When Heather was 3 ½ years old, she had less than 50 words in her speech. Most of those were numbers and colors. I sought help and went to Headstart. They were very helpful, and Heather seemed to enjoy the interaction with other kids. However, after 2 ½ years of Headstart, two years of summer school, and a year of public kindergarten, I was told she would never read nor write. I inquired at the private school, but they do not accept autistic children unless they are extremely high functioning. Feeling like there was no help and worse, no hope, I turned to home schooling. I’m proud to say that today Heather can read, write and do mathematics. She is delayed, but we’ve accomplished something I was told she wasn’t capable of. I promise you, it hasn’t been easy and there have been many tears and struggles along the way. But I wouldn’t trade those for anything now. It’s true that what doesn’t kill you WILL make you stronger. I tell you this to encourage you along your path. Yes, there is hope.
Along the way, I have looked into autism as much as I can and what I have concluded is that there is no one thing in particular which causes it. It cannot be genetic, because 20 years ago, one in ten thousand were diagnosed with autism. Most of those did not marry, and if they did, they did not have children. We are now facing a harsh reality of one in 88 children fits somewhere on the autistic spectrum. There are a few similarities, but there are also many differences.
What I perceive is happening is a Joker’s Concoction. There are so many chemicals in our food supply and daily living that haven’t been there in the past. This one chemical alone won’t cause autism; however, when you combine it with this and that, you wind up with this particular form of autism. If you combine it with that and that, you wind up with that particular form of autism.
In a recent study of umbilical cord blood, the babies were each found with 212 industrial chemicals and pesticides, 47 well-know consumer product ingredients, 134 chemicals known to be carcinogens. Now that’s quite a chemical soup for a baby to be starting out their life. Now add to that daily combinations of soaps, creams, food, etc. No wonder our kids are having so much trouble. Surviving Toxic Terrorism, Steve Wohlberg
If you are just starting down this path, there are two books I recommend reading. One is, “Unraveling the Mystery of Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorder” by Karyn Seroussi. The other is, “Children with Starving Brains,” by Jaquelyn McCandless. They will help you understand what you are going to be facing. Please take the time to invest in your child. No one else will.
For those of you who are down the path a bit, here’s some various information to think about:
SUPPLEMENTS:
Initially, Heather benefited from Cod Liver Oil (you can mix it with peanut butter or almond butter and some powdered sugar to make an almost candy), B6, B12, Folic Acid. Then Zinc Citrate (not plain zinc) helped to get her copper/zinc ratio back in balance. We also did a candida albicans cleanse as well as chelation. Currently Carnitine, Phosphatidylserine and Bacopa seem to give her the most benefit. I couldn’t give her a multi-vitamin because they often contain things that she already has an excess of in her system, such as copper and iron. Not to mention, multi-vitamins often do not carry a high enough dose of B6/B12/Folic Acid to make a difference.
Before just randomly throwing pills at your child, make sure to have an amino acids/mineral level check done to see what needs to be supplemented and what needs to be avoided.
METALS:
The first article that brought my attention to the fact that maybe it’s not so much the food as it is the chemicals in the food, was the USDA report in 2006 which found that all non-organic chicken contains arsenic. I was floored. I stopped by the local feed store and asked the two gentlemen behind the counter if they knew anything about arsenic in the chicken. The older one, Dan, said they feed arsenic to chickens because it acts like a steroid and they can butcher at six weeks, rather than eight weeks. The younger one, Aaron, said they feed arsenic to fighting cocks because it brings out their aggressiveness. I’m sure my jaw hit the floor. So I ordered some meat chicks and left there wondering how much of the violence in our society could be attributed to arsenic in the chicken. I mentioned arsenic in chicken to Heather’s doctor at our next appointment and he said he was surprised at how many people didn’t know there was arsenic in chicken. I was quite taken aback. Was I the only stupid person in the entire nation who had no clue there was arsenic in chicken? Why would I even think for a moment that there would be arsenic in chicken? Chicken is supposed to be healthy, low-fat food…so much for that thought.
