By Diana Hoogesteger
Education and Communication, Vía Orgánica
Grandparents were healthier than parents, and parents are healthier than their children. What is happening? It’s important to understand the reasons underlying this public health problem.
In an interview with Doctor Michelle Perro, who has more than 35 years of experience as a pediatrician, researcher, and writer (www.gordonmedical.com), she explains, “Each one of us has the divine gift of health and the capacity to heal ourselves, but this principle is thwarted by toxicants, emotional traumas, and our own unique genetic makeup.”
Toxicants—defined as toxic substances produced by, or the by-product of, human activities—are the first reason our children are ill, due to exposure through food and environmental contaminants.
The intestinal tract has over 100 million neurons that communicate with the brain through the enteric nervous system; therefore, what happens in the stomach happens in the brain. That’s why we say, “we are what we eat.”
Food is directly related to health, particularly that of the stomach, and the most common illnesses in children are gastrointestinal because children don’t have the capacity to detox as adults do. Everything affects them more.
Some 25 years ago transgenic food—genetically modified organisms or GMOs— expanded worldwide and with them glyphosate, their herbicide. Today we find glyphosate everywhere—in the air, rain, water, food, vaccines, and even mother´s milk. What does this mean? It means that as we put this toxin into the environment to kill weeds, we are also poisoning ourselves, and studies have shown that glyphosates can persist in the environment for many years, with half-lives of up to 22 years. Furthermore, as the weeds we’re trying to kill become resistant to the herbicides we are using, more and stronger chemicals are needed, and as we spray more chemicals, neighboring farms become contaminated.
Monsanto (now owned by Bayer and one of the world’s leading makers of glyphosate) has long-claimed that glyphosate is safe, and we still consume their products despite thousands of lawsuits against the company, billions of dollars in settlements against the company, and numerous scientific studies demonstrating the link between glyphosate and cancer and numerous additional health-related problems. The fact is that we all have microbes in our gut whose purpose are to keep us healthy, and glyphosates kill the microbes in our gut.
Dr. Perro and other researchers have found direct relationships between glyphosate and the following illnesses:
- Autism. One in 44 children have autism in some states in the U.S. It is a serious neurological problem, and 90% comes from gut problems.
- Hormonal disruption; for example, menstrual problems and premature childhood development
- Metabolic problems such as diabetes and obesity
- Asthma. In Argentina, studies have shown a strong link between environmental exposure to glyphosate and asthma, and in Mexico, where this pesticide is common, one in nine children have asthma.
- Premature birth and low birth weight. In Salina, California, studies showed a strong link between women who were heavily exposed to pesticides and the risk of shortened gestation and preterm birth.
- An explosion in kidney problems in people who work with glyphosate.
- Higher risk for cancer and leukemia.
It’s not only glyphosate that’s a problem; there are six other toxins in herbicides, fungicides, and pesticides used for mainstream agriculture and a strong need for additional research on their dangers.
What can we do?
Eat organic, non-GMO, and pesticide-free food. Eat fresh, homemade food, not industrial food. Know where and how our food is produced. Parents, schools, and authorities need to act to reduce toxins both our internal and external spaces, such as parks and public spaces.
- Clean the internal system (body) and the external system (environment).
- Learn to cook fresh, homemade food.
- Stop buying industrial, false, processed food.
- Avoid soya—90% is transgenic and is only digested properly when fermented.
- Grow and eat more organic vegetables and fresh fruit.
- Add apple cider vinegar to your diet; it dissolves/destroys glyphosate.
- Consume fermented food to restore the microbial life in your gut.
- Replace vegetable oil with healthier oils such as olive oil, coconut oil, and sesame oil.
- Do not spray your garden with chemicals.
- Do not use toxic ingredients like chloride and commercial disinfectants for cleaning and disinfecting; instead, use white vinegar.
When we change our diets and our natural environment, our health changes. If we heal our internal and external spaces, we heal ourselves. If we poison our environment, we poison ourselves.
We are all participants in our own well-being, and the more we choose clean, healthy products free from toxins, the less these harmful substances will be produced, and more natural, toxin-free products will be made. Taking care of the well-being of all humankind lies in the hands of each of us.
