Most people believe that all these ‘modern’ conditions and illnesses such as ADD, Autism, Diabetes, etc ‘were always there but we only now have the technology to detect it’ …but I believe they were not ‘always there’ but are in FACT man created modern conditions that stem from unhealthy diets, damaged DNA from mothers who used alcohol and drugs while pregnant, and substance addict fathers with damaged spermatozoa, and environment and diet polluted bodies from pesticides and other toxins in the air, food, and water of almost everyone who lives an urban life, and the side-effects of an increasing vaccine list at ever younger ages - with side effects derived thereof.
Why am I so sure? Because I can guarantee you that I have visited more indigenous peoples in this entire Hemisphere who are still traditional living and eating than ANY other Barbadian alive or dead, and I always look for people with these modern conditions (for over 29 years now) and I have never found a single one, every case I know of exists ONLY in people indigenous and non-indigenous - who routinely consume non-traditional food and drinks. who are still traditional living and eating than ANY other Barbadian alive or dead, and I always look for people with these modern conditions (for over 29 years now) and I have never found a single one, every case I know of exists ONLY in people indigenous and non-indigenous - who routinely consume non-traditional food and drinks.
For anyone who wants to challenge my contentions, whether you are a medical degree holder from God itself or not, I need only refer you to the report I submitted to the Organization of American States/OAS (during the 16 years I was a member of their Indigenous Peoples Working Group - on the Draft American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples) on this very topic, which cites similar observations made by a host of other medical professionals studying indigenous communities in the Pacific islands, although none of them have 29 years of personal observations or visits to the number of indigenous communities in multiple countries as I do. Here is my report below:
THE PERILS OF A NON-INDIGENOUS DIET TO INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN THE 21st CENTURY
Prepared by Damon Corrie for the Organization of American States and sent on Wednesday, July 6th 2011
Friends, I am no expert, but as leader of a Pan-Tribal Confederacy of several Indigenous Tribal Nations, I have made some disturbing observations in my indigenous member communities - in Guyana especially; over the past 18 years.
Take Pakuri Arawak Territory, for example, a 240 square mile indigenous community of almost 2,000 people, only 1% (20 persons) of whom are not native to the community and of a different race altogether (Indo-Aryan, African & European); so my focus has been on my native indigenous kinsmen.
In 1992 no automobile existed on Pakuri Territory, vehicles came into the community by hire rental to bring residents with goods from urban towns into Pakuri territory; and this was then a weekly event on average.
The British troops stationed in Guyana during WWII were the first people to bulldoze a rough track from the nearest asphalt paved highway 14 miles away - into this community. This sand track was drive-able, only by 4x4 vehicles and trucks used by the troops. It was from this time that a non-indigenous diet began to replace the indigenous cassava-based one, albeit slowly at first.
However, by 1992 processed tinned types of meat such as sardines, mackerel, and corned beef - were readily available in every village shop but traditional wild meat protein sources were still commonplace (freshwater fish, birds, mammals, reptiles); so the main foreign food source I am concerned with has been Rice and Wheat flour - which by then had already replaced cassava as the staple diet. Note too that typical junk foods are ALSO now widely available in the community such as carbonated beverages, artificial packaged snacks, sweets, etc. All additional known contributors to ill-health and diseases such as Diabetes - though the principal items consumed daily by everyone on Pakuri today are rice and wheat flour.
Rice contains chitin-binding lectins (similar to wheat lectins WGA whose many health risks are explained below); chitins are long polymers of n-acetyl-glucosamine, the primary binding target of wheat lectin.
Even a modest reduction in the consumption of the types of carbohydrate-rich foods may promote a loss of deep belly fat. This could help reduce the risk of developing type II diabetes, stroke and coronary artery disease, as excess visceral fat (intra-abdominal fat) raises the risk of these diseases.