From there, I started exploring the foods that Heather tested allergic to, as well as possible causes of the high levels of heavy metals in her system.
Lead was a bit confusing because we lived in a house built after 1978 (lead paint law). But I finally traced it down to fabric softener. The skin is the largest organ and does do a lot of absorbing. If there is lead in the clothes, it can and will be absorbed into the blood stream. Also, lead can exist in the body for years after exposure. It leaches into the bloodstream whenever our bones release calcium. (Statesman Journal, Nov 5, 2007)
Cadmium: the largest source of this is second hand cigarette smoke. Since neither Andy nor I smoke, I was at a loss. But the person who lived in the house before us was obviously a chain smoker. So the veneer paneling walls came out, replaced with sheetrock and latex paint. The carpeting came out and was replaced with laminate flooring.
Also, cadmium gets into food via chemical fertilizers.
As a side note: Swedish researchers have found that women with high levels of cadmium have a 21 percent greater risk of developing breast cancer. (Whole Living, Oct 2012, 78)
Aluminum: this was pretty tricky. The most common cause is from aluminum soda cans. But Heather won’t drink soda pop. The carbonated fizzes ‘burn’ her tongue. All my aluminum cookware was replaced with enameled cast iron and stainless steel. All non-stick cookware was tossed (see Good Housekeeping November 2007; and Statesman Journal, Dec 4, 03 “DuPont denies danger of Teflon-coated pans“). I switched baking powder brands, switched to non-aluminum salt (most table salt utilizes aluminum silicate to keep the salt from clumping together), took away her favorite tortillas, switched suntan lotions. Still, her aluminum level remained high. Then, by some fluke I was reading about fluoride, which is an industrial by-product leftover from aluminum smelting. It was originally used as rat poison, but Alcoa and McKesson’s couldn’t sell enough of it to get rid of it as fast as it was being produced. We were on well water, so I didn’t have to worry about it being an additive in the water. We switched to non-fluoridated toothpaste, and her level started coming down. As a side note to fluoride, it has been directly linked to Sudden Adult Death Syndrome. I can’t help but wonder if possibly Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) could be linked to fluoridosis. (Fluoride: The Aging Factor, John Yiamouyiannis) Also, in 1999, the EPA reported 80% death rates, kidney damage and brain damage in rats exposed to half of one milligram of aluminum fluoride in a litre of drinking water. A report by the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) acknowledged that “fluoride has been observed to have synergistic effects on the toxicity of aluminum.“ (http://www.mercola.com/2001/may/16/fluoride.htm) (also read “Fluoride Deception, Christopher Bryson))
Aluminum is also found in vaccines as a stabilizer.
Surprisingly, her mercury level wasn’t super high, which I was counting on due to all the vaccines she had when she was younger ( she had had 23 vaccines by the age of 2 ½ – the state‘s recommendation).
However, something to think about is that in addition to all the preservatives and additives present in vaccines (I know mercury was removed from vaccines in 2002; however, in 2005 under bill S3, 109th Congress, mercury was allowed back into the vaccines), live virus cell vaccines are cultured in egg serum and bovine serum. It’s very common for Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus to be present in the serum. BVDV is similar to hog cholera and sheep border disease. Many types of cells appear to be susceptible to BVDV contamination, including human cells. (“Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus Contamination of Nutrient Serum, Cell Cultures and Viral Vaccines“, Symposium on Virological Aspects of the Safety of Biological Products, London, England, 1990, Levings and Wessman)
Bovine viral diarrhea virus I and II, Border disease virus and Swine fever virus have all been detected in live virus vaccines intended for human use. (“Genotypes of Pestivirus RNA Detected in Live Virus Vaccines for Human Use“, Public Health, March 2, 2001, Giangaspero, Vacirca, Harasawa, Buttner, Panuccio, DeGuili Morghen, Zanetti, Belloli, Verhulst)
Another study indicated that 3 pestiviruses in fetal calf serum, porcine Border Disease virus, and two bovine cell lines were detected present and contaminating cultures used for “vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, pharmaceutical and other important biological substances.” Pestiviruses are not species specific and may cross into other species. (“Identification of Pestiviruses Contaminating Cell Lines and Fetal Calf Sera” Acta virologica 45: 81-86, 2001, Vilcek)
Sept 2, 2013: After being bumped around from court to court, Ryan’s case was eventually heard by the vaccine court’s Autism Omnibus Proceedings, according to The Huffington Post. And in the end, the federal government agreed that Ryan’s encephalopathy had been caused by the MMR vaccine, a landmark ruling that confirms what Dr. Andrew Wakefield found more than 15 years ago when studying gut disorders in children given the MMR vaccine.
