We used to be able to eat the produce from a grocery store without worry ... now they tell us to know where it came from and wash it thoroughly before eating. Sometimes they tell us not to eat it at all.
When I was a child, I used to hunt for mushrooms with my Grandfather ... now they tell us to not only be aware of poisonous varieties but to know what the soil, in which edible mushrooms grow in, was previously used for. If it was used, for example, as an apple orchard which employed pesticides and chemicals (a common practice in apple orchards), the mushrooms are ... and will be ... highly toxic long after any evidence of the orchard remains.
I recently read an article which said that people exposed to chemical toxins have a significantly higher risk of breast cancer. And how does one get exposed to these chemical toxins? Through beauty products, household cleaners, pesticides on our food and in our water, and pollution in the air we breathe. It was once believed that a small amount of these toxins wouldn't hurt people. Now they know that small amounts of toxins join together to create big problems in the human body.
This is dire!
But is it hopeless? I don't think so.
While reading articles in Delphi Forums (Living Green and Natural), I chatted with a woman who has improved the quality of her own, as well as her family's, health through adopting a green lifestyle. Here, in her words, is her story:
"I have two kids with autoimmune problems and find that "green and natural" means that they can live active lives. Both of them were diagnosed with asthma very early. Dd was diagnosed with a classic case of fibromyalgia at the age of 10. We treated with traditional doctors until she was 16 and the answers just weren't there and she was getting worse. Meanwhile, my son's asthma was getting worse and he was having emotional meltdowns at the slightest provocation.
At 16 we started down the path of alternative medicine, starting with a holistic D.O. who diagnosed both of them with severe food allergies. Dd's biggest was corn and Ds' was soy. The got some better, but were still on tons of meds. Dd for sleep, and Ds was taking 5 things for his asthma with still a very low peak flow.
At 18, after researching, I took a shot with an applied kinesiologist in town. Dr. B. did a complete AK work up, including testing for allergies. We started taking her regularly for AK treatments, following the diet plans, supplements and environmental changes that were given. A few months later, we added my son to the protocols. Both have steadily gotten better, but it has been the hardest for dd. For her, we added Neuro-Emotional Technique and Emotional Freedom Technique. Slowly, but surely, this year, after over 3 years, she has gotten a lot better. Ds is on occasional albuterol for rare flares. Both stay on the diet because they both feel so much better.
1 1/2 years ago, dh went out of curiosity and it changed his life. Suffering from depression for years, it has given him a quality of life that I could have only dreamed of. Shortly after that, I had a severe gall bladder attack and was scheduled for surgery. Our AK doctor told me that she would do a work up on me for free if I would delay the surgery. Long story short, I dropped almost 70 pounds and still have my gall bladder. My Hashimoto's thyroiditis is no more! I feel much better than I have in a very long time.
Not an easy solution, AK, but one that all of us can live with. Even my skeptical husband tows the line on the green living! Never thot I'd see that!
You can check out AK at www.icak.com and www.appliedkinesiology.com/. As my husband says, looks like voodoo, works like magic!"
At this point, I wanted to know more and asked what specific "green living" things she incorporated into her life.
Foodwise, we just don't eat processed products because of the allergies and when I learned about how "nutritious" the processed stuff was, I didn't want it anymore. We buy most of our stuff organic in bulk and use it. We use reusable grocery bags most of the time. My husband noted that our recycle pile is a lot bigger and the outgoing trash is a lot smaller!
So, for us, doing what we had to started us down a path of cleaner living. We don't use chemicals on the lawn (I'm sure the neighbors are complaining at our natural turf! lol) or pesticides other than boric acid when we get infested. It happens a lot less than one might think!
It has been a very long, hard road! Worth it, tho when you consider where my kids would have been if we'd stayed where we were!
Now that I think about it--living green makes good sense and is contagious to all areas of life. Once you see that one thing is "out of whack" and causing your health to go, it spreads to other areas that are also "out of whack" and everything gets better. It seems to be the way God really designed us to live and that the consequences of not living clean are becoming more apparent in the peoples of the world."
So ... every time we reduce our use of chemicals, recycle, buy organic or "go green" ... we not only help the earth ... we help ourselves.