Whereas when I first visited the community in 1992 no resident had Diabetes type I or II, now several indigenous members of the tribal community are Diabetics - and what ALL the Diabetics of Pakuri have in common is that they ALL have a staple diet of Rice and wheat flour.
It is not to the un-manageable crisis proportions as yet - but if this non-indigenous diet is allowed to continue as the 'modern replacement' of the traditional indigenous cassava-based diet, it will only be a matter of time before Diabetes reaches the kind of crisis proportion afflicting the indigenous population of Pakuri as it now has in the urban non-indigenous old-world immigrant population of the Caribbean island of Barbados with its ultra Americanised diet.
Another aspect I have become convinced about is the psychological effects in the negative that is being linked to this type of diet, for example, serious violent crime was unheard of on Pakuri Arawak Territory prior to 1992, even though alcohol use was always in existence (cassava alcohol is traditional and so commercial alcohol did not have the devastating impact as it had on North American indigenous groups who traditionally had to exposure to alcohol whatsoever) since 1992 a slow but steady increase in violent crime has been noted among tribal members, the most savage of which was beheading and dismemberment of one tribal member by another in a dispute over a woman.
Never in recorded history or oral history has any such act of serious violence ever occurred by any tribal member of the Pakuri community. Only in the inter-tribal wars of ancient times did serious physical violence occurs.
See the info I have gathered from internet sources below - which includes tests done on indigenous communities in the Pacific where mental ill-health was recorded to increase to European society levels 70 times greater than had existed in the same communities when they ate a traditional diet free of chitin-binding lectins! Surely this should give us a reason to examine these issues more clearly at this time.
In our tribe, we traditionalists believe that everything has power and that there are foods that are part of our identity biologically & culturally, and foods that are part of someone else's biological & cultural identity - and our bodies and minds become polluted when we consume the diet of someone else...science is proving that our ancestor's wisdom was worthy of our respect.
Yours sincerely,
Damon Gerard Corrie
President
Pan-Tribal Confederacy of Indigenous Tribal Nations (which has now become the Indigenous Democracy Defence Organization/IDDO. Look it up on FaceBook).
RELEVANT INFORMATION GATHERED FROM INTERNET SOURCES:
Many of you may be familiar with Celiac disease (CD), a gastrointestinal disorder characterized by intolerance to wheat gluten. According to statistics from the University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center, an average of one out of every 133 otherwise healthy people in the United States suffers from CD. However, an estimated 20-30 percent of the world's population may carry the genetic susceptibility to celiac disease—and the way to avoid turning these genes 'on' is by avoiding gluten.
When you consider that undiagnosed CD is associated with a nearly four-fold increased risk of premature death, the seriousness of this food sensitivity becomes q
uite evident. The primary disease mechanism at play is chronic inflammation, and chronic inflammatory and degenerative conditions are endemic to grain-consuming populations.
However, other rampant health afflictions include depression, ADD/ADHD, and Alzheimer's disease, just to name a few. As it turns out, excessive wheat consumption may play a significant role here as well. In fact, there's evidence suggesting that gluten sensitivity may be at the root of many neurological and psychiatric conditions.
Wheat contains high amounts of wheat germ agglutinin (WGA); a glycoprotein classified as a lectin, which is largely responsible for many of wheat's ill effects. Other grains high in lectins include rice, spelt, and rye.
Interestingly enough, the highest amounts of WGA are found in whole wheat, including its sprouted form, which is touted as being the most healthful form of all... Aside from high amounts of WGA, wheat also contains a number of other potentially health-harming components, including:
Gliadin (an alcohol soluble protein component)
Gliadomorpin (exorphins, or group of opioid peptides that form during digestion of the gluten protein)
Enzyme inhibitors
The traditional ways of addressing many of these anti-nutrients are by sprouting, fermenting, and cooking. However, lectins are designed to withstand degradation through a wide range of pH and temperatures. WGA lectin is particularly tough because it's actually formed by the same disulfide bonds that give strength and resilience to vulcanized rubber and human hair.