http://www.naturalnews.com/041897_mmr_vaccines_autism_court_ruling.html
9/23/2014: Italian court rules that a boy’s autism was caused by vaccines:
http://healthimpactnews.com/2015/u-s-media-blackout-italian-courts-rule-vaccines-cause-autism/
FOOD:
OMG no more GMO’s!
More and more of our food is being genetically modified. The FDA, EPA, USDA are all turning their heads the other way as long as Monsanto keeps putting money in their pockets. And get this: NONE of the genetically modified organisms (GMO’s) have been tested synergistically. That is to say, none of them have been tested together. Even the individual tests are highly questionable because of who funds the testing. The tests can be rigged in order to achieve the desired results. Don’t kid yourself: scientists and laboratories have to make a profit, too.
Genetically Modified Organisms are NOT the same as hybrid varieties. Hybrid varieties arise from crossing one type of apple with another type of apple. GMO’s are produced by crossing parts of a fish in with a tomato or making the plant resistant to an herbicide. One cross is injecting a Brazil nut gene into tomatoes. This doesn’t seem like a big deal unless you’re allergic to Brazil nuts and happen to eat one of those type of GMO tomatoes.
Obviously, corn is one of the most controversial crops, with 95% of the corn on the market being GMO. The pollen can travel for up to two miles, depending on conditions, and contaminate non-GMO corn. It’s genetically engineered (GE) to kill the insects that feed on it, which is why the Monarch Butterfly people are so upset. Monarch Butterflies are dying by the thousands after eating corn pollen. It’s also why GE corn is registered as an insecticide with the EPA. It’s engineered to shut down the nervous system of insects. In chronic, low doses over time, what is that doing to our nervous systems? They also have engineered corn to render men sterile. Pretty clever, huh?
Another highly GE crop is cotton. 99% of cotton here in the United States is GE. Initially, I didn’t think much of this, until I realized how much cottonseed oil is in food. Also, cotton is one of the most highly sprayed crops. It is often rotated yearly with peanuts. Peanuts grow below ground and sit in all those chemicals. Just think how many people are allergic to peanuts now. Thirty years ago, you rarely heard of someone being allergic to peanuts. Now they aren’t permitted in some schools due to the high allergic reactions.
98% of Canola is GE. And Canola oil is supposed to be healthy.
98% of soy is GE. When given a chance, animals will turn their noses up at GE soy, but eat non-GMO soy. Are animals that much smarter than people?
Bananas are now being engineered to contain antibiotics. Sounds great until you think about all the viruses and bacteria that will be able to become resistant to those types of antibiotics. What will happen when you really are sick, need antibiotics and none of them will help you because you’ve been eating them in your bananas?
