I used to be a vegetarian, I lived on soy- fake burgers, hot dogs, tofu, tofurkey, fake cheese, you name it, I pretended to like it. It took me awhile to come to the understing that the path to health will never be found through consuming processed foods. I commend the conscious choice to be meat free, there’s a whole bevy of great reasons why a person wouldn’t want to eat meat. But I plead for health and sanities sake, processed food is processed food whether it’s soy or bologna.
Many people are still under the impression that soy is a health food. While there are traditional ways to prepare soy so that’s it’s nutrients are unlocked, these methods aren’t commonly utilized today. Miso, tempeh,edamame (whole soy bean) and tamari = real food. Tofurkey, boca burgers and riblets = processed fake food.
Modern day soy production is nasty. Imagine an edamame bean, the whole food form of soy, and then picture a brick of tofu. Now what did that little bean have to go through to become a squidgy white blob of blandness? It went through the ringer to put it lightly. In order for the soy bean to transform into that smooth creamy milk alternative, or those zesty too good to be true fake sausages, it undergoes a drastic transformation. Acid washing, left to sit in aluminium tanks and high temperature treatments result in a pretty bland, lifeless substance. Often meat alternatives are loaded with flavour enhancers and MSG to make up for the extreme processing they’ve undergone.
It really isn’t the plants fault, we know that any food when its processed to death is going to lose its benefits. Soy in it’s whole food, organic form (which is becoming incredibly rare) is a health food. The danger lies when we try and exploit any food to make it as cheap and accessible as possible.
Soy is an ancient food and while we witness many cultures who’ve thrived on soy, they used traditional methods of preparation and GMO’s didn’t exist. Nowadays nearly all soy is genetically modified and that’s no exaggeration. It’s also one of the most heavily pesticide sprayed crops.
Today soy is recommended for women during menopause, claiming reduced hot flashes and prevention of osteoporosis. These statements are false and rooted in the benefits of industry. As little as 30 grams or two tablespoons of soy daily causes a significant increase in thyroid stimulating hormone (1). Women who took soy vs. placebo had the same levels of reduction in hot flashes and soy actually inhibits calcium absorption.
There’s an interesting story about parrots and soy. Male tropical birds develop vibrant colourful feathers usually around two years old. When bird breeders Richard and Valerie James of New Zealand switched to soy feed they noticed the male birds were colouring up much faster. Industry cited this as a benefit of feeding the birds soy, some were showing colours as early as 11 weeks old. Over time though, the birds started to become infertile, suffering bone deformities, immune deficiencies and aggressive behaviour.
Isn’t it interesting that the incidence of thyroid disorders grows alongside our over consumption of soy products. Estimations are that 1 in 8 women will develop a thyroid problem in their lifetime. Some studies even show that 50% of those diagnosed with depression actually have a thyroid disorder (2).
The use of soy in infant formulas is frightening. Seriously this is going to freak you out so be prepared. The average infant fed exclusively soy based formula receives the estrogenic equivalent to at least five birth control pills per day. (3) Could their be a correlation between increased incidence of learning disorders and infants being fed soy formula? All signs point to yes. Little girls are hitting puberty a whole lot earlier, some showing signs of maturation as early as three years old (4).
The further we go down the soy rabbit hole, the freakier things get. The final frontier of the disadvantages of soy is its irreversible environmental impact. Not only is it heavily sprayed and genetically modified, rainforests are destroyed to grow soy crops. The expansion of the soy industry has less to do with tofu than animal feed. Today most animals are largely fed soy and 4 million hectares of forest are destroyed annually to make way for the booming industry (5).
Being conscious about where our meat comes from and what it’s fed is not only important for our own health, but the planets as well.
PMS is fun! Said no woman ever. I’ve had gnarly PMS my whole life, my transition into womanhood arrived at a very young age and I experienced severe pain, mood swings and lethargy for so many years. Sometimes the PMS would last for 2 weeks out of every month. The ups and downs were draining and a pain for those around me, I was a little monster.
It’s easy to fluff off and say its like that for every woman and PMS is just a fact of life. This is true to a certain extent, as women it’s completely normal to experience highs and lows in energy and fertility. The monthly cycle should be honoured as a method of renewal. But for so many of us women its become a time of dread and frustration. I learned through trial,error and lots of reading about how to deal with PMS and that I could bring my hormones into balance naturally and drastically alleviate most of my symptoms.
Modern gals have to factor in a lot more than our forebears ever did when it comes to environmental substances which affect our hormones. With so many environmental toxins and strange food additives that mimic estrogen our poor bodies are getting pretty confused. Let me be clear that these substances affect men too, just in different ways. For us women its really important to have balanced levels of estrogen and progesterone. This just keeps us in check, its like ensuring you get enough good vitamins and minerals.
The top 4 substances that mess with our hormones
1.Plastic
The use of plastic in almost everything has become ubiquitous, rarely does food come in glass, even our homes are made mostly of petroleum products. While certain groups are committed to protecting the environment, we seldom think about the effect environmental plastics have on us humans. There are so many chemicals in plastic, too many to list, and even in small amounts they are all harmful to our endocrine systems. Protect yourself, and help the environment by not drinking bottled water or storing your food in plastic. Make the switch to glass or stainless steal- for your health and the environments.
I know it can seem ridiculous as were so accustumed to these things. The little changes add up to healthier hormones, my peak of crazy hormones was during a trip to India in which I consumed only bottled water. Combine that with pollution and an abundance of GMO cooking oils and you have a recipe for PMS, and other problems associated with imbalanced hormones.
2.Conventional Meat
It’s really a shame that we went and took animals that were meant to eat grass and forced them to eat grain, not just for the animal but for the humans consuming them as well. Cows, pigs, chickens, sheep, turkeys- none of them are meant to be healthy on a grain diet especially when that grain is commonly soy and nearly always GMO.
Soy contains high levels of xenoestrogen, a substance which isn’t quite estrogen but tricks the body into believing it is. There are traditional ways of preparing soy, like fermentation which break down the xenoestrogen, but you can be sure this isn’t the soy they use in our food supply.
Even if you think you don’t eat soy or GMO’s, unfortunately it’s what all the conventional animals are fed.
There’s also the issue of growth hormone being injected into animals to get them to grow faster. Just remember, you are what you eat.
