Redundancy for Survival

Dear Friends,

In this week’s Forward Thinking we will discuss ecological redundancy, and continue to expand upon the merits of the Energy Sustain Complex. I will give a very short lecture on ecological redundancy Feb. 25 at the Pleo-Sanum Conference in San Diego. If you haven’t heard of this conference, check it out at www.terra-medica.com. A week ago I taught a class at Bridgeport University in Connecticut about the world today, the urgent need to change our food supply system, and the use of the Therapeutic Foods to protect, nourish, and heal. The topic of ecological redundancy summarizes my lecture well and will also be featured in my book. So let’s roll up our sleeves and get into this important topic.

Ecological redundancy, what is it?

In our Green Facts last week I referred you to an article by Peter Ward PhD and Jessica Whiteside PhD entitled, Species Loss Tied to Ecosystem Collapse and Recovery. You might want to click on it—it’s fascinating, frightening and should put a fire in us to take action to save species around the globe, in the ocean and on the land.

While the term is not new, the paper marks the first time that a loss of ecological redundancy is directly blamed for a marine ecosystem’s collapse in the fossil record. Just as ominously, the authors write that it took up to 10 million years after the mass extinctions for enough variety of species to repopulate the ocean — restoring ecological redundancy — for the ecosystem to stabilize.

The implications could not be clearer today. According to the United Nations-sponsored report Global Biodiversity Outlook 2, the population of nearly one-third of marine species that were tracked had declined over the three decades that ended in 2000. The numbers were the same for land-based species. “In effect, we are currently responsible for the sixth major extinction event in the history of the Earth, and the greatest since the dinosaurs disappeared, 65 million years ago,” the 2006 report states.

It hasn’t happen yet, but what scientists are insisting on is that when the tipping point is reached, with enough species going into extinction, the whole ecosystem will collapse on land and in the sea. The reality is frightening—in the last three decades we have reduced species on earth by one-third. We have trashed mother earth and we will pay for it with our lives, unless we do something now!

We are already paying the piper. You see it everyday with your patients—chronically ill human beings, unable to thrive. As Chief Seattle said in 1854 when he handed over his territory and his people to the sovereignty of the United States,

Teach your children what we have taught our children, that the earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves. This we know: the earth does not belong to man—man belongs to the earth. This we know. All things are connected like the blood that unites one family. All things are connected.

So what can we do? What would be one focused action that we could do that would transform the earth from a path of destruction to a path of healing?

My answer is straight-forward: Go Organic!

Imagine a world where herbicides and pesticides are forbidden poisons—following Chief Seattle’s warning to us regarding spitting on the earth. Organic agriculture means farming without these toxic chemicals, toxins that have decimated species after species, causing the carbon cycle, a broad indicator of life and death, to fluctuate wildly. Biodiversity of species provides the necessary redundant supply of carbon, for its life-enhancing balanced recycling.

The microbiome within our gastrointestinal tract provides another example of ecological redundancy. The human GI tract is one of the most density populated ecosystems on earth, where roughly 100 trillion microorganisms co-exist—a healthy GI ecosystem is critical to our body’s health. Due to the over use of antibiotics, many good bacteria are destroyed, reducing ecological redundancy. For example, in a healthy GI tract there are an abundance of many lactic acid bacterial species (acidophillus, rhamnosus, casei, longum, bifidum—just to name a few) from the genera Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium. Their metabolites (lactic acid, digestive enzymes, bacterocins, vitamins, detoxifying agents, etc) are very important to the health of the GI tract, and their destruction by antibiotic reduces the redundant production of their important metabolites—upsetting the microbiome (the gastrointestinal ecosystem) and creating dysbiosis.

Let’s go organic. Buy organic. Shop organic. Be dogged about being organic. Support farmers who grow organic. Encourage restaurants to serve organic. For example, if you are in a grocery and your choice is between buying an organic spinach from Mexico verses conventional spinach from America, buy Mexican. Support the Mexican farmer because you are supporting a worldwide organic movement. This can save our planet! There is an important vote to cast right now—check out this important link to Food Democracy Now (Kiss Your Organics Goodbye?).

The last two weeks, in our Forward Thinking newsletter I have been highlighting the attributes and science behind our new Energy Sustain Complex. We are still putting the final touches on this wonderful product. This week I wii share with you the state of our development thus far. Below is a list of its supplemental facts.

Warning: Always consult your health care provider before using.

Store tightly sealed in a cool place.

Sincerely yours,

Seann Bardell

BioImmersion.com

Clinical Note:

The Energy Sustain Complex is a product that can be enjoyed as a meal, or between meals for an energy boost. It is a base for a delicious drink, adding other ingredient such as fresh fruits, vegetable juice, probiotics, and even cocoa when the craving hits you. It makes for a great smoothy. Remember, the protein and carb ratio is perfect, making this drink a healthy substitute for a meal, for weight loss or eating on the run. It also has the much needed fiber that we need daily in our diets. You can mix it with the Beta Glucan, No 7, Original, or Triple Berry to bring the probiotic element into the mix, and add fruit to enhance its nutritional value. We drink to your health!

The Last Quiz Answer:
I have always loved this breathe-taking creature—the Cape Buffalo (Syncerus caffer). Standing about 65 inches at the shoulder, weighting around one ton, living up to twenty years this massive freight train has only to enemies—humans and lions. Owing to its unpredictable nature which makes it highly dangerous to humans, it has not been domesticated. Here in this clip you will see lion versus buffalo.

Organic India’s vision is to be a vehicle of consciousness in the global market by creating a holistic sustainable business modality which inspires, promotes and supports well-being and respect for all beings and for Mother Nature—supporting natural sustainable organic agricultural practices that serve, honor and protect Mother Nature and the livelihood and well-being of farmers and tribal wild crafters in rural India.