Category: Environment

Greening Yourself

(DrFrankLipman – Mariel Hemingway) What does it mean to be green? For Kermit the frog it was the mere fact that he was green in color. For me, it means that I eat a lot of green foods and that I love the earth. I adore nature because it informs me how I feel about the world. Nature is my connection to God. Mother nature is the earth and the earth is my home– and that thrills me. But I didn’t get here by thinking green… I got here by becoming aware of who I am inside.  I am ecologically aware because it is the natural place for me to be, because of the path that I have taken towards health and self-awareness.

Does the fact that we buy more “green” products make us more ecologically conscious or does it just mean that we feel better about the fact that some of the “stuff” that we are now buying is recyclable, renewable, and a little less bad for our environment? Perhaps both. Yet, buying more things even if they are green, doesn’t make waste and unconscious behavior towards the planet go away. It just makes us have a better feeling about what we are buying.

How can we become ecologically conscious or aware of our planet? Not only by the kind of goods that we buy, but also by making an effort to buy less because we are aware of the gifts we already have, and our attitude toward ourselves is more important than what we can obtain from the outside. Lessen the carbon footprint and cherish the world we live in.

In becoming truly thoughtful in what we buy we will feed our souls far more than the idea of changing the goods we consume. Don’t get me wrong, I love that there are products in the marketplace that are made and produced with our environment in mind (and we need to support them), but that is not what helps human beings become more mindful of themselves and their environment.

We need a shift in consciousness that guides us towards a loving intention for ourselves first that really speaks to how we as individuals show up in the world. Our economy is making it easier for us to do this anyway. There is less security for many to feel comfortable with the kind of unconscious hoarding of things we engaged in the last 2 to 3 decades.

Instead of focusing on what is happening outside our lives, it feels to me like a time to ask ourselves how do we live on a personal level? How do we affect the immediate environment we live in? How do we feel in our body? The first step to becoming green is to shift our focus from what we are doing on the outside and ask the question how do I occur and feel in my body?  I love to discuss what it means to step into our environment as a conscious person. I like this kind of inquiry because it is what I ask of myself everyday.

The first step towards greening yourself is to inquire about how you feel in your inner self. How do you feel in your day-to-day life? How does your body feel when you take a walk, swim, jog, stretch, or do yoga or any kind of movement? Or have you let yourself fall away from moving your body? When you don’t move your body it is as though you are not tilling the soil of your garden. If you don’t move the soil, oxygenate it, water it and nourish it with the proper nutrients your plants become stagnant and they don’t flourish. So you can see how your first environment is your physical state. Eco-consciousness begins right where you are. Green yourself and then understand that who you are is the first step into becoming aware of the earth you live on.

Your first environment is your body and your awareness of how that feels is based on what you eat, how you move and if you take time for the ritual of observing yourself in Silence. In caring for your body in this way is how you begin to care for you. When you care for you, you are caring for the first and most important environment you have. It is the beginning of self-love. Self-love is self-awareness of how you show up in your world.

I truly believe that if a person becomes attuned to how their body is cared for, the idea of NOT caring for your actual outside environment becomes absurd. When you care for you, then you naturally care for the world you are living in, because that is your home, your temple. If you love who you are then you become an ecologically conscious person because it simply makes sense. It is the natural progression to come from self-awareness to environmental awareness.

When your body thrives energetically by feeding it well with locally grown and organic foods and your home becomes a haven for your creative and personal peace, then it is natural to want to make sure the bigger environment is cared for.  It is making choices that serve your humanity. You then want to visit farmers markets, you want to recycle and consume less because buying more holds little interest for you anymore. What you already have becomes sacred, especially your time. It becomes uninteresting to you to waste time searching for things that don’t love you the way you can love yourself.