Making the switch to organic, pastured or free-range meat,eggs and dairy is a huge step forward towards healthier hormones and not to mention, far more humane. Yes it’s more expensive, but our health is worth it!
For so many of us city water is our only option, maybe passed through a brita filter or other pseudo water filter. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but those filters really don’t do much of anything, aside from perhaps removing a bit of chlorine. The truth is there are far more harmful invisible elements in city water.
A lot of us know about fluoride already and how it calcifies the pineal gland and is very difficult to filter out. There are also residual pharmaceutical compounds which we take in. Think of how many women take birth control pills for instance, what happens to those hormones or any other pharmaceutical drugs when we urinate? A portion of them re-enter the water supply and are far from being filtered out. An excess of synthetic hormones will mess anyone up, is it a coincidence that rates of reproductive cancers are skyrocketing?
The solution here is to drink the best, most pure water you can find. This might require an adventure to find natural spring water, if your up for it here’s a list of springs all over the world. Otherwise, look into getting a really good water filter that removes fluoride, like the Berkey Water Filtration System which is very affordable compared to most other systems.
4.Pollution
To an extent, environmental pollution is out of our control, of course there are ways we can contribute to it less, but I digress. The health affects from growing environmental pollutants greatly affect our hormone health. The best way to combat the ill health affects of pollution is to consume an abundance of antioxidants to negate the excess of cell destroying free radicals.
Antioxidants are rich in fruits, vegetables, chocolate, red wine, botanical herbs, teas and coffee. Enjoying plenty of them in our diet is the best way we can fight against the physical effects brought on by pollution. Balancing estrogen and progesterone levels is helped along even more by consuming broccoli, kale and cabbage, as these foods are high in indole-3-carbinols which break down excess estrogen in the body. Eating a plant based diet has many other advantages too, such as increased energy and improved digestion just to name a few.
Bringing Back Balance
When I made these few simple changes in my life my hormonal problems and severe PMS disappeared. I lost weight and found more energy to achieve my dreams. Getting healthy has all sorts of positive side effects. Freeing yourself from pain and dread for the what should be a special time of month is liberating. Now I can use my moon time as a space to reflect, cleanse and release old baggage, and I wish you the same!
I like to think of the modern day micro biome like a battle scene straight out of Lord of the Rings. Here we are, in a world absolutely filled with bacteria, billions of microbes live on your pinky finger alone. Yet the visible world (us) has waged an all out war on the invisible one, bacteria. Can you guess who the bad guys are?
The battle intensifies as we develop new ways to slaughter pervasive microbes. We attack healthy soil organisms with pesticides and GMO’s without understanding the broader implications. We utterly destroy our entire range of internal bacteria at the slightest onset of any illness. Antibiotics are a useful tool in some cases, but it’s becoming more obvious that they are wholly over prescribed. Hand sanitizer graces every super market entrance and shopping mall, concerned parents practically bathe children in the stuff. This battle of bacteria has far reaching implications, these microbes, quite literally, affect every single aspect of our health.
While it’s easy to isolate our ailments into neat and tidy little categories, all with different causes and effects, science is on the way to busting this myth. What our ancestors embraced to help them build their immune systems, preserve food and render difficult to digest foods more bioavailable, we wage war with. I think it’s time to bring to light just how critical bacteria is to our health and well being.
Did you know the beneficial bacteria present in our digestive tracts alone outnumbers the cells in our bodies by 10 to 1, we are literally more bacteria than we are cells. Just ponder the implications of this for a minute.
Have you ever wondered about probiotics? Are they important or is it just another pseudo health nut trend? I’d like to address some of your burning questions about probiotics, the micro biome, and how a healthy gut flora can lead to better health and relief from common ailments.
How the battle began
Birth
While I won’t foray too deeply into this topic, it is am important part of the story of how our micro biomes have become so disturbed. It wasn’t too long ago when most women birthed at home, a setting far from sterile. We brought our babies into the world through the birth canal which thus populated them with a range of beneficial bacteria to prepare their immune systems for the new world they were entering. A hearty dose of colostrum was the first meal a new baby would experience, preparing them with a strong dose of antibodies to strengthen their systems at such a vulnerable time of development.
Time went on and babies started being born in hospitals, and while this can be a good thing at times, it isn’t exactly what nature intended. Alas, it’s the path humanity walks along, there’s too much dangerous bacteria in any other setting, or so we assume.
We’re persuaded by our culture to accept modern birthing practices and embrace surgical cesarian procedures as if it didn’t matter. Elective c-sections and unnecessary medical interventions are on the rise and have long been embraced as positive technological advancements, but there is a dark side (1).
Just because we can’t see it, doesn’t mean it isn’t there, this applies to bacteria as much as it does to the wind or gravity. Populating healthy gut bacteria and setting up a child’s foundation of immunity boils down to properly colonizing the child’s micro biome. Ideally baby passes through the birth canal, and is able to breast feed straight away (2),receiving ample amounts of the mothers colostrum. If not, proper probiotic supplementation is crucial or the child could suffer from immune system deficiencies (3).
Why is colostrum important?
Colostrum is natures first food which mammals produce before milk production kicks in, a very precious substance rich in antibodies. It’s basically the mothers immunities imprinted in liquid form and given to her little one to protect them from the various pathogens in our environment. Not all of us got this precious substance as infants, and some have suffered long term immune deficiencies because of it.
There are 87 growth factors in colostrum as well as every single bacteria or disease the mother has ever come in contact with. Human beings who don’t get colostrum at birth suffer the consequences for life.
Colostrum supplements are gaining in popularity as we realize the importance of this substance. It’s also incredibly anti-aging and can heal perforations in the gut. For anyone with intestinal problems, this is an essential addition to your health regime.
Antibiotics
Antibiotics have saved countless lives, just like cesarean sections have, but we have come to depend on them as commodities to be used at the first sign of any inconvenience. The literature is clear, antibiotics are being over used and abused, and super bacteria are learning immunity towards them (4).
Long ago, people relied on the natural anti-biotic properties inherent in a variety of plants. We learned to harbour these specific properties and use them to treat minor infections and illness. These plants are still around, but we’ve lost touch with how to use them.
