Chemotherapy drugs kill pathogens and beneficial bacteria, and they add a heavy toxic burden to the body. The circulatory system, endocrine system, lymphatic system, and every other system will be overwhelmed with toxins after using chemotherapy drugs, and soon the body will be inundated with pathogenic fungi. While chemotherapy will likely kill fungus, the fungal spores survive. And when there is nothing left to keep them in check, the spores will turn fungal and flourish. We recommend healing the gut and detoxifying the liver to recover from chemotherapy. Diet is crucial to this program, and we recommend continuing on with this diet to avoid another cancer diagnosis.
Gut Health 102
Gut bacteria defines your health. Science is in the process of figuring this out. One big reason gut bacteria is paramount to good health is that your gut bacteria do not stay in your gut. Our microbes that proliferate in our gut reside throughout our whole body. A healthy gut pushes healthy microbes into the bloodstream. It follows that an unhealthy gut ecosystem will leak unhealthy (pathogenic) microbes into the body.
They say that your gut comprises 80% of your immune system. That’s sort of true. A healthy gut has thousands of different bacteria that live in harmony. A less healthy gut has fewer kinds of bacteria inside. Fungi and other pathogens will easily flourish in such a gut. When there is an injury in the body pathogens and beneficial bacteria do the same thing; they feed off of the sugars and starches of the dead and decaying cells. Pathogens cause more damage to the area, beneficial bacteria do not. Because of how beneficial bacteria works, they make it difficult for pathogens to flourish. A healthy gut feeds the body a colony of beneficial microbes that help keep pathogenic activity from proliferating.
Diet
Beneficial bacteria like healthy food. Pathogens like unhealthy food. Your diet should primarily consist of the healthiest foods, lots of raw vegetables and herbs. We recommend 80% raw vegetables and 20% cooked vegetables and healthy whole grains like quinoa, brown rice, amaranth, and millet. Raw produce is high in fiber, which is essential for gut health. Fiber not only moves toxins through the bowels, but it also provides the perfect environment for healthy bacteria to thrive. Buy organic whenever possible, but small farms at your local farmer’s market may have organic food that they don’t certify (certification can be expensive).
Choose a wide variety of nutrient-dense foods. Eat huge salads every day with at least 12 different vegetables and a few fresh herbs. Pack your gut with raw vegetables and herbs every day and your gut will produce a variety of beneficial bacteria. There is no shortcut to this!
If you eat meat, make sure you choose organic meat. You do not want to eat meat from diseased animals fed hormones and antibiotics. Avoid processed foods, and do not eat any foods with artificial flavorings, colorings, preservatives, MSG, or trans fats. Avoid all GMOs. And do not let anyone cook your food for you. No rice cakes, no organic chips, no restaurant food, get completely well before you splurge. We also recommend cranberry lemonade made with stevia to help detoxify the kidneys and the liver. Check out Detox Cheap and Easy Without Fasting – Recipes Included and Start Eating Like That and Start Eating Like This – Your Guide to Homeostasis Through Diet for more on diet.
Supplements To Kill and Prevent Yeast, Candida, Mold, Fungus
Chemotherapy will leave a body ripe for fungal infections, but a body with cancer was a body that was probably already dealing with fungal issues. The supplements below will help properly balance the gut’s ecosystem. SF722 kills all fungi, and it works amazingly well. Berberine is a potent antimicrobial. The Candida Complex and the Microdefense are two good supplement complexes that eliminate pathogens as well. Syntol and Abzorb are probiotics. In the past doctors have warned against using probiotics during chemo treatments but now well-informed doctors are recommending that probiotics should be taken a few hours after chemotherapy drug administrations for better treatment outcomes. Abzorb also has a systemic enzyme that will help break down Candida along with many other benefits.
This is a new twist on an ancient way of experiencing the benefits of turmeric. Ideally, use all fresh, unadulterated herbs whenever available. This will help detoxify the body, and it feels really good.
1 cup of warm Coconut Milk
1 ounce of turmeric juice, or 1 tablespoon of freshly grated turmeric (both should be with skin)
1 teaspoon ground Cinnamon
1 ounce of ginger juice or 1 tablespoon of freshly grated ginger (both should be with skin)
1 pinch of black pepper
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Mix it all up and drink. For the drink to be warm, warm up the coconut milk only, but be careful not to cook the other ingredients. Add them in when the coconut milk is not too hot to drink so as to preserve enzymes and other fragile micronutrients.
It all comes down to gut health. We can’t harp on this enough. For healing from chemotherapy to preventing cancer, gut health is paramount. Don’t skip and don’t skimp on the salads. If you do nothing else from this article, we hope you’ll start eating large, diverse salads as often as possible. Salads change the gut ecology for the better. Nothing else makes as big of a difference.
How to Reverse Insulin Resistance: The Secret is Sensitive Cells
The relationship between your cells and your hormones determines, to a large extent, how healthy you are.
For example, when our cells are resistant to the effects of insulin (one of the main anabolic and energy-storage hormones in the body), we have a higher chance of developing metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.
In contrast, insulin sensitive cells are able to efficiently and effectively respond to insulin in a way that allows us to carry out many of the vital mechanisms needed to maintain health and prevent disease.
Altogether, this biological phenomenon is known as insulin sensitivity, and it plays a significant role in fat loss, hormone balance, metabolic function, and disease prevention. When the majority of our cells aren’t insulin sensitive, this can lead to a condition called insulin resistance, which significantly increases the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
Fortunately, you won’t be stuck at a specific level of insulin resistance for the rest of your life. In fact, there are several strategies you can use to increase your receptivity to insulin and reverse insulin resistance — but before we implement them, let’s take a closer look at insulin and insulin resistance.
