Nature vs nurture, focusing on epigenetics

I have a constant need for information, I guess you could say that is the gemini-nature in me.  In my incessant quest for information about how we can change the future of our health, I seem to keep bouncing back to something called epigenetics.  My family has had a never-ending dispute over nature vs. nurture.  What dictates our hair color, our tendency to suck our fingers as babies, and what illnesses we are predisposed to?  Well yes, it's our genes of course, but what about the possibility that you can CHANGE the way your DNA is expressed?

Science is now showing us that it is nature AND nurture that determines our future.  And knowing that you can use your diet, thoughts and environment to change the course of your health puts the ball right where it should be, in YOUR hands!!  I have always said that I believe our health is our responsibility.  We are the only ones who can control how we feel, we are the only ones who can change the course of our path.  In fact, my life as a biomed mother is just that, a quest to change nature.  I'm not willing to accept things as they are, I know there is a way to reverse the hand we were dealt.  Three and a half years ago I set out determined to find that path, and I am proud to say that we are on the right path.

My gut told me the way we are born isn't just IT....that we can change IT.  So yes, we have learned recently that our boys have the MTHFR gene mutations and that makes them predisposed to illnesses like autism, ADHD, Alzheimer's, cancer and early heart disease, among others.  MTHFR stands for methelenetetrahydrofolate reductase, it's an enzyme responsible for converting folate to it's bioactive form.  This causes our boys (and probably us parents too) to have a break in their methylation pathways, limiting their ability to detox.  I now KNOW they don't detox well and I now KNOW they are deficient in folate, as well as B12 due to this gene mutation, but I also now KNOW that I can bypass this gene mutation by supplying them with methylfolate (5-MTHF) and MB12 injections.  We can kick-start their methylation and begin to work around the mutation.  And how did this mutation come to be in the first place?  I certainly don't know that, but what I do know is that somewhere in the line of our families, a gene was mutated by it's environment, diet and/or thoughts....epigenetics.  If we can change them in the first place, common sense would reason that we can also reverse them!!

A friend, who is equally as interested in health, sent me Dr. Mercola's newsletter today and I just love the simple explanation given on epigentics.

Your Emotions Regulate Your Genetic Expression

As if genes changing expression in response to environmental factors such as nutrients wasn't enough, other researchers have demonstrated that this "environment" that your genes respond to also includes your conscious thoughts, emotions, and unconscious beliefs. Cellular biologist Bruce Lipton, PhD., is one of the leading authorities on how emotions can regulate genetic expression, which are explained in-depth in his excellent books The Biology of Belief, and Spontaneous Evolution.

Science has indeed taken us far beyond Newtonian physics, which says you live in a mechanical universe. According to this belief, your body is just a biological machine, so by modifying the parts of the machine, you can modify your health. Also, as a biological machine, your body is thought to respond to physical "things" like the active chemicals in drugs, and by adjusting the drugs that modify your machinery, doctors can modify and control health. However, with the advent of quantum physics, scientists have realized the flaws in Newtonian physics, as quantum physics shows us that the invisible, immaterial realm is actually far more important than the material realm. In fact, your thoughts may shape your environment far more than physical matter!

According to Dr. Lipton, the true secret to life does not lie within your DNA, but rather within the mechanisms of your cell membrane.

Each cell membrane has receptors that pick up various environmental signals, and this mechanism controls the "reading" of the genes inside your cells. Your cells can choose to read or not read the genetic blueprint depending on the signals being received from the environment. So having a "cancer program" in your DNA does not automatically mean you're destined to get cancer. Far from it. This genetic information does not ever have to be expressed...

What this all means is that you are not controlled by your genetic makeup. Instead, your genetic readout (which genes are turned "on" and which are turned "off") is primarily determined by your thoughts, attitudes, and perceptions!

The major problem with believing the myth that your genes control your life is that you become a victim of your heredity. Since you can't change your genes, it essentially means that your life is predetermined, and therefore you have very little control over your health. With any luck, modern medicine will find the gene responsible and be able to alter it, or devise some other form of drug to modify your body's chemistry, but aside from that, you're out of luck… The new science, however, reveals that your perceptions control your biology, and this places you in the driver's seat, because if you can change your perceptions, you can shape and direct your own genetic readout.

This new science also reveals that you are in fact an extension of your environment, which includes everything from your thoughts and belief systems, to toxic exposures and exposure to sunlight, exercise, and, of course, everything you choose to put onto and into your body. As Dr. Lipton is fond of saying, the new biology moves you out of victimhood and into Mastery—mastery over your own health.

It is a supreme confirmation of my favorite saying, "You Can Take Control of Your Health."

A Healthy Lifestyle Supports Healthy Genetic Expression

So the good news is that you are in control of your genes … You can alter them on a regular basis, depending on the foods you eat, the air you breathe, and the thoughts you think. It's your environment and lifestyle that dictates your tendency to express disease, and this new realization is set to make major waves in the future of disease prevention -- including one day educating people on how to fight disease at the epigenetic level. When a disease occurs, the solution, according to epigenetic therapy, is simply to "remind" your affected cells (change its environmental instructions) of its healthy function, so they can go back to being normal cells instead of diseased cells.

You can begin to do this on your own, long before you manifest a disease. By leading a healthy lifestyle, with high quality nutrition, exercise, limited exposure to toxins, and a positive mental attitude, you encourage your genes to express positive, disease-fighting behaviors.

This is what preventive medicine is all about. It's not about taking any one particular nutrient as a supplement to fix one specific "part" of your biological machinery... The more people become willing to embrace this simple truth, the healthier everyone will get.
It's also worth pointing out that epigenetic effects begin before birth.

Epigenetic research from 2009 showed that rat fetuses receiving poor nutrition in the womb become genetically primed for a nutrition-poor environment. As a result of this genetic adaptation, the rats tended to be smaller. They were also at higher risk for a host of health problems throughout their lives, such as diabetes, growth retardation, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and neurodevelopmental delays. Again, while some are tempted to blame such "predispositions" on bad genes, the KEY factor is nutrition, i.e. the cellular environment.

If you're ready to address your dietary choices, read through my comprehensive nutrition plan, which will give you tips and tools for eating healthy, dealing with stress, and living a lifestyle that will support your epigenetic health.

You can also turn your genes off and on with your emotions too. Many, if not most people carry emotional scars; traumas that can adversely affect health. Using techniques like energy psychology, you can go in and correct the trauma and help regulate your genetic expression. My favorite technique for this is the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), but there are many others. Choose whichever one appeals to you, and if you don't sense any benefits, try another, until you find what works best for you.

