The Global Conversation

Tag: organic

  • Science or spirituality – does it have to be one or the other?

    Angelina Jolie, 37, recently underwent a preventive double mastectomy after finding out  she carries a mutation of the BRCA1 gene, which significantly increases her risk of developing breast cancer and ovarian cancer, a disease her own mother died of at the age of 59.  “My doctors estimated that I had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer, although the risk is different in the case of each woman,” Jolie wrote. “Once I knew that this was my reality, I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much I could. I made a decision to have a preventive double mastectomy.  I can tell my children that they don’t need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer.”

    There are many people who are applauding the proactive choice Angelina is making to minimize her chances of getting cancer.  But her radical decision has also been met with some controversy and her actions are being challenged by members of the holistic and natural health community.

    Dr. Lissa Rankin, M.D., a former OB/GYN for eight years and author of Mind Over Medicine, Scientific Proof That You Can Heal Yourself, says on her website, “By labeling a patient with a negative prognosis and robbing a patient of the hope that cure might be possible, we may ultimately prove the poor prognosis we have bestowed upon our patient correct. Wouldn’t we be better off offering hope and triggering the mind to release health-inducing chemicals intended to aid the body’s self-repair mechanisms?  Is it really healthy for any of us to know that we might have an 87% risk of any illness? Do we really want to poison our minds with such fear-based thoughts that then force us to make decisions about whether or not we will electively cut off perfectly healthy body parts? When we live in fear, we predispose ourselves to illness. To live in fear of what might happen only triggers stress responses in the body.”

    And so we find ourselves as a society continually and more increasingly faced with a difficult choice of what is behind Door Number 1, the marvels of modern medicine, and Door Number 2, the miraculous power of our body’s own ability to organically heal and sustain.  And as Dr. Rankin is suggesting, how much do our thoughts come into play in actually creating — and healing — so many of the illnesses we see in our world today?

    Conversations With God, Book 1, offered this to us: “You never do die. Life is eternal. You are immortal. You never do die. You simply change form. You didn’t even have to do that. You decided to do that, I didn’t. I made you bodies that would last forever. Do you really think the best God could do, the best I could come up with, was a body that could make it 60, 70, maybe 80 years before falling apart? Is that, do you imagine, the limit of My ability?”

    And so with all of the information we have placed before us, upon what do we base our decisions?  Is there a space where science and spirituality harmoniously intersect and work in conjunction to benefit humanity?  Is Dr. Rankin correct in the idea that our fear-based thoughts are actually creating our illnesses and preventing our body’s natural ability to heal?  Or are the medical doctors correct that we are predisposed to certain types of illnesses – cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, etc., — and we are best served to surgically or medicinally prevent and/or cure these diseases?  Or could it a combination of both?

    What are your thoughts?

    (Lisa McCormack is the Managing Editor & Administrator of The Global Conversation. She is also a member of the Spiritual Helper team at www.ChangingChange.net, a website offering emotional and spiritual support. To connect with Lisa, please e-mail her at Lisa@TheGlobalConversation.com.)

  • To GMO or Not to GMO?

    I live in the Midwest amongst huge corporate farms full of beautiful fields of grains and beans. Well, at least they LOOK beautiful at times. I’m not so sure I am willing to eat the stuff. From what I understand a huge majority of what is grown around me is genetically modified GMO produce.

    Many people (even here!) here have no idea what is happening or that anything potentially dangerous is being grown in their own backyard. For hundreds and maybe thousands of years, people have been genetically engineering foods. We have trees that grow both lemons and limes. We have new fruits and vegetables made by crossing two plants together such as loganberries and limequats. We have selectively promoted different strains and species based on their color, taste, and growth patterns.

    But the kind of GMO manipulation that is going on now just isn’t safe. At least it hasn’t been proven safe. Studies around the world are linking it to cancer and many other health issues. There are too many correlations between these GMOs and food allergies in children (and adults). Doesn’t it seem strange that dozens of countries overseas have banned our GMO produce based on their own scientific health studies? Is it a coincidence that since GMOs have been heavily marketed there are huge spikes in children’s food allergies, along with the severity of the allergies? Doesn’t it seem strange that SOMEONE is profiting off of these GMO seeds and it isn’t the farmers, but instead big businesses?

    There are two types of GMO that I am most concerned about.

    The first type is GMO seeds that are herbicide resistant. Supersized companies have engineered grains that don’t die when they are doused with toxic herbicide. This means that the farmers can spray as much herbicide all around the crops to kill off every weed and stray plant, but the produce won’t die! This is one sure way to guarantee that you will be ingesting much more pesticide than you would have before. Does this sound safe to you?

    The second type is GMO seeds that have pesticide DNA built into them. There is a toxin that causes pests stomach’s to explode when they ingest it. This is the pesticide that has been genetically “built-in” to your GMO grain. They have found this pesticide in the stomach of pregnant women. If it kills bugs by making their stomachs explode, what does it do to humans?

    If you haven’t heard yet, there are dozens of countries around the world that have banned the import our GMO grains. They have banned it because they have done scientific studies linking GMO to cancer and other diseases. You would be surprised to find out that the same GMO grain is in hundreds and thousands of your grocery products, but how would you know? They certainly don’t tell you on any label. The vast majority of grains that are grown in the USA by big agricultural farms now are GMO, which means the vast majority of ALL grains grown in the USA are GMO. Try to find out if your crackers, chips, cereals, even tofu have GMO grain/soy in them!

    I recommend buying products that are clearly labeled “No GMOs” or “Organic”, as organic products cannot contain or come from animals who are fed GMO. Let’s get healthier by protecting ourselves against what hasn’t been proven safe!

    (Beth Anderson is a certified Holistic Health Coach and founder of the Holistic Health Hotspot in Evansville, Indiana. She is also the author of “The Holistic Diet: Achieve Your Ideal Weight, Be Happy and Healthy for Life.” Beth received her training from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Beth is helping people improve their lives through nutrition and lifestyle education, health coaching, and by helping others to learn to make informed choices. Beth continues to spread understanding of the connection between body, mind, and spirit and encourages all to discern the truth about food, consumer products, environment, and life choices. You can find Beth on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/HolisticHealthHotspot or email her at beth@holistichealthhotspot.com)