A new way to grow food
Modern agriculture brought us a way to grow copious amounts of food, leaving people with more time and freedom to pursue their endeavours without the need to tend to the garden. What biodynamic gardening embraces as a way to understand soil health, conventional farming sees as a pervasive threat to be abolished. I’m talking about those critters which live and thrive in healthy soil. If it weren’t for these beneficial soil microbes, compost wouldn’t turn into black gold, life as we know it wouldn’t be so.
This is just a fraction of the dilemmas brought forth through excessive use of chemicals in agriculture. It takes a long time for these soils to heal themselves and re-establish a healthy balance of bacteria. It’s understandable to be weary of biotechnology and to question the effects genetically modified crops have on soil microbes (5).
Death
Bacteria play a large role in death, and thus transformation of energy. We can use these microbes to our advantage, death can bring forth new life and abundance. Throwing all of our food scraps in the trash will eventually create soil, but it won’t be usable since its mixed with an assortment of other garbage. Instead, the simple act of composting can create rich organic matter which can in turn grow food. Good compost is actually a worthy investment, one cubic meter goes for over 500$, not bad for just harnessing the energy of bacteria.
Are probiotics really important?
Probiotic supplements can be a useful addition to any lifestyle, especially if our gut flora has been compromised. Just like any supplement nowadays, we’re bombarded with so many options. Knowing what to look for in a probiotic is key to finding an effective product.
There are also many alternative ways to get your probiotic quota. Homemade lacto-fermented foods like sauerkraut have just as much beneficial bacteria as store bought probiotic supplements, perfect for those of us on a budget. Other natural sources of probiotics include kombucha, kefir and yogurt to name a few. What’s evident is that ancestrally speaking, all indigenous people included fermented foods both for health and preservation purposes. Realigning to our wild nature means embracing wild bacteria.
Problems caused by lack of probiotics
Hormonal imbalance
While it may seem odd that something like our hormones would be affected by lack of healthy probiotics, it really is all connected.
Estrogen dominance is a common problem among both women and men, especially if we’re consuming foods with estrogen mimickers like soy, and conventionally raised meat or taking oral contraceptives.
For women, balanced estrogen and progesterone is essential for avoiding PMS, endometriosis, ovarian cysts and other hormone related illnesses. Beneficial bacteria recycle and metabolize hormones and help keep estrogen and thyroid hormones in balance.
Candida overgrowth/parasites
Candida is both a yeast and parasite present in everyones digestive system. When we take anti-biotics or have an unhealthy diet high in sugars which feed candida yeasts, things can easily get out of control. These yeasts are very fast growing and getting rid of candida overgrowth requires a rigorous protocol void of any sugar and refined foods. Symptoms of candida overgrowth are yeast infections, canker sores, low energy, sugar cravings, brain fog, itchiness,skin problems,food sensitivities and weight gain.
The best cure is prevention and taking probiotics, especially if you’ve recently taken antibiotics or birth control, is crucial to eliminating candida overgrowth.
Removing toxins from the body
There are a lot of scary environmental toxins that our bodies have to deal with. In order to equip them with the necessary tools to remove toxins we need to have balanced gut flora. An excess of bad bacteria in the gut can cause an abundance of the enzyme glucuronidase which breaks the bond between toxin and it’s helpful escort glucoronic acid, this inhibits the toxin from being eliminated, thus creating a cycle of reabsorption (6). The last thing we want is to be reabsorbing old toxins all the while accumulating new ones, this is a recipe for disaster which can be easily averted.
Depression, anxiety and mental illness
There’s little doubt in my mind that as rates of depression rise along with over-prescription of antibiotics we aren’t merely witnessing a coincidence. Healthy gut flora is essential for maintaining a healthy mind state.
While we often think depression is a mental disorder, the root of the problem, lack of serotonin, ultimately originates in our gut. About 95% of serotonin is made in the gut and in order to reach our brains it must pass the blood brain barrier. Certain lifestyle choices, particularly high sugar consumption, can greatly hinder this process.
Creating a balanced bacterial environment in the gut has been shown through various studies to improve symptoms of not only depression (7) but even schizophrenia (8).
Nourishing our second brain
The gut literally is our second brain, healthy gut flora equals balanced hormones,less anxiety and depression, and healthier digestion. The feeling of butterflies or intuition stems from the vast network of neurons in our guts. Our second brains contain more neurons that the spinal cord or even the peripheral nervous systems. While it lacks the rational actions of the brain, our gut health does affect mood and emotions, energy levels, and overall feelings of well being.
A revelatory new field of science, neurogastroenterology is on the rise, as more and more evidence points to abnormalities in the gut linking to diseases like multiple sclerosis (9) and even osteoporosis (10). In the future we’re likely to see psychiatrists being trained not only to treat our main brain, but the second brain as well.
Inflammation
Probiotics have been shown to have positive anti-inflammatory effects beyond the gut. Chronic inflammation is at the root of every disorder, you can look to even the most far fetched of diseases and find inflammation is always a factor (12). Even mental health problems have been associated to inflammation in the brain. Treatment for any disorder should involve a thorough reestablishment of healthy gut bacteria balance.
Studies show that probiotics can help manage inflammatory conditions such as eczema and psoriasis (13), chronic fatigue syndrome, food allergies like celiac (14) and rheumatoid arthritis (15).
Digestive Distress
The most obvious of symptoms from lack of healthy gut bacteria is of course poor digestion. A variety of ailments can manifest in our GI tracts from mere stomach aches to full blown IBS, leaky gut syndrome and Crohn’s disease. The long term effects of chronic probiotic deficiency are autoimmune conditions which remain difficult to reverse.
Combining treatments for digestive disorders with probiotics has been shown to be very effective (16). For anyone suffering from these issues, supplementing with high quality colostrum is also very important. We can heal the digestive tract but it takes time and scrutiny, a clean diet free from gluten and other common allergens and balancing the gut flora are the most critical steps in dealing with these painful and downright exhausting problems.
Natural alternatives to antibiotics
While its comforting to know antibiotics are there for us when we really need them, they shouldn’t be the immediate therapy for mild illness. Natures bounty has gifted us plenty of natural antibiotics, chief among them being…
-Garlic
-Cayenne
-Oregano oil
-Echinacea
-Oregon grape
-Olive leaf
-Turmeric
-Colloidal Silver
-Manuka honey
What other substances affect our gut flora?