Please, remember that 'You CAN Take Control of Your Health.'

You can find the rest of this article here.

I think what is important to take away from this lesson is that while we now know we can change our genes to our benefit, we can also change them detrimentally, and that is how we pass on the predisposition to diseases like autism, which is an epidemic of gargantuan proportion at 1 in 88 children and 1 in 54 boys.  Our environment, the American diet and our thoughts have turned "on" these awful genes, let's please work on reversing this so that our children can pass on healthier genes to the next generation.

I wasn't very far off.....after all, "you are what you eat"!

And the results are in....drumroll please?!

After just under one and a half months on the Body Biotics soil-based organism probiotics, see for yourself!

I know the new test is a little more difficult to read.  The orange bar in the center is the median range, but the actual range is much larger than that, and spans the entire distance to the black lines on either side of the orange bar.  If his results were considered high or low for a category, there would be a red H or L in the number column and the diamond would be outside of the normal range with a red diamond.

Those tests say more than anything I can write here!  HPHPA from 413 to 26?!?!  Yeast at normal levels?!?! Clostridia was a ***ch to fight, antibiotics never worked, natural antimicrobials kept things almost at bay, but we couldn't remove them without a significant backslide, and who wants their child on high doses of antimicrobials three times a day, indefinitely?   I can say, with certainty, that these probiotics are our saving grace.  They do everything they say they do!

We have Gavin's results too, but since it was our first OAT for him, we have nothing to compare to.  His 3-oxoglutaric was just slightly elevated, which means he had a little bit of a yeast overgrowth, but nothing else showed markers of dysbiosis and no bacteria issues, although his numbers were slightly higher than Grayson's.  I'm sure the results directly related to the dose of the probiotics, because Grayson was worked up to 6 capsules and Gavin was only at 3.  A friend's daughter who is the same age as Gavin, was also at 6 capsules and her numbers look almost exactly like Grayson's.  She had confirmed Clostridia with a level of 393 in December, plus a confirmed case of Candida Krusei.  Her results are clean for Candida Krusei and her HPHPA (clostridia) marker came down to 22!  Also in just under one and a half months!  We have also had two mainstream stool tests done on Gavin and both the bacteria and yeast testing came back completely clean, they were done more recently.  I don't normally put a lot of weight in these tests, but our friend's yeast testing resulted in two forms of yeast at one point, so I know they can pick things up, if they are there.  Regardless, the OAT and the stool testing are my confirmation that things are under control, with NO ANTIMICROBIALS OR ANTIBIOTICS!  What a breath of fresh air to say that!

If you want to know more about these probiotics, click here.

With the good news comes the bad...isn't that always the way?  When we ran our battery of tests on the boys, we have finally confirmed PANDAS (among other things, including a compound heterozygous gene mutation) for Grayson.  I have always suspected it, but never had the titers to prove it, well now I do.  He was in a flare and sure enough both titers came out over 400. My motto is and has always been....one day at a time.  My research continues!

Now we are focusing on the PANDAS, and hoping that the complimentary combination of the probiotics and homeoapthy will do the trick.  Stay tuned!

Another toothpaste recipe

I know, I have another toothpaste recipe in my blog, but if you are a biomed parent, you understand how your child's sensitivities can change like the wind!  It's very hard to find a preservative-free, GFCFSF, mint-free, flavor-free, low-salicylate, toothpaste that is also free of excitotoxins.  That is a mouthful, isn't it?  Literally, tehehe.

 I haven't had time to write about our latest dietary adventures, but I can tell you that my new toothpaste recipe is in direct relation to some things, ok a lot of things, we are trying to avoid.  I will refer to the original toothpaste post for all the reasons to avoid commercial toothpastes, toxins at their best, and YES they do get into your bloodstream via the blood vessels in you mouth.  You can read more about that here.  In the meantime, as a home-schooling, multi-chef-hat-wearing, uber-researching, no-time-for-me mommy, I am going to get on with this post.  =)

Ingredients
-1/2 C. water
-1/2 C. xylitol (birch sourced only)
-1/4 C. baking soda
-1/8 C. Redmond's sea salt (independently tested as being the lowest in heavy metals)
-1/4 tsp food grade hydrogen peroxide (optional)

I have to warn you that this recipe is very salty, so if you have an aversion to salt flavor, you could reduce the salt in the recipe, but it's very good for cleaning, mineralizing and offering a safe abrasion for scrubbing the surface of the teeth so I wouldn't remove it completely.  You could add flavorings, if you tolerate them, in the form of essential oils, but be aware that they are very high salicylate.

Heat all of the ingredients, except the hydrogen peroxide, just to the boiling point, then reduce to low.  Let this simmer until the liquid is all gone, stirring frequently.  It will take a while, so do something else rather than watching the pot, lol.  When it's fairly thick, like a paste, turn off the heat and let it cool.  If you are adding the hydrogen peroxide, add it here and then blend in a blender or the Magic Bullet which is just the right size for small recipes like this.  Your toothpaste will be less of a paste and more of a thin gel.

I like to keep ours in a glass dropper bottle.  After we use up a supplement, I clean it out with boiling water, take the dropper out and cut an X in the tip of the squeezy part of the dropper cap.  Shake well, turn it over and squeeze the dropper cap to dispense!  It works like a charm!  You could also use a nice little hand pump lid for the texture of this toothpaste.  A little goes a long way.

My teeth feel super smooth and clean after using this toothpaste, I have even grown to like the saltiness (I didn't at first), it makes my mouth feel clean! 

Autism File - the magazine

My first issue of the Autism File arrived and was sitting on the counter calling my name for a few days before I really dug in.  You know how it can be....me time?  That is a very rare commodity around here these days.  So it patiently waited until I decided to take some time for me one night when I retired early to be with my magazine.  That doesn't mean I didn't steal a few peeks in the meantime here and there, but I wanted uninterrupted time to take it all in.

At first glance, the cover is bold and informative without being too busy for our overburdened and cluttered minds.  Starring back at me is the beautiful and famous Holly Robinson Peete holding her handsome autistic son, RJ, in a familiar loving vice-grip, screaming pride and protection at the same time.  Of course, I want to know her story, is it like mine?  What page is that story on....oh wait, there is an article on toxicity, oh and folate deficiency, and ohmygoodness, there is the camel milk article by Christina....one page at a time.

The topics?

