A Spoonful of Local Honey Keeps the Allergies Away

Every year it seems that seasonal allergies (especially cedar, right now) get worse in people. Some try to blame the trees while others seem to think they're 'just the way it is.' I've never actually had cedar allergies (coincidence that I eat primarily organic and local foods?) so I can't speak from experience, but I've also heard many people tell me their cures.

While not a complete cure, many people say that a daily regimen of local honey significantly reduces the severity of their allergies. The theory is that ingesting the pollen (assimilated into honey by bees) helps your body recognize it as food and not a foreign protein so you don't react as such. Now, there's something very important to this remedy - pollen count. Some tests have been run on all local honeys and Round Rock Honey has by far the most diverse pollen profile and the most local pollens of any of the honeys. One tablespoon a day of this yummy goodness and in a couple of weeks you may notice pollen allergies subsiding.

I hear stories of acupuncture being effective for some and not for others (maybe depends on the practitioner?), but one treatment that has worked for everyone who has tried it is The Love Cleanse. A guided cleanse by Kim Love, she helps you identify underlying food allergies (which are present in 90% of seasonal allergy sufferers) and balances your body chemistry to better handle all environmental toxins. Her program works.

I do not believe allergies are simply a way of life in Texas. They're a symptom of an underlying issue in the body. Until you find and treat the issue, nasal sprays and pills for the symptoms are just an expensive way to put off dealing with it. And just in case you're getting confused - I'm not a doctor and this is not medical advice. Just my opinion, that's all.

New GMO Study Out - Well, It's Actually Not New

This is the second part of my series on Genetically Modified foods (GMOs). I want to preface that I have a degree in Chemical Engineering and am as much a fan of science as I am of the environment. And I believe the evidence is overwhelming that GMOs do not belong in our food system yet (if ever). They do not help us feed the world (no greater yields than organics) and they leave a path of ecosystem & health destruction wherever they go. I see possible uses for GMOs...just not in my salad, please.

A recent press release by Food Freedom on a study analysis by the International Journal of Biological Sciences confirmed that varieties of Monsanto's GM corn created liver and kidney damage in mammals.

Now here's where it gets interesting - this study is actually based off of Monsanto's own data from 2002. Monsanto's study showed these effects. What Monsanto did, however, was only take the first 90 days of the study and they threw out the evidence of damage in these first 90 days so they could call the GM corn safe. How they were allowed to do this AND keep the results confidential for 4 years goes to a core fault of industry-funded research. Their reasoning included the fact that results were different for male and female mammals. They say this nullifies the results, when in reality differences like this are incredibly common because male and female organ function is different. Also, most chronic toxicity problems do not surface in 90 days. Our organs are incredibly resilient and can even process poisons....for a while.

The study also found material pesticide residue on all GMO samples, by the way. There will be brand new, long-term studies on multiple animals surfacing in the coming year (as long as Monsanto doesn't squash them or sue the scientists into oblivion - their application of libel laws is amazing). Remember that non-organic foods, unless labeled GMO-free, most likely are GMO! 90% of corn (corn chips at Mexican restaurants, HFCS in sodas, dressings & thousands more) and soy are GMO. Check out the guide for avoiding GM foods here and know that Greenling is a GMO-free zone!