Protect Future Generations

Children receive four times the exposure than an adult to at least eight widely used cancer-causing pesticides in food. The food choice you make now will impact your child's health in the future.

Prevents Soil Erosion

The Soil Conservation Service estimates that more than three billion tons of topsoil are eroded from the United States croplands each year. That means soil is eroding seven times faster than it is built up naturally. Soil is the foundation of the food chain in organic farming. But in conventional farming the soil is used more as a medium for holding plants in a vertical position so they can be chemically fertilized. As a result, American farms are suffering from the worst soil erosion in history.

Protect Water Quality

Water makes up two-third of our body mass and covers three-fourths of the planet. Despite its importance, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), estimates pesticides (some cancer causing) contaminate the ground water in 38 states, polluting the primary source of drinking water for more than half the country's population.

Organic produce is labeled organic when it has been grown, raised, harvested and packaged without the use of harmful chemicals, such as fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides, growth hormones or antibiotics. Organic also means the produce has not been genetically modified. When we choose organic, we not only look after the health of our own body and immune system but also the health of our family, the health of our soil and the health of our planet. So everyone wins. The best way to get organic produce in the home is to grow it yourself. If that is not an option, try your local grocer, farmers market, or search the internet for a company that delivers organic produce to your door.

The Missing Link Between Health and Agriculture

The world wide debate on the effects of conventional farming practices on soil fertility is getting a lot of attention. And so it should, as many start taking ecologists' warnings more serious and are discovering for themselves that maintenance of soil fertility is critical to the sustainability of our food supply.

Conventional farming practices see the soil as a means to an end. Driven by the dollar, soils are used and used and nutrients are drawn out of the soil rendering them as new deserts. Without crop rotation the soils are, if you will, raped of their minerals. Farmers are then forced to periodically saturate their crops with unnatural chemical fertilizers.

These fertilizers however are made up of primarily three nutrients N, P, K, (Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium), but as Charlotte Gerson in Food Matters asks, "Where are the rest of the 52 minerals needed for optimum soil health? They are missing!"

Juicing is an easy way to make delicious drinks that can boost your health and help you treat a number of disorders.  By following these guidelines, you will ensure that your juices are as pure, nutrient-rich, and appetizing as possible:

• Whenever possible, buy and use organically grown produce—produce that is grown without the use of pesticides and other harmful chemicals.  This prevents chemical residues from ending up in your juice.
• If you unable to obtain organically grown fruits and vegetables, peel or thoroughly wash the produce, using a vegetable brush to remove chemical residues and waxes.  Most health food stores carry vegetable washes that will help remove any residues.  Always read labels and always buy natural products free from harmful chemicals and other contaminants that are toxic to the body.
• When purchasing potatoes for juicing, avoid those with a green tint, and be sure to remove any sprouts or eyes.  The chemical solanine, which gives the potato its green cast, can cause diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain.

Preventive medicine starts with what you put into your body; the food you eat, the air you breathe, and the water you drink.  Our health is always being challenged, whether it is the neighbor’s cold or unavoidable exhaust fumes.  What we take into our body—be it healthy food, drink, drugs, pesticides or junk food—can dramatically affect our ability to stay healthy.  Because many FM sufferers are sensitive to food, drugs, chemicals and pollutants in the environment already, it’s important not to subject yourself to them and to avoid as many as you possibly can.   Researchers from the University of Florida concluded that food intolerance and certain added chemicals in foods led to significant exacerbation of symptoms in fibromyalgia patients including pain, swelling, and joint stiffness.  

Your nutritional status determines, to a substantial extent, your capacity to maintain health, energy levels, and your ability to adapt to your environment.  Your genes express themselves in your environment – the food you eat, water you drink, air, and so on.  If your environment is too hostile for them (too many junk foods, contaminated air and water, etc) you cannot adapt and disease results.  If your environment is nourishing, you have a greater resistance to disease and are more likely to experience health and vitality.  Of equal importance is reduction or removal of the intake of toxic substances in the body such as anti-nutrients and environmental chemicals and pollutants etc.; we have seen in previous chapters how this has become a major problem in our modern diet.   

People who suffer from fibromyalgia are plagued by persistent pain and chronic fatigue. These symptoms can make it difficult to shop for, prepare, and eat wholesome and nutritious meals. Nevertheless, a healthy diet is very important in helping people with fibromyalgia counteract stress, detoxify the body, and restore nutrients to the areas that need them the most. 

If your medical doctor has given you the diagnosis of having fibromyalgia, what you may not know is that all fibromyalgia patients also suffer from:

* Nutritional deficiencies

* Food sensitivities

* Blood sugar imbalances

* Infections: yeast, viral and bacterial

* Severe hormone imbalances

When you address all of these “X” factors at the same time and provide the body with the right balance of nutrition and nutrient-dense foods (as opposed to nutrient-deficient ones), you create an internal environment conducive to restoring the natural rhythm within and enable transformation and healing to occur.