All of interest, with one common denominator, how we CAN overcome and understand autism!  Ironically, I would happen to receive the very first Autism File with an article from a dear internet friend, Christina Adams, who is a member of our camel milk facebook group and has written about camel milk for healing!!  In the same magazine, a wonderful article about yeast overgrowth, from my very favorite Nutritionist, and another new internet friend, Julie Matthews.  I feel honored to be reading these fabulous articles from such knowledgeable women.  I am even more ecstatic to witness this information taking the floor in a powerful message connecting autism with repairable, treatable medical conditions, finally!  We, personally, started our journey with biomedicine and it's been good to us, we have a responder.  I have always wanted to scream our treatment successes from mountaintops for the whole world to hear.  This magazine is doing exactly that!  Kudos to you Autism File!  It is successful at being both the ears and the voice of many ASD families.

Getting off track here, let's get back to the topics.  As I sit here scanning through the magazine (which I thoroughly read already, from cover to cover, stretching late into the night), I see a wide variety of topics ranging from ways to nurture an autism family marriage and keeping dreams within reach of your child to the most effective ways to consider handling your ASD child's health issues, healing them from the inside out, thereby potentially dissolving their symptoms one at a time.   This magazine offers encouragement, hope, and most importantly answers...real answers, for and by real people!!  This is what we need, we need answers.  Doctors notoriously turn autism families away, suggesting that this is the best your child can be, "learn to live with it" - I have one word for those doctors - WRONG!  I may have a few other choice words too, but I will keep this clean.  =) 

Do you want to know what toxins can contribute to autism?  You will find it here.  Do you want to know what supplements are recommended for those on the spectrum?  You will find that here too.  Do you want to know what all the hubub is about the latest discovery on folate receptor antibodies?  Yup, you got it, that is here too.  You will even find the the reason camel milk is the latest topic on the tongues (no pun intended) of ASD parents.  Intertwined with all of these fabulous articles, will also find the latest and greatest on: recipes, foods for our severely restricted diets, information for the most cutting-edge labs to use for testing, the latest research, how to plan for your ASDer's future, ways to improve learning, and even the latest political challenges we face and/or overcome in the ASD community.  This is a very well-rounded magazine, chock full of information, capturing just about every facet of life impacted by autism. 

If you or someone you know has a child on the spectrum, or even ADHD, this resource is an absolute must-have!  All the latest and greatest is captured in this invaluable subscription and, if you are like me, it will serve as a jumping off point, spurring hours of research to find more....more to open those windows of opportunity into healing and helping our children.  My child is recovering, join me! 

No one says it better than Editor-in-Chief, Polly Tommey herself,

"The Autism File team is passionate about finding answers to the many critical questions surrounding the autism epidemic.  Why the dramatic rise in autism and Asperger's diagnoses over the past two decades? Why are so many ASD children and adults unable to get basic support? Why do so many students with autism fail to get the education that they need? Why are a great many people with autism living in pain, often with underlying medical conditions that go either undiagnosed or ignored?  The list goes on, and we will continue to work hard at getting the answers.  There are many brilliant doctors, scientists, researchers and autism groups working around the clock to achieve this.  The Autism File will continue to report on the very latest and bring it to your door."

Thank you Autism File, for getting the word out.

The low down....and dirty

Get your mind out of the gutter!!  Dirty, hmm.  The only dirt I am referring to here is the soil, because the latest and greatest on us involves the soil!  Well, sort of. 

**SEE UPDATE FROM SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 BELOW!

Mud pies and probiotics 

I believe there is a reason kids make (and eat) mud pies!  lol  Their body instinctively knows more than us germ-a-phobic parents!  Soil contains the very organisms that used to enter our body on a daily basis.  I know you are thinking, "but what about the parasites??"  Well, if you are ingesting certain microbes along side the parasites, those parasites have no chance of survival!  And chances are, if the soil is loaded with these beneficial bacteria, the bad guys are probably non-existent anyway.  Ahhh, mother nature....Now, I am not suggesting you run out back and make yourself a mud-pie for lunch, because today you can get those same bacteria in a capsule.  They are targeted to certain microbes and yes, they are parasite-free, haha.

Remember your grandmother talking to you about growing up on the farm?  I know mine did.  She raised animals, played in the dirt, rode horses, and ate foods grown in that very soil.  They didn't use anything but water to rinse those veggies too!  Today it's so eloquently referred to as "farm to table" and it's highly under-rated.  Before we tarnished our soils with pesticides, fertilizes and chemicals (be it natural or not), we had soil full of micro-organisms very beneficial to just about every aspect of our body chemistry and while they aren't natural residents of our intestines, they SHOULD be regular visitors!

These micro-organisms prevented the growth of anything harmful in the soil and ironically, they can do the same in our bodies!  The data is overwhelming and I will share a few links below, in case you want to read more, but before we get to that.  Let me share the results of our last five weeks using SBOs (soil-based organisms). 

We started them on very low doses on a Friday so that we could spend the weekend observing.  We didn't need to observe much though, because their uncontrolled yells, fighting and screeches could be heard from anywhere in the house.  We are no stranger to die-off and anything that results in die-off usually tells me that we are on the right track, but holy cow!!  But just like any other successful intervention, we also saw TONS of improvement.

Why the new probiotic? 

Just prior to starting the SBOs, Grayson had been going downhill, symptoms resembling his dark Clostridia-riddled days.  It was slow, but it was mounting.  He had begun to wake grumpy and irritable and this was quickly appearing to be the new norm, the OCD was trickling in and he had a new snort-tic, which we were trying to determine, if it had been related to the mold exposure he had at school (yeah, nice right?  A topic for another day, we are now homeschooling).  The symptoms were picking up speed and intensity.  Gavin on the other hand, had become a handful long before this.  Things had been going SO well, then suddenly we felt like we were hit by the pathogenic school bus from hell again.  I was increasing their three-times-daily natural anti-microbials without success.  Vague memories of Clostridia creeping back in, giving me nightmares!!  So we started the biofilm program back up and included Lumbrokinase this time.  It was going fairly well, but we were creeping back up the hill to better.  It wasn't fast enough for me.  I like to run when there is a hill on my horizon! 

In my usual nightly research mode, I came across a probiotic that was similar to some mentioned in our FB groups here and there.  I was intrigued, to say the least, because intertwined in the overgrowth madness, I felt like all I was doing was killing (the microbes, not the children).  This seemed to spur massive oxalate dumps.  Was it the chicken or the egg.  Were the pathogens causing the oxalates to build up or was the oxalate dumping causing the PH shift enabling the overgrowth.  Regardless, I needed to find out how to encourage the growth of the good guys.  Maybe in this way, we could salvage the few oxalabactor formigenes (the specific bacteria solely responsible for degrading oxalates from the diet) we have left.  Feed them, let them grow!!  If we can't buy them and put them back into our intestinal terrain, we needed something to protect the ones we have left.  I had personally begun to have oxalate dumps in this time period too, which had me seriously reconsidering the role of killing off microbes daily, even with the natural stuff, because this didn't start for me until I began the same regimen my kids were on.  I never had problems with chocolate, nuts, or carrots before.  But it wasn't long before I too was following in their footsteps.  Anytime we are killing off massive amounts of anything, we should question what else could be impaired in the process.  I knew it was the lesser of two evils at the time, but now I can say that I know differently.  But how would we do this successfully with such overgrowth challenges in the picture?

