes for carrot and beet juice. If you want to juice with a little sweetness, that’s fine, but add lots of cinnamon, ginger, and turmeric, tot he point at which it’s really not sweet anymore.

For anyone on a tight budget I recommend putting the money to food, and if affordable, add Abzorb and SF722. That’s enough with the right diet to fix the gut in almost everyone. More of the right kind of supplements speed thing up radically, but they’re usually not neccessary if you have access to good food.

Phase 1 – Antimicrobials, Kill the Bad Guys For One Month (in order of most to least important):

• MicroDefense – Pure Encapsulations
• Berberine 500mg – Thorne Research
• Undecyn by Thorne Research
• Oil of Oregano – Gaia Herbs
• Gastro-Cleanse w/Psyllium by Allergy Research Group
• Wormwood/Black Walnut Supreme – Gaia Herbs
• Shillington’s Blood Detox Formula
• MycoCeutics MycoPhyto Complex – EcoNugenics
• Pau d’Arco
• Astragalus Supreme – Gaia Herbs
• Fibrenza Systemic Enzyme – HCP Formulas
• Curcumin 500 with Bioperine® – Pure Encapsulations

Use your own judgment to an extent regarding what to take and how much. If you get every single one, you should be ok to take each and every one as directed (except the Blood Detox, take one to two full droppers by mouth one to three times a day as needed, preferably on an empty stomach, the label has the wrong instructions, it’s a long story), but for smaller people this may be a bit too much. On the other hand, if you get fewer supplements or are on the larger size, you would likely do better with upping the dosages a little. The more you spread out the dosages throughout the day, the more effective they will be. Green Lifestyle Market sells all of the supplements mentioned and offers a return guarantee, so if something doesn’t work for you, you can exchange or get a refund. Experiment. These are supplements, they’re not going to kill you, no matter what big-pharma would like you to believe. I did this protocol myself for three weeks, and I recommend 3-4 weeks for anyone with Lyme. I just took all of them with each meal, as some can cause an upset stomach if empty.

Some of them say to take with food, and some say to take on an empty stomach. I like taking antimicrobials with salad and other healthy meals, especially when taking a lot. But again, use your own judgement, see what works best.

If you need an additional immune system bost, for instance, if you’re regularly coming down with colds and flu or have sinus issues, consider these additions below. You shouldn’t need them if you get at least a few of the ones above, but if you like to go overkill like me, here you go:

• Micro Liposomal C • 4oz – Allergy Research Group
• Mother Earth Organic Root Cider – Barrier Island Organics
• Shillington’s Echinacea Plus

If you have trouble digesting food, take abzorb with your meals. This will also help break down the supplements for easier assimilation.

If the die-off is a problem, and anytime you kill lots of pathogens there is an influx of toxins the body has to deal with. The aforementioned cranberry lemonade and salads help to mitigate this, but Gastro-Cleanse with the activated charcoal can also help.

If defecation is slow or infrequent, salads should fix this, but some people need more help. Shillington’s Intestinal Cleanse will move the poop. It is imperative that bodily elimination functions are working properly. Obviously, stuck bowels are really bad news for anyone needing to detoxify.

Phase 2 – Stay Clean and Populate with Good Guys:

If you’ve been dealing with chronic illness for a long time, for phase two, I recommend reading and following Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections.

If you’re not very poor health, I recommend spending the following 5-6 months taking the following every day as directed:

• Abzorb and/or a stronger Probiotic
• MycoPhyto Complex (mushroom complex)
• SF722 (kills all things fungal)

Protocol Example

6am

Take an Abzorb, or other probiotic, and the Blood Detox, and the MycoPhyto Complex, and any other supplements that say to be taken on an empty stomach.

9am

Salad time!

The MycoPhyto Complex company recommends to take on an empty stomach, but I like it with salads and smoothies too.

Take Abzorb if digestion is difficult, or if you just want to maximize nutrient assimilation.

Take all other antimicrobials with the salad as well (like the MicroDefense, Berberine, Undecyn, Oil of Oregano, Gastro-Cleanse, etc. with the salad.