Something that I underestimated was how many varieties of each one have already been developed. Something like 270 different species of plants have been GE. And many have several GE varieties of each, I think something like 44 different varieties of GE wheat are currently available. And in addition to corn, canola, soy, cotton, wheat, these varieties have been on the market long enough to be deregulated:
Crop Modified Traits
Canola 9
Chicory 3
Cotton 14
Flax 1
Corn 27
Papaya 1
Plum 1
Potato 20
Rice 3
Soybean 12
Squash 2
Sugar Beet 3
Tobacco 1
Tomato 7
Capitol Press, Dec 26, 2008
Last count was that 65% of wheat on the market is GMO. Barley crops used to be rotated with wheat crops, but they can no longer do that because barley isn’t genetically engineered enough to withstand all the chemicals used the year before on the wheat. (Capitol Press, July 9, 2010)
It’s quite disturbing that GMO’s do not have to be labeled as such here in the US. They are labeled in Europe. Africa and other third world countries flat out refuse our GMO crops.
Rats fed GE potatoes suffered damaged immune systems, including damaged thymus, spleens, brains, livers and showed an increase of possible cancer cells after eating the GM potatoes for only 10 days. (Seeds of Deception, Jeffrey Smith)
There is so much information regarding GMO’s that I don’t want to bore you. For more information on them, please read Seeds of Deception by Jeffrey M. Smith and Seeds of Destruction by William Engdahl. A good video on the subject is The Future of Food. It will blow you away.
Even things like yeast and probiotics are now GE. I called various nutritional companies asking about their probiotic lines and whether or not they were genetically modified. Of the five companies I contacted (one was a parent company who owned 20+ brands), not one of them would guarantee me that their probiotics were non-GMO. Disappointing, to say the least.
March 12, 2013 – The Center for Food Safety reports, “While agrichemical corporations also claim that their patented seeds are leading to environmental improvements, the report notes that upward of 26 percent more chemicals per acre were used on GE crops than on non-GE crops, according to USDA data.” http://www.motherearthnews.com/sustainable-farming/seed-diversity-in-trouble-zwfz1303zkin.aspx?newsletter=1&utm_content=04.05.13+GFSS&utm_campaign=2013+GFSS&utm_source=iPost&utm_medium=email&page=2#axzz2PbyhsMqy In other words, the very seeds that are touted to supposedly to reduce pesticide/herbicide usage, have actually increased their usage by 26%. This is leading to reduced nutrition in the soil, and thus, reduced nutrition in our foods. It is also creating soil where beneficial microorganisms and nematodes cannot exist, thus creating more dependency on chemical fertilizers.
April/May 2013 Mary Janes Farm: 54 of 86 GE plants approved for food production have been found to contain a viral gene that is poisonous to humans. The altered genes are inserted into the plants by piggybacking them onto viruses. Also, according to Washington State University, in the past 16 years, herbicide use has increased by 527 million pounds.
Glyphosate resistant superweeds are now appearing, so Monsanto is now working to develop 2, 4 D resistant GE plants. Does anybody remember Agent Orange? The two base ingredients for Agent Orange were 2,4D and 2,4,5T. There were actually several different types of herbicides used during the Vietnam war, 15 I believe: Agent Purple, Agent Yellow, etc. Half were formulated with the base of 2,4D and half were formulated with the base 2,4,5T. Agent Orange was the only one that combined the two into a deadly concoction.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/sustainable-farming/genetically-modified-foods-zm0z12amzmat.aspx
Roundup, the glyphosate weed killer marketed by Monsanto, has come under scrutiny by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It has been linked to Parkinson’s, infertility, pediatric cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, cystic fibrosis, and Alzheimer’s, and “…may be the most biologically disruptive chemical in our environment.”
http://deliciousliving.com/health/how-dangerous-roundup
Nov 2013 – Dangers of Glyphosphate: endocrine disruptor, linked to cancer and miscarriages, intestinal problems, etc.
Just as a side note: those wonderful loyalty cards that you use at the grocery store (myself included – how else do you get a coupon rate?) are being used to track your health.
