Toxins In Our Foods That Harm Us: The Mercereau Report #6

This is the sixth in a series of blogs written by Karen Mercereau, RN, iRNPA.The goal of the Mercereau Report is to communicate information that is pertinent to our expanding practices. This edition of the Mercereau Report is a selection of information about the importance of medication safety.

The Environmental Working Group is doing such excellent work informing us of dangerous chemicals in our water and food. Now it’s something called chlormequat in oats! See what you think……...

Chlormequat exposure in animal studies has caused a host of reproductive and other health problems, suggesting the potential for harm to human health. Unless and until federal regulators act to get chlormequat out of our food, buying organic can help reduce your potential exposure to the chemical with its attendant health risks

One more toxin is in many cereals as well: glyphosate, otherwise known as RoundUp. Rese arch (ongoing) demonstrates the active potential for increasing cancer risk by consuming foods with glyphosate. The EPA’s legal limit for glyphosate on oats, 30 parts per million, was set in 2008,

Chemicals Linked to Cancer Should Not Be In Your Food, Especially In Children’s Food.

How many bowls of cereal and oatmeal have American kids eaten that came with a dose of weed killer? That’s a question only General Mills, PepsiCo and other food companies can answer,” said EWG President Ken Cook. “But if those companies would just switch to oats that aren’t sprayed with glyphosate, parents wouldn’t have to wonder if their kids’ breakfasts contained a chemical linked to cancer. Glyphosate and other cancer-causing chemicals simply don’t belong in children’s food, period.”

Below is a list of oat-based breakfast cereals that contain glyphosate residues:

Source: EWG Report

Granola Quaker Simply Granola Oats, Honey & AlmondsInstant oats Quaker Instant Oatmeal Cinnamon & Spice

Instant oats Quaker Instant Oatmeal Apples & Cinnamon

Instant oats Quaker Real Medleys Super Grains Banana Walnut

Overnight oats Quaker Overnight Oats Raisin Walnut & Honey Heaven

Overnight oats Quaker Overnight Oats Unsweetened with Chia Seeds

Oat breakfast cereal Quaker Oatmeal Squares Brown Sugar

Oat breakfast cereal Quaker Oatmeal Squares Honey Nut

Oat breakfast cereal Apple Cinnamon Cheerios

Oat breakfast cereal Very Berry Cheerios

Oat breakfast cereal Chocolate Cheerios

Oat breakfast cereal Frosted Cheerios

Oat breakfast cereal Fruity Cheerios

Oat breakfast cereal Honey Nut Cheerios

You may have been hearing about a toxin called PFAS whi ch is classified as a forever chemical. That means that once it is in our bodies, it stays there forever. Why is this a problem?

The studies at the CDC indicate:

At this time, scientists are still learning about the health effects of exposures to mixtures of different PFAS.

One way to learn about whether PFAS will harm people is to do studies on lab animals.

• Most animal studies have tested doses of PFAS that are higher than the doses people experience from environmental exposure.
• These animal studies have found that PFAS can cause damage to the liver and the immune system.
• PFAS have also caused low birth weight, birth defects, delayed development, and newborn deaths in lab animals.

Humans and animals react differently to PFAS, and not all effects observed in animals may occur in humans. Scientists have ways to estimate how the exposure and effects in animals compare to what they would be in humans.

Additional research may change our understanding of the relationship between exposure to PFAS and human health effects.

You can learn more in the following articles.

The second one – from the Environmental Working Group — explains that fresh water fish are heavily laced with PFAS.

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=PFAS+HEALTH+RISKS&atb=v239-5__&ia=web

h ttps://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news-release/2023/01/ewg-study-eating-one-freshwater-fish-equals-month-drinking

Potential For Brain Damage:

There have been many research programs that clearly demonstrate the potential for brain damage with sports that involve hitting one’s head such as football and soccer. What damage can this cause especially to the developing brain? Well, here is some information for you to consider:

Three or more concussions add up to long-term cognitive problems, study suggests.

Inflammatory Changes and a Newly Recognized Autoimmune Illess:

Recently identified inflammatory disease VEXAS syndrome may be more common than thought, study suggests

David Adams spent half a decade fighting an illness he couldn't name. He was in and out of the hospital several times per year. His inflamed joints made his hands feel like they had been squeezed into gloves — and he could no longer play his beloved classical and jazz guitars.

Here is a study from the National Institute of Health and here you can read in CNN

Hope Is On The Way to Prevent Deaths From Opioids and Fentanyl:

We are all aware of the seriously escalating deaths from opioids and fentanyl, particularly in our young people. A medication called Narcan can prevent many of these deaths. Now this medication is becoming much more available – it is starting to appear in vending machines! See what you think……… Vending machines with lifesaving drug grow as opioid crisis rages in US