12pm

Homemade Smoothie Time! If you’re extremely ill you may need to wait on the smoothies and just double up on the salads for the first week, but I’ve found that many people who were suffering from a plethora of ailments and having trouble recovering responded very well to pineapple smoothies. Pineapple smoothies (made with fresh pineapple), like the ones I have recipes for in the above link, pack a massive amount of enzymes and can help break down a lot of junk in the gut, while delivering large amounts of nutrition. But, smoothies have plenty of sugar, so be sure to repeat the antimicrobial supplements from 9am.

Use pineapple, coconut water, water, cranberry juice, or if you can withstand some sugar try granny smith apple juice, but don’t use sweet fruit juices for smoothies. See the recipes.

6pm

Dinner time! Everything from scratch, nothing pre-made in any way, all whole food ingredients. It’s also time for another round of antimicrobials.

9pm

Finish off the night with an Abzorb, or other probiotic, and the Blood Detox, and the MycoPhyto Complex, and any other supplements that say to be taken on an empty stomach.

Three More Supplements to Consider – Lyme Die-0ff, Heavy metal Detox, & Bowel Movements

If Candida die-off is a concern be sure to drink plenty of cranberry lemonade and I also recommend adding Total Nutrition Formula and the Intestinal Detox. Here’s a recipe to make your own Total Nutrition. With these two formulas, you’ll get bentonite clay, charcoal, chlorella, spirulina, and more, which are all great for mitigating the die-off effects of a and they also chelate heavy metals.

You can take the Total Nutrition Formula with the smoothie or sprinkle it on the salad (or choke it down with water), and take the Intestinal Detox anytime throughout the day as directed.

Conclusion

You can get well. Any doctor who tells you different is trying to sell you a lifetime of treatment. It takes a lot of work. It’s worth it. In the end, you’ll be healthier for having had Lyme. And if you’re not sure if you actually have Lyme, it really doesn’t matter. A truly holistic protocol, like this, will address and remedy any pathogenic chronic health ailment, given enough time and attention.

Recommended:

• Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones
• Sugar Leads to Depression – World’s First Trial Proves Gut and Brain are Linked (Protocol Included)
• Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections
• How to Detox From Plastics and Other Endocrine Disruptors
• How to Detoxify and Heal the Lymphatic System

Sources:

1. The Lyme Wars – The New Yorker
2. UK’s new Lyme guideline brings both positives and negatives – Lyme Disease.org
3. BORRELIA BURGDORFERI – Bay Area Lyme
4. Lyme disease is vastly under-reported, CDC says – CBS News
5. About Lyme Disease Co-Infections – Lyme Disease.org
6. Lyme Disease – CDC
7. Lyme Disease – Mayo Clinic

More than 1 billion people across the world rely on fish as their main source of protein. Consequently, the world’s oceans are in trouble with marine life plummeting. More than 80 percent of the world’s fisheries are either considered fully exploited or overfished and on the brink of collapse. People who are dependent on the sea for income and food are left increasingly vulnerable. Our oceans are radically depleted. A decade-long international survey of ocean life completed in 2010 estimated that 90% of the ocean’s big fish have disappeared.

Aquaculture seems to be a sustainable solution to overfishing, but the reality is that fish farms are causing huge problems. As typical with big business, profits are more important than ecological sustainability or our health.

As the world began to attempt to limit overfishing the aquaculture industry boomed. Between 1980 and 2015, the total amount of fish production from aquaculture increased more than 16 times from 4.7mn tonnes to 76.6mn tonnes. If you eat seafood, unless you catch it yourself (or ask the right questions), it probably comes from a fish farm. More than half of the fish we consume is farmed. The aquaculture industry is growing faster than any other animal agriculture segment, overtaking beef production in 2012. A report by the Earth Policy Institute in Washington DC reported that farmed fish production reached 66 million tonnes in 2012, while beef production was at 63 million tonnes.

Recommended: Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections

Why Farmed Fish Are So Toxic To the To Us and the Environment

One study showed that aquaculture in Sweden “is not only ecologically but also economically unsustainable.” Another report looked at farmed fish in Chinese lakes and concluded that  it is an “economically irrational choice from the perspective of the whole society, with an unequal tradeoff between environmental costs and economic benefits.” Aquaculture harms the environment, which eventually costs a lot of money. In the U.S., fish farming is responsible for roughly $700 million a year in environmental costs. Fish farming operations typically generate more costs than profit.

