… the why and the how
Switching to organic food doesn’t have to be an overnight event but is an important choice today, with genetic modification of food as a major concern.
People often make their first change to organic meats due to the amount of growth hormones or antibiotics fed to animals and large farm growing conditions. While Canada does not currently endorse growth hormones being fed to animals, Canadian regulation does support genetic engineering of produce which is fed to both animals and humans. In addition, American sourced meat or animal byproducts, such as whey, are in Canadian stores without a label to indicate genetically engineered components and American use of growth hormones.
Farming and slaughter methods, in addition to genetic engineering implications, are gradually coming under consideration for both health and ethics. While independent research has not been completed to prove the long-term impact in humans who consume this type of meat or vegetable crop, who wants to volunteer for that project? So we consider other indicators.
Many natural practitioners have helped people re-claim their health with guidance on periodic inner cleansing and increased awareness of healthier food choices, often including organic meat. The resulting health improvement points to a strong possibility of truth in a prevailing theory of accumulated hormone-like effects in meat-eaters from today’s mainstream meat sources, and that these can eventually act as xenoestrogens or false estrogens with adverse effect until cleared from our system. Some scientists say they become hormone disrupters that eventually influence many body functions adversely.
When it comes to vegetables, fresh organic are important choices in order to avoid genetically modified (GM) genes, or genetic engineering (GE). There is much controversy around genetic engineering by insertion of different traits from an unlike species into another species of plant or animal through use of viruses or bacteria that serve to hide the foreign matter from an unlike plant or animal’s natural defense system.
The question is, does that means of transport also hide the bacteria or viruses from a human’s immune system. How strong is our natural immunity against pathogens after we eat material containing bacteria or viruses in a GE product? Who hasn’t been told by a doctor that no drug will help ease your cold because it’s a virus? Why would we want to eat a virus in a genetically engineered plant that our system can’t detect? Ah, but the genetic engineers assured us that was impossible, that the human intestinal tract would eliminate it.
But, according to studies performed at Quebec’s University of Sherbrooke in mid-2011, the genetic engineers were incorrect. Bacteria used in gene transfer from one foreign species to another was discovered alive and well in the blood of the volunteers and even in the fetus of pregnant women tested, despite the assurances that this could not happen. The lab’s confirmation of bacteria survival in human blood does tend to enlarge the importance of selecting organic food as much as possible if you’d like your immune system to remain efficient against pathogens. American food sources are now reported to be 80% genetically engineered and our Canadian grocery stores are full of American produce, especially during winter months. That emphasizes the importance of reading labels and the country of source before making your choice of what you will feed your family.
Back to organic then, where gradually switching to organic options as you deplete tinned goods can make it a less costly change. Glass jar containers also allow you to avoid the plastic coatings that now line most food and beverage tins, with the exception of beer.
With awareness of the possible dangers and healthier options to questionable food supply, we can be make better choices in what we feed our family. We can also decide what laws we want our politicians to enforce for consumer protection.
You may be surprised at the response of a grocery store manager if you take a moment to call and advise you will not be back to buy their corn when you notice perfect rows of plump, identical kernels that broadcast the obvious – genetically engineered corn. Consumer demand results in supply and you’re the consumer. Provincial requests for labels on genetically engineered food have been repeatedly denied by Ottawa and this in itself, produces questions we could ask a representative before we vote.
Metal toxicity is a separate subject to become aware of, with sources being amalgams in teeth, food in cans, pollution in cities and government spraying of the atmosphere to theoretically, reflect sunlight in an attempt to control climate change. Mainstream may still deny its implications, but metal toxicity has definitely been linked to neurotoxicity. One of the greatest indicators is improved health for those in a debilitated condition after they clear their body of metal overload. Metal detoxification is an intricate process that is best embarked upon with an experienced practitioner for those who are not avid readers of health data.
It is surprising that aluminum from canned foods and cooking pots has been linked for some years to the increase of Alzheimers and yet many still use foil over their food or cook in aluminum pots. Many restaurants still use aluminum pots but how often do we think to ask that question before eating at an outside location? The trend today of lining food tins with plastic is still not the ideal solution because plastic residual, depending on quality and time, has been found to leach into the food. Plastic residual in humans is linked to reproductive disorders, including infertility which ranks highest in North America.
As always, it’s about moderation. Knowing of the controversy gives opportunity to limit intake of these questionable food sources and to cleanse periodically in an effort to lessen your body’s exposure.
Only by considering this information and doing your own research on both sides of the subject, will you arrive at a solution you believe right for you and your family.
