In this article, I will be discussing a relatively new phenomenon which has only been with us for about a dozen years, and that is GMO (Genetically Modified) produced crops.  During this period of time, doctors are reporting a significant increase of gastrointestinal problems; when you read the following, it should give you a good reason why so many gastrointestinal problems are being seen by doctors.

Consider the facts and the evidence:

• GMO foods are very toxic and place an extra burden on the liver and the kidneys.
• On May 19, 2009 the American Academy of Environmental Medicine called on physicians to educate their patients and the medical community concerning GMO foods and their possible health risks.
• GMO grown foods are designed to have every cell wall produce a chemical pesticide, so that the (food) plants themselves do the killing of the pests.
• Our bodies cannot detoxify the GMO toxins.
• There is not one single human clinical trial on GMO food and their effects that has ever been published.
• There is absolutely no scientific evidence that GMO produced food is safe.
• According to famed geneticist, David Suzuki, we are human guinea pigs; Mr Suzuki also states that “anyone who says that GMO foods are safe are either incredibly stupid or outright and deliberately lying.”
• There is no scientific evidence that GMO is safe.
• According to famed geneticist, David Suzuki, we are human guinea pigs; Mr Suzuki also states that “anyone who says that GMO foods are safe are either incredibly stupid or outright and deliberately lying.”
• There is no scientific evidence that GMO is safe.

Look at some of the evidence that shows how harmful GMO consumed foods are:

• In a study done with female rats that were fed GMO food, their babies died at 3 and 1/2 times the rate of the non-GMO fed rats and all within 3 weeks.
• Rat babies that did survive became much smaller adults and had a significantly more difficult time conceiving.
• Buffalo in India that were fed GMO diets had a dramatic increase in spontaneous abortions, miscarriages, premature deliveries, infertility and prolapsed uteruses.
• 2 dozen farmers revealed that thousands of pigs when fed GMO corn, went either sterile or had false births in which they gave birth to bags of water.
• Multiple studies show that GMO fed animals show significant immune deregulation.
• Monsanto, (the producer of GMO products) own research that shows significant compromise in rats.
• In India, animals such as sheep that are allowed to graze on harvested crops of GMO foods, have died by the thousands and the autopsies show severe irritation with black patches in the intestines and the liver.
• This led to a study of sheep with half of them fed GMO feed and the other half natural feed. All of the GMO fed sheep died within 30 days while the naturally fed ones were healthy and alive.
• In the village of Andhra Pradesh (southeast India), buffalo grazed on cotton plants for 13 years without any incident. On January 3, 2008, 13 buffalo grazed on GMO cotton plants and all were sick the next day and all died within 3 days.
• GMO feed was implicated in the deaths of cows in Germany and in the Philippines deaths of horses, chickens and water buffalo.
• In lab studies, the death rate in GMO fed chickens was double that of non-GMO fed chickens.
• In Monsanto’s own study, it showed poisoning of the major organs in rats and bleeding in their stomachs.
• Worse, it appears that our bodies cannot detoxify the GMO toxins.
• In human studies, eating a GMO-produced corn chip may release pesticide residue in our intestinal tract for many years after a person has stopped eating the GMO food.
• FDA scientists have been warning for the last 15 years about the health risks with GMO foods and both the Clinton White House and the Bush White House have ignored such warnings.
• To make matters worse, the White House recruited and appointed Michael Taylor to head up the formation of GMO policy.
• Who is Michael Taylor?
• Michael Taylor is the former attorney for Monsanto and has instituted a policy that ignores the scientists’ warnings and he has declared that no safety studies are needed for GMO products.
• Taylor denies knowing of scientists warnings and concerns.
• Later on Taylor became Monsanto’s Vice President.

Consider this advice.

• Avoid any product that is a soy, corn or cotton derivative.
• Buy organic or if organic is not available, then only buy food that specifically states that it is NON-GMO produced.