Abhorrent Conditions

Research has shown that fish feel pain and stress. Large-scale fish farm operations have fish living in extremely crowded conditions, often leaving each fish less space than the size of an average bathtub. Living in this close proximity increases infection and disease, which leads to antibiotics which further pollutes surrounding waters.

Farmed Fish Eat Their Own Shit

The feces concentration is often so great as to cause the fish to ingest their own poop, increasing the likelihood of disease. The fish poop also promotes algal growth and reduces the oxygen content in the water, which makes it harder to support life. Fish waste and uneaten feed litter the sea floor beneath fish farms contaminates the area and generates bacteria that consume oxygen vital to shellfish and other bottom-dwelling sea creatures. Reportedly, the Israeli government closed two fish farms in the Red Sea after discovering the farms were causing algal growth that was harming coral reefs.

A Cesspool of Disease

Pathogens from farmed fish pools can spread rapidly to contaminate any wild fish swimming past. Sea lice, a type of crustacean that finds captive fish on farms to be an easy target, have become huge problems for the industry. And the increased prevalence of these crustaceans due to fish farming is being blamed for reduced numbers of wild pink salmon, as well as the species that eat them, including bears, eagles, orcas and others.

Lethal viruses that are known to spread from fish farms are being detected in wild populations. Salmon leukemia virus is said to act like HIV, in that it depletes the immune system leaving animals susceptible to other infection. Infectious Salmon Anemia Virus (ISA) is also known as salmon influenza. It’s highly lethal Piscine reovirus, which degrades salmon’s heart health, causing heart attacks and preventing salmon from swimming upriver.

Toxic Antibiotics, Pesticides & Other Chemicals

Concentrated levels of antibiotics, pesticides and other chemicals used to fight infection are found in farmed fish. The effects these practices have on our environment are only beginning to be understood. One study found that a drug often used to kill sea lice will also kill other marine invertebrates, and contaminates waters at least up to half a mile away.

Recommended: Start Eating Like That and Start Eating Like This – Your Guide to Homeostasis Through Diet

Farmed Fish Food

Many farmed fish are being fed genetically modified corn and soy. Some report that in China farmed fish are often feed animal feces. One report from the USDA from 2009 stated,

[It] is common practice to let livestock and poultry roam freely in fields and to spread livestock and poultry waste on fields or use it as fish feed.”

Carnivorous Fish Farms Eat Too Much Fish

Many fish require a fish-based diet, and can require much more food than they produce. Now anchovies and herring and other small prey are being dangerously overfished to the brink of extinction in order to meet the growing demands of aquaculture. Tuna and salmon consume up to five pounds of fish for each pound of body weight.

We have caught all the big fish and now we are going after their food,”- Oceana

It’s been shown that every pound of farmed salmon needs five pounds of smaller fish to feed it.

Oceana blames aquaculture for declines in whales, dolphins, seals, sea lions, penguins, albatross and many other species.

Rather than relieving pressure on wild fish, growing these large carnivores [salmon and tuna on fish farms] requires a steady supply of prey that are caught and ground into oil and meal. As the industry grows, it is straining the existing supply of prey fish, putting additional pressure on populations that cannot supply the demand.”

Toxic, Diseased, & GMO Farmed Fish Escape

Many fish farms use netpens to confine fish in open waters. These systems are susceptible to being ripped from predators and due to storms. In the North Atlantic region alone it’s said that two million farmed salmon escape their farms each year. The result is that at least 20% of wild salmon caught in the North Atlantic are actually of farmed-fish origin. Farmed fish that escape will breed with wild fish and compromise the gene pool. Embryonic hybrid salmon, for example, are far less viable than wild salmon, and the resulting adult hybrid salmon routinely die much earlier than true wild salmon. This also harms predator populations that rely on fish like bears and orcas.

More Fat, but Less Omega 3s and Other Nutrients

Farmed salmon, for example, is much fattier than wild salmon, but it contains FAR LESS healthful omega-3 fats and less protein. The omega-3 levels in farmed salmon keep dropping with each new study.The International Fishmeal and Fish Oil Organization (IFFO) says that today’s farmed fillet contains as little as half of the omega-3s the fish had less than a decade ago. Salmon farmers in New Zealand were caught overstating the omega-3 fat levels of their fish.

