Why it may be a good idea to eat organic foods especially with a recovering brain
 

Over the past month or so I have taken a keen interest in looking into the role nutrition has in recovering from the issues we suffer as a result of a concussion. Through that research I have fond many people who have suffered brain injuries and had remarkable results from focusing on their nutrition. Each individual is different genetically and biochemically so it would be foolish of me to recommend any one kind of diet as being the end all be all best of the best.

One thing that I did find that is recommendable to everyone no matter the individual is eating organic foods, more specifically fruits and vegetables. There have been many studies looking into the amount of residual pesticides found on conventionally grown fruits and vegetables and there affects on human health. Supposed experts say that the amount found on these foods is able to be processed and eliminated by the liver. What they are not accounting for is the vast amount of these chemicals we are intaking every single day. When these chemicals get tested to be qualified to be used they are tested individualy. We do not account for how the liver will be able to process having 10s or 100s of these different chemicals every day.

For us that have brain injuries it is especially important to not be intaking these. many of these chemicals are neurotoxic which means that they essentially destroy brain cells. I dont know about you but i would prefer to not have anything that can cause harm to my already fragile brain inside my body.

For example. Strawberries are a commonly eaten fruit. When conventionally grown they are known to contain 45 different pesticides. 6 are known carcinogens, 16 are hormone disruptors, 7 are Neurotoxins, 6 are developmental or reproductive toxins, and 6 are bee toxins. They are found in varying rates with the highest frequency of one pesticide being found on 55 percent of the strawberries.

I would link sources but im to new to the site to be allowed to do that i think. Also im by no means an expert on this topic. I simply think that it is something that should be thought about, especially when trying to heal the brain.

Strawberries are one of the dirty dozen. The organic strawberries still have many of these residues because they start with non-organic strawberry starts. Moderating consumption works for me. A strong blood brain barrier helps protect our brain from toxins. Good brain focused supplementation helps keep the BBB strong.

Here's a good article with a list of good to bad produce.
http://www.drgourmet.com/askdrgourme...l#.VaaX9LWo1lg

It says how to wash produce to greatly reduce the toxin levels.

btw, Sucralose was discovered while trying to develop a pesticide. Chlorine is often used in pesticides. They swapped 3 chlorine atoms into sugar in hopes of making a pesticide that attracted the insects with sweetness. It is 320 to 1000 times sweeter than sucrose. And, it has those 3 organic chlorine atoms.

Although they can identify the toxins as they are excreted in urine, there is no definitive understanding about what those toxins do when ingested. Some are more sensitive to these things that others.

Thanks for the response, mark.

Can you further explain what you meant when you said that organic strawberries still contain high levels of these pesticides? Does that go for all organic fruits and vegetables or only strawberries? I have been eating large quantities of organic fruits and veggies so I want to be cautious if this is the case.

I have done research on the comparison between conventional and organic with regard to residue levels and almost all of them show close to 0 percent of all kinds of pesticides for organic. The highest value i have seen which is rare is like 1-2 percent.

Organic strawberries are grown from non-organic starts because there is no volume source of organic starts. This allows them to be labeled as organic but some residues still exist.

I'm not discounting organic. For many, organic is a budget buster. The research into the health values of organic is still weak. Just because they can measure the toxins being expelled does not mean those toxins are impacting health.

This is from a crop duster so take it for what it is worth...I won't touch organic cuz of the thousands of pounds an acre of manure used for fertilizer on some stuff. My planes stink like s... For days afterwards and I can't stand asking my employees to work in it even though I give them a bonus for doing such.

Sorry, just couldn't help myself.

Bud

I could not fail to disagree with you less.
 

Thanks for this topic. i found after my last shock that 'being aware' and really paying attention to the messages of my body, i learned that its NEED to have a better diet and more careful attention to the ruinous poisons and environmental hazards was important to eliminate.
I found berries to be very helpful if i use just the better ones, upping my protein intake and many other focuses in my diet have made the difference between being able to hold a job, and not.

Thanks
Littlebear41

While a healthy diet is important, whether it derives from organic or conventionally grown production practices is irrelevant, in my opinion. There are no nutritional differences between conventional and organically grown produce, though the unit size of conventional produce tends to be larger. Claiming an organic diet is superior is not true, and only propagates misinformation about organically sold produce. In fact, from a food safety perspective, organically produced produce has higher theoretical risk due to the use of manure. Also, pesticides can and are found with both production practices, though the public wrongly assumes conventional has more and organic is bereft of them. There's a lot of public misinformation around organically grown produce.

In the end, eat a healthy diet of your choice... that's the key point; conventional or organic is personal preference, nothing more.

Littlebear, are you taking any vitamins or other supplements ? It is very difficult to get the levels of some nutrients that the injured brain needs from food.

What vitamins specifically would you recommend? I take vitamin b12, vitamin b50 complex, and vitamin d.

Those are the basics for a good start. There is a Vitamins sticky at the top that list the whole suggested regimen.

Any manure applied to organic fields is heated at high temperatures for several days (composted) to eliminate pathogens before applying it to the fields. It is also usually worked into the soil and/or applied over winter time and allowed to break down even more. If a farmer is not doing this, he is not following the organic standards and is breaking the law if he is under an organic certification program.

Anyways, I think the point of the topic was that it is good to reduce exposure to toxins to protect the brain while healing. That is something I would agree with. Bud, I support all kinds of agriculture, but do you worry about exposure to potentially harmful chemicals in your line of work? I'm sure you have high safety protocols. I hope you have them for your workers too.

I live in the middle of an ag community just like Bud. We have dairy, beef and crops so lots of manure to spread around. I'm sure he wears the bunny suit and NIOSH mask filters when handling hazardous materials. We get that sweet smell of freshly fertilized fields quite often during the spring. We also have plenty of crop dusting going on.

From what I've read, manure is normally composted at 50 to 60 degrees C or 122 to 140 degrees F. 60 C or 140 F is the goal. The heat is generated by the decomposition. The composted is not externally heated. E-Coli needs 160 F or 70 C to be properly killed.

Everything has a trade-off. They are areal spraying to kill mosquitoes due to West Nile virus in the area. The benefits out weight the risks.

The human body is an amazing thing in how it can clear itself of toxins. The heavy metals and a few other toxins are greatest risk. Aluminum is the most abundant element in the soil and is neurotoxic. We spray it under our arms and ingest it for acid reflux.

So, my belief is to take reasonable precautions and go on living life. How one defines reasonable often relates to the anxiety level in their life. Anxiety is a killer, too.

What actually happens to the blood brain barrier after concussion? It seems like it gets temporarily disturbed or altered.

Some believe the blood brain barrier weakens with injury so supplementation is worthwhile to help strengthen it. B-12 and folic acid are the two most important supplements to strengthen it.

RRC,

Yes we take above the legal minimum precautions and Chemicals are so much safer these days.

My dad was a young pilot during some of the worst of the chemicals with very little safety protocol and he like his peers that have not died in wrecks are still alive and healthy at older ages.

We'll know exactly what becomes of it in a few hundred years probably. The earth can reveal its results at a rather slow pace sometimes.

Mark, my brother works in your area out of Caldwell but they go all over the place.

Bud