We were designed on the most basic level to get our raw materials to operate and function on a healthy level from the food we eat. So the very first issue is to evaluate our food.  Many people say they eat healthy and yet there are raging debates as to what that means from various points of view. Additionally, many groups claim to have the answer based on their change in symptoms.

Dr. Carey Reames (1904-1985) along with the work of Dr. Charles Northern M.D. from Alabama put forth back in 1936 an outrageous statement that the answer to our health problems lies in our soils not being healthy and fully nourished thus not able to produce the high quality of food needed to sustain truly healthy living. Dr. Reames showed that if the soils were properly nourished, then there was no need for herbicides, pesticides, etc. (not good news for the booming chemical industry). Dr. Reames went on to show that food not picked at the ideal point of ripeness or not at full maturity will never have its full complement of nutrient substances that are the key building blocks that the body is meant to have. Dr. Reames also went on to say that a food with its full complement of nutrients picked at peak ripeness would never spoil, providing it was not cut into.

In nature, it is obvious that the plant must survive to maturity to reproduce. In an ideal world, the plant would develop a minimum brix reading of 12 in its leaves. This means that there is better plant nutrition in its roots and that the soil has sufficient minerals critical for the plant to properly complete its life cycle.

Also, ignore vendors’ assertions that picked produce somehow ripens into a better quality once it is off the plant. This is not true; once the produce is picked, it cannot add mineral content. For example, watch how stores will get in green bananas then supposedly they ripen, they will turn yellow, but in the green picked stage there is no more mineral content and consequently the nutritional quality is poor at best.  Do a brix test and see for yourself. Remember, much of the techniques are for the convenience and profits of the distributors and stores and has nothing to do with nutritional quality.

We now know that vitamins are complex chemical substances which are indispensable to nutrition and that each of them is of importance for the normal function of some special structure in the body. “Dis-order” and disease result from any vitamin or mineral deficiency. What is also not understood is that vitamins control the body’s appropriation of minerals and in the absence of minerals, they have no function to perform.

The Brix Meter (or commonly called a refractometer)

The origin of the term or word Brix was from Professor A.F.W. Brix who was a 19th century German chemist (1798-1890).

Brix varies directly with the plant QUALITY. For instance a poor, sour tasting grape from worn-out land may test 8 Brix or less while on the other hand, a full-flavored delicious grape grown on rich soil may test a 24 Brix or even higher. There are substances that can falsify the true Brix reading or artificially alter it such as: rubbing alcohol, whiskey, vinegar, or wine. Something like honey is checked with a refractometer and is actually measuring the water content.

Professor Brix was the first to measure the density of plant juices by floating a hydrometer in them. The winemakers of Europe were concerned that they could not predict which of the varieties of various grape juices would make the best wine. Being able to judge quality ahead of time of actual bottling was of immense importance in an industry where a bottle of the best wine might sell for hundreds of times more than a bottle of everyday wine. Professor Brix was acclaimed to be a great hero when he discovered a way to evaluate the best wines. Brix is a measure of the percent of solids (TSS) in a given weight of plant juice. Brix is often expressed another way; Brix equals the percentage of “sucrose”. However, the term sucrose can vary widely. The Brix is actually a summation of the pounds of sucrose, fructose, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, proteins, hormones, and other solids in 100 pounds of any plant juice.

Dr. Carey Reames outrageously stated that a food could sit on a counter top for 10 years and never spoil and no fungus, nor mold nor pests would attack the food.