Jagged path to the finish line

As with anything else that sets our body straight, we experienced a healing crisis in the first weeks on the SBOs, plus to muddy the waters, we decided that giving the anti-microbials was counterproductive and would kill off these essential bacteria, so we stopped everything other than their supplements, camel milk, Lauricidin and nightly probiotics.  While ramping-up the SBOs we had incredible challenges.  There were days I was running toward the kitchen cabinet that holds our natural anti-microbials....running.  My husband had to stop me!  Thank goodness he had done as much research as I had done on the SBOs and believed in the science behind them.  He was much stronger than I in the moments of question.  As we foraged through the "symptoms" it began looking more like we were seeing a healing crisis, as defined here.  Here is a description of healing crisis from Shirley's Wellness Cafe -

"Healing Crisis: As with all true natural cure, the road to better health may begin with a healing crisis. As you move toward better health with natural healing programs and better nutrition, healing begins to occur. As part of the healing process the body will begin to discard toxic residues which have built up in your body over the years. The healing process usually does not occur without repercussions. During the initial phase of healing, as your body begins to clean house, (detoxify) and your vital energy begins to repair and rebuild internal organs, you may experience headache, uneasiness, flu like symptoms and fatigue. This is called a healing crisis. You may feel worse before you feel better. As you continue to improve, you may begin a process called retracing. For example, if you used to get skin rashes, the rashes may reappear or get worse for a period of time as your body eliminates toxins through the skin. You may also experience an initial increase in urination, or you may feel more nervous. In actuality, you are not getting worse, you are actually getting better. Eventually you will reach a plateau of better health. During the healing crisis, it is important to not suppress these temporary symptoms with drugs or the healing process may become interrupted."

and this

"One crisis is not always enough for a complete cure. The person in a chronic "locked" disease state will often have to go through cycles of healing crises, with each one improving the condition some. It has taken time to develop a chronically diseased state, and time is required to let go of the "locked" energy, piece by piece. It's like peeling the layers off an onion.

Often the crisis will come after one feels their very best and most energized, setting the stage for the elimination. The whole body gets into action. Most people feel an energy boost at the beginning until the toxins start dumping into the blood stream for elimination. Go as slowly as your body needs so your elimination is gradual and comfortable.

With a more serious condition, there may be many small crisis to go through before the system can become healthily balanced. Everything must be considered and given its proper place in the build-up to a healing crisis. One should expect it and work with the body, not resentfully against it."


What did our healing crisis look like?  In this order...

• Better connections with both kids, but more-so with Gavin, including significant eye contact
• Spontaneous singing from Grayson (who is normally extremely shy when it comes to performing in any way)
• More affection
• Grayson's snorting and Gavin's defiance significantly increased in frequency and intensity
• Sensory defensiveness increased then fluctuated off and on for a few weeks
• Anger and irritability
• Both became clumsy, knocking things over, bumping into things and hurting themselves
• Disproportionate reactions to anything frustrating
• Yeast symptoms including: hyperactivity, mood swings, emotional liability, anxiety, sensory seeking and defensiveness
• Many bowel changes (I won't gross you out with the details)
• Repeated hiccup episodes, from both boys
• Familial awareness in Gavin that never existed before (ie - one night he wouldn't let me in the kitchen while he surprised me with cleaning off the entire kitchen table from dinner, he's only 3)
• Longer periods of the boys playing together
• Gavin lost two chunks of hair from the scalp which is smooth where the hair was
• Lack of focus
• Explosive behaviors
• Pain in ears for both (severe, like ear infections) which only lasted a day for each
• Lethargy
• Incredibly fidgety
• Grayson began exhibiting tics we haven't seen in a while like head-tilting, jaw stretching and ear and head swatting
• More irrational anger and hyperactivity
• Gavin randomly experimenting with unknown foods and eating veggies
• OCD in Grayson
• Increased cooperation with both boys listening to me without argument
• Increased hitting from Gavin
• Bedtime routine more streamlined, less frantic
• Sporadic sleep disturbances (not able to fall asleep, waking in the night, early waking)
• Moods becoming more consistently happy with less of the above intermittently
• Physical symptoms coming and going in Gavin: significant bloating, increased keratosis on arms, red spot like an inflammation under one eye, very dark circles under the eyes, broken blood vessels in one eye which increased when dose was increased, and eye pains for about a week
• Grayson's tummy remaining flatter than ever
• Increase in die-off symptoms appearing 45 minutes after dose, this increased to an hour and then it went away completely
• Still seeing disproportionate irritability in Gavin and randomly with Grayson
• Unsolicited report from school about Gavin having a "great day" and he's never really had a bad day
• Grayson's snorting decreasing after going through a clear runny nose that burned his nose and lips for days
• Increased cooperative play between the two boys
• Grayson's mood consistently improving, only appropriately proportionate moments of frustration which diffuse easily
• Gavin's BMs still changing, but many great ones in between
• Gavin responding well to our requests
• Intermittent yeasty signs coming and going, but since adding in Allimax (liquid garlic) this has tapered off quite a bit
• Sensory defensiveness in both is gone
• Intermittent bloating as doses are increased for Gavin
• Old scar on Grayson's face fading, not as pink as before
• Still seeing some random die-off symptoms, but less frequently and shorter in duration
• Gavin expressing himself more vocally and clearly
• My requests are met with a simple, "ok"
• Consistent happiness all day, in both
• Appropriate irritation for age of boys and tied to specific events
• Gavin's keratosis is slowly clearing up 

So what does this mean exactly?  Well first I must say that we have gotten past many of the above symptoms.  Considering we've spent over a month with our children off of anti-microbials completely and we've seen incredible improvements says a lot more than my words can ever spell out here.

** UPDATE - To see our OAT results after a month and a half on these probiotics (with NO antimicrobials or antibiotics), click here.
  
Now I would like to share some links with you about SBOs.