Antibiotics certainly aren’t the only thing that can disturb healthy gut bacteria. Other common culprits include…
-Chlorine in tap water
-Bleach and other household chemicals
-Anti bacterial soap and hand sanitizer
-Vaginal douching
-Enemas
-Eating too much antibacterial foods ex.oregano oil
CFU stands for colony forming units, this is an important measurement which tells you how many live organisms are in your probiotic.
Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium are two strains that do work together, otherwise it’s best to stick to single strains for specific problems.
Broad spectrum simply means your probiotic has multiple bacterial strains, this isn’t necessarily a good thing as some bacterias actually work against each other.
Enterically coated means that your stomach acids won’t be able to kill the probiotics before they reach your gut where they belong.
The best probiotics I’ve found are either Natren,which utilize a unique oil based delivery method or Dr.Ohhira’s which are specifically designed for maximum absorption.
For those of us who are vegan or sensitive to dairy, there are also probiotics which come from soil based organisms.
Incorporate lacto-fermented foods, kombucha, kefir and yogurt as often as possible.
Disclosure: Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you decide to make a purchase. I recommend them because they are helpful, tried and true and I think they would be of use to you, not because of the small commissions I make if you decide to buy something. Please do not spend any money on these products unless you feel you need them or that they will help you achieve your goals.
Are you convinced yet that the invisible world that holds the key to our health, both inside and out is being attacked from all angles. If we want to win the battle we need to educate and instigate change in our own lives. By embracing good bacteria we can do away with overgrowth of the bad and truly heal ourselves from the inside out. What are you waiting for? What’s your favourite way to nourish the kingdom within?
One of the biggest lies we’ve been told about genetically modified organisms is that they’re the only solution to feed the ever growing world population. We all know this is a problem, one of the biggest our humanity has ever faced, so we gobble up any solution brought forth.
A compassionate heart is forced to choose between changing the system or finding a new way. I encourage you to look outside of the existing system, to thrive on this earth we need to create a new model that doesn’t revolve around exploiting it. In a world run by the almighty dollar, think of your dollar as a vote. Why should we vote for a company who refuses to even label their product, if there was nothing to worry about, they wouldn’t be so shy as to put a little sticker on our food declaring its genetically modified nature.
Why GMO’s Will Never Feed the World
The guise that we can get away with using less chemicals to grow GM foods is a joke. If anything, this type of organism actually creates super bugs, resistant to roundup and any other conventional agricultural chemical. Of course the mainstream solution is to create new, better, stronger chemicals to kill this new breed of insects. But what of our environment?
GMO Fiction #1: GMO crops don’t need pesticides and herbicides to thrive, so they’re better for the environment.
Monsanto would have us believe that if we buy their infertile toxic seeds, we needn’t worry about spraying as many pesticides. This may be true the first year, or even the second, but overall the long term sustainability of GM crops is really quite pathetic.
Yields decrease, the soil becomes infertile (1), insects become resistant to the chemicals and thus more chemicals are needed to produce less and less food.
We see this example in the case of Argentina, a nation who embraced biotechnology when it first entered the scene, and whose population now reaps the consequences. In 1990 Argentine farmers used 34 million litres (9 million gallons) of agrochemicals, by 2013 that number increased nine-fold to more than 317 million litres (84 million gallons) of pesticides. A visual representation of the devastating effects caused by a rapidly expanding export economy can be seen here, but be warned, it’s not pretty (2).
Feeding the world isn’t such a concern when there is no world left to feed. The harsh reality of these agro chemicals is seen far more in third world countries where the regulations aren’t as strict. Consider the chemicals we are talking about are serious endocrine disruptors, known carcinogens, that need to be handled with the utmost caution. Farmers in poor countries aren’t given proper training, governments aren’t regulating whether crops are sprayed 50 ft away from a school yard or hospital. Everyone becomes susceptible to the deleterious effects of these agrochemicals and the results are far from a table full of food at dinner every night.
If the goal of Monsanto’s GMO crops is to feed the world, it’s clear they are doing the direct opposite.
photo courtesy GWP
GMO Fiction #2: Glyphosate is completely safe, why else would the FDA raise allowable residual levels in our food in May 2013?
It’s become perfectly normal in our society for the corporations backed by government, to fund their very own biased studies of their products. Good thing these corporations are all completely honest and have our best interests at heart…right?
Lets be real, this is a farce that for some reason has grown legitimate acceptance by the mainstream. Independent research has even come so far as to be nearly outlawed. How are scientist supposed to do research when they have no monetary support? It all boils down to the money, so the researchers that are looking into the devastating effects of glyphosate are doing so with limited access to funding. Nonetheless there is still valuable independent research being done which points to a worrisome conclusion.
To point out just a few cases of direct evidence against the safety of glyphosate…
A study published in the International Journal of Toxicology (3) “Glyphosate Commercial Formulation Causes Cytotoxicity, Oxidative Effects, and Apoptosis on Human Cells: Differences With its Active Ingredient”
Researchers showed that glyphosate, in combination with the other chemicals in roundup has a particularly destructive effect, resulting in cell death and damage to DNA.
Breast cancer has become the most common cancer in women, affecting 1 in 8 during their lifetime.
Green Med Info has in their database 78 other studies which prove the toxic effects of glyphosate and other roundup ready chemicals. Researchers have shown that glyphosate contamination in the food supply can lead to non-hodgkin lymphoma (4), cancer (5), hormonal disruption(6), alteration of normal testosterone levels in pre-pubescent youth (7) and a multitude of other problems which could easily be avoided with a better, more earth centric philosophy and action plan.
GMO Fiction #3: Organic farms are free to grow their food as they choose and GMO crops don’t affect their sovereignty to grow food without chemicals.
GM crops affect everyone, there’s really no escaping this bleak reality. Organic farmers worldwide are doing their best to protect their crops and their livelihood from contamination of GMO seeds, but the results are dismal. As the demand for organic food rises, our access to it is plummeting, all because of the way that natures design transports seeds. We can’t send a message to the birds and the wind to stop transporting transgenic seeds from one farm to another. Unfortunately this is the case that many farmers are faced with, once their crops are contaminated with the round up ready seeds, there’s little they can do to stop their proliferation. To be certified organic means to be free from GMO’s, this leaves many farmers in a very fragile situation, susceptible to factors beyond their control.
Most of the time these farmers are humble people with good ethics, simply trying to grow food without toxic chemicals. It’s completely unjust that should a neighbouring farm use GMO seeds which happen to plant themselves in their fields, they could lose everything.
