DK

Why Should I Care About GMOs?

What if you found out that your child was being slipped a dangerous drug in his school lunches, without your consent? What if you discovered that this drug never underwent the usual safety testing, as the government turned a bind eye? Would you be shocked? Outraged? Or perhaps in a state of profound denial that something so egregious could happen in this country?

This may seem like a nightmare scenario that could never happen in the United States of America, in a democracy valuing freedom and consent. But the shocking truth is that it happens every day. I'm not talking about a drug, per se, but your family is being exposed to something potentially even MORE destructive: GMOs, or genetically modified organisms.

Like the hypothetical drug scenario, in the early 1990s, GMO technology was rushed to market, allowed to skip the normal safety checks. No rigorous scientific vetting, no peer reviewed safety studies. Just a quiet, green light with a wink and a nod from our government to the biotech industry. Scientists opposing GMOs were ignored and hushed—even those within the FDA. The fact that GMOs are dangerous and unpredictable has been known, but suppressed, for decades. In the late 1980s, the L-tryptophan epidemic that killed 37 people and crippled thousands more was traced to genetically engineered ingredients.[1] [2]

For the past 20 years, GMOs have been allowed to permeate our food supply, with government regulators and industry spreading the myth of their safety, despite all evidence to the contrary. Why should you care? Because your children are the real guinea pigs.

Studies have painted some disturbing pictures of what GMOs can do. Animal feeding studies have linked GMOs with immune dysfunction, smaller brains, liver damage, gastrointestinal problems, abnormal sex organs and sterility, precancerous cell growth, accelerated aging and higher death rates. In a long-term Italian feeding study, rats fed Monsanto's GMO maize developed horrifying tumors, widespread organ damage, and premature death.[3] [4] Dozens of other studies have added to concerns about the frightening potentials of genetically tampering with our food supply.[5] [6]

For example, how do you feel about turning your child's gut into a pesticide factory? Big Biotech may have already accomplished this. Science has established the ability of GE genes to "jump" from the foods we eat to our gut bacteria (transgene transfer). In fact, "designer crops" are specially engineered so that they will transfer between species.

When your child enjoys that yummy ear of corn at the school picnic, the corn's altered DNA can be picked up by his gut bacteria. Those gut bacteria are now genetically altered to resist antibiotics or produce pesticides. There is no known way to treat such a condition. It's irreversible ... Pandora's Gut.3

It is unconscionable that GE foods were ushered into the world's food supply in the first place, but the fact that they are still getting a free pass is nothing short of careless contamination of the gene pool.[7]

SOURCE: GreenMed Info

GreenMedInfo

This humble, but immensely powerful seed, kills MRSA, heals the chemical weapon poisoned body, stimulates regeneration of the dying beta cells within the diabetic's pancreas, and yet too few even know it exists.

The seeds of the annual flowering plant, Nigella Sativa, have been prized for their healing properties since time immemorial.  While frequently referred to among English-speaking cultures as Roman coriander, black sesame, black cumin, black caraway and onion seed, it is known today primarily as black seed, which is at the very least an accurate description of its physical appearance.   

The earliest record of its cultivation and use come from ancient Egypt. Black seed oil, in fact, was found in Egyptian pharoah Tutankhamun's tomb, dating back to approximately 3,300 years ago.[i]  In Arabic cultures, black cumin is known as Habbatul barakah, meaning the "seed of blessing." It is also believed that the Islamic prophet Mohammed said of it that it is "a remedy for all diseases except death."

Many of black cumin's traditionally ascribed health benefits have been thoroughly confirmed in the biomedical literature. In fact, since 1964, there have been 458 published, peer-reviewed studies referencing it.

