Sick

I subscribe to a newsletter from Dr. Mercola. I am not even sure how I landed on his web site, but I've been getting his almost daily newsletters for at least four years now. I do not always read them, but sometimes an article really sands out to me. The other morning I opened my newsletter and found an article about about European health versus American health. I am always a health nut, but I'm especially aware of illness this time of the year as it is the start of the cold & flu season. I opened the article expecting to read about colds and immunity and remedies, but instead I read about how the food we eat is potentially making us ill. It was quite interesting!

Obviously I cannot nor do I want to retype the entire article, but here are some key points from Dr. Mercola:

1. Americans get more sick more often than other industrialized nations in the world. Some researchers believe this increase in illness is linked to the consumption of Genetically Engineered (GE)/Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO).

2. The US government says GE/GMO foods are perfectly safe, however researchers are finding links with increased allergies, birth defects, increased cancer rates, infertility and mutations to name a few.

3. US livestock is now becoming infected with a mysterious ailment called "Sudden Death Syndrome".

4. GE/GMO foods are viewed as invaders in our bodies. This is leading to increased immune responses while is virtually attacking our bodies/immune systems.

Here are some very alarming stats from the article:

- According to the CDC, Autism is affects one in 88 children as opposed to one in 25,000 children (in the mid-1970's).

- Between 1980 and 2010, Type II Diabetes rose more than 176%.

- Celiac Disease is now four times more common as compared to 60 years ago.

- The rate of Amercians with Alzheimer's Disease have doubled since 1980. One in eight older Americans have AD.

What an alarming article!! Some people may argue that we see so many more cases of Autism because we know how to diagnose it better than we did in 1975. Some will say that more seniors are affected by Alzheimer's Disease because we live longer, fuller lives as compared to decades ago. I agree with that to a certain extent however I 100% believe our food plays a major part in our health and wellness outcome. GE/GMO are clearly labeled in Europe and most Europeans opt for the the "natural" food items. Sadly, our foods are being pumped full of hormones & antibiotics and their genetic makeup is being manipulated and modified yet not a single box or bag or label alerts the consumer of the modifications. We deserve to know what is being put into our foods.

Today we went apple picking and took a nice drive through the country. As the boys happily crunched away on their fresh apples I couldn't help but wonder what were they really putting into their tummies. Sure it looked and smelled and it certainly tasted like an apple, but how much pesticide residue was left on the skin? How different was that particular apple's composition as compared to say an apple that Johnny Appleseed planted in 1812? As we drove through the country my eyes fell upon corn and soybean crops as well as pigs and cows and chickens in the farmland. It made me so sad and extremely angry to know the animals were even mutated as compared to decades ago. When will this stop? What has to be done before someone somewhere puts a halt on this insanity? I told Bryan I wish we had enough money to build a farm and fill it full of organic, all natural foods, the way nature intended us to eat. A girl can dream....

If you do not already subscribe to Dr. Mercola, I strongly encourage you to do so! I visit the site every so often and I skim the daily newsletters for interesting articles. Some things I pass by, but a lot of the articles and videos are quite educational and interesting. Enjoy! http://www.mercola.com/