When a person is engaged in the solace and beauty in their lives they are less likely to want to buy things mindlessly. I have had periods in my life when shopping was a way to get outside myself, to distract from the places where I didn’t feel good about who I was. If I bought something whether clothes, gadgets, or whatever, I was distracted from the reality of how I was feeling inside. I like to shop, my goodness I am healthy woman, but it is not something that I do obsessively any longer. I do it as fun or necessary and I do it with joy, not as a way to fill up a hole inside where I don’t feel complete.

When I began to feel better about the me that I am, I began to need fewer things. I am feeling so much more in tune with a greater consumption of self-acceptance that I don’t need more stuff – green or otherwise – to enhance who I am. As I am on the journey of my own self-acceptance, I am becoming more loving of everyone and everything around me. It is cliché, but it is said that you can’t love until you find love of self first, and it is true for me.

After you become aware of your body then you can’t help but become aware of your work, habits and home. When you are at work, are you at ease? How do you feel in your home, in your personal sacred space? Or does it even feel sacred at all? What does your bedroom feel like? Is it a peaceful place of rest or is it a place that has lost all definition and you don’t even know why you sleep there?  Is it too hard to get past the piled books, clothes, and things that disguise it? Is it a place for lovemaking, sleep, and meditation or has it become your office, your TV room or your storage bin? Is your kitchen a place that one wants to hang out in because the food and smells that come from it invite family closeness and a sense of comfort and well-being?

These are the questions to ask yourself about your personal environment. Get in tune with how you feel here in your life, in your body, and then you will have an easeful segue-way into the world and be naturally eco conscious.

When you make a choice to change your home you want it to reflect who you are, then you will buy necessary products that are healthy. You will want to use non toxic paints and carpets and you will think ‘wow If I change my kitchen countertops I might want to use a wood that is from trees that fell naturally in the forest’. You may want to put solar panels on your roof because you care that your home is filled with clean pure air and energy that serves this incredible being that you are.

Becoming “green” and environmentally aware is about loving yourself and then wanting your body to be housed gloriously in a healthy environment. And of course that means you become a better spouse, parent, and partner, because you are more able to care for others through the conscious choices you are making for yourself.

And of course this leads you to being aware of the desire for a healthier planet…hence you have become an ecologically conscious and GREEN human Being!

Yes, Organic Farming Can Feed the World

(Cornucopia – TakePart – by Anna Lappe) A few years ago, I was at a biotechnology trade meeting listening to a panel on GMOs. Throughout the two-hour session, the panelists all sang the praises of the technology—not too surprising at an industry event. (At the time, the GMOs under commercial planting were limited to seeds genetically engineered to produce an insecticide and/or resist a proprietary herbicide.)

What was unexpected was what came next: One of the speakers took the mic to say those opposed to GMOs should be tried for crimes against humanity. Seriously. Sure, the comment may have been a gross misuse of the term, but a similar sentiment runs throughout the messaging from the biotech industry that says we can’t feed the world if we don’t embrace the technology.

If my experience last month in Turkey is any indication, the notion that GMOs are the only way to feed a growing population is way out of step with both the leading thinkers on food and farming and the world’s smallholder farmers—who produce much of what the planet eats and 80 percent of the food in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

These farmers may not have money on their side, but I saw the power of strength in numbers at the Organic World Congress. Held this year in Istanbul, the conference brought together people from 81 countries to discuss the latest research from organic farm fields and to share private and public developments that promote organic agriculture.

What I heard should have biotech execs shaking in their boots, or their penny loafers, as the case may be: Organic agriculture is taking off around the world, especially where it’s needed most. About 80 percent of all organic producers are based in developing countries, with India, Uganda, Mexico, and Tanzania leading the charge. To date, 162 nations are now home to certified organic farms, and in 2012 the 37.5 million hectares of farmland produced a harvest worth $63.8 billion. While that works out to less than 1 percent of global agricultural land, the figure dramatically undercounts the actual amount of land farmed using organic principles, as many farmers are not part of an official certification program. And consider that globally, organic agriculture has received a fraction of the subsidies and 0.4 percent of the research dollars funneled into chemical farming ventures.

