My self challenge to write a daily post during Lent (or, almost daily post, with that one miss!) has revealed to me that many people suffer from chronic illnesses. I get a lot of private replies from people who can relate to some of my symptoms, and who share their own stories with me. I believe what many people say, that our environment is no longer “health friendly.” We have pollution from so many sources, the worst coming from car vehicle exhaust and factory exhaust, but we also bring chemicals into our homes by way of “standard” cleaning chemicals (bleach being one of the worst) and also with items that are often sold as healthy options, such as essential oils, and even some “healthy foods.” I have been hypersensitive to noxious smells for many years. And for all of you perfume/cologne wearing people. PLEASE cut back on the scents! Perfumes are one of my worst triggers. Perfume is supposed to be used very sparingly, for snuggling close to your sweetheart, not dumped over your body so the entire concert hall can smell you! I also get overwhelmed in my car, with the exhaust from other cars coming into the car. I try to keep the outside air vent closed, but that fogs up the windows in the winter, so it can be a tricky balance. And, I get REALLY bothered by incense during Mass. People will try to explain the beauty and symbolism of incense. Yeah, I get it. It’s not a decision I make to dislike incense. It’s my autoimmune overreaction saying, “DANGER! Get the heck out of here or you’re going to die!” I have no control over my body’s reaction to such triggers. I was wearing masks years before Covid made them standard equipment, except mine was a respirator mask with a charcoal filter.
And now, with marijuana being legal in our state, we also get that smell EVERYWHERE! In, our car, at the zoo, shopping in stores…, from the open windows of our next-door neighbor’s house…that is a seriously rank and noxious odor, and there’s no way to avoid it! And people are obviously driving under the influence of drugs. How can this even be happening?!
Many of the “newer” health gurus are saying, if you can smell any kind of fragrance or annoying smell from a product, it needs to be removed from your house. I’ll admit, I have a hard time throwing out things that I’ve stocked up on, just because of a mild, lemony smell. But if I was serious about it, I would have to admit that essential oil additives often seem too strong for me. I never use essential oils anymore. However, extreme frugality sometimes wins out over potential health concerns, if the smells don’t annoy me.
According to my biological dentist, I was one of a very small number of his patients who actually noticed actual improvement in my health after having all of my silver mercury fillings removed. My mouth was filled with silver mercury! I started out having just a few removed, with the idea to spread it out over a few years, because the biological dentist I was seeing had recommended several crowns, which are VERY expensive. I had a few of the fillings removed and one crown, and had to stop. A few years later, I called for another appointment, because I noticed that my sensitivity to smells had been noticeably mitigated. At that point, the dentist decided to help me. When I met with him again, he said that he had reviewed my records, and decided that he was willing to do standard fillings on all remaining teeth with silver fillings. Those regular fillings might not last as long as crowns, but it was a way he could get the rest of my fillings out at a significantly decreased cost for me (who has no dental insurance.) I honestly think that he was just happy to have a patient who had actually experienced an improvement in health with the silver removal. He told me that most people actually notice no physical difference after the removal. So, I got a HUGE discount on the removal and fillings (done with the proper and safe techniques for such a procedure, involving “hazardous waste”) That should open your eyes to the real danger of silver-mercury fillings! and now my mouth is silver-free! And, that dentist is now retired, so I feel blessed to have that situation all taken care of)
In addition to all of the noxious poisons in the air, in our cleaning products, in home improvement paints shellacs and other “finishes,” it’s also in our foods (if we don’t pay extra for organics, or grow our own food/raise our own chickens.)
It seems to me that we’re all in a heap of trouble. I have so many friends suffering from serious/chronic illnesses, and everywhere we go, we encounter people suffering from obesity.
Many years ago, when I first began my dallying in a healthier diet, I read a book called “ Wheat Belly.” It was eye-opening. The main thing I remember from that book (other than the fact that modern wheat is increasing the rate of obesity,) is the explanation of how modern farmers harvest the wheat. According to that book, when the wheat is just about ready for harvesting, it is thoroughly SOAKED in glyphosate, that megalith Monsanto herbicide product, that has been banned for use in all of Europe! Spraying the wheat with an herbicide puts the wheat plants into stress, which causes the plants to produce more seed. In other words, it’s done to increase production. And then that wheat is used to produce our breads, pastas, and any other products using wheat. Then our bodies look for places to store those toxins, and actually produce more fat cells for that purpose! You can see the “poison bloat” in people’s faces! Yeah, thank you so much, Monsanto, for setting up the public for major health issues with your poison, known as Roundup, used by all big farms in the United States. Many lawsuits have been brought against them, but big companies rarely fall to their knees with such claims, because big companies have big influence in our government, and also big cash reserves. Only a grassroots groundswell of informed shoppers boycotting their products, and also boycotting non-organic wheat products, will wake them up (and encourage more farmers to use safer means of farming). I think it’s WAY past time to make that happen here in the U.S! I hope that have had enough, and will choose only organic wheat products from now on.
grandma's coffee soup 