What is Insulin? The Lifesaving Effects of a Highly Misunderstood Hormone
Insulin is a protein-based hormone secreted by the pancreas in response to increases in blood sugar and certain amino acids. Insulin’s primary role is to regulate the nutrients you absorb from food, primarily carbohydrates.
When you eat and digest carbs, it increases how much sugar is in your bloodstream. This is detected by the cells in your pancreas which will then secrete insulin into the blood. Once the insulin is traveling in your bloodstream, it will start binding to your cells and stimulate them to take in and utilize the sugar.
The purpose of this action is to reduce the amount of sugar in your blood and trigger the cells to use it and/or store it. This is essential for our health because abnormally high amounts of sugar in the blood can cause harm throughout the body. In some cases, having high blood sugar levels can even cause major health issues and become fatal if not managed properly.
With that being said, everything about insulin isn’t “good.” In fact, this (not so) superhero hormone hinders the one key metabolic process that allows us to lose fat: Fat burning.
Insulin, Carbs, Weight Gain, and Fat Loss: What is the Real Cause of the Obesity Epidemic?
With the increasing popularity of low-carb diets and the belief that carbs make you fat, insulin and carbs have been demonized as the reason why we gain fat. Although there is some truth to this (because insulin tends to stimulate sugar use and shut down fat burning), the hypotheses that arose from this understanding are not supported by the evidence.
For example, one of the most popular explanations for the growing obesity epidemic in westernized countries is that our carb-heavy diets keep our insulin levels so high that it prevents us from burning stored fat. This is known as the “Carbohydrate-Insulin Hypothesis,” and it’s touted as the main reason for why low carb diets, like the ketogenic diet or the Atkin’s diet, are so effective at boosting fat loss.
Makes sense, right? Just cut the carbs to decrease insulin levels, and you will trigger fat burning and lose fat. This hypothesis is accurate in some aspects, but it neglects the bigger picture.
If we consider the totality of the biochemistry and physiology of digestion and energy metabolism — without exaggerating insulin’s effects on fat cells — insulin is simply one piece of information that feeds into what the body decides to do.
Put in another way: insulin provides our cells with info regarding glucose availability and energy status, and our cells will integrate that information with all the other information they have about their own energy status, needs, and abilities to come up with the appropriate actions.
The ultimate result is that cells burn energy when they need fuel and stop burning energy when they don’t — insulin is just one of the hormones involved in the decision-making process of the cells. This means that your energy intake (i.e., calorie consumption) is the ultimate determining factor of whether you gain or lose weight. Insulin is but one of the multitude of factors that determines what you do with the calories you consume.
The Relationship between Insulin, Insulin Resistance, and Insulin Sensitivity
With this deeper understanding of the relationship between insulin and our cells, a much more accurate model of insulin resistance arises as well. Although carbs are the main reason why insulin is released, what is going in the cell is the ultimate determinant of how it will respond to that insulin.
Thus, the key to reversing insulin resistance as a whole is increasing the insulin sensitivity of each individual cell. Sounds simple enough, but how can accomplish such a solely cellular feat? To answer this question, we must develop a better sense of insulin sensitivity.
What is Insulin Sensitivity Exactly?
Insulin sensitivity is the term that we use to describe how the cells in our body respond to insulin. The more insulin sensitive your cells are, the more responsive they will be to insulin, and vice versa.
To measure this phenomenon objectively, we need to figure out how much insulin your body needs to produce to deposit a certain amount of glucose (sugar). You are considered insulin sensitive if your body only needs to secrete a small amount of insulin to deposit glucose into the cells, and you are considered insulin resistant when you need a higher than normal dose of insulin for the cells to respond.
Insulin sensitivity has turned into a widespread phenomenon in the weight loss industry because of the strong correlation between insulin sensitivity and body fat percentage. The research literature suggests that increasing your insulin sensitivity (which also means decreasing your insulin resistance) will reduce your risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and Alzheimer’s disease. In other words, if you want to lose fat and improve your overall health, it is probably best to optimize your insulin sensitivity.
Both modifiable and non-modifiable factors determine the degree to which you are insulin sensitive or insulin resistant.
Non-modifiable factors are factors that cannot be changed. Some examples of non-modifiable factors that decrease insulin sensitivity are:
Increasing age. Research has found increasing age to be associated with increased insulin resistance. However, it is possible to prevent this decline in insulin sensitivity with the lifestyle changes we will talk about later.
Genetics. Your genes can determine how sensitive certain cells are to insulin. For one example of what I mean by this, check out our article on polycystic ovary syndrome — a condition that is intimately linked with cells that were left vulnerable to insulin resistance by specific genes.
A family history of type 2 diabetes. The combination of genetic and environmental factors that come with your family history can leave you with a higher risk of developing insulin resistance.
Ethnic background. If you are of African-American, Asian-American, Latino/Hispanic-American, Native American, or Pacific Islander descent, you have a greater likelihood of developing insulin resistance.
In contrast, the modifiable factors (i.e., what you can actually do to increase your insulin sensitivity) are
losing weight
reducing stress levels
maintaining a calorie deficit
decreasing caffeine consumption
eating less processed foods and sugar
exercising
getting adequate sleep
taking specific supplements and/or drugs that decrease insulin resistance
fasting/intermittent fasting
and many more that we will take a closer look at later in this article
By neglecting to use these modifiable risk factors to your advantage, you will steadily reduce your insulin sensitivity and set the stage for insulin resistance and the conditions that come with it.
