Terre Pruitt's Blog

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Posts Tagged ‘rapeseed’

Might the RoundUp Ready Crops Be Destroying Gut Flora

Posted by terrepruitt on May 31, 2012

When I was looking up information for my post about the RoundUp Ready seeds I came across an article that states that the RoundUp Ready crops are also destroying the flora in our guts.  I don’t know if that is really scientifically sound, but it makes sense at first glance right?  Or it makes sense that all of the crops that we consume that have been sprayed with RoundUp might start killing off the flora in our bodies.  I mean let’s talk about how much RoundUp Ready crops that have been sprayed with RoundUp actually end up in our body.  I am not talking exact numbers because I can’t do that, but let’s just look at some things here.

First let me remind you about the crops that are genetically engineered: soy, alfalfa, corn, rapeseed (AKA the “canola”), and the sugar beets have all been engineered to withstand an herbicide.  With that in mind let’s go through the diet for a day in a hypothetical person;

Eggs, toast with butter, and milk for breakfast.  Eggs that were hatched from a corn fed chicken, bread that probably has some sort of soy product in it, butter (for the toast) and milk from a cow that was fed corn.  So even though breakfast did not contain any of the actual things on the list of RoundUp ready crops, they were consumed via the food eaten.

Popcorn for a snack.  Corn is a genetically engineered crop.

Sandwich and tortilla chips for lunch.  Bread again, with some sort of soy product in it, mayonnaise with corn fed eggs and probably soy oil, cheese from corn fed or alfalfa fed cows.  Tortilla chips made with corn probably fried in soybean oil or the highly touted “healthy” Canola oil.

Dinner might consist of chicken or beef — both corn fed.  A salad probably topped with a dressing containing Canola oil.

It seems as if we might be consuming a lot of 1) genetically engineered food and 2) a lot of residual herbicide.  I just thought that the article was interesting because as I read the title it occurred to me how many different probiotic products I have seen within the past few years.  I have always been taught to eat the yogurt with the live cultures because it was good for you.  It was especially emphasized when taking an antibiotic, but now-a-days you can’t open a magazine or watch TV without seeing at least one advertisement for a probiotic.  There are a lot out there.  I have some probiotic supplements myself.  (I forget to take them, but I have them.)  I am just wondering if the sudden need for probiotics has to do with the genetically engineered food supply.

I had always thought it had more to do with the idea that a huge portion of the population does not get enough dietary fiber.  I think that has a link to highly processed foods.  Which when you think about it most of the highly processed foods are made from the corn, the soy, and the canola (FKA genetically engineered rapeseed).  So there could be a link.  I think our food and the nation’s health is connected.  Not sure if genetically engineered crops are killing off our gut flora, but it is something to think about.

What do you think?  Do you think that we could be destroying our gut flora?  Do you think there is a link between that and all the probiotic products?

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Do You Know What RoundUp Ready Means?

Posted by terrepruitt on May 29, 2012

Have you heard the term “RoundUp Ready”?  Round up is an herbicide, a plant killer.  Farmers use it to kill weeds.  They kill the weeds with an herbicide in order to not have to till the soil.  Not having to till the soil to destroy the weeds saves time and money.  The way that farmers can use a poisonous plant killer on the food crops without killing the crop is that the seeds of the crops are “RoundUp Ready”.  Certain seeds have been genetically engineered to withstand the effects of Roundup.  I’ll repeat that so you don’t have to go back:  RoundUp Ready is where certain seeds have been genetically engineered to withstand the effects of the plant killer, glyphosate (Roundup).  So the plants that surround the crop will die when the area is sprayed with the herbicide, but the crop itself will survive.  Scientists have created seeds for food to be consumed that can outlast the effects of poison.

Monsanto’s website states:  “Roundup Ready® Soybeans were commercialized in 1996, followed by alfalfa, corn, cotton, spring canola, sugarbeets and winter canola, which contain in-plant tolerance to Roundup® agricultural herbicides. This means you can spray Roundup agricultural herbicides in-crop from emergence through flowering for unsurpassed weed control, proven crop safety and maximum yield potential.”  Monsanto is the company that created Roundup and the RoundUp Ready seed.  As you can see their bragging rights include the fact that you can spray poison on the plant from the moment it starts to grow all the way through flowering.  Non-stop poisoning!  Yay!  But that is ok because the plant, the soy, the alfalfa, the corn, the cotton, the genetically engineered rapeseed (AKA the “canola”), and the sugarbeets have all been engineered to withstand the poison.  It won’t die from it, it will just have been treated with it . . . from the beginning to the end.