This is happening already in Europe.
“The European Parliament has voted to give member states authority over cultivating GMO crops. But environmental groups have criticized an opt-out measure.” (8)
This means there will be no fund for farmers whose crops become contaminated. The risk of cross pollination across borders is high and could force countries who voted against growing GMO’s to adopt them as they would then not have much choice.
A Permaculture Model to Feed the Planet
Photo courtesy Martin Stone
Now that we’ve brought to light the darkness rapidly spreading throughout the world, how about focusing on some solutions! It’s become a commonplace opinion, that the world is overpopulated and there simply isn’t enough to go around. While I won’t get in to the economic reasons for the discrepancy of wealth in this article, I would like to state that the evidence proves otherwise. This is an abundant planet we live on and there are tools and techniques that our indigenous ancestors utilized for millennia with great success.
A permaculture model isn’t a hokey pokey new technique that some guy came up with out of the blue, its a compilation of the indigenous techniques to grow food, create a non-destructive shelter and work together with nature to create abundance. The principles of permaculture are directly descended from the principles of our native ancestors. This wisdom cannot be lost, for it holds the key to saving the planet from certain demise.
Bill Mollison was the first to coin the term ‘permaculture’ he’s written various books on the topic and the veritable guru of permaculture design.
Today his ideas have spread and taken root in almost every country on the globe. Permaculture is now being practiced in the rainforests of South America, in the Kalahari desert, in the arctic north of Scandinavia, and in communities all over North America. In New Mexico, for example, farmers have used permaculture to transform hard-packed dirt lots into lush gardens and tree orchards without using any heavy machinery. In Davis, California, one community uses bath and laundry water to flush toilets and irrigate gardens. In Toronto, a team of architects has created a design for an urban infill house that doesn’t tap into city water or sewage infrastructure and that costs only a few hundred dollars a year to operate.
The powers that be are on a glorified mission to depopulate and they don’t cover their tracks very well. It’s up to us, the people, to take back our sovereignty if we ever want the world to be at peace. No government is going to do that for us, and growing food is a fantastic first step.
Creating Self Sustaining Food Forests
What is a food forest? Within the permaculture model, we work with nature to create abundance. In nature there are no mono crops, lawns of one species don’t exist, empty weedless fields of grain are completely foreign. This model of growth hasn’t served us well, so taking a lesson straight out of natures design makes sense.
Forests have layers, they have healthy fertile soil home to billions of microbes and fungi, this supports the growth above the ground. A healthy forest is home to multitudes of species and there is an equilibrium, everybody eats. As the biomass of the forest floor grows over time, so does the health of the forest and its inhabitants. In the wild it’s survival of the fittest, but when humans step in we can play a part in who holds the strength in the forest.
Creating food forests is nothing new, this practice has been employed long before technology thought to plant mono crops using soil killing principles. Returning back to this way of life is inevitable for our survival and certainly more joyous! How wonderful to witness the web of life in such close proximity. How rewarding to invest time and energy into something which will live on for generations to come. The smart farmer knows that ultimately a mono crop won’t thrive, its simply an eventual outcome of modern farming practices. Like the man in this video who ripped out his apple orchard to re plant a food forest with a variety of perennials, fruit trees and nitrogen fixers. His farm will now only increase in bounty and that is a gift he can give to his children’s children.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3riW_yiCN5E
The Basics of Food Forests
1.The first year consists of employing permaculture principles to rebuild the soil. There are various techniques utilized to capture as much water as possible so that you aren’t relying on external factors for success nearly as much.
Care is taken to ensure the first years new trees and perennials are protected from weeds, but as time goes on and the forest strengthens itself, weeds play of positive role in building greater biomass and adding to diversity.
Mimicking a natural forest, layers are created, there’s the forest floor, the understory, the mid-story and the upper story and in each layer lives different species. Fruit trees and hardwoods engross most of the upper story, while bushes and shrubs populate the middle ground, the lower forest floor level is planted with useful edible plants which also do the important task of fixing nitrogen.
Tools like mushrooms and worm castings are used to heal and rejuvenate soil, these techniques can take even the most deleterious of soils and bring them back to life.
2. As time goes on and the forest floor rebuilds, plants and trees really start to take root and grow strong. By the time the perennial plants are strong enough, you don’t have to pull weeds out at the root, you can just chop and drop allowing the biomass to grow. Animals start to come back to eat the seeds and any other remnants. The permaculture model encompasses the importance of sharing. We share with each other and we share with nature, there is more than enough to go around. The old paradigm of killing any organism which attempts to ‘steal’ your food, is done away with. Every creature in the forest has a purpose, including the ‘pests’.
3. The longer a food forest is able to grow and build biomass and healthy soil, the more food you get from it. This type of system only gets better and more manageable with time. As perennials and trees grow strong and resilient, less care is needed to get rid of weeds, fertilizer is unnecessary as the soil itself is so high in nutrients. The time investment significantly decreases, allowing you to pursue your passions or create more food forests!
What About Climate Change, Drought and Dead Soil?
Different permaculture principles apply to different climates. There are techniques which can repopulate the dry deserts of the Sahara with abundant vegetation. Pollution can be managed through the use of fungi and mycelium which have been shown to eat petroleum waste and render it inert. Certain plants can help to detoxify radiation, like gingko biloba which was used throughout Japan in WW2.
Food forests are resilient to climate change and hold water deep under the ground, these systems aren’t reliant on copious amounts of wasteful irrigation. As California suffers through the worst drought in history, people should be starting to build food forests to protect against the devastation.
With these permaculture principles, people are able to grow certain foods in places they never would’ve dreamed possible. Kiwis being grown in Quebec, Canada, greens grown all winter long in the dead of a Northern winter, It’s all possible.
Food forests aren’t just for vegetation either, they become a habitat for birds, insects and wildlife over time. There are also permaculture designs which employ fish, which create a self sustaining system and provide food to humans, wildlife and fertilizer to the forest.
Going Backwards is the New Going Forwards
photo courtesy Marie and Alistair Knock
While it’s comforting to think humanity is on the right track, in reality things have never looked so hopeless. Technology has fantastic implications, but only if we can figure the basics out, like how to feed everyone. What good is a world where most people are suffering and living without their basic needs being met. It doesn’t have to be this way, using permaculture models we go back in time to when humans were stewards, not dominators. It all starts with you, in your backyard, in an abandoned lot, in your community garden. Reintegrating ancestral skills is the only way to heal the damage we have caused on our planet of finite resources.
