Pollution risks are shared around the world

I may try to be funny at times but I don’t joke about health or the impact the environment can have on health. Our nation’s future deserves to be protected by all of us including our elected officials. A clean supply of air, water and food is necessary for current and future generations of humans and other life. Pollution is damaging to both our health and our property.Not only our health is at risk but our grandchildren’s children can be negatively impacted by today’s pollutants. Small changes in genetic structure can occur in the eggs that are developing within a female fetus during the prenatal time. Those small changes can reduce the health of the child and be replicated in the child’s children. Protecting pregnant women from stress and harsh chemicals not only helps their babies but it also helps protect the babies’ future children. [1]

Ignoring pollution risks the future of life on the planet. Humans are not the only species suffering from chronic disease and illness. [11] This land is not only our land. Humans are unlikely to thrive on a planet with few other lifeforms. The chemicals that we spread on farm fields or city parks or that we wash airplanes with add toxins to the ground water and eventually pollutants show up in the oceans.

Excess carbon dioxide from combustion is sequestered from air pollution by the minerals dissolved in ocean waters but the buffering capacity is not unlimited. Acidity levels are rising in the oceans. [2,3]

Life and ships may not thrive for long in increasingly acidic sea water. Our oceans are not acidic currently but small changes in acidity do impact the growth of shellfish and may increase the need for maintenance of ships. The paint that we protect our ships with isn’t perfectly healthy either but corrosion would be worse for the ship’s cargo and crew. Maintenance requires the time for staff to order the work and supplies and to perform the work. [4, 5, 6] And staff and supplies require a budget to finance the work and purchases. Coordination and cooperation requires communication and that has a cost as well.

Free information carries the cost of awareness and for some that can be an undesirable expense. Negative campaigning twists words and facts into soundbites that make promises or warnings that may have little foundation in reality. Denial of truth is an easier soundbite to share than the disturbing reality that we actually share.

A recent study at Stanford University comparing food grown by organic or standard methods found a difference in disease resistant pathogens and in pesticide content but not a significant difference in nutrient content. The benefit of reduced pesticide content is not just for the person eating the food. There would be less toxins added to the ground water each year that the chemicals weren’t added to the fields or animal fodder. [8, 9]

We are trying to survive in a world increasingly loaded with chemicals that were previously unknown in nature. Some noticed the increasing environmental and health problems decades ago and have been working to increase awareness and reduce the chemical contamination but more awareness and action is needed. Consumers can use their purchasing and voting power and businesses can develop more environmentally sustainable products and policies.

My opinions are my own, no disrespect is intended.

/Disclaimer: Opinions are my own and  the information is provided for educational purposes within the guidelines of fair use. While I am a Registered Dietitian this information is not intended to provide individual health guidance. Please see a health professional for individual health care purposes./

  1. Varghese AC, et. al., “Oocyte developmental competence and embryo development: impact of lifestyle and environmental risk factors,” Reproductive BioMedicine Online (2011), doi:10.1016/j.rbmo.2010.11.009 [clevelandclinic.org]
  2. “Ocean Acidity” Figure 1: Ocean Carbon Dioxide Levels and Acidity, 1983-2005, EPA.gov: [epa.gov]
  3. Article by Helen Scales, Oceans Becoming Acidic Ten Times Faster Than (previously) Thought, (Nov. 24, 2008) Nat. Geo: [news.nationalgeographic.com]
  4. Salt Water, Fasteners and Boats, [marfas.com] *Guidance for the small boat owner.
  5. US Navy, Corrosion Control, NAVFAC MO-307, Sept. 1992, [scribd.com/doc] *A long document that I included  simply as an example of the many details involved in planning for maintenance needs.
  6. Ship Maker Denies Responsibility For Rust on New Navy Ship, (June 21, 2011) PaintSquare: [paintsquare.com]
  7. Article by Andrea Shalal-Esa, “Austal’s first high speed ship completes U.S. Navy acceptance trials” (Aug. 30, 2012) Reuters, NBC News: [msnbc.msn.com]
  8. Article by Shannon Pettypiece, “Organic Food Adds No Vitamins for Extra Cost, Research Finds,” (Sept. 4, 2012) WashingtonPost: [washingtonpost.com]
  9. Article by Robyn O’Brien, “Organic Food vs. Conventional: What the Stanford Study Missed,” (Sept. 6, 2012) Huffington Post: [huffingtonpost.com]
  10. A prior post included information about problems that have been seen in the health of coral reefs and sea turtles. “Coral reefs in peril, less perilous topic than religion or politics” (April 9, 2012) [gingerjens.blogspot.com]

Quarks, bosons, and Abbess Zenkai Blanche Hartman

Believing more in the power of self healing and less in lab tests could buy more health. Working harder on defining life expectancy instead of death expectancy could lead to more quality of life or maybe just a little less worry along the way. More time to pick wildflowers could be an inexpensive bonus for anyone – they can be virtual flowers for allergy sufferers.  Any type of nature in symbols or actual plants have been found effective towards reducing stress and improving health.