The Big Picture — Insulin Sensitivity and Insulin Resistance
The physiology of insulin resistance is so complex that we aren’t even close to explaining it all. However, it is possible to distill our learnings into one simple concept that will help you understand what causes insulin resistance and increases insulin sensitivity for most people:
Increased energy status will cause your cells to become more insulin resistant and less insulin sensitive over time.
Decreased energy status will cause your cells to become less insulin resistant and more insulin sensitive over time.
By energy status, I mean the current state of your cells. Are they being bathed in energy molecules without any demand to use it up? This is “high energy status”, and it occurs when we are inactive and overeat.
In contrast, if your cells are in need of more energy to keep up with your body’s demands, then this indicates that you are in “low energy status.” As a result, your cells will increase their sensitivity to insulin so that they don’t miss out on the opportunity to get more fuel.
To further illustrate the big picture of insulin resistance, here is a graph from an article published in Comprehensive Physiology:
This graph depicts the relationships between insulin secretion and insulin sensitivity. Insulin secretion rises as insulin sensitivity falls when an individual goes from a state of exercise training/being physically active (point A) to inactivity/sedentary (point B).
Conversely, insulin secretion decreases as insulin sensitivity increases when a person goes from inactivity/sedentary (point B) to physically active (point A). This is what commonly occurs in healthy individuals.
However, when insulin secretion fails to compensate for a fall in insulin sensitivity, the person will progress to prediabetes (Point C). If no changes are made at this point, the disease will progress from point C to Point D (type 2 diabetes). The only way to prevent this from happening is by improving your insulin sensitivity.
Ten Ways to Reduce Insulin Resistance and Increase Insulin Sensitivity
Luckily, insulin resistance isn’t a fixed mechanism in the body (even if you have all of the non-modifiable factors). It can be drastically improved (and potentially reversed) with simple lifestyle modifications.
Here are ten proven strategies you can use to help you optimize your insulin sensitivity:
1. Follow a Whole Food, Plant-Based Diet.
Simple sugar stimulates the most insulin release of all the macronutrients so, theoretically, removing carb-rich processed foods from your diet should decrease insulin levels and improve insulin sensitivity to some degree. This speculation is backed up by the research on how low carb diets affect patients with type 2 diabetes.
Also worth noting is the fact that whole foods are much more satiating and contain more fiber than processed foods. By increasing the satiety of our diet, we tend to eat fewer calories (decreasing the energy status of our cells), and the extra fiber helps slow carbohydrate and protein absorption, decreasing our insulin requirements and reducing insulin resistance.
2. Lose Fat.
Studies have shown that having high amounts of fat, especially around your midsection, can produce harmful chemicals and hormones responsible for increasing insulin resistance and inflammation.
Simply by losing excess fat, insulin sensitivity and metabolic function will improve significantly. More specifically, one study found that a weight loss of 5 percent is all obese patients need to experience some of the positive effects of fat loss on insulin sensitivity.
One of the most effective ways to lose fat is by replacing all the processed foods with high-quality whole foods.
3. Add Fasting and/or Intermittent Fasting to Your Lifestyle.
We learned earlier that low energy status increases insulin sensitivity. Although following a healthy diet is one of the best ways to achieve a lower energy status, sprinkling in some fasting and/or intermittent fasting throughout your diet plan can help as well.
A pilot study found that intermittent fasting for 2 weeks (with a 18-20 hour fasting window) helped to improve blood sugar levels with a trend toward improved insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetics.
The research on dietary interventions for type 2 diabetes also suggests that calorie restriction is one of the major factors that can help manage and potentially reverse the disease. One way to achieve this, which was confirmed by the pilot study on intermittent fasting, is by restricting your feeding window, so you eat fewer calories throughout the day.
By eating fewer calories, you decrease your energy status, which improves overall insulin sensitivity.
However, there is one caveat to fasting and intermittent fasting for people who have diabetes. Since both forms of fasting can cause significant changes in blood sugar levels, it is best to consult your doctor before adding them to your treatment plan.
4. Add Aerobic and Anaerobic Exercise to Your Weekly Schedule.
Want to improve your insulin sensitivity as rapidly as possible? Start working out, right now.
Exercise draws upon our energy stores so much that many of the cells throughout our body have to make themselves sensitive to insulin to ensure that they will get the energy they need.
Fortunately, both aerobic and anaerobic exercise will reduce your insulin resistance in a variety of ways, so the type of exercise you do is entirely up to you.
Aerobic exercise involves any form of physical activity that requires you to exercise for a prolonged period of time without rest breaks. This includes jogging, swimming, or anything where you’re moving your body at a steady state for 30 minutes or longer.
Anaerobic exercise, such as lifting weights, sprinting, and intense rowing/cycling, can also drastically improve your insulin sensitivity.
In general, it is best to aim for five hours of exercise per week. Research suggests that this is the sweet spot for significantly improving your insulin sensitivity.
To get the best results, I recommend doing a combination of aerobic and anaerobic exercise throughout the week. Anaerobic exercise will help you build more muscle and burn through glycogen stores, which keeps your insulin sensitivity high, while aerobic exercise will ensure that your cells never have a chance to increase their insulin resistance to unhealthy levels.
5. Reduce Your Stress Levels.
Stress, physical or emotional, causes us to secrete cortisol.
When cortisol is circulating through the blood, it stimulates various mechanisms in your body that increase your blood sugar levels, providing you with the energy you need to handle the stressful situation. One way that cortisol does this is by increasing insulin resistance.