One of the themes of the three-day gathering in October was that embracing these practices is increasingly being seen as key to food security, from national departments of agriculture all the way to the halls of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Several speakers quoted José Graziano da Silva, the head of the FAO, who said, “We cannot rely on an input-intensive model to increase production—the solutions of the past have shown their limits,” at a recent international summit.

In Istanbul, former U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan shared examples of interest in organic agriculture at the USDA: “Times have radically changed,” she said. “Fifty thousand people have taken an organic literacy course as staff of USDA.”

Research, including studies presented at the conference in Istanbul, is showing that organic agriculture can deliver reliably high yields—and that organic fields thrive in the face of disaster and duress, where chemical-reliant crops falter. Organic fields, for example, fare significantly better than chemically managed ones in the face of extreme weather, such as droughts or floods. A 30-year study from the Rodale Institute, for example, found that organic farm fields yielded 33 percent more in drought years compared with chemically managed ones. Organic agriculture can also reduce on-farm energy use and decrease greenhouse gas emissions. One comparative study in Slovakia found that chemical farming systems were more than 50 percent more “energy demanding” than the organic systems.

Pat Mooney, executive director of the ETC Group, a global antipoverty group, had the audience spellbound by his tales of woe: The monoculture design of industrial agriculture has decimated species diversity in our food system.

“In the last half century,” Mooney said, “the industrial food chain has destroyed 75 percent of the genetic diversity of our food chain.” Mooney’s message was that organic agriculture is key to protecting this disappearing biodiversity, which farmers have long known is the heart of food security.

All this interest; all these benefits. So why isn’t organic agriculture a bigger player in the global marketplace? In part, the answer has to do with the power, specifically the consolidation of power, among the agribusiness giants profiting from the chemical agriculture model. Mooney mentioned that in the two weeks prior, the world’s first- and fourth-largest fertilizer companies merged. While we were gathered in Turkey, news came out that several multinational companies, including one largely controlled by Monsanto, had acquired major stakes in SeedCo, the largest seed company in sub-Saharan Africa. As The Ecologist wrote of the deal, “Taken together, this means that three of the world’s largest biotechnology companies, Monsanto, DuPont and Syngenta, all now have a significant foothold on the continent in markets for two of the three major global GM crop varieties: [corn] and cotton.”

I would never suggest promoters of industrial agriculture and GMOs have a Machiavellian strategy for global food chain dominance, but the consolidation of the food chain is alarming. Perhaps that was what was most inspiring about soaking in the stories in Istanbul: The 981 attendees of the Organic World Congress were the faces of the counterforce. The farmers, researchers, and advocates at the front lines are pushing back against this corporate consolidation—and speaking up for a truly sustainable system that can feed the world.

Treat Media Consumption Just Like Binge Eating

(DrFrankLipman – Pilar Gerasimo) A few months ago, as I was wrapping up the next day’s work preparations and shutting down my electronics for the evening, I noticed a new email in my inbox.

It was a New York Times News Alert informing me that Osama bin Laden had been killed. The brief email offered few details but informed me that President Obama would be appearing on TV imminently with an announcement.

Compelled, I clicked the link to the promised live-video stream and waited, looking at a placeholder screen and this message:

The White House has announced that President Barack Obama will address the American people in the next few minutes. When Mr. Obama begins speaking, his remarks will appear in this live video stream from the White House Web site.

Wow, I thought. Historic moment. I should watch this.

A minute ticked by. As I waited, I began reading the headlines of related articles. I perused the page’s unrelated live Twitter feed about Syria. I reread the placeholder message to see if anything had changed. I started thinking about hitting social media or turning on the radio to see what else was being said about the breaking news of bin Laden’s demise.

And then, I thought better of it.

I reminded myself of a commitment that I’d made almost a decade ago in the wake of another major news event — 9/11. My commitment: to become a more discerning and conscious consumer of media.

To me, that means making thoughtful choices about what I watch, read and listen to. It means noticing how I wind up giving my attention to various media streams, and why. It means being aware of the impact my media habits are having on me, and on those around me.