Your Body’s Built in Antibiotic Factory
Your body’s own antibiotic factory by design is suppose to occur right there in your stomach with the proper type of stomach acid also known as Hydrochloric Acid or HCL for short.  HCL is the first line of defense in destroying disease causing microbes with its germicidal and anti-infectant abilities. Weak stomach acid allows infecting organisms and parasites that would be normally killed by the HCL in the stomach, pass through and get into the small intestines and then move elsewhere to set up shop in the most conducive areas of the body and to set up varying degrees of infections or inflammations. Most of these infections/inflammations will not show up on routine laboratory tests, but nonetheless create unhealthy reactions within the body. The intestinal tract will develop an abnormal overgrowth of these unhealthy microbes. It used to be that the weakening of stomach acid was a condition of aging.  Now, with the ever declining nutritional quality of our food supply combined with the consumption of drugs (both prescription and/or street drugs) fast foods, soft drinks, heavy use of commercialized antibiotics, pain killers, sleeping pills, toxic drinking water, etc. we are seeing this decrease in proper stomach acid occurring in much younger people including teenagers and some younger than that. Idealistically, the saliva in the mouth pH is most efficient if it is alkaline. For information purposes, the pH of the saliva should always be between 6.7 and 7.0. Then moving down to the stomach, the ideal pH is very acid. Next, the small intestines work best in an alkaline environment followed by the colon in which the colon works best in a slightly acidic environment.  The ideal first urine pH of the day being between 6.4 and 7.0, there are cases where the pH will get into that range and then bob in and out of the ideal range. When this occurs, there is often an sub-clinical infection that exists and the door was opened by the less than adequate amount of hydrochloric acid in the stomach. If the first morning urine pH is in the ideal range, but the afternoon urine pH ( around 5:00 P.M.) is outside the 6.4 to 7.0, then more than likely, there is an infection of some degree lying within the body.  Before a person can deal with the existing infections, it is important to ” turn off the tap” so no new microbes have a chance to enter and set up within the body. Don’t forget, that with your own pH paper, you can monitor your own pH levels. The pH paper sells for ten dollars per roll and will do about 280 tests so that works out to be about 4 cents per test.

Symptoms of Low Stomach Acid (HCL)
Bloating/Belching
Burning in the Stomach
Fullness or Heaviness in the stomach after eating
Intestinal Gas
Nausea after eating or taking supplements
Indigestion
Itching around the Rectum
Diarrhea or Constipation
Weak or Cracked Fingernails
Dilated Blood Vessels
Skin Eruptions
Gum & Tooth infections
Bad Breath
Chronic Intestinal Parasites
Food Allergies
Undigested Food in the Stools
Chronic Yeast or Candida Infections
Systemic Parasites (very common today)
Recurring colds, flu’s or other like ailments
Deficiencies of numerous nutrients – especially B-12, Calcium and Iron

Diseases Associated with Low Stomach Acid
Asthma
Eczema
Hives
Lupus
Diabetes
Acne Rosacea
Hypothyroidism
Myasthenia Gravis
Osteoporosis
Psoriasis
Hyperthyroidism
Pernicious Anemia
Arthritis
Gallbladder Disease
Celiac Disease
Hepatitis
Herpes
Autoimmune Disorders
Fibromyalgia

Wrong Thinking about Acid Indigestion
A common mistake is to think that acid indigestion is the result of too much stomach acid. Hydrochloric acid is the only natural acid in the body. When it is too low, then the by-product production of other acids migrate to the stomach rather than be eliminated.  An example, is that during exercise the body produces lactic acid which needs to be eliminated. Hydrochloric acid is the agent to do so. When HCL is too low, then the lactic acid moves to and sits in the stomach and the feeling of acid indigestion occurs.  Unfortunately, so many people turn to over-the-counter antacids which may provide short-term relief while making the true underlying cause worse.  Repeatedly, I have had people ask what to do about acid indigestion and when I suggest two Betaine HCL capsules opened into 2 ounces of water with 2 open capsules of HCL Activator I am met with a very funny look. A look of disbelief occurs when relief comes relatively quickly.  NOTE: It is important to use a Betaine HCL that DOES NOT contain pepsin. Pepsin is derived from animal intestines and usually contains contaminants.  SECOND NOTE: If the relief does not come within a few minutes (maximum 20), then medical evaluation should be sought out. The reason being is that many times early symptoms of cardiac arrest can begin with the symptom of acid indigestion. In those cases, the HCL program will not provide relief.