Once the body has taken care of the stress-inducing situation, cortisol will be broken down as insulin sensitivity is restored. This response to stress is healthy and normal — in the short term.
However, most people in modern society are typically stressed for the majority of the day. With every stressor comes more cortisol, decreased insulin sensitivity, and more stress. The only way to stop this cycle is by giving your body a chance to relax and recover from your daily stressors.
Here are some helpful strategies you can use reduce your stress levels and decrease insulin resistance:
Meditate
Take a short nap
Do yoga, tai chi, and/or qi gong
Quit smoking
Exercise regularly
Maintain a good sleep schedule
Use adaptogenic herbs like Rhodiola and Ashwagandha
Supplement with vitamins and minerals that you may be deficient in (magnesium and vitamins C, E, B, and D, in particular, can help with stress)
6. Get Adequate Sleep Every Night.
When you don’t get enough sleep, your body’s hunger hormone, ghrelin, begins to fluctuate, and your cortisol levels elevate. Simply put, losing sleep will cause you to feel hungrier than usual while simultaneously increasing your stress levels and insulin resistance (thanks to cortisol).
Altogether, these hormonal changes will typically cause you to eat more and struggle to regulate glucose effectively when you do have those extra calories. The best way to counteract this is by going to sleep at the same time every night and waking up at around the same time every day after getting at least 7 hours of sleep.
7. Consume More Soluble Fiber.
Of the two types of fiber, insoluble and soluble, soluble fiber is most notable when it comes to reducing insulin resistance. This is because soluble fibers slow down the movement of food through the small intestines, which helps reduce the amount of sugar that enters your blood, decrease appetite, and lower cholesterol levels.
Not sure how to get more soluble fiber? Here are some of the healthiest sources (as long as your digestive system can tolerate them):
Cruciferous vegetables
Leafy greens
Pumpkin seeds
Sunflower seeds
Legumes
Oats
8. Add More Fruits, Vegetables, Herbs, and Spices to Your Diet.
Many studies have found that a diet rich in plant compounds from fruits and vegetables is linked to reduced insulin resistance. The healthiest plants tend to be low-carb fruits and vegetables like wild berries, leafy greens, and cruciferous vegetables.
Herbs and spices have also shown promising results for boosting insulin sensitivity. Some of the most effective are:
Turmeric: This powerful herb contains a compound called curcumin, which has potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. It can indirectly increase insulin sensitivity by reducing free fatty acids and sugar in the blood.
Ginger: This popular spice is linked to increased insulin sensitivity as well. Studies have found that its active component, gingerol, makes muscle cells more receptive to sugar.
Garlic: Garlic has antioxidant properties that may directly increase insulin sensitivity, according to animal studies.
Cinnamon: This popular spice is well-known for its ability to reduce blood sugar and increase insulin sensitivity. One meta-analysis found that consuming 1/2–3 teaspoons (1–6 grams) of cinnamon daily can significantly reduce short- and long-term blood sugar levels.
9. Drink Green Tea
Green tea an excellent choice for people who are struggling to manage their blood sugar levels. Several studies have found that drinking green tea can increase insulin sensitivity and reduce blood sugar levels.
The beneficial effects of green tea could be due to its powerful antioxidant epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), which many studies have found to increase insulin sensitivity on its own.
Supplementing with decaffeinated green tea extract may be the best option since caffeine has been found to increase insulin resistance.
10. Experiment with Supplements that Help Reduce Insulin Resistance.
There are many supplements that can help with insulin resistance, but let’s stick with the ones that are backed by research:
Resveratrol: This is a polyphenolic compound that can be found in red wine and is known for its antioxidant benefits. High-quality evidence indicates that resveratrol can boost glucose uptake significantly without increasing insulin needs.
Alpha Lipoic Acid: Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA) is an organosulfur compound that is essential for aerobic energy metabolism. Many studies have reported that supplementation with this compound can help reduce insulin resistance in subjects with type 2 diabetes.
Berberine. This is a plant alkaloid that has been shown to lower blood glucose in many cases. Some researchers have even found berberine to be as effective as the popular diabetes drug, metformin.
Chromium: Some evidence indicates that this essential trace element has the ability to indirectly increase insulin sensitivity.
Magnesium: This essential mineral is so crucial for proper insulin signaling that magnesium deficiency can worsen insulin sensitivity.
Gymnema Sylvestre: It lowers blood sugar and is also called gurmar, which means “destroyer of sugar” in Hindi.
How to Know If These Changes are Reversing Your Insulin Resistance
The quickest and safest way to find out if you are insulin resistant is to get a test done by your doctor. The most reliable test is called HOMA-IR, which makes an accurate guess regarding your body’s insulin resistance by tracking your blood sugar and insulin levels over time.
You can also measure your blood sugar fluctuations directly with an oral glucose tolerance test. This test consists of multiple blood tests and the ingestion of a glucose solution as a way to see how your body handles an increase in blood sugar levels.
Despite how helpful both of these tests are, they are inconvenient and unnecessary for most people. A more accessible way to track your level of insulin resistance is by seeing how your blood work and other key health indicators change as you make the appropriate dietary and lifestyle adjustments.
For example, if your blood sugar levels, blood lipids, and blood pressure reach healthier levels, then you are most likely improving your insulin sensitivity, reducing your insulin resistance, and optimizing your health. Furthermore, if you are losing inches off your waist, then you are almost certainly making your cells more sensitive and less resistant to insulin.
How to Avoid GMOs – And Everything Else You Should Know About Genetic Engineering
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.