It especially means noticing when I am getting sucked in by something I hadn’t planned to. And it often means turning off or tuning out media — from TV and radio to books, magazines, Web and social-media content — that I find irrelevant, unhelpful, or inconsistent with what I deem to be the best use of my focus and time.

It does not necessarily mean always looking away from things that I find disturbing, surprising or provocative, but it does mean evaluating whether I am being catalyzed to grow and respond constructively, or merely being bombarded in a way that leaves me feeling helpless, hopeless and disempowered.

Over the course of the past decade, I’ve found that this approach to monitoring my media intake has served me well, and it has saved me countless hours of frustration and distraction.

Contrary to some of my early fears, I have not ceased to be a reasonably well-informed individual. Nor have I lost all touch with civilized society. What I’ve done instead is reserve my media time and bandwidth for information that matters to me; experiences that sync with my values and priorities; amusements that entertain, inspire and delight me; inquiries that inform my perspectives; and explorations that empower me to better understand and contribute to my world.

In the scheme of everything else I want to do and experience in my lifetime, I have limited time and focus even for media that meets these high standards. And so it happened that on this particular evening, presented with this particular media option, I considered my commitment and made my decision: I turned off the computer and went to bed.

Here are some of the factors that influenced my choice that night — and that figure into a lot of my media decisions these days:

1. Triggers and appetite: What is enticing or tempting me to tune in to this particular stream of media now, and how do I feel about that?

Although I initially felt that I “should” watch (presumably so that I’d be up to date on a matter of national importance), in truth, I think the offer of the televised announcement mostly appealed to my prurient curiosity and reflexive instincts. It was the media equivalent of an unconscious, impulsive food binge. Did I really want or need to watch this? Would any good likely come of my watching it now? No.

2. Timing and flow: What is going on in my world that makes this an appropriate, potentially rewarding media choice — or conversely, a conflicted and potentially disruptive one? 

I was on my way to bed when I got the News Alert email, and I was glad to have received it. I realized a few moments into my investigation, though, that if I chose to wait up for the president’s live address, I might wind up waiting for quite a while — and that every moment I spent on the edge of my seat would only enhance my sense of keyed-up investment in needing to know as much as possible as quickly as possible. That vibe would likely interfere with my other real-life priorities and intentions — like spending time with my husband and getting some much-needed rest.

3. Consequences/alternatives: What is the likely outcome of my decision to tune in to — or out of — this media option at this time? How is it affecting me?

Although this was certainly a unique, once-in-a-lifetime media event, I surmised that I was unlikely to learn much of great importance from the late-night televised address that I wouldn’t just as quickly learn the next morning (when I’d probably also get more complete, thoughtful reporting, and a more layered sense of background). If I chose to wait and watch, there was also a good chance that I’d be sucked into all kinds of pre- and post-event media chatter that I hadn’t planned on consuming and that really wasn’t terribly relevant to me at this moment. Getting wrapped up in it would not likely provoke me to do anything helpful and would probably leave me feeling overstimulated, distracted and upset.

4. Significance/value: Does this material have real importance, relevance or value to me personally?

Although I certainly considered the information to be significant, I already knew the most essential and relevant piece of it, which was that bin Laden was dead. Part of me was already struggling to digest and make sense of that bit of data. Piling more data on top of it — presumably things like circumstances, nature and timing of the raid — was not likely to help me integrate my thoughts and feelings, only to distract me from them.

Ultimately, based on all these factors and more, I decided that rather than waiting for the streaming video or surfing the Web in search of more info, I was better off observing a moment of silence, taking stock of my own internal reaction to the news I already had, and then getting some sleep so that I could wake up ready to process the next day’s inevitable media onslaught from a more centered place.

If this sounds like an awful lot of thought to put into a single media decision, well, it is. Learning to consume media this way does not necessarily come naturally, particularly in this culture, where media, like food, is everywhere, all the time.