Soil-based organisms and immune function


22 Ways soil-based organisms build dynamic health


Collective writings of SBO probiotics by Dr. Rosthschild


I've chosen a particular brand (Body Biotics), because of it's pure ingredients.  There are only a handful out there to begin with, but many are made with maltodextrin (made from corn and I would guess probably GMO), and contain traces of soy and dairy.  Some contain ingredients like chlorella and spirulina which are unsafe for mercury toxic people.  Body Biotics is the brand that Jordan Rubin used to heal himself from death's door, when Crohn's Disease had taken the best of him.  He went on to create his own product, but Body Biotics remains to be the purest formula my research has found.  

My husband and I have also been using this product with great success.  In fact, it's recommended that all members of the family at least use a maintenance dose since pathogens are shared and will just pass back and forth, reinfecting each other.  I am also off all of my anti-microbials!! =)

**UPDATE September 14, 2018 - I have since found a probiotic that we like even better than the Body Biotics. You are free to try whichever brand resonates with you, of course, but if you have a child with potential histamine issues, Body Biotics will aggravate things, even though they bring healing, as well. We have been using flourish by Entegro which is never frozen, freeze dried or powdered.  This probiotic is also a consortium like Body Biotics and it contains soil based organisms, but the kicker with this one is that it doesn't contain any histamine.  When I contacted the developer, Jarod Work, to ask about histamine, he informed me that they had third party lab testing done to confirm that there are no detectible histamines in this probiotic! This was quite evident to us when for the first time, we were able to give a probiotic without ANY negative effects.  We went slow with the introduction, because historically, my kids have always reacted to probiotics (as many kids on the spectrum do) and I have since learned that this may be related to histamine. They don't tolerate fermented foods well either. My husband and I began to notice subtle changes that were happening pretty early on. We saw this immediate calm come over both boys, their edge was gone!! They weren't fighting and bickering constantly like they had in the past. Their hyperactivity calmed significantly and even more impressive was the focus and maturity that we witnessed as we began to increase the dose to the recommended dose. I was so impressed with this probiotic that I have decided to become a consultant for the company (it's free to sign up as a consultant, btw!).  You can find these amazing probiotics here.  You can click on this link to join my Facebook group to learn more, as well as hearing about special promotions that they run frequently.

**UPDATE January 2019 - Since having conducted a handful of UBiome tests on myself, I have discovered that the only probiotics to sway health from an overall perspective, is flourish!  My testing spanned the timeframe from June 2017 to January 2019 (so far, as I have another in the pipeline, pun intended!).  In that time, I methodically changed things to see how the testing would respond.  Three tests were conducted while taking various probiotics and my test in May of 2018 even had me taking 4-5 SBO capsules, Seeking Health histamine blocker probiotics AND a prescription strength Oxalabacter Formigenes probiotic!  The only testing that shows improvements in my bowel disease ratios and bacterial diversity are the tests post-flourish and it began within just months of taking flourish.

This test is from three months before starting flourish.  You can see that my gut condition was souring into the red zone!  This meant my microbiome was prone to bowel disease and at the time, I was having some abdominal pain randomly, especially after eating.  My stools were inconsistent too. 

This test was conducted less than 2 months after starting flourish and you can see the incredible improvements already documented!  I had dropped all the other probiotics I was taking and had started dosing flourish slowly so for the first month I wasn't even at a full dose!

And here we have GREEN!  Two of the markers are in the green!  Under 5 months on flourish.  

June of 2017 levels of Akkermansia 

January 2019 levels of Akkermansia!

We can all use a little GABA.  My mood has been incredibly consistent since starting flourish.  I can be a better parent now that I don't explode over every little thing!

Did you know that probiotics produce nutrients that are absorbed in the colon which effects systemic vitamin levels, as opposed to supplemental vitamins which are absorbed in the proximal part of our small intestine? It has been proven that probiotics produce a huge number of vitamins, such as:

• Vitamin A

• Vitamin K

• Vitamins B1-B3, B5-B7, B9, B12

• Essential Fatty Acids

So perhaps the need for B-vitamin supplementation is really a call for proper probiotic colonization. The importance of B-vitamins in our health can’t be overstated – they activate our genetic pathways, produce energy, enhance detoxification and allow our cells to survive.

Additionally, probiotics also increase the digestibility, bioavailability and processing of a large number of nutrients, including:

• copper

• calcium

• magnesium

• iron

• manganese

• potassium

• zinc

• proteins

• fats

• carbohydrates

• sugars

• milk

• phytonutrients

• cholesterol

A tablespoon a day can keep the doctor away (wink)


My probiotic levels only reached "moderate" after starting flourish!

To read more about flourish - https://jessica.entegrohealth.com

To join my Facebook group where I post a lot of studies and members share their experiences - https://www.facebook.com/groups/letsflourishjessica/

Mercury, mercury, where art thou mercury?

I can't even count how many times people have said to me, "Where would your children get mercury poisoning??"  Most people don't realize they encounter this nasty heavy metal every day.  You don't need to have silver fillings to be toxic, although, if you do, it's likely you ARE toxic.

The reason we are accumulating these toxins is, because of an inability to detox naturally.  There are many systems associated with our ability to detox, from the liver to hormones and even nutritional status.  Our bodies are like fine-tuned engines, we require a specific form of "fuel" to function optimally.  When any of these pieces are out of place, the strain on the body is great.  If we can't detox, not only do the toxins pile up causing increased symptoms, but the ability to detox is continuously reduced in the process.  The snow ball just keeps growing and growing.

So where can we find mercury?

-High efficiency light bulbs - supposedly "green".....green my ass!  Imagine what  would happen, if everyone is MANDATED to use these and they end up in landfills daily.  What then?  You think the autism rates are high now, just wait!  Mark my words.  Thank goodness, that has currently been overturned.  Break one of these suckers and you have just reproduced a mini hazardous waste site in your home.  And did you know there is actually a procedure on how to handle it?  I bet you never looked that up, just in case your battery breaks.  No one plans on breaking a bulb, that is why it is called an accident!  Here are the EPA's guidelines, notice they downplay the situation a bit, but still bring attention to the fact that there IS a way to do it, as well as a way NOT to do it!  Hello, safety issue?!

-Lighting and Electrical Applications - Fluorescent lamps are commonly found in garages and home workshop areas, they buzz and crackle when you turn them on, lol.  Spent lamps must be managed properly, because they contain mercury.  A number of communities have begun to collect lamps from residents (not mine) and from their municipal buildings. Careful handling and storage is essential so that mercury is not released via breakage.  If you do break one, refer to the link above for the EPA clean-up guidelines.

-Batteries - The best thing I can do for this topic is provide this link which goes into great detail about the types of mercury in batteries (with specifics) and which companies are phasing mercury out of their batteries.  There aren't enough companies on that list, as far as I am concerned!  The issue here isn't just related to exposure to the batteries themselves, but the production of them.  How many families are effected by the factory jobs related to making them?  What is this mercury doing to our environment?  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out.