Why Does Stomach Acid Become Low in the First Place
There are quite a number of reasons, but to start with the stomach needs the chloride fraction of the salt molecule (sodium/chloride) to produce Hydrochloric Acid or stomach acid. Unfortunately, most of the commercial salts sold and used today are dried at heating temperatures of 1,100 degrees and above which melts the bond between the sodium/chloride making it nearly impossible for the body to separate. Salt has incorrectly been linked to numerous health problems when the real problem is the heat drying and processing rendering the salt toxic. It is the high heat drying process that should be linked to those conditions, not the salt itself. This incorrect linking of salt to the problem has led to low sodium or salt free diets when the real issue is to get the salt that has been properly air dried without nickel grinding plates. The nickel is very toxic also and thus a nickel free plate is needed. Other factors that inhibit stomach acid production include: premature aging, relentless extraordinary stress, numerous types of medications, and low mineral intake. There was an awesome research done by a Dr. Walter B. Guy who was offered a large sum of money (by a large pharmaceutical concern) not to publish his work on the critical importance of assisting the body in its own procurement of HCL. He chose the high road and published it anyway for practitioners who really want to help people the best way possible. I have available upon request at melinda@steppingstonestobetterhealth.com a 41 page summary report of his work.  Dr. Guy stated that arteriosclerosis, diabetes, senility and cancer all get their foot in the door so to speak in the environment of low stomach acid.

How to solve low Stomach Acid
There is an inexpensive HCL Detox program that I have utilized with great results and recommend it for anyone who eats out more than once per week or has any of the above symptoms or conditions.  It is also recommended for anyone whose afternoon urine pH is not in the 6.4 to 7.0 range. Any person over the age of 40 should also consider this program in that the natural stomach acid level tends to start dropping off after the age of 40. For more information request it at: melinda@steppingstonestobetterhealth.com.

Health is not the mere absence of disease, but it is the ability to function physically, mentally and emotionally at an optimum level, experiencing life to the fullest and being productive all the days that a person is blessed to be on this earth.

Most people when challenged by a symptom, condition or disease, seek out help from a health practitioner professional. In doing so, the general attitude is to find someone to control or fix the symptom.  There are times when this is necessary; however, a more intelligent approach would be to handle the symptoms and to also seek out dealing with the true causes and learning what normal physiology is and how to restore it.

When a person merely chases symptom resolution, they are prone to be either chasing or treating that symptom permanently, or even if they do resolve that symptom, have new and differing symptoms appear that need resolution. Like I stated, resolving the symptom may be necessary. Does it not make sense to strive to find and correct the true underlying causes or at least resolve issues that aggravate the condition?

As an example, let’s say a person goes to their health practitioner and presents a thyroid problem.  The practitioner informs the person of what protocol to manage the thyroid issue.  With the program in hand, the person begins to take the therapy, medical or alternative, the symptoms improve and then they believe that they are doing the right thing. Yes, this may be necessary, but then the same person goes to the store and buys vegetables since they think (rightly so) vegetables are healthy for you. They buy conventionally grown vegetables, which means the land has had pesticides applied to control the pest problem. Research has shown that one of the places that the pesticide residue accumulates is the thyroid, disrupting the thyroid’s optimum functioning levels.  Does it not make more sense for this person to begin to consume organic produce so that the aggravator of pesticides is no longer there and maybe do a detox to assist the body to clear pesticide residue already accumulating in the body?

In doing so, now the person has the distinct possibility of actually correcting the condition through the protocol recommended by their health practitioner without needing it to be a lifetime protocol.

Every single individual is responsible for their own health. What an individual does on their own while partnering with their health practitioner makes all the difference.

First and Foremost – the issue of Food

No matter what health condition you may be struggling with, the better food choices that you make, the greater chances you have at overcoming the health condition. Your dietary intake can be your best ally or your worst enemy.

Hippocrates said, “Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food” – such wisdom.

This educational article is intended to educate the readers on Health and Wellness. It is NOT intended to diagnose, nor prescribe nor replace quality medical advice when necessary and appropriate.