That’s why learning to be conscious of one’s media consumption is a valuable skill, a personal practice that — much like learning how to eat consciously and healthfully — is essential to living well. (It’s also why “Consume Media Wisely” is honored as No. 74 of my 101 Revolutionary Ways to Be Healthy.)

The good news: With time and practice, the process of making conscious decisions about media becomes increasingly quick and instinctive.

Just to clarify, I am not suggesting that the specific reflections and choices I made in this case were the only good or right ones. Nor am I recommending them to everybody in every situation. But I do think we can all benefit from being more discerning about our media intake — particularly if we value our physical, emotional and mental health, to say nothing of our time.

Why? Because as many health-and-happiness experts have pointed out, just like the food we eat, the media we consume have a direct impact on our energy, attitude and well-being. Whether or not we are aware of it, what we watch, read and listen to can profoundly affect the way we think, feel and respond to people and situations in our own lives.

For more on this body of research and the value of rethinking your own media intake, check out the article “Media Diet Makeover“, which originally appeared in Experience Life magazine in 2006.

Meanwhile, if you’ve never embarked on a “media diet” before, it’s the one kind of diet I’d encourage you to think about trying. A period of consciously limiting one’s media intake, or just being especially thoughtful about the TV/video/film, radio/audio, Internet/Web and reading one chooses to partake of can be incredibly insight-provoking.

Be forewarned, though: The choices are not always simple. On the evening in question, there was a part of me that felt disoriented by the news of bin Laden’s death, and I felt what I imagine is a natural urge to re-tether to a common reality by hooking into the mass-media stream.

There was another part of me, though — I think a wiser part — that was urging me to just sit with my own thoughts and feelings and then go to bed as I had planned.

As I noted, I began reconsidering my media habits during the aftermath of 9/11 — a time during which, out of our sense of helplessness, outrage and horror, millions of us were glued continuously to the television for days at a time.

We watched an endless, repeating barrage of appalling images and listening to disjointed, almost content-less reporting — as if somehow, by sheer repetition and our willingness to take it in, we could glean a fuller understanding of what had befallen our country.

We did this, I think, in part out of some sense of civic duty — a well-meaning desire to show solidarity by willingly co-experiencing the disaster and sharing in the collective dismay. But instead, I think a great many of us wound up overwhelmed, freaked out and mired in dramatic details — to the point that we were no good to anyone, including our own families, friends, neighbors and children, much less community causes and charity.

And meanwhile, even as millions of media hours were being compulsively consumed, an alarming percentage of our citizenry somehow missed the news that the 9/11 attacks had nothing at all to do with Iraq or Saddam Hussein. Even a media decade later, a great many of us aren’t much better informed about the political, social and economic issues that gave rise to those tragic events, much less to ongoing wars that have followed.

It’s with all this in mind that, ever since 9/11, I’ve taken the opportunity to put conscious media choices into practice for myself.

I now follow these same general principles not only in times of high-drama news, but whenever I’m presented with media that’s just “there” — streaming from the omnipresent TVs in waiting rooms, diners, bars and airports; flashing across digital billboards; beckoning from magazine racks and newsstands; and blaring from media-equipped fuel pumps, bathroom stalls and taxi cabs.

In all these situations, I make it my goal not to allow random media streams to wash over me, but, rather, to choose — to really decide — what, when and how much I watch, read and listen to, and to remember that my choices have a real influence not just on my knowledge base, but also on my health, happiness and quality of life.

For better or worse, just as the foods we put into our bodies become the raw materials from which our energy is generated and our bodily tissues are repaired, the media we consume become part of the neurological substrate that informs our mindset, moods, belief systems, relationships — our very sense of identity.

A body of emerging neurological, psychological and immunity-focused research suggests that our media intake can powerfully affect both our mental priming (see Barbara L. Fredrickson, Ph.D.’s work on positivity and its response to media intake) and our physical vitality (see David C. McClelland, Ph.D. and Carol Kirshnit, Ph.D.’s work on immune changes in response to watching two different films).

