It cannot be denied that there is a major health crisis in America and it is not slowing down despite over 19,000 prescription drugs approved by the FDA (source: fda.gov). It is clear that more “health care” is not the solution. In this article, we will take a brief look into the causes and solutions.
Some numbers to consider:
- According to the Alzheimer’s Association, 1 in 9 people age 65 and older have Alzheimer’s—favored against women. It is estimated that 6.9 million Americans have Alzheimer’s and is projected to increase to nearly 13 million by 2050.
- Contrary to Alzheimer’s, which primarily affects women, Parkinson’s favors against men. 6.3 million diagnoses in 2015, which doubled from 1990. It is expected to double again to 12.9 million by 2040.(source: https://www.americanscientist.org/article/the-rise-of-parkinsons-disease)
- In 2020, CDC estimated that 1 in 36 children have been identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a major increase from 1 in 1,000 in 1995—and it’s not only because of new criteria, better testing, and awareness.
THE START OF THE PROBLEM
In the 1940s we saw a big boom in industrialization which brought in synthetic pesticides (many were nerve toxins), and other toxic chemicals like herbicides and insecticides, on store shelves. Before DDT (a neurotoxin used as an insecticide) was banned, it was sprayed directly on children walking along the road, at picnics, and in pools (google “spraying DDT on children). Use of chemicals, even beyond agricultural applications, since the 1940s have been widely used irresponsibly with adverse effect studies paid for by chemical manufacturers to protect their products (their pockets, that is). Since then, there has been a steady increase in health issues worldwide in the countries that adopted these chemicals; however, we started to see the major increase a few decades later.
HOW GLYPHOSATE KILLS
In 1996, genetically modified crops were introduced for uniform yields and immunity to herbicides (namely glyphosate, also known as Roundup), which introduced widespread use of primarily glyphosate but many others as well. Glyphosate kills plants so effectively because it blocks the shikimate pathway, which is a metabolic process used by plants and microorganisms to produce folates (B vitamins) and amino acids, and this pathway is not found in humans (or any other mammal). There are 9 essential amino acids that our bodies need to grow and function that we cannot produce (that’s why they are called essential, we need them and cannot produce them). The only way to get these amino acids is through our food. The shikimate pathway produces these essential amino acids that are the foundation for 10’s of thousands of other amino acids in our bodies. By blocking this pathway with glyphosate, the food we consume doesn’t contain these amino acids resulting in major health issues.
Notice a particular trend after a certain time?
After 1996, major health issues like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, autism, and more took off. Coincidentally, this just happens to coincide with the introduction of genetically modified crops and the wide-scale use of glyphosate worldwide (15-fold use increase since 1996). The correlation is unmistakable. It is estimated that 18.9 billion pounds (source: https://glyphosatestudy.org/) have been used worldwide since its invention.
Glyphosate kills us, why? Our food doesn’t contain the full nutritional value our bodies need to function because GMO crops (which make up most of today’s convenience store foods) are lacking them due to the use of glyphosate. The microorganisms that normally supply plants with minerals and nutrients in the exact concentrations that the plant needs to grow and function as it has need are no longer present because the tillage, herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, and insecticides devastated them. There is no chemical that we can manufacture that only targets problematic and disease-causing organisms. It is impossible and by killing the beneficial microorganisms, the plant does not have the nutrition it needs (weak and susceptible) and those microorganisms are no longer protecting from disease and insects.
Instead of getting all of the nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, calcium, sulfur, zinc, iron, boron, selenium, copper, manganese, and molybdenum in the exact quantities at the rate the plant needs throughout its entire lifecycle, it often only receives nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (often referred to as NPK). All these nutrients are essential (or else it wouldn’t use them), but because it is not practical or cost-effective to produce all these nutrients and apply them, only NPK, magnesium, and calcium get the spotlight.
If you are not eating food that was produced by active microorganisms, you are not getting the full nutritional value of that food.