In case you can’t see the picture, http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/19990125154458.html
MILK
Heather tested allergic to casein, which is the protein found in milk. When I looked into it, I found that when milk is homogenized, it completely distorts the casein protein. The way I understand it is your intestinal lining has casein receptors that are kind of S shaped. In it’s raw form, casein proteins actually match that shape. So when you drink raw milk, your body absorbs casein. However, after homogenization, the casein protein resembles more of an L shape. Your body does not recognize this peculiar shape and may try to insert this shape into a different receptor, pass it on through or react to it like a foreign invader. But your body doesn’t receive the benefits of casein. The University of Guelph has some wonderful information and detailed explanations on this subject on their website http://www.foodsci.uoguelph.ca/dairyedu/homogenization.html
We switched to drinking raw milk and Heather no longer reacted to the milk. In fact, it was like it was helping to heal her intestinal lining, which had been plagued with leaky gut syndrome.
I started experimenting with making my own butter. Something that struck me was when I sautéed using the homemade butter, the little black flecks that normally appeared using store bought butter, were completely absent. I mentioned this to Andy, who was working at a trucking company at the time. A couple of weeks later, he had the opportunity to speak with a driver who delivered for a local dairy. The driver said that he picks up expired milk and cream from the grocery stores. Stabilizers and extenders are added, and then butter, ice cream, cottage cheese, etc. are made from those expired dairy products. Which explains why sometimes cottage cheese is really nummy and creamy and other times it’s almost sour.
“The Untold Story of Milk” by Ron Schmid explained a great deal of the dairy industry to me. I had always pictured Jersey cows grazing out in a field of grass with a red barn in the background. Unfortunately, that’s the image the industry wants you to perceive. Oftentimes, the cows are kept locked up in a small stall and rarely see the light of day. Their lifespans are cut to one fourth of what they would be if they were allowed out to graze on green grass. I did not understand rBst, nor how it made it’s way into the dairy industry, until I read this book. It’s not healthy and Canada has banned it from their dairy cows.
Cheese. One of my favorite edibles. When I started experimenting with making cheese, I learned that in order to make cheese from store bought milk, you have to add calcium. Ummm….isn’t that what people tell their kids – that they need to drink their milk for calcium? Yet, calcium has to be added to homogenized milk, otherwise the milk can’t turn into cheese. Ultra-pasteurized milk simply won’t work at all. Another thought: many cheeses are chemically aged, rather than taking the time to just let the cheese set in a cheese cave and properly age.
MEAT
I almost don’t know where to begin. Commercial producers often inject their animals with growth hormones and steroids to increase production and lessen the amount of time they have to feed the animal before taking it to market. Your health is sacrificed in order to fatten their wallets. Food, Inc shows some of the processing plants and how the animals are treated. Very often we hear of millions of pounds of meat being recalled due to various bacteria. Sadly, too many people have died from this diseased meat. Now we have “pink slime” to think about as well. Better cuts of meat are often sprayed with carbon monoxide to keep it a bright color on the shelf.
When Andy was working at the trucking company, one of the drivers was offered a position hauling for a company who manufactured commercial chicken feed. Andy asked about maybe us getting some chicken feed from him in order to help reduce our feed bill. The driver flat out told Andy that we didn’t want commercial chicken feed. The company has contracts with the local hospitals and pharmacies, picking up the outdated drugs. Those are used as fillers for commercial chicken feed. He said Viagra was a very common one that he picked up. This is what is fed to commercially raised chickens.
When we started getting into sheep and goats and I had to start looking into buying hay for the winter, one of the first things I learned is that the city’s sewer treatment plant would dredge out the solid waste and spread it out flat on large concrete pads. After it had dried, farmers would come pick it up and spread it on their fields as fertilizer. I know humanure has been used for some time as fertilizer, but think of all the drugs, chemotherapy residue, etc. that is still in the humanure when it is spread on the fields. This is finding it’s way into beef, lamb, goat meat, etc. Not to mention the humanure that is spread on crops intended for human consumption.