That’s a little scary, because if we gave even a little attention to the quality of television, movies, video, radio, reading, gaming and Internet fodder that we take in on any given day, I suspect a lot of us would find that we are mindlessly munching on the equivalent of junk food, or worse.

So if you haven’t reflected on your media choices lately, I hope you will. And if you’ve already decided to upgrade your media diet, I congratulate you. You’ll be getting a whole body-mind-life upgrade in the bargain.

The Healing Gifts of Sound

(DrFrankLipman – Frank Lipman) Whether we are conscious of it or not, sound surrounds us virtually every moment of the day. There are good sounds – ones that soothe, calm, heal, energize or simply make us smile – and those which have the opposite effect, stressing both body and mind – think sirens, jackhammers, lawnmowers and so on. With its power to create both positive and negative responses throughout the body, it’s important to be conscious of the types of sound we’re exposing ourselves to every day.

As a sustainable wellness practitioner and life-long world music fan, I believe one of the simplest, most important gifts you can give yourself is the gift of music. Why? Because listening to all those “good” sounds enhance and support health. It’s also one of the easiest ways out there to help yourself feel great, which is why I encourage everyone to enjoy multiple doses of musical medicine. Here are a few thoughts on the power of sound to keep in mind as you move – and groove – through your day:

It’s Only Natural – You’ve Been Rocking the Beat Since Before You Were Born

The first sensory organ to develop in the womb is the ear. The first sense to become functional is hearing, beginning at about four and a half months before birth. From that primordial point onward, the inner ear spends its time transforming soundwaves into electrical impulses which go to the brain and stimulate emotional responses. From sounds that soothe and calm to those that agitate and excite, sound, and more specifically music, connects us to our most primal, emotional aspects of ourselves, no language skills required.

Sounds Good to Me, But Hold Off on the Heavy Metal

Carefully selected music and sounds can have powerful therapeutic benefits, lowering heart rate, slowing respiration, decreasing blood pressure, reducing muscle tension and increasing feelings of well-being. In general, classical, new age, instrumentals, nature sounds and music with binaural beats (those frequencies which help calm and balance brain wave activity) tend to deliver the most soothing effects. However, music taste is personal so feel free to develop your own playlist as studies indicate that just about any music that you love will offer benefits. I would however suggest limiting heavy metal or aggressive music to the treadmill, particularly if your larger mission is to heal and calm the body in your off-hours.

Music Moves You From the Inside

In addition to making you want to sway, dance or just tap your feet, there are numerous other ways the body responds to sound – and they’re all good. According to noted musicologist and author Don Campbell, physiological and psychological reactions include: slowed down brain wave activity; increased endorphin levels; better regulation of stress-related hormones; pain control; boosted immunity; improved digestion; altered perception of time and space – and enhanced romance and sexual feelings. Understood in this way, we start to realize the amazing power of sound and music and how easily we can harness it to enhance our health.

Can You Help Me, Dr. Beat?

Certain sounds can help speed entry into different states of consciousness, in part by slowing down brainwave activity, music is a wonderful tool to help make you feel more peaceful, which sets the stage for better and faster healing. In fact, I use music every day to help amplify acupuncture’s effects. After placing the needles, I’ll have patients listen to music in the 60-beats-per-minute range, which is ideal for helping to induce alpha states – the same relaxed state that’s induced by meditation. Among my favorite alpha-inducers, with or without acupuncture treatment, are the albums Reiki Chants, Chakra Chants, The Lost Chord, and De-Stress by musician Jonathan Goldman, who has spent much of his career studying and working with sound as a healing force.

Ears are Great, But Learn to Listen with Your Body

While I am all for listening to your body, I also believe it’s important to listen with your body, with eyes closed, in order to truly tune in to the sounds that help us relax and heal. Without visual stimuli, hearing music becomes more acute, enabling you to take in the full spectrum of sounds and feel the vibrations of the sounds in your body. Listening this way also helps you to be in the moment, to be mindful, to access deeper states of consciousness and expand awareness. Chanting, toning, drumming, Tibetan singing bowls, Chinese meditation gongs and mantras are also equally powerful sound alternatives which anyone can use to calm, soothe and stimulate healing in the body while simultaneously refreshing the mind.