Malnutrition makes us more susceptible to disease and illnesses (just like it does with plants), especially when we are continually exposed to toxic chemicals in our food, water, and hygiene products. A chemical or metal (i.e. aluminum) may be inert at low dosage or exposure (as your studies will say in order to claim that they are “safe”), but chronic exposure and consumption will accumulate these toxins in our bodies at a faster rate than we can dispose of them (which is not difficult due to the weakened state of our bodies). Our stomach is our first line of defense which is filled with a beautiful array of microorganisms to break down what we eat to extract every nutrient and energy (sugar, amino acids, and fat). Toxins kill these organisms, preventing us from properly digesting our food (further limiting our nutritional intake).
God designed us to be incredibly resilient and self-healing organisms, but we can only tolerate so much.
This is why it is crucial that we return to organic regenerative agriculture to restore nutrition and healing to our bodies, and it’s a change that cannot be made overnight. Still, it can happen much more rapidly with education. Sri Lanka banned toxic fertilizers and the nation collapsed with people starving to death, so “organic” doesn’t inherently mean it is sustainable or even regenerative. Microorganisms in the soil must be preserved and allowed to flourish, not killed through tillage and toxic chemicals, as they are completely essential for the growth of plants (which is why crop fields can’t grow anything without artificially introduced fertilizers, the microbes that provide all of the nutrients to the plant are vacant).
THE SOLUTION
Firstly, we need to consume food that has its full nutritional content so that our bodies can perform every essential process (especially the detoxifying and gut and brain lining processes), then we will begin to heal and strengthen our immune systems to reduce susceptibility to diseases, parasites, and toxins.
Secondly, for sustainable, non-toxic, and productive agriculture we need to understand the Soil Food Web and implement practices that completely eliminate the need for chemicals by using less destructive methods and utilizing aerobic, biocomplete compost and liquid amendments that contain the minimal amount required for every necessary microorganism. Incredible research has been done in this field over the last 2-3 decades and is continually growing and being refined.
The Soil Food Web (SFW) approach as designed by Soil Food Web Inc. is primarily for crop growers, but the principles and concepts apply (and should be applied) across the board (i.e. a fatal eczema outbreak at a dairy cow operation was cured by the SFW approach—which was caused by lacking two nutrients in their diets). However, livestock operations can accomplish the same effect without any additional inputs by using intensive high-density rotational grazing with smaller framed animals (i.e. 1,200lb bull vs. a 3,000lb bull) that are adapted and thriving off grass can resolve all of the problems that cutting chemicals and grain cold turkey would cause.
The SFW is able to outproduce conventional chemical agriculture in yields up to 150%, eliminate 100% of chemical inputs (saving tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars a year), and cut irrigation requirements in half. Intensive high-density grazing can outproduce commercial grain operations in stocking density while reducing the amount of land needed and eliminating the need for grain (saving the grower money and freeing up even more land that is used to produce grain for animal feed) and chemical inputs. On an operation here in the U.S., 3,600 stockers (600lb cattle) were raised on 40 acres for 10 months out of the year simply by moving the cattle often (10-14 times a day). 40 acres!
CONCLUSION
We must humble ourselves and accept we were wrong, even if it means our fathers and their fathers were wrong—they only knew what they were taught.
To You, LORD, the nations will come from the ends of the earth and say, “Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, futility, and things of no benefit.” – Jeremiah 16:19
Everyone needs to be educated on the basic principles of proper regenerative land and animal management and the consequences of malnutrition and toxic chemicals in our bodies, water, food, hygiene, and even air.
We must do our part to re-search and re-educate. It is imperative that we do so if we are ever going to heal our land and our bodies. More articles and courses to come, but in the meantime, I highly recommend this video on After Skool’s YouTube by Dr. Zach Bush: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aw16LPVnNco. It is a fantastic in-depth introduction to the effects and correlation of the use of glyphosate and health problems and it is only 25 minutes long.
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