Pork: An estimated 71% of the population at any one time has a low grade infection of trichinosis. Symptoms generally include light fever, maybe headache and chills, some aches. Less than one percent of these cases advance to where they need clinical attention. But this causes a depressed immune system within those people who are carriers. (Yearbook of Agriculture, C.N.McBryde) (“Trichinosis in the US population 1966-70“, Health Services Report, Aug-Sept 1973, Zimmerman)
What is even more interesting is that fish farming creates wonderful habitats for pigs to play. Birds also enjoy the water and carry avian influenza strains. Pigs create the correct mixing ground for avian and human influenza types and can actually mutate the influenza viruses within their system, thus creating whole new strains of influenza. So this brings farmed fish and pork into question regarding the types of viruses that may be present within the meat. (“Cultivating a Killer Virus”, Natural History, Jan92, vol 101)
A study released Dec 10, 2012 indicated that 69% of pork is contaminated with Yersinia enterocolitica. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this bug can cause fevers, abdominal pain and diarrhea, which lasts from one to three weeks. While this probably isn’t a contributing factor to autism, we as consumers need to be aware of contaminated foods on the market which compromise the immune system. Since autism is often considered in conjunction with a compromised immune system, we need to work toward safer food to eat. Consider the ramifications of this bug should a mother consume it at some point in her pregnancy.
Shellfish: Scientists often use shellfish to determine the level of mercury and other metals in a body of water. Some bodies of water now contain fish that are deemed unsafe to eat because of the high levels of metal in the water. Shellfish act similar to filters in that they almost absorb the metals. So when you consume shellfish, you consume the metals as well.
Artificial Sweeteners: Not even good for diabetics. They actually trick your body into thinking it’s getting sugar, so it starts producing more insulin, and when no sugar appears, it thinks that it over corrected and in time, your body reacts less and less to sugar, producing less and less insulin. Overdosing on aspartame actually creates symptoms similar to multiple sclerosis, but in truth it’s methanol toxicity. (Natural Food and Farming, March/April 1992) (also see “Patterns of artificial sweetener use and weight change in an American Cancer Society Prospective Study, “ Appetite, 1988,11,Supplement 85-91)
The only people endorsing artificial sweeteners are the ones who make them.
WATER:
The basis of life. How could we go wrong with water? Except there are so many chemicals in the water supply now, that they can’t all be filtered out. The EPA has found Atrizine, BPA, Carbamazepine, DEET, Estrone, Fluoxetine, Ibuprofen, Perfluoro-octanoic acid, Perfluoro-octanessulfonic acid, Primidone, Sucralose, Sulfamethoxazole, TCEP (flame retardant), Tonalide, Trimethoprim, birth control, etc in the water. Often, water is only tested once a year. Spikes of various chemicals can occur in between those testings, and go completely undetected. (Good Housekeeping, March 2012)
12-03-2012: Pesticides found in tap water have been linked to food allergies, which are becoming increasingly common: http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/pesticides-tap-water-linked-food-allergies-130240479–abc-news-health.html
VEGETABLES:
Think of the Dirty Dozen: (taken from http://www.thedailygreen.com)
Fruit/Veggie # of pesticides found
Apple 40
Celery 60
Strawberries 60
Peaches 60
Spinach 50
Nectarines 33
Grapes 30
(also includes raisins and wine)
Sweet peppers 50
Potatoes 35
Blueberries 50
Lettuce 50
Kale/Collards 45
Also high in pesticides/chemicals: milk was found with 12, coffee was high although they didn’t list the amount, and pork fat and chicken thighs were found to have high amounts of chemicals.