How could a picture of flower heal? – Maybe it is calming energy – nature recognizing the beauty of organized nature, intimate to the connection of ourselves with our world.

Queen Anne’s Lace, solar art.

Excerpt from ”’A Beginner’s Mind”’ by Abbess Zenkai Blanche Hartman, [http://www.intrex.net/chzg/hartman4.htm]

‘In China, there was a teacher named Dizang (J.: Rakan) who had a student named Fayan (J.: Hogen). Dizang saw Fayan all dressed in his traveling clothes, with his straw sandals and his staff, and a pack on his back, and Dizang said, “Where are you going?” Fayan answered, “Around on pilgrimage.” Dizang said, “What is the purpose of pilgrimage?” Fayan said, “I don’t know.” Dizang said, “Not knowing is nearest.” Sometimes it’s translated as “Not knowing is most intimate.” Not knowing is nearest or most intimate.’

Not knowing is most intimate” – the most intimate or personally unique level may be the sub-atomic, quark-ian level.

Our protons and neutrons are made up of a balance of energy from three pairs of quarks. Their energy states change and the whole atom ‘s energy field is a result of the average of the three pairs of quarks. Our internal world may be a binary one with an on/off switch within every atom of our bodies – and our health.

A positive attitude versus a negative attitude can change the form that water freezes from a beautiful ornate crystalline lattice (snowflake) into a amorphous blob of ice. The work done on photography of water crystallizing into snowflakes by Dr Masuro Emoto shows us that a blessing or prayer before a meal might help align the fluid in the foods. Crystalline structure that is organized might promote better health. His work in water therapy has not been verified with replication but the idea that water crystals have to align to make an organized snowflake makes sense chemically. That is how a water droplet is formed, from alignment of the positive and negative areas of each individual molecule of water. Snowflake alignment might be showing the effects of organization at the subatomic quark-ian level.

Not knowing is intimate to believing that an outcome can be open-ended.

/speculation/    We may not need to look in a subatomic explosion to find the boson or God particle. The scientist standing behind the safety glass has been found to direct the outcome of particle/energy wave experiments. Thought influenced whether the mass would be energy or particle.

If we think positive then the placebo, healing effect, averages 38% with no other medicine involved. The reverse is also true (no statistic on hand though). The nocebo response refers to negative responses that occur when an inactive substance is given to a control group in research. The negative or positive effects occur at the individual level, one person might experience positive effects from an inactive placebo while another experiences negative effects from the same inactive substance. The placebo and nocebo effects are not well understood at this time, more research is needed.

Meadow flowers, captured by solar energy.
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An excerpt from a lecture about sitting zazen, a type of meditation, titled, “A Natural Action,” by Abbess Zenkai Blanche Hartman,

“We want to attune ourselves carefully to our body and mind so that we can notice when we are out of line with our deepest intention, so that we can feel it when we are out of line with our deepest intention. We want to cultivate that intimate knowing without words and ideas, that intimacy with our self, so that we can tell if we are living our life the way we really want to.”  ____   [http://www.chzc.org/hartman3.htm]

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The intestinal tract has brain cells that send information to the brain but not in a vocalized set of data. Emotions and information about allergens and pathogens and the state of the seasonal food supply may be included in the neuron signals from the GI tract. A gut instinct is very real at a biologic and cerebral level but not at the neocortex style of verbal thought. Learning to recognize and understand the difference between the gut sinking, big mistake feeling from the excited new love, twitterpated feeling can help in life.

When the timing is right it may feel right at a gut level. The moist spring air might remind the subconscious of previous fun bike rides. The fresh smell might lead right to getting the bike tuned up and out on the road without ever verbally saying out loud “I plan to ride my bike today because the air smells of springtime.” Tuning in to hunger and fullness signals isn’t always about eating or drinking. The gut knows more than we realize. There are more neurons in the intestinal tract than in the spine or rest of the body (except the brain). Thinking about a snack yet?

***The article suggests that psychiatrists may need to treat this second brain (the GI tract) as well as the regular brain. Talk therapy would be a challenge and more pharmaceuticals won’t really nourish the miles of intestinal tract like food could. The benefit of sitting meditation is the time of stillness to slow down and consider what the twinges at an emotional level might be trying to say about real world events.

Gut knowledge can be very informative but it can be very wrong/misunderstood. Like blogs and anything – think twice, act with care. Pain and discomfort is the body’s signal that something happening is wrong and should be changed. Blocking pain regularly blocks the wisdom that could help heal the underlying problem.

Disclaimer: Opinions are my own and the information is provided for educational purposes within the guidelines of fair use. While I am a Registered Dietitian this information is not intended to provide individual health guidance. Please see a health professional for individual health care purposes.