Real Life Examples
Canada
Clear Sky Farm in the East Kootenay of B.C. is on a mission.
“This one acre demonstration food forest model includes a wide variety of nut trees, fruit trees, medicinals, berries, vines, shrubs, timber, mulch & shelter trees, all grown together in a holistic ecosystem based design.”
The Living Centre Offers permaculture design courses. “The centre includes forest gardens, herb and vegetable gardens, orchards, and an edible medicine trail that are all grown veganically.”
Kootenay Permaculture Institute offers in-depth, hands on courses on permaculture design in B.C and Ontario. Taught by long time permaculture activist Gregoire Lamoureux.
Farm Food Fork is another local food movement taking place in the Kootenays which is really inspiring (I live here, lucky me)
Food Forest Farm in Massachusetts sells their organically grown products online and also offers courses and weekend workshops. They also offer consultations in regards to your own unique situation.
Beacon Food Forest is a community powered example of how much food can be produced in a food forest design. As the nations largest food forest, they set the stage for the potential of community food forests all over America.
Mexico
An example of permaculture design in Oxaca, Mexico, incorporating water saving techniques and implementation of native perennial plants.
A 2000 year old food forest in Moracco “A Diverse, Self-Perpetuating Food Forest
From an overstorey of date palms to an understorey of olives, bananas, dates, grapes, guava, mulberries, carob and tamarind, it would be fascinating to compare the output of a system like this compared to the huge monocultures that industrial agriculture is pushing around the world.”
Zimbabwe
“The Chikukwa Ecological Land Trust (CELUCT) is a unique community permaculture organisation in the Chimanimani district of Zimbabwe. Set in the highlands bordering Mozambique, the region is heavily populated and has suffered from deforestation, serious erosion and soil degradation since the area was named a Tribal Trust Land in the colonial era. In this setting, the Chikukwa community has developed a successful permaculture program involving around 8,000 farmers in what Chan (2010) calls “one of the largest and relatively unknown permaculture sites in the world.”
Jordan
Wadi Rum Desert Oasis food forest in 4 years in the middle of a desert
Palestine
The Marda Permaculture farm in Palestine is a shining example of the possibilities of growing food in this region.
The permaculture movement is growing in the middle east, upcoming workshops in Jordan hosted by permaculture activist Nadia Lawson, whose made it her mission to spread permaculture throughout the Middle East.
Nepal
The Himalayan Permaculture Centre is a grass roots NGO set up by trained and motivated farmers from the Surkhet district in Mid-Western Nepal in 2010, to implement sustainable rural development programs in Nepal.
Russia
Growing food has always been a high priority for Russian people, many city dwellers have whats called a dacha which serves as a rural ‘second home’ where they can escape to nature to grow food. (9)
The Ringing Cedars series of books has exploded in popularity and within it are many permaculture and sustainability principles.
This video is on the topic of implementing spiritual permaculture by Dr.Leonid Sharashkin who translated the Ringing Cedars series from Russian to English. http://vimeo.com/15708379
“In a country that has completely bought and brought Industrial Style Agriculture to its farmers, it is wonderful to see Hangzhou Permaculture advance and provide an alternative answer to modern, resource-intensive farming in China. It is groups of individuals like these that I admire most. They provide hope in what sometimes seems like a hopeless situation. If you ever find yourself in China, I would encourage you to contact Hangzhou Permaculture to stay (minimum two weeks) and witness the focus that this group has.”
Japan
Masanobu Fukuoka is a pioneer in the permaculture movement, he transformed his land into a haven of lush abundance.
What is remarkable is that Fukuoka’s natural farming and permaculture should resemble each other so closely despite their nearly opposite approaches. Permaculture relies on the human intellect to devise a strategy to live abundantly and sustainably within nature. Fukuoka sees the human intellect as the culprit serving only to separate people from nature. The “one mountain top, many paths” adage seems to apply here.
These are just a few examples of the permaculture movement all over the world, there are countless others. We’re just beginning to implement these strategies and the potential is vast. The yield from permaculture systems and food forests is astoundingly more abundant than conventional agriculture. Bill Mollison (the permaculture god father) has grown 8 acres worth of food on 1 acre of land using permaculture principles. Why would we need GMO’s when we could take our energy and put it into creating food forests in every country, every climate, it’s possible.
News, there’s no shortage of it, we’re bombarded with the latest happenings daily, yet we’re offered no solutions. At the heart of the GMO debate is a deeper burning question which resides in our subconscious minds. A world based on equality could be just around the corner. If we used even a fraction of the time and energy we devote to supporting conventionally grown foods, the world would be a different place. Creating wealth is more about food than most would anticipate. The economy thrives when we do, every human is driven to find a purpose in life, what if our purpose was to steward the Earth, instead of stand by and watch the destruction. The power is in our hands, the choice is ours. Start by supporting your local farmers, and grow from there.
photo credit: In his hand https://www.flickr.com/photos/chiaralily/
photo credit: fruits and vegetables https://www.flickr.com/photos/themeetingplacenorth/
I’d love to hear your thoughts and opinions, do you think the potential exists for such a drastic change to take place? Please share this amongst your friends and family, people need to know that the solutions already exist, it’s up to us to implement them!
It’s official folks, sauerkraut and other lacto/wild fermented/cultured veggies are officially more potent than expensive probiotic supplements. The benefits of making your own sauerkraut are huge! This humble and ancient food has never been so appealing, consuming sauerkraut could literally change your life and help heal chronic problems. It’s easy, cheap and powerful, learn how to make your own delicious sauerkraut and reap the benefits.
“We had it analyzed. We found in a 4-6 ounce serving of fermented vegetables there were literally ten trillion bacteria”
A 16oz jar of home made sauerkraut is the equivalent to 8 bottles of a standard probiotic supplement! WOWZA!
Cultured Vegetables are the ultimate superfood!
10 reasons to eat sauerkraut
1. They are delicious the combinations of vegetables, herbs and spices are endless.
2. 85% of your immune system lies in your digestive wall it is our bodies first defence against illness. If our gut bacteria is compromised we are far more susceptible to disease.