-Fish/seafood - There used to be fish that were deemed safe, now there are fish that are "safer"....get that distinction?  They used to say that you should just avoid the big fish, like Tuna, but now, eat too much fish, period, and you will have a mercury problem, guaranteed.  Just ask Jeremy Pivens who was eating a lot of Sushi (high grade fish) and became toxic enough that he required chelation therapy!  See his story here.

Good news to my ears is that Maine lobsters remain to be the lowest in mercury, yippee for our trips to Maine every year.  That is one luxury I am not yet willing to give up for myself or our kids.  It's a tradition and it's YUMMY....heck, it's only once a year and it's a perfect match for our ghee (clarified butter, which is normally used in restaurants for lobster and is also casein-free)!

-Vaccines - ok, so this requires it's own book completely, which is why there are many out there, but what I would like to say on this topic is that independent studies have confirmed that there are still vaccinations made with mercury and even though they are not necessarily listed on the ingredients like they are with the more obvious flu and Hep B vaccines.  In order for mercury to make it to a label, there has to be over a certain amount.  When mercury is used in the production of a vaccination (and most are) they remove it afterwards, leaving traces behind, low enough that they don't required label identification.  This was taken directly from the FDA website:

FDA is continuing its efforts toward reducing or removing thimerosal from all existing vaccines. Much progress has been made to date. FDA has been actively working with manufacturers, particularly those that manufacture childhood vaccines, to reach the goal of eliminating thimerosal from vaccines, and has been collaborating with other PHS agencies to further evaluate the potential health effects of thimerosal. In this regard, all vaccines routinely recommended for children 6 years of age or younger and marketed in the U.S. contain no thimerosal or only trace amounts (1 microgram or less mercury per dose), with the exception of inactivated influenza vaccine, which was first recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in 2004 for routine use in children 6 to 23 months of age.

Then they go and add a nice dose of aluminum to that very vaccine, now you have a recipe for disaster, literally.  Are you worried yet?  If not, you should be!  Mixing aluminum and mercury is a biohazard occurring right in your body (or the body of your innocent and very small child, or both, if you are pregnant).  Mercury levels above 58 micrograms (mcg), millionths of a gram, are associated with neurodevelopmental effects in the fetus, the CDC report states.  Did you know that flu shots still contain 24-25mcg/.5mL?  This is reported by the Institute for Vaccine Safety.  What I find interesting is that you will never find both of these pieces of information on either of their sites, together.  Gee, I wonder why.

Again, taken right from the FDA

As a vaccine preservative, thimerosal is used in concentrations of 0.003% to 0.01%. A vaccine containing 0.01% thimerosal as a preservative contains 50 micrograms of thimerosal per 0.5 ml dose or approximately 25 micrograms of mercury per 0.5 mL dose. The use of mercury-containing preservatives in vaccines has declined markedly since 1999.

DECLINED....not removed entirely. 

-Amalgam fillings - My favorite mercury topic, by far.....50% mercury, by weight.  Did your dentist tell you that before he filled all those pretty white teeth with the only insurance-approved metal?  Probably not, in fact, even when asked now, many dentists won't even acknowledge the question, or they shrug it off with a callused, "it isn't enough to harm you".  Oh, and one I really like, "It's the same as eating a can of tuna fish".  Yeah, maybe if it was organic and that doesn't even matter, because both are dangerous to your health, so what do you think is happening as each one of your fillings off-gas mercury vapors day in and day out, maybe more like eating a can of tuna fish every hour!!   Check out "Smoking Teeth" from the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology and learn exactly how much mercury is releasing from just one filling all day, then multiply that by the number of fillings you are lucky enough to have.  Serious exposure there!  Mercury DOES cross the placenta and travel through breast milk then to add insult to injury, we pass down three generations of heavy metals adding each of our own toxicities to the mix, get the picture yet?  THEN, take a look at the symptoms of mercury toxicity and put them beside the symptoms of autism, better yet, just get out a mirror, because, surprise, surprise - they are the same.  The cascade of health deterioration with mercury involved is very real and it makes other illnesses much more severe, such as parasitic infections, Lyme Disease, and mold toxicity.  I bet if any Lyme patient was looked at a bit more closely, you would find mercury toxicity.   For many of these autoimmune diseases, they are just the tip of the iceberg....
                                                            MERCURY POISONING                        AUTISM

Psychiatric	Social deficits, shyness, social withdrawal	Social deficits, social withdrawal, shyness
Disturbances	Depression, mood swings; mask face	Depressive traits, mood swings; flat affect
	Anxiety	Anxiety
	Schizoid tendencies, OCD traits	Schizophrenic & OCD traits; repetitiveness
	Lacks eye contact, hesitant to engage others	Lack of eye contact, avoids conversation
	Irrational fears	Irrational fears
	Irritability, aggression, temper tantrums	Irritability, aggression, temper tantrums
	Impaired face recognition	Impaired face recognition
Speech,	Loss of speech, failure to develop speech	Delayed language, failure to develop speech
Language &	Dysarthria; articulation problems	Dysarthria; articulation problems
Hearing	Speech comprehension deficits	Speech comprehension deficits
Deficits	Verbalizing & word retrieval problems	Echolalia; word use & pragmatic errors
	Sound sensitivity	Sound sensitivity
	Hearing loss; deafness in very high doses	Mild to profound hearing loss
	Poor performance on language IQ tests	Poor performance on verbal IQ tests
Sensory	Abnormal sensation in mouth & extremities	Abnormal sensation in mouth & extremities
Abnormalities	Sound sensitivity	Sound sensitivity
	Abnormal touch sensations; touch aversion	Abnormal touch sensations; touch aversion
	Vestibular abnormalities	Vestibular abnormalities
Motor Disorders	Involuntary jerking movements - arm flapping, ankle jerks, myoclonal jerks, choreiform movements, circling, rocking	Stereotyped movements - arm flapping, jumping, circling, spinning, rocking; myoclonal jerks; choreiform movements
	Deficits in eye-hand coordination; limb apraxia; intention tremors	Poor eye-hand coordination; limb apraxia; problems with intentional movements
	Gait impairment; ataxia – from incoordination & clumsiness to inability to walk, stand, or sit; loss of motor control	Abnormal gait and posture, clumsiness and incoordination; difficulties sitting, lying, crawling, and walking
	Difficulty in chewing or swallowing	Difficulty chewing or swallowing
	Unusual postures	Unusual postures
Cognitive Impairments	Borderline intelligence, mental retardation - some cases reversible	Borderline intelligence, mental retardation - sometimes "recovered"
	Poor concentration, attention, response inhibition	Poor concentration, attention, shifting attention
	Uneven performance on IQ subtests	Uneven performance on IQ subtests
	Verbal IQ higher than performance IQ	Verbal IQ higher than performance IQ
	Poor short term, verbal, & auditory memory	Poor short term, auditory & verbal memory
	Poor visual and perceptual motor skills, impairment in simple reaction time	Poor visual and perceptual motor skills, lower performance on timed tests
	Difficulty carrying out complex commands	Difficulty carrying out multiple commands
	Alexia (inability to comprehend the meaning of written words)	Hyperlexia (ability to decode words while lacking word comprehension)
	Deficits in understanding abstract ideas & symbolism; degeneration of higher mental powers	Deficits in abstract thinking & symbolism, understanding other’s mental states, sequencing, planning & organizing