Go With the Flow and Be Here Now

Music is so much more than just entertainment – it is an ancient and sacred form of medicine with wonderful side-effects, head-to-toe, body and soul. With its power to uplift, inspire, energize and heal, music and sound enables us to reconnect with and release our most primal emotions, enabling us to feel what at times can be difficult to express. I have found it helps to release, let go and reconnect to deeper levels of our being, our deepest feelings and even our “souls.” Sound bypasses the thinking mind, the rational mind, and is able to touch us at a core level. Music is a universal language, and that’s probably why I love world music so much. It’s not necessary to understand the words, only to feel the rhythm. As Bob Marley said, “the thing about music is that when it hits, you feel no pain.”

Exposure to Common Fungicide causes Neurological Problems Across Four Generations

(NaturalNews – L.J. Devon) To better understand mental disorders and neurological problems, scientists are beginning to take a closer look at the study of epigenetics and the endocrine-disrupting chemicals affecting DNA. This kind of study goes beyond just the study of genetics, which looks solely at changes in DNA sequence between generations. Epigenetics investigates the changes in gene expression caused by chemical reactions where certain base pairs in DNA or RNA are “turned off” or “turned on” again. For example, epigenetics looks into the process by which a cell uses genetic code to assemble beneficial proteins. In this field of study, there is a keen eye placed on the environmental reasons why gene expressions change, why DNA can be chemically silenced. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals, so prevalent today in consumer and agricultural products, can affect how cells function in the body. By altering hormone levels, these chemicals may change the way a person reacts to stress or anxiety.

Fungicide exposure increases anxiety throughout four generations as gene expression changes

New research from the University of Texas at Austin (UT) and Washington State University shows how a common fungicide used on fruits and vegetables, vinclozolin, disrupts healthy endocrine system function throughout four generations. In the study, provoked female rats experienced increased stress hormones, anxiety and neurological problems, because their great grandparent’s were exposed to the fungicide vinclozolin. Fourth-generation rats became more anxious under stress simply because their great grandparents were exposed to the fungicide. The study showed how the fungicide caused changes in gene expression — not changes in genetic sequence — all the way into the fourth generation.

“These results should concern us all because we have been exposed to endocrine disrupting chemicals for decades and we all go through natural challenges in life,” said David Crews, Professor of Zoology and Psychology at UT. “Those challenges are now being perceived differently because of this ancestral exposure to environmental contamination.”

It was the combination of stress during the animal’s adolescence and their ancestral exposure to the fungicide that caused hormonal imbalances and changes in behavior. The female rats showed dramatically higher levels of stress hormone corticosterone, and increased anxiety and nervous behaviors. Interestingly, the effect was only measured in the brains of female rats. The changes in stress hormones are also associated with brain degeneration for both learning and memory into old age.

The effect was witnessed when researchers confined adolescent rats to soft, warm cylinders for six hour a day for three weeks. When the female rat’s brain function, behavior and gene expression were measured in adulthood, the researchers could see how gene expression had changed. The fungicide played a huge role in causing neurological problems throughout four generations!

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals play a huge role in modern day anxiety

In the 21st century, there are more comforts than there were generations ago, yet the emerging population seems to be more discontent than ever before — more stressed, more people taking anxiety pills and more people taking psychoactive medication for depression. Could it be that the rise of neurological dysfunction and depression in the 21st century is due to changes in gene expression caused by endocrine-disrupting chemicals like fungicides?

Why has depression and anxiety increased in an era of comforts? Why were the men and women of generations ago roughing it but were not labeled clinically depressed or anxious? Is modern day anxiety caused by the bombardment of endocrine-disrupting chemicals? 

Sources for this article include:
http://cns.utexas.edu
http://science.naturalnews.com