We have indexed salient research, available to view on GreenMedInfo.com on our Black Seed (Nigella Sativa) page, on well over 40 health conditions that may be benefited from the use of the herb, including over 20 distinct pharmacological actions it expresses, such as:

• Analgesic (Pain-Killing)
• Anti-Bacterial
• Anti-Inflammatory
• Anti-Ulcer
• Anti-Cholinergic
• Anti-Fungal
• Ant-Hypertensive
• Antioxidant
• Antispasmodic
• Antiviral
• Bronchodilator
• Gluconeogenesis Inhibitor (Anti-Diabetic)
• Hepatoprotective (Liver Protecting)
• Hypotensive
• Insulin Sensitizing
• Interferon Inducer
• Leukotriene Antagonist
• Renoprotective (Kidney Protecting)
• Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha Inhibitor
• 
  

These 22 pharmacological actions are only a subset of a far wider number of beneficial properties intrinsic to the black seed. While it is remarkable that this seed has the ability to positively modulate so many different biological pathways, this is actually a rather common occurrence among traditional plant medicines.

Our project has identified over 1600 natural compounds with a wide range of health benefits, and we are only in our first 5 years of casual indexing. There are tens of thousands of other substances that have already been researched, with hundreds of thousands of studies supporting their medicinal value (MEDLINE, whence our study abstracts come, has over 600,000 studies classified as related to Complementary and Alternative Medicine).

Take turmeric, for example. We have identified research indicating its value in over 600 health conditions, while also expressing over 160 different potentially beneficial pharmacological actions. You can view the quick summary of over 1500 studies we have summarized on our Turmeric Researchpage, which includes an explorative video on turmeric. Professional database members are further empowered to manipulate the results according to their search criteria, i.e. pull up and print to PDF the 61 studies on turmeric and breast cancer.  This, of course, should help folks realize how voluminous the supportive literature indicating the medicinal value of natural substances, such as turmeric and black seed, really is.

Black seed has been researched for very specific health conditions. Some of the most compelling applications include:

• Type 2 Diabetes: Two grams of black seed a day resulted in reduced fasting glucose, decreased insulin resistance, increased beta-cell function, and reduced glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in human subjects.[ii]
• Helicobacter Pylori Infection: Black seeds possess clinically useful anti-H. pylori activity, comparable to triple eradication therapy.[iii]
• Epilepsy: Black seeds were traditionally known to have anticonvulsive properties. A 2007 study with epileptic children, whose condition was refractory to conventional drug treatment, found that a water extract significantly reduced seizure activity.[iv]
• High Blood pressure: The daily use of 100 and 200 mg of black seed extract, twice daily, for 2 months, was found to have a blood pressure-lowering effect in patients with mild hypertension.[v]
• Asthma: Thymoquinone, one of the main active constituents within Nigella sativa (black cumin), is superior to the drug fluticasone in an animal model of asthma.[vi] Another study, this time in human subjects, found that boiled water extracts of black seed have relatively potent antiasthmatic effect on asthmatic airways.[vii]
• Acute tonsillopharyngitis: characterized by tonsil or pharyngeal inflammation (i.e. sore throat), mostly viral in origin, black seed capsules (in combination with Phyllanthus niruri) have been found to significantly alleviate throat pain, and reduce the need for pain-killers, in human subjects.[viii]
• Chemical Weapons Injury: A randomized, placebo-controlled human study of chemical weapons injured patients found that boiled water extracts of black seed reduced respiratory symptoms, chest wheezing, and pulmonary function test values, as well as reduced the need for drug treatment.[ix]
• Colon Cancer: Cell studies have found that black seed extract compares favorably to the chemoagent 5-fluoruracil in the suppression of colon cancer growth, but with a far higher safety profile.[x] Animal research has found that black seed oil has significant inhibitory effects against colon cancer in rats, without observable side effects.[xi]
• MRSA: Black seed has anti-bacterial activity against clinical isolates of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus.[xii]
• Opiate Addiction/Withdrawal: A study on 35 opiate addicts found black seed as an effective therapy in long-term treatment of opioid dependence.[xiii]
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