Furthermore, because lectins are so small, and hard to digest, they tend to bioaccumulate in your body, where they can interfere with biological processes. WGA is particularly troublesome in this regard. Studies indicate it has a number of health-harming characteristics and activities:
Pro-inflammatory--WGA stimulates the synthesis of pro-inflammatory chemical messengers (cytokines) in intestinal and immune cells, and has been shown to play a causative role in chronic thin gut inflammation. Immunotoxicity--WGA induces thymus atrophy in rats, and anti-WGA antibodies in human blood have been shown to cross-react with other proteins, indicating that they may contribute to autoimmunity. In fact, WGA appears to play a role in celiac disease (CD) that is entirely distinct from that of gluten, due to significantly higher levels of IgG and IgA antibodies against WGA found in patients with CD, when compared with patients with other intestinal disorders. Neurotoxicity-- WGA can cross your blood-brain barrier through a process called "adsorptive endocytosis," pulling other substances with it. WGA may attach to your myelin sheath and is capable of inhibiting nerve growth factors, which is important for the growth, maintenance, and survival of certain target neurons. Excitotoxicity-- Wheat, dairy, and soy contain exceptionally high levels of glutamic and aspartic acid, which makes them all potentially excitotoxic. Excitotoxicity is a pathological process where glutamic and aspartic acid causes an over-activation of your nerve cell receptors, which can lead to calcium-induced nerve and brain injury. These two amino acids may contribute to neurodegenerative conditions such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's, Huntington's disease, and other nervous system disorders such as epilepsy, ADD/ADHD, and migraines. Cytotoxicity—WGA has been demonstrated to be cytotoxic to both normal and cancerous cell lines, capable of inducing either cell cycle arrest or programmed cell death (apoptosis). Disrupts Endocrine Function—WGA may contribute to weight gain, insulin resistance, and leptin resistance by blocking the leptin receptor in your hypothalamus. It also binds to both benign and malignant thyroid nodules and interferes with the production of secretin from your pancreas, which can lead to digestive problems and pancreatic hypertrophy. Cardiotoxicity—WGA has a potent, disruptive effect on platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule 1, which plays a key role in tissue regeneration and safely removes neutrophils from your blood vessels. Adversely effects gastrointestinal function by causing increased shedding of the intestinal brush border membrane, reducing the surface area, and accelerating cell loss and shortening of villi. It also causes cytoskeleton degradation in intestinal cells, contributing to cell death and increased turnover, and decreases levels of heat shock proteins in gut epithelial cells, leaving them more vulnerable to damage.
Most people fail to realize that your gut is quite literally your second brain, and actually has the ability to significantly influence your:
Mind
Mood
Behavior
As you can see from the listing of toxic influences above, wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) can damage both your gut and your brain in various ways. But the damage to your gut can also, by virtue of the gut-brain connection, alter your mind, mood, and behavior all by itself... Anxiety and depression are actually part of the signs and symptoms of celiac disease, for example.
The gut-brain connection is well-recognized as a basic tenet of physiology and medicine, so this isn't all that surprising, even though it's often overlooked. There's also a wealth of evidence showing gastrointestinal involvement in a variety of neurological diseases. With this in mind, it should also be crystal clear that nourishing your gut flora is extremely important, from cradle to grave, because in a very real sense you have two brains, one inside your skull and one in your gut, and each needs its own vital nourishment.
Your gut and your brain are actually created out of the same type of tissue. During fetal development, one part turns into your central nervous system while the other develops into your enteric nervous system. These two systems are connected via the vagus nerve, the tenth cranial nerve that runs from your brain stem down to your abdomen. This is what connects your two brains together, and explains such phenomena as getting butterflies in your stomach when you're nervous, for example.