(ii)

Unusual	Stereotyped sniffing (rats)	Stereotyped, repetitive behaviors
Behaviors	ADHD traits	ADHD traits
	Agitation, unprovoked crying, grimacing, staring spells	Agitation, unprovoked crying, grimacing, staring spells
	Sleep difficulties	Sleep difficulties
	Eating disorders, feeding problems	Eating disorders, feeding problems
	Self injurious behavior, e.g. head banging	Self injurious behavior, e.g. head banging
Visual	Poor eye contact, impaired visual fixation	Poor eye contact, problems in joint attention
Impairments	“Visual impairments,” blindness, near-sightedness, decreased visual acuity	“Visual impairments”; inaccurate/slow saccades; decreased rod functioning
	Light sensitivity, photophobia	Over-sensitivity to light
	Blurred or hazy vision	Blurred vision
	Constricted visual fields	Not described
Physical Disturbances	Increase in cerebral palsy; hyper- or hypo-tonia; abnormal reflexes; decreased muscle strength, especially upper body; incontinence; problems chewing, swallowing, salivating	Increase in cerebral palsy; hyper- or hypotonia; decreased muscle strength, especially upper body; incontinence; problems chewing and swallowing
	Rashes, dermatitis/dry skin, itching; burning	Rashes, dermatitis, eczema, itching
	Autonomic disturbance:  excessive sweating, poor circulation, elevated heart rate	Autonomic disturbance:  unusual sweating, poor circulation, elevated heart rate
Gastro-intestinal	Gastroenteritis, diarrhea; abdominal pain, constipation, “colitis”	Diarrhea, constipation, gaseousness, abdominal discomfort, colitis
Disturbances	Anorexia, weight loss, nausea, poor appetite	Anorexia; feeding problems/vomiting
	Lesions of ileum & colon; increases gut permeability	Leaky gut syndrome
	Inhibits dipeptidyl peptidase IV, which cleaves casomorphin	Inadequate endopeptidase enzymes needed for breakdown of casein & gluten
Abnormal Biochemistry	Ties up -SH groups; blocks sulfate transporter in intestines, kidneys	Low sulfate levels
	Has special affinity for purines & pyrimidines	Purine & pyrimidine metabolism errors lead to autistic features
	Reduces availability of glutathione, needed in cells & liver to detoxify heavy metals	Low levels of glutathione; decreased ability of liver to detoxify heavy metals
	Causes significant reduction in  glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase	Abnormal glutathione peroxidase activities in erythrocytes
	Disrupts mitochondrial activities, especially in brain	Mitochondrial dysfunction, especially in brain
Immune Dysfunction	Sensitivity due to allergic or autoimmune reactions; sensitive individuals more likely to have allergies, asthma, autoimmune-like symptoms, especially rheumatoid-like ones	More likely to have allergies and asthma; familial presence of autoimmune diseases, especially rheumatoid arthritis; IgA deficiencies
	Can produce an immune response in CNS	On-going immune response in CNS
	Causes brain/MBP autoantibodies	Brain/MBP autoantibodies present
	Causes overproduction of Th2 subset; kills/inhibits lymphocytes, T-cells, and monocytes; decreases NK T-cell activity; induces or suppresses IFNg & IL-2	Skewed immune-cell subset in the Th2 direction; decreased responses to T-cell mitogens; reduced NK T-cell function; increased IFNg & IL-12

CNS Structural Pathology	Selectively targets brain areas unable to detoxify or reduce Hg-induced oxidative stress	Specific areas of brain pathology; many functions spared
	Damage to Purkinje and granular cells	Damage to Purkinje and granular cells
	Accummulates in amygdala and hippocampus	Pathology in amygdala and hippocampus
	Causes abnormal neuronal cytoarchitecture; disrupts neuronal migration & cell division; reduces NCAMs	Neuronal disorganization; increased neuronal cell replication, increased glial cells; depressed expression of NCAMs
	Progressive microcephaly	Progressive microcephaly and macrocephaly
	Brain stem defects in some cases	Brain stem defects in some cases
Abnormalities in Neuro-chemistry	Prevents presynaptic serotonin release & inhibits serotonin transport; causes calcium disruptions	Decreased serotonin synthesis in children;  abnormal calcium metabolism
	Alters dopamine systems; peroxidine deficiency in rats resembles mercurialism in humans	Possibly high or low dopamine levels; positive response to peroxidine (lowers dopamine levels)
	Elevates epinephrine & norepinephrine levels by blocking enzyme that degrades epinephrine	Elevated norepinephrine and epinephrine
	Elevates glutamate	Elevated glutamate and aspartate
	Leads to cortical acetylcholine deficiency; increases muscarinic receptor density in hippocampus & cerebellum	Cortical acetylcholine deficiency; reduced muscarinic receptor binding in hippocampus
	Causes demyelating neuropathy	Demyelation in brain
EEG Abnormalities/	Causes abnormal EEGs, epileptiform activity	Abnormal EEGs, epileptiform activity
Epilepsy	Causes seizures, convulsions	Seizures; epilepsy
	Causes subtle, low amplitude seizure activity	Subtle, low amplitude seizure activities
Population	Effects more males than females	Male:female ratio estimated at 4:1
Characteristics	At low doses, only affects those genetically susceptible	High heritability - concordance for MZ twins is 90%
	First added to childhood vaccines in 1930s	First "discovered" among children born in 1930s
	Exposure levels steadily increased since 1930s with rate of vaccination, number of vaccines	Prevalence of autism has steadily increased from 1 in 2000 (1940s) to 1 in 500 (1990s)
	Exposure occurs at 0 - 15 months; clinical silent stage means symptom emergence delayed; symptoms emerge gradually, starting with movement & sensation	Symptoms emerge from 4 months to 2 years old; symptoms emerge gradually, starting with movement & sensation

If that doesn't convince you, I honestly don't know what will.  Thanks to ARC research for this comprehensive list!

