Just Try to Digest This....
by Steven H. Horne, Herbalist AHG
Taken from: Nature's Field, Vol.17 No.3, May/Jun 2001

Irradiation

One of the most frightening developments in food processing is food irradiation.  In an effort to find a use for nuclear waste, it is now being proposed that our foods be exposed to nuclear radiation to kill bacteria and insect pests.  Bombarding food with radiation doesn't make the food radioactive, but it does change the molecular structure of the food.  We have no idea what the long-term consequences of this practice will be, but there is research out there suggesting it causes abnormal changes in the blood.

As this issue was getting ready for publication, President Bush has introduced a bill in Congress that would require all meat served in school lunch programs to be irradiated, supposedly to protect our children.  Other people are suggesting we should pass legislation that would require foods (including herbs) that were imported into this country to be irradiated.  Ouch.  We need to keep our eyes open and be ready to oppose any such legislation or we will lose many of our healthy herbs from other parts of the world.  We all need to be alert and oppose these measures.  Write your congressmen!

Microwave Ovens

Of course, America has already nearly universally adopted a "gentler" form of food irradiation.  It's called microwaving.  Microwaves also bombard food with a type of radiation that causes molecular changes to the food.  There is definite taste difference in micro waved food.

After hearing a report that seeds would not sprout in microwave water, my partners Carl and Joan Robinson did some experiments.  Here is a report of their findings.

...over a period of three weeks (we) did an extensive series of experiments with tap water that was
microwave, microwave water taken from the purifier/filter, plain water from the tap that was not
microwave, and plain water from the purifier/filter that also was not microwave.  Our suspicions were
confirmed.  Sorry to say, that even water that had been super heated in the microwave oven was
able to grow sprouts.  So the claim that microwave water will not grow sprouts does not hold up.

But here's the neat stuff about our experiment.

Though the microwave water did grow sprouts, there was approximately a 30% failure rate in the
sprouting of the seeds compared to a normal 10-15% failure rate for the non-microwave water.  On
the surface this may not seem like a big deal, but, THAT'S A 100% DIFFERENCE!   I'd say that's
substantial.  Even though the claim that 'no' sprouting occurs with microwave water is not true,
the fact that 100% less seeds sprouted with microwave water than with non-microwave water
alone has convinced us (and should anyone else giving it a try).

But it doesn't stop there.  Seeds sprouted with non-microwave water had quicker and more
vibrant growth of those little wee hairy taproots growing off the main sprout root than those done
with microwave water.  We also noted that it took one to two days longer for the seeds to
completely sprout with microwave water and that mold spores took hold quicker than on the seeds
sprouted with non-microwave water.  Oh yes, another observation as well.  We did notice that the
non-microwave water sprouting resulted in sprouts that stayed fresher a couple of days longer
than those done with microwave water.

Finally, even though this point is purely subjective, we felt that the taste, texture and overall quality
of the sprouts done with non-microwave water was substantially better, on all counts, than those
sprouts done with microwave water.  This all means that our household has been added to those
who have nixed the microwave oven from their kitchen (and anywhere else for that matter).

If this is happening with just water, what are we doing to ourselves by cooking our food in microwave ovens?  We highly recommend you get rid of your microwave oven.

Frankenfoods

Finally, we have the problem of GMO's, genetically-manufactured organisms.  Genetically-altered foods are being dubbed GM foods, but we like to refer to them as frankenfoods.  What the *@$&# are we doing tampering with the very genetic make-up of our foods?  What new health disasters are we going to bring on ourselves with this latest invention?  Who knows?  The Europeans, however, are playing it smart.  They're banning the import of GM foods and letting us be the guinea pigs on this latest scientific experiment on human beings.  The big corporations that are behind this movement are now putting massive money into TV campaigns to sell Americans on the safety of their genetically-altered creations.  Again, we are going to have to be politically alert and vigilant to prevent the spread of this practice.

The best way to halt these practices, however, is to vote against them with our dollars.  Corporations exist for only one purpose, to turn a profit.  As more and more of us insist on natural, organically-grown foods, we will be sending the clear message - stop tampering with our food!