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
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.
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.
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).
Forgoing the stigmatized terms “G.M.O.’’ and “genetically engineered,” new guidelines propose labels that would say “bioengineered” or “BE.” Food manufacturers would be able to choose one of three disclosure methods:
Spelling out the information, like “contains a bioengineered food ingredient”
Place a QR code on a package that directs consumers to a website with more information
Label with a standard icon, like one of these:
GMO labeling advocates are concerned with the friendly, “smiley” nature of the images.
Will GMO Labels Include All Genetically Modified Foods?
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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.
Non-GM papaya
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.
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.
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?
Best Supplements To Kill Lyme and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Lyme Disease
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.
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 spirochetesinfect 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 bacteriacan 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.
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.
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
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.
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):
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:
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.
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.
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.
How Farmed Fish Degrades Our Health and the Environment – Better Options Included
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.
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.
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.”
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
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.
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.”
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 Shrimpis 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.
How to Detox From Plastics and Other Endocrine Disruptors
The soles of your shoes, the fabric of your clothing, your contact lenses, your chewing gum, your phone, food containers, mattresses – all are made with plastic. It’s everywhere. It’s in our salt and it’s in our water. Plastic may be the most insidious and enduring product we’ve ever produced.
While plastic improves our daily life in countless ways, it is also suffocating our planet and causing catastrophic pollution, much of it hidden and microscopic. Just how bad is it?
Bottled water samples were collected and analyzed by scientists over a ten-month investigation. The study analyzed 259 bottles from 19 locations in nine countries across 11 different brands and found an average of 325 plastic particles for every liter of water being sold.
In one bottle of Nestlé Pure Life, concentrations were as high as 10,000 plastic pieces per litre of water. Of the 259 bottles tested, only 17 were free of plastics, according to the study.” – Drinking Bottled Water Means Drinking Microplastics
This study comes just after a damning study of plastic found in sea salt brands was published in the scientific journal Scientific Reports. Theyanalyzed seventeen commercial salt brands from eight different countries on four continents for plastic particles. They found plastics in all but one brand.
BPA is the starting material for producing polycarbonate plastics. We found out it leaches into the ground and water and causes all kinds of problems. Of course, the manufacturers denied and lied until the mounting evidence was incontrovertible. Then BPS was developed, and was a favored replacement; they thought BPS was more resistant to leaching. But BPS is leaching. Nearly 81 percent of Americans have detectable levels of BPS in their urine. Once it enters the body it can affect cells in ways that parallel BPA.
Microplastics, Endocrine Disrupters, and the Environment
Microplastics are most likely, to varying degrees, already in all of our drinking water and in all of our bodies. Microplastics absorb toxic chemicals linked to cancer and other diseases and release those chemicals into animals that consume it, like fish and humans who eat those fish. Experts say since these fibers have been found in most of our water supply, they have to be in our food as well. From fish to organic vegetables, microplastics are everywhere. At this time, there is no known way to completely filter or contain them.
Plastic waste doesn’t biodegrade. Instead, it breaks down into smaller pieces of itself, down to the nanometer scale (one billionth of a meter). Science knows that particles of this size migrate through intestinal walls and travel to lymph nodes, glands, and bodily organs.
Plastic is toxic. It has been proven to cause cancer. Plastic toxicity weakens the immune system, metabolism, and affects people’s skin, weight, behavior, and much more. Plastic particles will leach into food and drink and is also absorbed through skin and lungs. Plastics leach endocrine disruptors, meaning plastic screws up our hormonal system.
Most plastic products, from dishes to plastic bags to food wraps, have been proven to release estrogenic chemicals. These chemicals are endocrine disrupters that act like the sex hormone estrogen, according to a study in Environmental Health Perspectives. Excessive estrogen, estrogenic chemicals, and other endocrine disruptors have been linked to cancer, fertility problems, male impotence, heart disease, and many other conditions.
Endocrine disruptors (EDs) are chemicals that mimic our own hormones. They bind hormone receptors and disrupt the body’s normal hormonal actions. Endocrine disruptors may cause a more powerful response than the natural hormone would have or a diminished response. In some cases, they cause a completely different response than its natural counterpart would have created. EDs are typically measured in parts per trillion, which is indicative of the fact that very small amounts can have a disrupting effect on us. EDs are very stable. They don’t break down quickly. This is, in large part, why they are in so many products. They also get stored in our fat cells. They tend to stick around for a long time.
The dangers of plastics have not been studied adequately, and the plastic industry has no desire or intention of doing so. A study looking into the effects of BPA on rat testicles found that lipoic acid exerted antioxidant effects that can protect against BPA damage. In the study, BPA was shown to reduce testosterone, testicular weight, protein content, antioxidant activity, and beneficial enzyme activity, while damaging the mitochondria. Fetal exposure to BPA has been associated with obesity, altered reproductive function, and cancers later on in life. BPA was accidentally discovered to be carcinogenic when medical researchers came to find that rats were getting cancer during a study for something else. They found out that it was caused the BPA in the water bottles. And now we are supposed to trust BPA free plastics?
How to Avoid Plastic Toxicity
Many manufacturers have stopped using BPA to harden plastics, replacing it with “BPA-free” alternatives like the most common replacement, BPS (Bisphenol S).