Farmed salmon that is high in omega 3s get their higher levels from being fed fish oil. Like with the prey fish, the demand for fish oil is outstripping supply. This practice is becoming too expensive, and many fish are being fed cheap GMO oils to fatten them up.

Farm-raised tilapia is one of the most highly consumed fish in America. Studies show that tilapia has very low levels of beneficial omega-3 fatty acids and very high levels of inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids that may cause an “exaggerated inflammatory response.”

Recommended: What Causes Chronic Inflammation, and How To Stop It For Good

More PCBs

A report published in 2003 by the Environmental Working Group found that seven out of ten farmed salmon purchased at grocery stores in Washington DC, San Francisco, and Portland, Oregon contained PCBs at levels that raise health concerns. It’s a safe bet that these statistics have only grown worse as plastic continues to pollute our planet.

It’s said that farmed salmon are likely the most PCB-contaminated protein source in the U.S. food supply chain.

Farmed salmon are fed contaminated fishmeal. Farmed salmon are fed from a global supply of fishmeal and fish oil manufactured from small open sea fish, which studies show are the source of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, in most farmed salmon. In three independent studies scientists tested 37 fishmeal samples from six countries, and found PCB contamination in nearly every sample.” – Environmental Working Group

Recommended: How to Detox From Plastics and Other Endocrine Disruptors

China…

Chinese farmed fish accounts for about 60 percent of farmed marine products worldwide. China is the leading provider of farmed fish to the US. If you’re buying tilapia, it’s probably from China.

Excerpt from The Disgusting Truth About Fish And Shrimp From Asian Farms:

• Tilapia in China’s fish farms, are fed pig and goose manure — even though it contains salmonella and makes the tilapia “more susceptible to disease.”
• In Vietnam, farmed shrimp bound for the US market are kept fresh with heaps of ice made from tap water that teems with pathogenic bacteria.
• Bloomberg also notes that at the same company “there’s trash on the floor, and flies crawl over baskets of processed shrimp stacked in an unchilled room.”
• Like US meat farmers, Asia’s shrimp farmers rely heavily on antibiotics, many of which are banned for use in the United States.
• In May, ABC News bought 30 samples of imported farmed shrimp from across the country and had them tested for antibiotic traces. The result: Three of the samples contained detectable levels of these dangerous antibiotics.
• According to a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a quarter of the food-borne illness outbreaks caused by imported food from 2005 to 2010 involved seafood — more than any other food commodity.

Fish To Avoid and the Better Seafood Choices

Bivalves, such as oysters and mussels, can be farmed in an environmentally conscious manner because they are “filter feeders,”; they actually make the water in their ecosystem cleaner, and they are much easier to contain due to their lack of mobility. But, this means that the environment bivalves grow in should already be fairly clean, or else the seafood can transfer pollutants and other toxins to the consumer.

Alaskan salmon is not permitted to be farmed. Sockeye salmon cannot be farmed. Atlantic salmon comes from fish farms. Farmed salmon is rife with chemical contaminants ranging from pesticides and antibiotics to PCBs.

In restaurants, mislabeled salmon will typically be described as ‘wild’ but not ‘wild Alaskan.’ This is because authentic ‘wild Alaskan’ is easier to trace. The term ‘wild’ is more nebulous and therefore more often misused. In many ways it is very similar to the highly abused ‘natural’ designation. – Dr. Mercola

Atlantic Flatfish, including sole, flounder and halibut, are high in contaminants and they have a long history of being radically overfished. Pacific halibut is a safer and more environmentally friendlier option.

Almost 90 percent of catfish comes from Vietnam – a country with loose regulations on the use of dangerous antibiotics and other chemicals. Like catfish, Pollock is a mild, white fish with a delicate flavor that’s naturally low in mercury. Look for pollock from the US, Canada, and Norway which provide the most eco-friendly harvesting.

Eel, also called unagi, is primarily farmed in China.  A powerful carcinogen called nitrofuran, and many other drugs and pesticides, are used to control disease in eel farms. Eel also has plenty of mercury and cancer-causing PCBs. Squid is an eco-friendly alternative to eel.

