GMO

Hi everyone...

I don't ever know if you want me to send out emails for this information or just post them on the blog, but here it is one way or the other, and let me know if you'd rather I just send emails.  And sorry this is long.  Feel free to ignore if you prefer, I just wanted to share some of the research I've been doing in case it helps any of you.

I just had a really in depth conversation with the specialist that has been helping my family to get well (and doing a great job at it) about some important issues and I thought you might be interested.  We asked him how we can avoid getting these same health problems in the future, since we are working so hard at detoxing our bodies and getting us well.  We don't want to keep having to go back every month, and keep getting rid of this junk if we can avoid getting it in the first place.  It's cheaper and so much better on our bodies.  His answer, in short, "It depends on what you eat."

So I probed.  If we're paying him, I want to know how I can take our health into our own hands and not have to pay him so much, although I do love him and what he's done for us.  I told him what we've been trying to do... nothing artificial, cutting out most dairy and meat and replacing it with fresh fruits and vegetables, trying to make everything from scratch, incorporating lots of healthy grains, growing our own food with no pesticides, etc. etc.  What more can we do?

Remember the section in Food, Inc. on Monsanto?  The soybean giant that has control over most of the soybeans grown, which are all GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms).  I was a little disturbed about that section of the movie, and I know I've shared with you before that that is why we don't do soy milk.  Well, apparently they have bought up a bunch of other companies and now almost all grains that are available in regular stores are GMO. Grrrr!!!

Why is this a problem?  For a few reasons, but this page explains a lot if you are interested.  This is another page that explains why you should avoid GMO foods.  Here's some tips to help you avoid GMO's.  There's a ton of reading material out there on the internet and many have written books.  It's not hard to find, which is why I'm shocked that I didn't know all this before. I mean, I knew GMO's were bad for you, but I had no idea how prevalent they are.  These are all from the same site,  but seriously, there's a ton out there. There are many countries that won't allow any GMO foods and there are whole non-GMO zones in Europe, which is why some people go on vacation to Europe and all of a sudden start feeling better.  Here's an interesting article about non-GMO countries.

I was so proud of that 8 grain cereal that we looove at our house and now I am just frustrated and feel like there's nothing safe to eat anywhere you go.  I know there is, it's just sad that it takes such constant vigilance (Thanks Alaster Moody...) just to keep your family healthy.  And don't worry, I haven't gone insane and I don't take my own food with us everywhere we go, but sometimes I feel like that's the only way to keep it out!  The specialist we've been working with said the same thing...he pretty much takes his own food with him everywhere he goes.  He put Cory on a one month cleanse, and it's going to be rough to get all that junk out right now, but we will do our best.

Oh, and our garden?  Unless you specifically by non GMO seeds, they are GMO.  Double Grrr!!!  We do have some heirloom tomatoes that the seeds date back to pre-GMO days so those are good.  We have already found some good sources (like this one) for non GMO seeds for next year, but until then...

Obviously, this should all be taken with common sense.  Most people, including us, can't afford to get rid of all of that junk completely.  And obviously eating food grown in your own garden is better than getting it at the grocery store, even if the seeds are GMO.  At least it's fresh and you can eat it so quickly after harvesting that most of the nutrients are still there.  A good tip is that if you can't smell it (it doesn't have much fragrance), it isn't very nutrient dense.  Think, plasticky tomatoes at the grocery store.  And obviously it's still better to eat the multi-grain hot cereal for breakfast than Fruit Loops.  I hope this hasn't come out as alarmist, but I am concerned about it because I've seen first hand what happened when you let this stuff build up in your body for years and years.  This is just taking healthy eating to the next level.

I still have a lot of research to do, but from what I've read, you're mostly safe if you buy organic.  Honeyville farms are non-GMO for the most part.  Here's a link to their supposed GMO policy.  It's not official, but it's consistent with a lot of other things I've read about their company-take it for what it's worth.  Also, Bob's Red Mill's website states that, "All of our products come from identity preserved seeds. This means the seed planted in the ground is non-GMO. We simply can't guarantee against cross pollination due to natural occurrences such as wind drift, so we do not label our products GMO-free."

In good news, though, both Cory and Jocelyn have moved up to the next level of detoxing (finally!) which we attribute to doing the alkaline water.  The last time we saw the doctor, there was still some bacteria that was hanging on and we couldn't move forward until we got it out.  We started drinking the alkaline water the next day and we've been on it a month.  We saw him again this week and all that stuff we've been trying to get out for 6 months is gone and we are moving forward!  Yay!!  If any of you have access to it, we obviously are big fans, although we haven't had to fork out the money for the machine which makes it easier.

I also had a good conversation with him about vaccinating kids, but that's for another day.