Our research showed that low levels of BPS had a similar impact on the embryo as BPA. In the presence of either BPA or BPS, embryonic development was accelerated. Additionally, BPA caused premature birth.” –Nancy Wayne
You probably can’t avoid plastics. Even if you go to another planet plastic is going to take you there and contaminate that ecosystem. But you can limit plastic consumption and keep your body in a homeostasis state that detoxifies itself at all times. And the good news is that with the right diet and a healthy body, BPA and BPS can be flushed out of your system quickly, some say within 24 hours. A properly working body can process and dispel a lot of toxins. An unhealthy body rids itself of toxins at a slower rate than the toxins are consumed and produced.
Ways to Limit Plastic Contamination & Plastic Use
Keep your home clean, and vacuum regularly
Filter tap water
Always avoid artificial fragrances
Stay away from warm or hot plastics, don’t even breathe near them
Avoid canned foods
Avoid conventional personal care products like shampoos, soaps, moisturizers, makeup
Avoid conventional and big-ag produce (pesticides and herbicides have plastic residues)
Cook your own foods using whole-food ingredients
Stop using plastic straws, even in restaurants
Purchase food, like cereal, pasta, and rice from bulk bins and fill a reusable bag or container
Use paper or your own reusable shopping bags, bulk goods bags, and bring your own mesh produce bags (FYI: I suspect that many paper bags contain BPA and BPS)
No more chewing gum, it’s made of plastic
Buy boxes and glass instead of plastic bottles whenever possible
Use a reusable bottle or mug for your beverages or coffee and soda refills (but you don’t drink that crap, do you?)
Boycott any restaurant that still uses styrofoam – Why is that still a thing?
Use matches or invest in a refillable metal lighter – avoid the plastic disposable ones
Eat real, whole foods – fresh foods equates to less packaging and less previous plastic contact
Don’t use plasticware ever, bring your own if need be
Use cloth diapers – disposable diapers are extremely toxic to the environment and your baby
Did you know that some receipts contain 250 to 1,000 times the amount of BPA typically found in a can of food? If that isn’t scary enough, BPA transfers readily from the receipt to skin and cannot be washed off. Different types of receipts contain varying levels of BPA. If you aren’t sure whether or not a merchant uses BPA in their receipts, either ask directly or let them know early in the transaction that you will not need your receipt. Gas station receipts are particularly notorious for containing huge amounts of BPA.” – Home Maker Chic
How to Detoxify Plastic Byproducts
To eliminate BPS, BPA, and other plastic residues from the body, one must first and foremost, make sure your gut is not leaking! A healthy gut microbiome will breakdown toxins into inert substances. See How To Heal Your Gut for more on that.
The second most important thing you can do is consume lots of salads like these. Incidentally, salads are part of building a healthy gut microbiome. A large salad with 15 different vegetables and herbs will chelate toxic chemicals from the body while providing nutrition and feeding a healthy, diverse microbiome.
Also, eliminate heavy metals and other toxins as well. Toxins tend to disrupt the endocrine system. The endocrine system is your hormonal system (click to learn more), which includes glands like the thyroid, adrenals, and the pancreas. Heavy metal toxicity and other toxins will also inhibit the body’s ability to detoxify other chemicals including plastic residue.
Most people living on a modern, refined diet suffer from candida overgrowth, and consequently, a leaky gut. Ingesting pesticides, GMOs, antibiotics, alcohol, and other toxic foods kill our natural, beneficial gut microbiome. The refined sugars and flours we ingest feed the microbes that survive our toxic lifestyles. These microbes thrive in our toxic bodies because they feed off of simple sugars and weak cells. They also feed off of plastics, heavy metals, and all kinds of toxins. And they are not the microbes that optimize our health. THe best gut bacteria just happen to like the healthiest foods. Nature wouldn’t work if it were any other way.
The diet I recommend may sound extreme. It’s the same diet I advocate for those suffering from cancer, diabetes, depression, any other autoimune disease or infection, or for those who just want to detoxify. If you are sick, no amount of supplements will fix that. But with the right diet, supplements will radically speed up the process of getting well. If you want to live life disease free, save the following articles:
Even if you’re not feeling ill in any way, detoxifying plastic or anything else is done best with raw, fresh vegetables. The right salad will chelate heavy metals, BPAs, BPS, and more, all while replenishing the minerals we need. Garlic, parsley, cilantro, and many other foods show promising chelation properties, but their effects alone are weak. Thr trick is to combine many healthy foods with their many health benefits for a holistic approach. Taking a few cloves of garlic a day will not significantly reduce levels of toxins any more than taking a supplement. In other words, don’t underestimate the importance of the right diet. It must contain a wide variety of fresh, whole foods.
Supplements for BPA and BPS, Heavy Metal Detox, and Other Endocrine Disrupters
Without a proper diet, the right supplements will work, but only to a certain extent, and only for a little while. On the other hand, supplements taken with a healthy diet can radically speed up healing time.
1.) Get thee some probiotics – pronto. I’m not talking celebrity endorsed yogurt here. Chose fermented foods like kimchi, natural sauerkraut, and kefir. A refrigerated, concentrated probiotic supplement helps. Drink kombucha. Bifidobacterium breve and Lactobacillus casei were found to extract BPA from the blood of mammals and were excreted out through the bowels. That is very good news!
Beneficial bacteria strengthen the gut and help break down chemicals like BPA so they can be cleared out. As a bonus, they break down pesticides, another major endocrine-disruptor, and other toxins as well. Probiotics are becoming well known for breaking down endocrine-disruptors and other toxins in the body.
My recommendations (pick one depending on the budget):
Syntol AMD (powerful probiotic with prebiotics and enzymes)
Chelators are small molecules that bind very tightly to metal ions. Activated charcoal is proven to attach to heavy metals including beneficial macrominerals, so mineral supplementation is recommended when consuming activated charcoal, though this can be mitigated with a healthy diet like as mentioned above.