Your gut and brain work in tandem, each influencing the other. This is why your intestinal health can have such a profound influence on your mental health, and vice versa. As a result, it should be obvious that your diet is closely linked to your mental health. Furthermore, it requires almost no stretch of the imagination to see how improper nutrition can have an adverse effect on your mood and subsequently your behavior.
As for the impact of wheat and other grains on your mood and mental health, a number of studies indicate that wheat can have a detrimental effect, promoting depression and even more serious mental health problems such as schizophrenia. One recent study, published in the Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology last year, found that even those who do not present symptoms of celiac disease may have antigliadin antibodies, which was found to increase the risk of depression in elderly individuals.
Increased immune sensitivity to gluten has also been reported in schizophrenic patients, and the connection between gluten intolerance and schizophrenia has been established for over 20 years!
According to a 1984 study:
"If, as hypothesized, neuroactive peptides from grain glutens are the major agents evoking schizophrenia in those with the genotype(s), it should be rare if the grain is rare. To test this, we analyzed the results of our clinical examinations (e.g., kuru) and observations of anthropologists on people consuming little or no grain.
Only two overtly insane chronic schizophrenics were found among over 65,000 examined or closely observed adults in remote regions of Papua New Guinea and Malaita, Solomon Islands, and on Yap, Micronesia. In preneuroleptic Europe over 130 would have been expected.
When these peoples became partially westernized and consumed wheat, barley beer, and rice, the prevalence reached European levels. Our findings agree with previous epidemiologic and experimental results indicating that grain glutens are harmful to schizophrenics."
Another more recent study found that:
"Individuals with recent-onset psychosis and with multi-episode schizophrenia who have increased antibodies to gliadin may share some immunologic features of celiac disease, but their immune response to gliadin differs from that of celiac disease."
One mechanism that can help explain the mysterious connection between wheat and mental health problems is the fact that wheat inhibits the production of serotonin.
Neurotransmitters like serotonin can be found not just in your brain, but also in your gut. In fact, the greatest concentration of serotonin, which is involved in mood control, depression, and aggression, is found in your intestines, not your brain!
Therefore, it actually makes perfect sense to nourish your gut flora with probiotic foods and supplements to maintain optimal serotonin function, as it can have a profound impact on your mood, psychological health, and behavior. This conclusion is supported by a recent animal study, which found that the absence or presence of beneficial gut microorganisms during infancy permanently alters gene expression—specifically genes and signaling pathways involved in learning, memory, and motor control.
This suggests that gut bacteria is closely tied to early brain development and subsequent behavior!
These behavioral changes could be reversed as long as the mice were exposed to normal microorganisms early in life. But once the germ-free mice had reached adulthood, colonizing them with beneficial bacteria did not influence their behavior. According to Dr. Rochellys Diaz Heijtz, lead author of that study:
"The data suggests that there is a critical period early in life when gut microorganisms affect the brain and change the behavior in later life."
The implications could be profound when you consider how many processed wheat products are consumed today, and from a very early age... Not only may our addiction to grains be fueling gastrointestinal diseases like celiac disease, along with wheat allergies, obesity, and diabetes; it may also contribute to deteriorating mental health, as well as neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's.
It's definitely worth considering... especially if you're currently suffering from depression or any other psychiatric ailments.
Aside from that, ALL types of grains clearly contribute to insulin and leptin resistance, which are the primary underlying causes for most, if not all, chronic diseases—from diabetes to cancer. That alone is reason enough to restrict your intake of grains. But wheat may be of particular concern, for all the reasons discussed above.
Fittingly, the photo below is of my wife and her next youngest sister Juanita, in the dug-out canoe of their father, as they set out to fish in the Mahoka/'Mahaica' river on their 240 square miles semi-autonomous Lokono-Arawak tribal territory in Guyana, North East Amazonia, South America. This is a river that begins as a natural underground spring about 30 miles south of this location, and the fish are healthy to eat as there are no chemical pollutants coming from the source, and no mining activity being conducted in this river, we all drink water straight out of the river - and we never get sick.
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