So, for some of us there is two things here, the food itself has been altered and then it is sprayed with poison.  For some the fact that the food itself has been engineered might not seem like a big deal.  Genetically modified food has been around for ages.  I myself love the mutated peach.  In fact I don’t even like peaches, but I love their mutation, their genetic modification.  Grafting and breeding is different, it is not engineering.  Engineering is — for example — when they take something and make it be able to withstand poison, something that kills all the other plants around it.  Creating something beyond the natural.  For some that makes it something we don’t care to eat.

Then on top of the fact that our food is grown from some type of super seed, it is sprayed with RoundUp.  One of the active ingredients in Roundup is glyphosate.  Glyphosate is not selective in it’s killing of plant life, that is why the seeds of the crops needed to be fortified against it.  In looking for information on glyphsate you will find many sources stating that it causes birth defects in laboratory animals.  Many of the same sources claim that no government will admit that those findings prove it does the same in humans.  I wonder what the guidelines are for that?  To me it sounds like, “We will believe that “this” will cause harm in humans because we see in happening in the lab animals, but, no, we will just ignore that “that” might cause harm in humans even though we see all the damage done in the studies and tests on the lab animals.”  Maybe they toss a coin?  It is probably even more difficult to do studies and conduct tests since the U.S. Department of Agriculture stopped updating its pesticide use database in 2008.

I had been hearing the term “RoundUp Ready” a lot and I decided to find out what it meant.  Now I know.  I thought I would share so now you know too, in case you were wondering.  Also sheds a little light as to the crops that have been genetically engineered and what that means.  Alfalfa, corn, cotton, canola (FKA genetically engineered rapeseed), sugarbeets have been modified at the genetic level to survive being sprayed with poison that kills all other plants around, that’s what RoundUp Ready means.

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Omega 3 – The Fat We Should Eat

Posted by terrepruitt on September 1, 2011

I have mentioned Omega 3 before, but I haven’t said a lot about it.  I thought sharing a few things about it would be nice.  Omega 3 is an essential fatty acid required by the body.  “Essential” means that our body must have it but can’t make it so we need to obtain the nutrient from our diet.  Since our cell membranes are made up of fatty acids it makes sense that our body needs fatty acids to function properly.  The key is making sure our bodies have the right kind of fat.  Omega 3 contains three fatty acids, a-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and is considered a polyunsaturated fat.  Polyunsaturated fat, unlike saturated fat, does not harden at room temperature.  Wanting a fat that makes up cell membranes that does not harden is another thing that makes sense, right?  Nutrients and waste have an easier time passing in and out of a cell membrane with a liquid consistency than one that is solid.

Research has been done in regards to Omega 3 on diseases and ailments with varied results.  Studies continue to reveal Omega 3 helps reduce heart disease risk factors such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure.  Omega 3 helps reduce inflammation.  We know chronic inflammation is not good because it is linked with or even thought to be the cause of many diseases.   Omega 3 could help with autoimmune diseases of which inflammation is present such as asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and diabetes.   With many diseases there is often multiple issues so it makes sense that if something helps with one thing it might help with another if it is a symptom or a result of a disease.  For instance, many people with diabetes have high cholesterol so, if Omega 3 helps lower the LDL and raise the HDL, that would be of assistance to someone with diabetes.  Science is continuing to discover things about Omega 3 and how each fatty acid has different effects on the body.

Omega 3 is interesting in that one of the three ALA is actually not used by the body until it is converted to the other two.  Some foods contain ALA, some contain EPA, and others contain DHA or a combination of them.  So as always recommended it is good to eat a variety of foods.  Eating a variety of foods containing Omega 3 will help ensure you get what you need.  Some of the food Omega 3 can be found in is cold water fish, flax seed, walnuts, and what some are calling “Omega 3 eggs”.  At present there is not a Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for Omega 3, but the consensus is that Americans should be eating more.

According to a the World’s Healthiest Foods website:  “the National Institutes of Health recommended that people consume at least 2% of their total daily calories as omega-3 fats.”

You might have heard the claim that Canola Oil is a good source of Omega 3, but then you might have also heard the processing the rapeseed plant goes through and the way the oil is made actually burns off the Omega 3 and becomes transfat.  This is one of those things you might want to research and decide for yourself.  It is your health.

Other foods containing Omega 3: beans, olive oil, hemp seeds, kale, collard greens, spinach, soybeans, cloves, oregano, green beans — yay, not just fish!  I am not a fan of fish although, the Omega 3 in fish is hard to beat, so I probably should start eating it.

Like so many nutrients being discovered as being necessary almost everyday it seems as if the best way to get what the body needs is to eat a variety of foods.  The less we eat of over-processes and packaged foods the better.  Finding a balance is also important.  It just really sounds as if, from all the information I have read, Americans consume less Omega 3 than we should, so — to me — it sounds good to add more to my diet.  What about you?  Are there ways you can add more healthy foods that contain Omega 3 into your diet?

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