Activated charcoal is highly negatively charged. It seems to bind with positively charged particles. Pathogens typically have a high positive charge associated with them, and so do plastics. Activated charcoal filters have shown to remove BPA from water, but I don’t see any research on its ability to filter BPA from the body, but I think it works.
Like activated charcoal, bentonite clay is negatively charged. Unlike charcoal, bentonite clay provides minerals and other nutrients to the body while it sucks out toxins, as it helps repair the intestinal tract.
Another chelator, and much more. Any self-respecting eco-friendly health-nut has a bag of food-grade DE somewhere. Take it with water to kill pathogens in your gut, and use it outside or indoors for pest control.
Food grade DE is approximately 80-85% silica. Life cannot exist without silica. Most people are silica-deficient.
Chlorella has a well-documented history of helping remove heavy metals and other toxins like dioxin from the body expeditiously. Its high concentration of chlorophyll and fiber seems to be a big part of its exceptional detox benefits. It’s almost certain, considering the mechanism, that Chlorella (and spirulina) help pull out BPAs and other plastic residue.
Chlorella is a good source of protein, GLA, and phytochemicals, B12, B2, B3, iron, magnesium, Beta Carotene, and a bunch of powerful phytochemicals. Chlorella stimulates the growth of friendly bacteria. Furthermore, chlorella’s cell walls act to absorb toxic compounds within the intestines, restoring proper gastrointestinal pH and helping to promote normal peristalsis. And it is another chelator, as it is also very negatively charged, attracting positively charged molecules.
Phytochemicals found within Chlorella pyrenoidosa support the complex network of enzymatic reactions that drive the human detoxification system. This detoxification network involves the Phase I and Phase II enzymatic reactions that take place in nearly all cells in the body, though they are concentrated in the liver cells. Phase I detoxification reactions change non-polar chemicals that are not water-soluble into relatively polar, water-soluble compounds. The Phase I process can result in the formation of reactive chemicals that are typically more toxic than the original compounds. Phase II detoxification is necessary therefore to add chemical groups to the toxic intermediates to make them water-soluble so that they may easily be excreted via urine and/or feces. Phase I and Phase II detoxification pathways must remain functional for the removal of toxins from the body. This research focuses specifically on the Chlorella pyrenoidosa species of green algae recognized for its detoxification properties. – King Hardt Academy
Chlorella is green algae, but spirulina is more of a blue-green in color. These two algae have a lot in common. Chlorella’s green hue demonstrates that it’s richer in chlorophyll than spirulina, and chlorella is said to have stronger detoxification properties. But spirulina is an even better source of protein, and it offers iron, B1, B2, B3, B6, B12, calcium, potassium, zinc, and a host of microminerals.
Digestive enzymes break down food. Metabolic enzymes, also known as systemic enzymes, break down foreign proteins, fibrin, and other toxins, and they clean the blood of impurities. Consider the ramifications of this. Probiotics and enzymes together help breakdown nearly everything in the gut that doesn’t belong. Read more about systemic enzymes here.
Diindolylmethane (DIM) is naturally present in cruciferous vegetables such as cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, and brussels sprouts. It helps metabolize estrogens and hormone-disrupting estrogen mimics. Indolplex is a dietary supplement that contains a patented, bioavailable form of diindolylmethane.
Glucuronidation is a major metabolic reaction, and mainly takes place in the liver, for disposal of a variety of endogenous (such as TH) and exogenous substrates (such as PCBs).
Calcium glucarate is naturally found in fruits and vegetables, especially cruciferous vegetables. Calcium glucarate helps rid the body of toxins and excess hormones while it protects our cells from carcinogens.
My family and I do avoid it as often as we can. Years ago, I spent considerable time trying to completely eliminate plastic from my life. I found that my overall environmental footprint went up a little. Plastics make things so easy and convenient that sometimes it just doesn’t make any sense to do without it. I’m careful, but plastics don’t scare me. The body can handle a remarkable toxic load when the diet is right. I trust my diet to eliminate the BPA, BPS, and whatever else gets in there that shouldn’t be.
That said, I cannot wait for the day when our plastics come from hemp or some other sustainable alternative. There are much better options available to us if we can just get out from under this petroleum-based economy.
Does the simple act of reading that word make you squirm? How often do you find yourself squatting on the porcelain throne, tears streaming down your face, as you strain and push, hoping you aren’t giving birth to hemorrhoids or anal fissures? Do you poop several times a day, or do you go days between the urge?
Are you’re looking for that one thing, that one trick, that one pill that’s going to have you defecating easily without having to change your diet? We highly recommend permanent, well-researched diet changes with lots of raw produce to permanently alleviate constipation, but for those who don’t feel like this is an option, or for those on medications that slow bowel movements, the one you’re looking for is Shillington’s Intestinal Cleanse Formula.
What is Constipation?
Constipation can be defined as having hard, dry, difficult-to-pass stools or by the frequency (or rather infrequency) of passing stools. It can also be indicated by the appearance of the stool and whether the stool is completely evacuated from the rectum after a bowel movement.
You may have heard that it’s within the “healthy range” to have three bowel movements a week or even one a week. We beg to differ. While there will naturally be some variation in frequency, a healthy gut processes food fairly quickly and consistently. A healthy body is efficient when it comes to ridding itself of waste.