5/7/2014 update: 2014 Dirty Dozen list:
Apples
Strawberries
Grapes
Celery
Peaches
Spinach
Sweet Bell Peppers
Nectarines
Cucumbers
Cherry Tomatoes
Snap Peas
Potatoes
+ Hot Peppers, Kale/Collard Greens were contaminated with insecticides that are particularly toxic to human health
Potatoes had more pesticides by weight than any other food
One grape tested positive for 15 pesticides
Single samples of celery, cherry tomatoes, snap peas and strawberries showed 13 pesticides each
http://www.rodalenews.com/2014-dirty-dozen
It’s interesting to compare last year’s dirty dozen list with this year’s dirty dozen list, is it not?
A friend of my mom’s, she and her family own a winery which has won several awards over time. I had the chance to speak with her regarding the growing of the grapes. What she told me is that the grapes are sprayed every 10 days until they are harvested. This is a fairly standard procedure industry wide.
To add to all the pesticides, nutritional values of foods are declining. In 1950, one serving of broccoli had 130 mg of calcium. Today, it only contains 48 mg. And much of that is rendered inert due to the lack of magnesium in the soil. (Prevention, July 9, 2010)
OLIVE OIL:
A healthy oil, right? Maybe. Unless olive oil has been cold pressed, expeller pressed, often times various chemicals, such as acetone, are used to extract the oil. (Nourishing Traditions, Sally Fallon)
CORNUCOPIA OF TOXICS
“So Many Pills” The Bulletin, Feb 10, 2005
Nowadays, so many people are taking so many different prescription medications, that there is now a medical term for it: Polypharmacy. “It’s an actual problem, like hypertension,” reports Dr. Stuart Bell.
“Muscle Cream kills young N.Y. track star,” The Bulletin, June 10, 2007
A 17 year old track star died because of too much methyl salicylate being absorbed into her system. Methyl salicylate is found in topical anti-inflammatory creams, such as BenGay and Icy Hot. Be aware that the chemicals you put on your skin do affect your overall being. The skin is the largest organ of the body.
Bromism is becoming more of an issue, particularly among teenagers, due to drinking soda pop and energy drinks such as Red Bull. BVO has been banned in Europe and Japan, but is allowed here in the US. But at a King Arthur’s Flour class that I took on bread making, the instructor was very clear to point out that King Arthur’s Flour never bleaches, nor bromates, it flour. Wheat often has to be bromated in order to bring up the protein level, due to the decreased nutrition in the soil. High protein wheat is needed to make bread. The instructor pointed out that the bromine used to increase the protein level in wheat, is also the same bromine used in zit cream and rocket fuel. Hmm… All the nutritional bits in wheat, the bran, germ, etc., have to be removed in order to put the flour on the shelf, or it will go rancid very quickly. (http://newhope360.com/print/blog/what-are-your-kids-drinking?cid=…)
“Chemicals abound in bodies of Americans” The Bulletin, Dec 3, 2006
Researchers have found that everybody in the US has many, many chemicals in their systems. These chemicals are found in the everyday items that make our lives convenient and ‘safe.’ Many of the chemicals don’t leave the system, either. They continue to build to toxic levels, which are then passed on in utero. Don’t think you are so tough that your body can handle anything. Your body won’t hold up to your attitude. You only get one body – take care of it. We only get one earth – let’s respect it.
Not to mention all the over the counter medicines that people take, illegal drugs that people ingest, and chronic over indulgences in alcoholic beverages, caffeine, cigarettes, etc. (“Alcohol and coronary artery disease” International Journal of Cardiology, Dec 20, 1993) More and more kids are being placed on mind-altering drugs, with an estimated 60% of kids under the age of 12 on some sort of mind-altering prescription. (The Bulletin, Dec 3, 2006)
5/21/2014- Many grade school aged children are found to have dieldrin, DDE and dioxins in their urine samples. Chloropyrifos, 2,4-D, Permethrins (97% of children tested positive, and permethrins have been directly linked to autism), Neonicotinoids (linked to Colony Collapse Disorder) were all found in a high percentage of children’s urine samples.
