“There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they are falling in”
attributed to Bishop Desmond Tutu
We can’t fully understand the modern rise of chronic diseases and mental health deterioration without understanding the microbiome. And we can’t understand the failing microbiome without understanding modern food production, agricultural practices, and policies. This is where it all comes together and we get an “Ah-ha” moment. Certainly there are other factors. But this one is HUGE.
This page currently incomplete, continual work in progress. Information will be added periodically.
Landmines at the Grocery Store
Direct impact of commonly used dietary emulsifiers on human gut microbiota. “These results indicate that numerous, but not all, commonly used emulsifiers can directly alter gut microbiota in a manner expected to promote intestinal inflammation.”
Does Glyphosate Affect the Human Microbiota? “Our results demonstrate that more than one-half of human microbiome are intrinsically sensitive to glyphosate.”
Is the Use of Glyphosate in Modern Agriculture Resulting in Increased Neuropsychiatric Conditions Through Modulation of the Gut-brain-microbiome Axis? “Here we highlight several ways glyphosate can influence mental health and behavior through changes in the gut-brain-microbiome axis…we posit that environmental exposure to glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides has the potential to negatively influence neurodevelopment and behavior across generations.”
Artificial Food Colors and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Symptoms: Conclusions to Dye for. “The deleterious effect does not appear to be confined to ADHD (a general effect has been replicated). Therefore AFCs may be more a general public health problem than an ADHD problem”
Potential impacts of synthetic food dyes on activity and attention in children: a review of the human and animal evidence. “These studies support a relationship between food dye exposure and adverse behavioral outcomes in children.”
Chemical Found in Common Sweetener Damages DNA (Sucralose). “we found that sucralose-6-acetate is genotoxic, and that it effectively broke up DNA in cells that were exposed to the chemical…When we exposed sucralose and sucralose-6-acetate to gut epithelial tissues – the tissue that lines your gut wall – we found that both chemicals cause ‘leaky gut’…gut cells exposed to sucralose-6-acetate had increased activity in genes related to oxidative stress, inflammation and carcinogenicity”
The Importance of Maintaining a Low Omega-6/Omega-3 Ratio for Reducing the Risk of Autoimmune Diseases, Asthma, and Allergies. “A reduction in the intake of industrial omega-6 seed oils will help reduce the high dietary omega-6/3 ratio and the pro-inflammatory state that ensues.”
If You Give a Lab Mouse a Cookie
How Did We Get Here???
Section last updated 9/12/2024
Podcast: How the Supermarket Helped America Win the Cold War. “The supermarket was in fact the endpoint of the U.S. government’s battle for agricultural abundance against the U.S.S.R. Our farm policies were built to dominate, not necessarily to nourish — and we are still living with the consequences.”
Agriculture Policy Is Health Policy. “The price of food to consumers does not contain the true costs of its production. The true costs include the cost of environmental cleanup, the costs to human health of toxic exposure and a lack of clean water sources, the costs of overusing fossil fuels, as well as the cost to future generations of growing food with the loss of severely depleted agricultural land.”
Movie: King Corn. “King Corn is a feature documentary about two friends, one acre of corn, and the subsidized crop that drives our fast-food nation.”
Cattle Diet Linked to Bacterial Growth. (1998) “…the digestive systems of cows fed hay generate less than 1% of the E. coli found in the feces of grain-fed animals. What’s more, bacteria from the grain-fed animals were much more resistant to acid, making them more likely to survive in the human stomach and cause infection.”
Agricultural Subsidies and the American Obesity Epidemic. “existing price support programs continue to create strong economic incentives to overproduce a select number of crops at the expense of agricultural diversity and American health”
Evolution of the Human Diet and Its Impact on Gut Microbiota, Immune Responses, and Brain Health. “the Western diet negatively impacts human digestive physiology and can have pathogenic effects on the immune system, which is likely mediated by the gut microbiota.
Video: What Happens When You STOP EATING Bread & Gluten? | Dr. Alessio Fasano & Mark Hyman. Why is this a problem now?
The Foggy Noggin' Diner 