Preferably, you want to have a minimum of 1-3 soft, but well-formed, easy to pass bowel movements a day. We contend that the ideal is one bowel movement for every meal. After one eats a meal, the urge for a bowel movement typically comes shortly after food begins to leave the stomach to enter the small intestine. If that sounds like too many, imagine having one bowel movement a week after eating 3 meals a day for 7 days. You’ve been packing that food into your intestines before eliminating any of it. How gross is that? What about 3 day’s worth? That’s still a lot of food waste packed and crammed into your body. Also, when defecation is easy it’s generally very fast. Frequent poopers probably spend less time on the toilet overall than those who need a book to do their business.
Healthy Poop
Healthy poop is well-formed but soft. The Bristol Scale offers a visual of normal stool, constipation, and diarrhea. It’s not always accurate; there are other variables thank can affect density and size, but it’s good to know:
Conventional Relief from Constipation
These methods are just a way to treat the symptoms, not the cause.
Glycerin Suppositories
Glycerin suppositories are tapered pieces of hardened glycerin that are inserted into the rectum. Once inside, body heat melts the glycerin, which provides lubricant to aid in passing the bowel movement.
This seemingly innocuous treatment, which has long been prescribed for babies, may not be as benign as once thought. There are drug interactions, allergic reactions, and other side effects with glycerin, and suppositories are known to weaken the bowel muscles if done repeatedly.
Mineral Oil Enemas
Like with suppositories, there are drug interactions, allergic reactions, and other potential side effects with glycerin.
Other Enemas
Enemas are also known to weaken the bowel muscles if done repeatedly. Body Ecology recommends a variety of enemas to cleanse the colon such as enemas with apple cider vinegar, burdock tea, lemon juice, etc, but we do not recommend regular enemas for health maintenance. Instead, we recommend enemas for acute care only, and we recommend cultivating a healthy ecosystem that does not need to be washed away for health reasons.
Herbal Teas Known to Help with Constipation
Spearmint Tea
Senna Tea
Dandelion Tea
Licorice Root
Black Tea
Peppermint
Burdock Root Tea
Green Tea
Clove Tea
Tulsi Tea
Exercise
Exercise is crucial to physical health, and it may also help alleviate your constipation. If you are a couch potato, get up and move. Walk, swim, rebound, squat, get moving. If you can squat, squats can help alleviate constipation and other issues as well. If you can’t squat try laying on the floor, getting up off the floor, lying back down, and repeating while alternating how the legs are used. And of course, there’s yoga! meet Adrian. Then follow her on YouTube and do her 30-day challenge. It’s life-changing. A few weeks later and you will love her and you’ll love yourself for doing it.
Eliminate Chronic Constipation For Good
The two most common causes of constipation are the two things most easily remedied – dehydration and a poor diet. If you want to rid yourself of constipation, you must drink enough water, and you must eat a diet filled with real food, optimally, a diet consisting of 80% fresh, raw, organic produce. Yes, real food, not processed garbage out of a box, a can, a jar, or a plastic tray you pop in the microwave. Ok, maybe it’s not an “easy remedy.”
The Constipation Elimination Diet
The recommended daily intake of water varies with gender, age, and other factors including how much raw produce a person eats. Check out this article at Healthline for more on water intake. An additional way to increase your fluid intake is drinking by cranberry lemonade throughout the day. Cranberry lemonade will also help you detox your liver and kidneys, boost your immune response, and improve all major bodily functions.
Raw produce provides the fiber and bulk to create healthy stools, and it provides the fiber needed for a healthy gut. Beneficial gut bacteria thrive when 80% of your diet is made up of raw, organic, produce. And a healthy gut is essential for overall health, proper digestion, and proper elimination.
If you think the 80% number sounds too difficult, eat one super salad each day filled with a variety of vegetables. Your body will thank you. Not only will you be filling your body with nutrient dense foods, you will be naturally detoxing on an ongoing basis through the food you eat. And in between meals, eat a piece of fresh, raw, organic fruit. For more on diet:
For extra help add several prunes and/or figs to your daily diet.
Posture on the Throne
We weren’t built to poop on a chair. We were built to poop from a squat. You can either squat in the woods or improvise. The knowledge that a squatting position is best for elimination is not news (I learned about it more than 40 years ago). But the idea is gaining in popularity to the point that posture aids, called squatting potties or toilet stools, are now readily available for purchase. Basically, these are footstools designed to raise your feet when you sit on the toilet and slide back out of the way when not in use.
For an immediate fix, try any low footstool you have on hand or make one with books or magazines. The point is to mimic the squatting position, which aligns the large intestine and rectum for ease of elimination.
Invest in a bathroom stool whether constipation is an issue or not. Correct posture will certainly help to avoid straining and aid in proper elimination.
Dr. Shillington offers the Intestinal Detox and the Intestinal Cleanse formulas for detoxifying the bowels. If you need to move your poop, there’s nothing more effective than Shillington’s Intestinal Cleanse formula. It also kills parasites, heals the intestinal tract, and is a healthy means to promote bowel movements for those who have trouble defecating. Shillington’s Intestinal detox draws out old fecal matter from the walls of the intestine, while it removes poisons, toxins, heavy metals such as mercury and lead, and more (heavy metals are another common cause of constipation). Due to the charcoal and clays in the Intestinal Detox, it actually slows things down a bit, and the two also work very well together to heal the gut.
Abzorb is another big recommendation. It’s a systemic enzyme, so the capsule does not release until it is inside the gut. It’s also a probiotic, and an effective one at that. Taken with food Abzorb makes for a very effective digestive aid. Taken without food, Abzorb will begin to clear away old fecal matter, and it offers a host of other benefits (read more about enzymes here).