According to a 2012 study done by University of California, Davis and Berkeley, cancer benchmark levels were exceeded by 100% of the children tested. And more than 95% of the children tested for acrylamide, supposedly not linked to cancer. The greatest sources of these chemicals were peaches, apples, peppers, grapes, lettuce, broccoli, strawberries, spinach, dairy, pears, green beans and celery.
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186%2F1476-069X-11-83
SUMMARY
With all the various chemicals that people are exposed to on a daily basis, it’s no wonder our children are increasingly having more and more autism issues. Obviously, not everyone is exposed to all of the chemicals or even all the chemicals at the same time in their life as someone else. This is what makes me think we see different forms of autism and why we need an entire spectrum to encompass the differences between individuals. Different people will have different levels of certain chemicals due to their lifestyles. This person may have high levels of that chemical, and this person may have high levels of those two chemicals, plus heavy metals. Babies will be exposed to different chemicals during different stages of growth, both in utero as well as developmentally throughout their childhood.
After switching Heather to an organic diet, she literally shot up five inches in height and went through two clothes sizes within six weeks. She had been in the same size clothes for over two years. Now she is one of the tallest kids in her class, which is more in line with her genetics.
I know organic is more expensive than non-organic. But I have learned the hard way that you can pay for it at the checkout stand or you can pay for it at the doctor’s office. But make certain you know your local farmer and their definition of organic. Allow me to give three of many examples which we have experienced:
The first person that I started buying raw milk from claimed he was organic. After a couple of weeks, I happened to be at his farm when he was feeding his cow and goats. He was feeding them regular, non-organic cracked corn. I queried him about the organic and his theory was that he was just feeding them corn, which is a natural food, so therefore he is organic. I told him that 95% of corn on the market is genetically modified and he came back with “there’s nothing wrong with hybrids.” Don’t get confused: hybridization is NOT the same as genetic modification.
Another example is a guy who sold chicken at the local farmer’s market. He said he allowed his chickens access to his pasture and fed them chicken scratch with no antibiotics, so he was ‘organic.’ I was finally able to go look at his operation first hand and discovered that yes, his chickens did live on his pasture land along with his buffalo. However, he had several 10′ x 12′ cages and there were 100 birds crammed into each one. He fed the cheapest chicken feed he could find (non-organic), because organic chicken feed was too expensive. Yet he charges $5.50/lb for his ‘organic’ chicken.
At my last place of employment, my boss’s husband ran beef cattle. He received a call from a local butcher, asking to buy five head of steers for butchering. Apparently, the butcher was selling “all-natural, no hormones” beef, and had accidentally oversold by five head. My boss told the butcher that they did use growth shots in their beef, so it wouldn’t meet their expectations. The butcher’s reply? “It’s okay. These people will never know they difference.” So they sold them the five head of cattle, but I have always wondered about the people who had paid the extra money to eat non-hormonal beef.
So please make certain to get to know your local farmer and their definition of ‘organic. Look for biodynamic labeled foods, or grow your own so you know exactly what is in your food.
3/6/2013 – Had a face to face talk with Mertin Homer, one of the founders of Painted Hills Premium beef. There were 10 original founders of Painted Hills Beef. In addition to raising their own beef, they buy cows, steers, etc. from various ranchers to fill their orders. He said he buys cull cows for the grass fed beef that he sells because the meat is tough and he thinks that is what his consumers want. These are cows that didn’t calve or lost their calves, due to improper winter feeding and lack of winter shelter. This spring he plans on seeding his entire operation in Roundup Ready alfalfa because he doesn’t believe there is a difference between a GMO and a hybrid. I couldn’t convince him otherwise. Truthfully, I’m not a good debater. I get flustered and just sputter instead of coming out with a good argument. Yes, he will sell his meat, but please be aware as a consumer what you are buying.
To get an idea of how many toxins with which you come into contact on a daily basis, visit www.ewg.org/skindeep and check on your shampoos, laundry soap, makeup, etc.
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