-Pesticides - Organochlorine pesticides like Aldrin and Endrin and Dieldrin, used in the United States for decades, were mostly eliminated from use in the late 1980s according to Dr. Gerberding.  So this should make us feel better about pesticides, right?  Well, what about this little tidbit of information?

Mercury is only removed from the biosphere when it reaches sediments deep under the oceans or when it is immobilized in controlled landfills. This implies that, even as we gradually eliminate mercury releases from human activity, levels in the environment will take several decades or longer to go back down.

-Pharmaceuticals - Mercury can be found in some topical disinfectants, like Mercurochrome, Tincture of Merthiolate and older medications for psoriasis and eczema. It is also found in some over-the-counter nasal sprays (yum), hemorrhoidal ointments (child birth anyone?) and eye and contact lens products (ouch).  Be sure to read labels!

-Major appliances - Mercury-containing thermostat probes can be found in several types of gas-fired appliances that have pilot lights, including ranges, ovens, clothes dryers, water heaters, furnaces and space heaters. That little metal probe you've probably noticed in the back of your oven consists of a metal bulb and thin tube attached to a gas-control valve. Also known as a flame sensor or gas safety valve, it prevents gas flow if the pilot light is not lit. Although non-mercury thermostat probes are also used in these appliances, treat all probes as though they contain mercury, unless you know that they do not. If you decide to trash your stove, the probe should be removed and stored in a covered container until it can be taken to a consolidation site.

-Thermometers (fever, candy, deep fry, oven, indoor and outdoor with a silvery temperature indicator) - Thermometers are one of the largest sources of mercury discarded in municipal solid waste. Many communities, including Boston, are now banning the sale of mercury fever thermometers and offering exchanges by giving out mercury-free alternatives such as digital thermometers.  Health Care Without Harm has produced a resource guide entitled “How to Plan and Hold a Mercury Thermometer Exchange.” To obtain a copy, go to Health Care Without Harm.

Important - If you break a thermometer, do not vacuum the mercury up, this will spread it throughout the house. Instead, put on rubber or disposable gloves (not leather work gloves!) and scoop up the silvery liquid with an appropriate utensil. Handle the liquid very carefully and capture it in a firm container with a tight cover. This container should not be reused. Contact your local board of health for additional suggestions on collection and disposal. The collected mercury should be recycled whenever possible.

-Barometers and Manometer - Many barometers and vacuum gauges found in machinery contain mercury. Liquid mercury in the gauges responds to air pressure in a precise way that can be read on a calibrated scale.  Mercury-free alternatives are available.

-Thermostats - Mercury-containing tilt switches have been used in thermostats for more than 40 years. Each switch contains approximately 3 grams of mercury. Electronic thermostats provide many enhanced features and are mercury-free. The manufacturers of thermostats have established a take back program. For information contact the Thermostat Recycling Corporation at 1-800-238-8192.

-Coal and cement plants nearby? - They pollute the air, what more do you need to know?  In all seriousness, mercury exists naturally in coal, making coal-fired power plants the largest source of mercury pollution in this country. Coal accounts for nearly 50% of the electricity generated in this country—and almost 50 tons of mercury emissions annually. According to the nonprofit law firm Earthjustice, all the cement kilns in the U.S. combined pump out roughly 23,000 pounds of mercury every year. The mercury comes from coal, which is used to fuel the cement-manufacturing process, as well as limestone, another natural source of the heavy metal. The group released a report last July finding that, individually, some cement kilns emit nearly one and a half times more mercury than the most polluting coal-fired power plants. But because there are fewer kilns, they account for lower levels of atmospheric mercury overall than coal plants.

-Fossil fuel, and to a lesser extent, gas and oil - I bet you didn't even realize that even electricity releases mercury?!  The EPA reported that U.S. electric utilities released 48 tons of mercury in 1999, the latest year data is available.  More from the EPA:

Mercury is a trace component of all fossil fuels, including natural gas, gas condensates, crude oil, coal, tar sands, and other bitumens. The use of fossil hydrocarbons as fuels provides the main opportunity for releasing emissions of the mercury they contain into the atmospheric environment, but other avenues also exist in production, transportation, and processing systems. These other avenues may provide mercury directly to air, water, or solid waste streams.

-Chlor-alkali plants - Per Rodale, Chlorine bleach, laundry detergent, cheap vinyl purses, shoes, and toys made with polyvinyl chloride (or PVC)—making all these products required the use of chlorine gas at some point. The chlor-alkali plants that produce it use mercury to convert salt to chlorine gas, and to convert salt to caustic soda, or lye, which is then used in products like detergent, plastics, and bleach. The nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) says that while most modern chlor-alkali plants have switched to mercury-free technology, there are still seven plants in the U.S. that use it, and each one has roughly 200 tons of mercury on site at any given time. An unknown amount of that mercury gets lost during manufacturing, whether to the air or surrounding waterways; a 2006 report from NRDC found that operators at four of these plants could account for only 29 of the 159 tons of the mercury they used from 2000 to 2004. (As Rodale.com reported earlier this year, some of those plants also make the ubiquitous food ingredient high-fructose corn syrup, and may be tainting food products with mercury.) Avoid chlorine-containing products like chlorine bleach, as well as anything made from polyvinyl chloride, including cheap handbags and shower curtains. Also look for chlorine-free paper products; paper production is the sixth largest mercury emitter in this country. Buy unbleached paper towels, coffee filters, and office paper. For the latter, look for the “Totally Chlorine Free” or “Processed Chlorine Free” labels on the package.

If you want to know how all of the plastics in your car measure up in toxicity, check this out!

-High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) which effects condiments like ketchup and BBQ sauces, it's in baby foods and pretty much any sweetened non-organic, pre-packaged food, unless otherwise advertised.  Heinz has actually just created a HFCS-free ketchup, yeay Heinz!  Still not organic, but it's a step in the right direction.

-Trash incinerators - Hazardous waste, medical waste, and regular garbage incinerators release 13.1 tons (or about 26,000 pounds) of mercury every year, according to statistics from the EPA. The mercury comes from all of the common household items listed above, such as compact fluorescent light bulbs and thermostats, and from automobile scrap.

And remember, it's is not just mercury we have to worry about, there are other dangerous metals out there like aluminum in vaccines, arsenic in the air we breath, cadmium and lead in toys, cars, many plastics and the topic of GMOs requires it's own blog entry.

Please note that this list is not even all-inclusive.