3. Helps maintain a healthy weight because when your digestion is healthy and your body has all it’s fundamental nutrients you’ll be less inclined to binge on unhealthy foods.
4. Protects you from nasty parasites as well as candida overgrowth, pathogenic viruses and bacteria.
5. Preserves food when it is at its peak production. Instead of buying a cabbage out of season in the middle of winter, how about cracking open a bottle of kraut that you made when that cabbage was in season?
6. Fermentation makes nutrients easier to absorb. It has been proven that cabbage, once fermented, contains 200X more vitamin C than it does when consumed raw.
7. Protect yourself against depression and anxiety by consuming cultured vegetables. Researchers have shown a link between unhealthy gut flora and the incidence of depression. In one study they found using blood analysis, 35% of people with depression were found to have leaky gut syndrome. Gut bacteria also regulates the release of the feel good hormone dopamine.
8. Keep Alzheimers at bay research shows increased incidence of alzheimers in people with leaky gut syndrome. When certain gut bacteria escape into the bloodstream such as H.pylori they can affect our brains and instigate the build up of plaque.
9. Improved Digestion nobody likes feeling lethargy and discomfort after a meal, you should feel energized and nourished. If your gut bacteria are in balance your digestion should be efficient and painless.
10. Beautiful skin has a defined affiliation with balanced healthy gut flora. Many studies have been done showing this connection including one Russian study where they found 54% of acne patients had significant alterations to the gut flora.
Anything you want to add to the list?
Now don’t you want to start making your own delicious sauerkraut?
It’s super easy, and incredibly affordable, especially when compared to fancy probiotic supplements.
Make sure not to overdo it if you are just starting out. Fermented foods are very cleansing and can result in a healing crisis if too much is consumed at once. I recommend starting slow, with a teaspoon of cultured vegetables at every meal. You can work your way up to a heaping tablespoon over the course of a week or two.
I am sending you over to the master- Sandor Katz, if you want to learn more check out his books, author of Wild Fermentation and the Art of Fermentation both very comprehensive and insightful books on fermentation wisdom, history, and recipes.
Here is the basic sauerkraut recipe,which I use as a template for all my sauerkraut antics, but feel free to add the following…
peppercorns
dill
cumin seeds
coriander seeds
caraway seeds
carrot
radish
sea vegetables
other types of cabbage
My Basic Sauerkraut Recipe
Equipment
Ceramic crock or food-grade plastic bucket, one-gallon capacity or greater OR One-gallon mason jar or two 500 mL mason jars with lids
Plate that fits inside crock or bucket
One-gallon jug filled with water (or a scrubbed and boiled rock)
Cloth cover (like a pillowcase or towel)
Homemade Sauerkraut Directions
Chop, grate or slice cabbage, you can use red or green, if you combine the two, the preferred method of Sandor Katz author of multiple books on the topic) you’ll end up with a beautiful pink sauerkraut.
Sprinkle the cabbage with salt as you go, this draws moisture out of the cabbage through osmosis, creating the brine which will allow your kraut to preserve itself and the probitics to proliferate.
At this point you can choose to add other vegetables, herbs and spices which I’ll talk about below, or you can leave as is.
Pack the salted cabbage into your vessel, whether you’re using a crock, bucket or jars place small amounts of cabbage at a time and pack down using your fists or another sturdy tool. You want to make it as compact as possible to help force the water out of the cabbage.
Once you’ve packed down all your cabbage, cover with a plate or for jars use the “butt” end of the cabbage to push it down and allow the liquid brine to cover the cabbage. Use your weighted water bucket or heavy stone on top of the plate to keep the kraut submerged.
Press down on the weight every few hours as the salt draws more moisture from the cabbage. You want the brine to be above the plate. If the brine still isn’t above the plate by the next day, add one cup of pure water combined with one tsp salt and add it to the kraut. If you’re using jars there are some nifty contraptions that seal out oxygen but allow Co2 to release, a worthwhile investment.
Cover with a cloth to let it ferment and come to life.
– See my original article at: http://realfoodies.org/food/how-do-you-make-sauerkraut/#sauerkraut-recipe
My Super Mineral Kraut
For this version I mix 1 Tbs. dulse flakes with my 3 Tbs of himalayan salt. You could use other flaked seaweeds too, like nori, arame, kombu…
This version is great for adding more iodine into the diet which is protective against radiation. Seaweed is also high in B vitamins, particularly B12. The mineral content of seaweed is impressive, and fermentation increases the bioavailability.
I think it’s really important to consume foods that are rich in minerals in this day and age. With the levels of soil depletion we are seeing, our foods are supplying less and less nutrient value thanks to modern agriculture and unsustainable farming practices.
My Super Spicy Immune Boosting “kimchi” Kraut
I have a recipe for authentic kimchi here, it’s elaborate and time consuming, plus you need a particular type of cabbage and daikon radish. Not to say it’s not worth it because trust me, it is. However if you want a cheat version that is equally delicious and uses plain old green cabbage then this is it. This is a fantastic food to eat when your feeling under the weather.
Follow the directions for plain sauerkraut but mix in the following additions…
1 Tbs red chili flakes
1 inch piece of ginger, grated
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbs fish sauce
My East Indian Inspired Kraut
Around our house we eat alot of indian curries and pickles. I find classic sauerkraut doesn’t quite jive with Indian cuisine, but I still like to get a dose of probiotics and healthy enzymes. Plus turmeric is incredibly healing, check out some of the reasons you should incorporate more turmeric into your healing practices.
Follow the directions for plain sauerkraut but mix in the following additions…
What to do with chia seeds? If you’re like me, you’ve mostly associated the word chia with grassy little pets and a cheesy infomercial. I never associated these dainty little seeds with Aztec warriors or a superfood, let alone a food at all. Chia seeds were used as currency and in religious ceremony in Mayan and Aztec culture. You may have heard of the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico’s Copper Canyon, some of the best long distance runners in the world. Chia seeds are one of their staple foods. To fuel their long distance runs the Tarahumara consume what in their language is referred to as iskiate, which pretty much equals 10,000 year old red bull.
It took me awhile to warm up to chia seeds. These little seeds absorb up to 12x their weight in water and develop a somewhat unfamiliar mucilaginous texture, that many may find weird. I urge you to try them, in the right context they are delightful and add a really interesting texture to foods that may have been boring before. I love adding them to kombucha, coconut milk and honey, mashed berries and lemon water, respectively. Some people put them in soups and stews but I prefer their context in a sweet treat or a drink.