Imported & Farm-Raised Shrimp is one of the dirtiest seafood sold. Chemical residues, antibiotics, and an assortment of other contaminants have been found in farmed shrimp. While avoiding imported, farmed shrimp can greatly reduce your exposure to contaminants, it’s important to note that 70 percent of domestic shrimp comes from the Gulf of Mexico. With the recent oil spill, this raises concern for the health of these shrimp stocks. Your best bet is MSC-certified wild-caught Pacific shrimp from Oregon.

Atlantic bluefin tuna is said to have the highest levels of mercury and they have plummeted to near-extinction levels. The eco-friendly tuna varieties (like albacore or yellowfin) areproblematicc as well. Oceana collected 1,215 samples from seafood vendors from 2010 to 2012reported that 59% of fish labeled tuna is not just mislabeled but it is almost entirely compromised of escolar, which is not likely a fish we want to be eating:

To be frankly and bluntly specific — and I’m sorry for this — consumption of escolar causes explosive, oily, orange diarrhea. People have reported that the discharges are often difficult to control and accidents can happen while passing gas.” – The Kitchn

A good alternative to tuna is the Atlantic mackerel or try sardines.  They both are high in omega-3s, and they don’t have the high levels of mercury and other contaminants that tuna accumulates.

Tilapia from overseas fish farms have a bad reputation due to the aforementioned practices, but tilapia farmed in the U.S. and Canada typically use closed recirculating tank systems that alleviate many of the problems like water pollution and fish escapes. In Ecuador, tilapia are typically farmed in low-density freshwater ponds, which eliminate overcrowding and reduces disease. Tilapia are fed a mostly grain-based diet, so they don’t deplete prey-fish resources.

Farmed Seafood Documentaries

Sources:

• Six Toxic Fish (Plus Safe and Delicious Alternatives) – US Wellness Meats
• Farmed fish overtakes farmed beef for first time – New Scientist
• 9 Things Everyone Should Know About Farmed Fish – Mind Body Green
• The Disgusting Truth About Fish And Shrimp From Asian Farms – Business Insider
• Wake Forest Researchers Say Popular Fish Contains Potentially Dangerous Fatty Acid Combination – Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center
• Aquaculture: 8 Fishy Facts – China Water Risk
• Six Toxic Fish (Plus Safe and Delicious Alternatives) – Grassland Beef
• The truth about tilapia – Fox News
• Is Farmed Salmon Losing its Omega-3 Edge? – CivilEats
• Wild Atlantic and Farmed Salmon – Slowfood
• New Zealand farmed salmon not as green as claimed, says consumer group – Food Navigator
• Salomon Farming Problems – Farmed and Dangerous
• Farmed and Dangerous: Sea Lice – Farmed and Dangerous
• Farmed and Dangerous: SLICE – Farmed and Dangerous
• Farmed and Dangerous: Escapes and Alien Species – Farmed and Dangerous

A new paper published in the American Journal of Infection Control examined reusable endoscopes cleared for patient use at three separate hospitals in California and found that sanitation procedures are lacking. At the best performing hospital, 62 percent of scopes had positive results for bacteria and potential pathogens. The other two had even higher percentages of bacteria with 85 and 92 percent. While researchers confirmed the lack of antibiotic-resistant superbugs on the scopes, that prospect is a when not an if.

What Is an Endoscope?

An endoscope is a thin, flexible tube with a light and a camera at the end, usually inserted into the body through the mouth or the anus. They are commonly used to navigate the colon, stomach, and esophagus, although they’ve also gained popularity as a way to examine the ears, throat, heart, nose, abdomen, urinary tract, and joints. Most of the people who experience endoscopy suffer from gastroesophageal reflux disease, GERD. According to the American Hospitals Association, the lifespans of endoscopes like gastroscopes and colonoscopes range from five to ten years.

Recommended: Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections

Why it’s Problematic

Not to activate your inner germaphobe, but this should make you wary of medical procedures where they insert something into you to figure out what’s going on. Doctors from the American College of Physicians reporting in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that the “Overuse of upper endoscopy contributes to higher health care costs without improving patient outcomes…” Numbers vary, but as many as forty percent of endoscopies don’t do anything to improve patient health. Is figuring out exactly what’s wrong with you worth inserting years of hospital bacteria into your system?

