Altered Food

This is not a theological debate, so please get past the beginning part and read on.

In the Beginning God created.....or In the beginning mother earth provided.....or in the big bang evolution gave us pretty much everything that we need to sustain life, and to keep ourselves healthy. Today however, after millenniums of success with this arrangement, along came men and women, who thought that they could do it better by altering genetic codes and replacing nature with chemicals. The results have been disastrous. To quote one of my favorite lines from Jurassic Park “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could they didn't stop to think if they should.” In the movie, the dinosaurs find a way to adapt and the doctor is found to be incredibly right. The situation is the same here the dinosaurs are coming to destroy us in the form of chemicals and genetic altering, the scientists are promoting it, and those that could stop it in the government are turning a blind eye. They are literally killing us softly, all the while claiming that they know what's best.

It's amazing to me that no one can seem to put two and two together. During the same time period that all the various diseases, including diabetes, heart disease and obesity have sky rocketed they have been genetically altering the food that we eat and there has been a marked up rise in making and the consumption of processed foods as well, which are filled with chemicals and genetically altered plants and animal products. So called science today goes out of its way to blame soda or fast food, neither of which is good for you, I agree, but they refuse to look at what has been done to alter our food as being a possible cause. Worse yet is, that instead of being honest about the problems with our food supply and the real causes for our various ailments they instead promote and push drugs on us to fix a symptom with out ever getting to the root cause.

Back in the dark ages when I got out of boot camp I weighed in at 153lb. I was 5'8 and in pretty good shape. I exercised regularly, as any good Marine would do and up until I was 25 or 30 I was in pretty good shape. Along with that my wife and I followed the recommended diet that the government said was the best way to go and all seem to go well. It was during that time though, that major Agri-Business was informed by the supreme court that they could patent food that they had genetically altered in some way. Thus paving the way for mass production of it. Monsanto was that company but it opened all sort of doors for other companies to do the same. This is also the time that I started to put on weight and started having some minor, but annoying, medical issues. Fast forward to a few years ago.

After my return from Iraq I was put on a lot of medications that literally sucked the life right out of me and I put on weight. It didn't matter how much I exercised I just kept gaining in the poundage. I thought that perhaps it was the medications so I cut myself back to almost nothing preferring to deal with life as it came instead of being medicated. But no matter what I did, no matter the diet I followed I just kept gaining weight. Then I discovered a couple of documentaries called “Food Matters” and “Food Inc”. It was mind blowing. I was utterly astonished to see and hear of how the big agriculture companies were using all sorts of growth hormones on animals making them larger faster and the conditions that they were being raised in. It was disgusting. This, however, led to more research and the discovery that most of the fruits and veggies that you buy at your local grocery stores not to mention just about everything processed was treated with various chemicals and in many cases were altered genetically as well. Needless to say we went organic but even though we cut out just about all processed food and eliminated soy and high fructose corn syrup, in any of its forms, and we went as organic as possible, it still wasn't enough to get rid of the weight or illnesses that go with the weight.

A few months ago I was informed by my doctor that I have type II diabetes. I was truly surprised. I have been eating the kind of diet recommended by the government think tanks and doctors alike and exercising like a mad man and yet the weight hasn't really been coming off and every time I had blood work done my blood sugar was elevated, as well as certain liver enzymes. To say that both my wife and I were surprised is an understatement. What have we been doing wrong? Nothing really, we just missed one.

Turns out, after more research and with the help of some friends who also are trying to live healthier, that wheat and other gluten containing products, that we have been told were good for us, are far from it. Back in the later part of the 1950's scientists and farmers were trying to figure out a way to grow more wheat per acre than they had been able to do before. They wound up with a modified grain that was shorter and because it didn't need as much nutrients from the soil they could grow more of it. Somewhere around 1980 as they were doing studies on modified foods and its effect on people they discovered that the modified wheat had a very curious property, it actually makes you hungry. Not only does it make you hungry sooner than normal but its nutritional value was almost worthless, tending to make a person more tired and run down. The other thing that they discovered, which is now known everywhere, was that the gluten that is in it makes people sick in a variety of ways to include diabetes, weight gain, heart disease,etc. But instead of warning people of this fact the scientist, who I am assuming either worked for the government or agriculture, kept it quiet. That means that just about everything that we eat as Americans, that doesn't come from organic farms, and is processed in any way is not only dangerous to us, but is also deadly.

The bottom line is that all these people, scientists, agriculture and the government, know this and they have done nothing to protect us or warn us of the dangers. Its amazing that countries all over the world are banning modified foods and their scientist are proving that this stuff is dangerous to humans and animals alike and yet here in the land of the free we are being fed a load of bull complete with harmful chemicals and side effects and the truth is being litigated away.

So my suggestion is this, first buy your produce locally at least then you know the source, buy as much as you can organic and if not organic (getting certified organic for small farms is expensive) get it at least all natural raised. Stay away from anything processed, as there is no redeeming quality in any of it and stay away from anything that is not considered to be “Ancient” grains. They are hard to find but they are by far better for you. But above all be aware of what you are putting into your body, your health depends on it.