You’ll reap the most benefits from chia seeds if you soak them. You can sprinkle them on foods without soaking however the nutrients won’t be quite as bioavailable. Typically a ratio of 1:10 is taken when soaking chia to get a “pudding”, this equals about 1.5 Tbs per cup of liquid. You can also grind chia seeds and add the flour to baked goods or use it as a thickener. It’s important to note that when you consume ground or unsoaked chia seeds that they will absorb moisture, so be sure to stay hydrated. When you soak your seeds, allow them to sit for at least 30 minutes.
A 1 ounce serving of chia seeds contains :
Fiber: 11 grams.
Protein: 4 grams.
Fat: 9 grams (5 of which are Omega-3s ALA).
Calcium: 18% of the RDA.
Manganese: 30% of the RDA.
Magnesium: 30% of the RDA.
Phosphorus: 27% of the RDA.
10 Benefits of Chia Seeds
1.Digestive Health
Chia seeds are high in fibre, both insoluble and soluble fibre. Soluble fibre acts as a prebiotic and works to feed the gut flora. This type of fibre ferments into short chain fatty acids with plenty of associated health benefits. Chia seeds create a gel like substance in the gut which soothes and heals the intestinal lining, making them an appropriate fibre source for people with leaky gut syndrome or IBS. The current SAD (standard american diet) contains little fibre, processed foods are void of dietary fibre. Most health conscious people turn to whole grains to satisfy their daily fibre quota, but this isn’t necessarily doing you any favours. To put a long story short, grains contain gut irritants called lectins among others, this causes inflammation and over time can damage delicate microvilli in the stomach and lead to leaky gut syndrome and other autoimmune diseases. Chia seeds are great because they contain beneficial soluble fibre, without undigestible irritants such as gluten (1).
2.Weight Loss
Clinical studies show that chia seeds are an appetite suppressant (2). Because of their water absorbing properties, they expand in the gut and make you feel more satiated. Their high levels of fibre have another role to play, helping to regulate blood sugar and balance insulin levels. These magical little seeds are also rich in a variety of minerals, namely zinc. Zinc helps your body increase levels of the hormone leptin, which regulates appetite and energy expenditure.
3.Omega-3 Fatty Acid ALA
A small amount of chia seeds contains a surprising amount of omega-3 fats. To get the same amount of omega-3 that you would from a 32-ounce piece of salmon you would only need to consume 3.5 Tbs of chia seeds. But what’s so great about omega-3’s and why are they important? Omega-3 fatty acids are essential to our health and we require them from outside sources since our bodies aren’t able to make them. They’re not only vital for brain health but also, heart health, reducing inflammation, and regulating hormones. A study done on individuals with severe depression, found that omega-3 rich chia seeds helped to alleviate their symptoms (3). Though I wouldn’t rely on chia seeds as an omega-3 supplement in it’s own right, they are still a useful addition.
4.Diabetes
With diabetes on the rise we seriously need to raise our awareness about potential treatment options. Chia seeds are one of them, researchers in Argentina conducted a trial where they fed rats a SRD (sucralose rich diet) for 3 weeks with their main source of fat from chia. They found that the simple addition of chia seeds completely prevented the onset of insulin resistance (4). Even though this study was done on rats, it’s interesting to note that they were only fed pure sugar and chia seeds, ditch the chia seeds and those rats would’ve be full fledged diabetics by the end of this study.
5.Healthy Skin
The fatty acids in chia seeds help to nourish the skin and strengthen the cell walls. Skin health is often related to how healthy and balanced a persons hormones are. Chia seeds are so rich in hormone balancing fatty acids, it only makes sense that they would be great for skin. The presence of ample fibre also helps in better elimination and reduction of environmental toxins, which can also lead to skin problems. Add in their incredible antioxidant power and you’ve got yourself a skin healing superfood.
6.Strong Bones and Teeth
Chia seeds are high in calcium and boron, a mineral essential for aiding in the breakdown of magnesium, manganese, phosphorous and calcium. One ounce of seeds is worth nearly 20% recommended daily calcium intake, and because boron is present, this calcium is is a highly absorbable form. The problem with most calcium supplements is that they are really hard to absorb and can often lead to constipation and even high blood pressure. Not so with these little wonder seeds.
7.Increased Energy
Low energy is one of the most common complaints people have about their health. The cause is varied but often low energy can be linked to poor nutrition and accumulation of toxins. Chia helps to eliminate toxins, balance blood sugar levels and provides a great source of vitamins and minerals. Since it’s such an easy food to digest, you don’t have to expend much energy to reap the benefits.
8.High Protein
These itty bitty seeds are a powerhouse of protein. One of the highest plant sources of protein, chia seeds contain an impressive spread of essential amino acids our bodies can utilize (5). For people who don’t eat animal products, chia is a great addition to get more protein in the diet. Protein is important for long term energy and is conducive to weight loss as it is associated with fewer cravings.
9.Antioxidants
Antioxidants are our allies in preventing free radical damage from environmental toxins and overall cellular damage. They help to prevent diseases like cancer (6) and are also protective against premature ageing. Researchers found the antioxidant activity in chia seeds to stop 70% of free radical damage (7), making it one of the most potent sources of antioxidants out there.
10.Anti-Inflammatory
Chia has the ability to significantly reduce inflammation. Because of their fatty acid profile, they help to reduce inflammation associated with joint pain, digestive health and heart problems. Most high fibre grains and seeds exacerbate inflammation but chia seeds are unique in their beneficial properties.
Recipes
Just a few yummy ones to whet your appetite for chia seeds!
3. Ross, B. M., Seguin, J., & Sieswerda, L. E. (2007). Omega-3 fatty acids as treatments for mental illness: which disorder and which fatty acid? Lipids in Health & Disease, 621-39. doi:10.1186/1476-511X-6-21
Hey I'm Chantelle, my alter ego would be a mermaid if I wasn't such a terrible swimmer. I love writing authentically and cooking in my pyjamas. My favourite pastimes include eating avocados, travelling the world and hanging out with a toddler.
which is very affordable compared to most other systems.
,which utilize a unique oil based delivery method or 
which are specifically designed for maximum absorption.