Not the First Warning

“Sadly, in the 10 years since we’ve been looking into the quality of endoscope reprocessing, we haven’t seen improvement in the field,” said Cori Ofstead, the study’s lead author and an epidemiologist in St. Paul, Minn., referring to how the devices are prepared for reuse.

Recommended: How to Detox From Plastics and Other Endocrine Disruptors

The issue of properly sterilizing this equipment has been and will continue to be a point of contention for hospitals and regulators. Researchers reported that the two hospitals that showed incredibly high numbers of bacteria reused towels when cleaning scopes, left the devices wet in dirty cabinets, and skipped necessary equipment washing procedures to save time. And they knew they were being watched.

No Quick Fix

There is no such thing a benign medical intervention. Being in the same room as someone who has taken antibiotics can affect your own microbiota, and a hospital is a fertile breeding grounds for hardy and potentially harmful pathogens like C. diff. A bacteria prone to antibiotic resistance, studies have shown rates of C.diff are greatly decreased in facilities that take sanitation seriously. This study found that the best of hospitals only eliminate less than half of bacteria left on reusable medical devices. Something to think about before you schedule your next colonoscopy, perhaps…

Sources

• Hospitals and device makers still struggle to rid medical scopes of infectious bacteria – LA Times
• Types of Endoscopy – cancer.net
• How C. Diff Infections Decrease With fewer Antibiotics – Organic Lifestyle Magazine
• Endoscopy Overused in Heartburn Patients – Web M.D

People who describe themselves as a “Night Owls” may not live as long as those who consider themselves a “morning person, according to a new study that followed more than 430,000 adults in the UK. Participants were between the ages 38 to 73. They were studied for six and a half years. At the end of the trial, researchers compared the death rates. Those who prefer the evenings were 10 percent more likely to die during the six-year study than early risers.

27% of the participants defined themselves as “definitely a morning person”, and 35% said they were “more a morning person than evening person” while “more an evening than a morning person” was at 28%, and 9% said they were “definitely an evening person.’ The participants also listed their weight, smoking habits, and socioeconomic status.

Recommended: Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections

Researchers also looked at medical issues. Health issues like diabetes and psychological, neurological and gastrointestinal disorders were less common for those who wake up earlier.

The researchers think that sleeping late and the ill-health effects are related to the “internal body clock” being in disarray, but it’s not clear whether or not the late sleep itself is causing the trouble as people who prefer the night were also more likely to smoke, drink alcohol and coffee, eat poorly, and use illegal drugs. While it seems clear that going to sleep at a decent hour, getting enough quality sleep, and being tuned into the circadian rhythm we humans have evolved with promotes better health than staying up late, the finding is only an association, not a cause-and-effect relationship.

Related: Pure Sleep – 11 Tips for Better Sleep

Previous research has linked body-clock disruption to chronic disease including diabetes, hypertension, and mental health problems like depression.

Researchers are investigating whether bright light therapy in the morning or melatonin supplementation in the evening, could shift our chronotype, possibly improving people’s health outcomes.

Related: Insomnia – A Comprehensive Look with Natural Remedies

The authors of the study also suggest that more thought should be given to how our working patterns are designed.

These findings suggest the need for researching interventions aimed at allowing evening types greater working flexibility.”

They also suggest that daylight saving time could disproportionality harm the health of those who prefer evenings.

The switch to daylight saving time is perceived as more uncomfortable by evening types than morning types, placing a further burden on individuals who are already struggling with when to start the working day.”

Related: Co-Sleeping is Not the Reason for High Infant Mortality Rates in the U.S.

People Who Sleep and Wake Up Late, Take Solace…

If you prefer the evenings, here’s some good news for you. Scientific research has shown a correlation with higher IQ scores and more for those who prefer the night. They are also said to be more creative. President Obama, Charles Darwin, Winston Churchill, Keith Richards and Elvis Presley are well known for being nocturnally active.

Source:

• Bad news night owls: People who go to bed later may be at higher risk of poor health – ABC News