herbicides Archives | Page 2 of 4 | Natural Health with Merrilyn Hope

Glyphosate RoundUp Weedkiller Has Name Change To G360

Toxic Agricultural Chemicals

Glyphosate has been proven to be harmful to people, yet Monsanto have happily sold their ‘RoundUp’ poison for decades, telling their customers that it is ‘safe’.

Last year, WHO, World Health Organization, made an announcement that glyphosate ‘probably’ causes cancer. Many governments over the world are in the process of banning herbicides which contain glyphosate, such as we call RoundUp in New Zealand.

Last Monday, 15th May, 2017, I saw a man spraying what was obviously weedkiller around our council-owned apartments in Dunedin. I asked him what the poison was which he was using –

‘Is it RoundUp?’, I asked.

‘No’, he said.

‘But does it contain glyphosate?’, I asked.

‘Yes’, he said.

He went on to tell me that ‘RoundUp’ has a name-change, and is now called G360. He said ‘They have also changed the colour of the spray, so people think it is something new to RoundUp.’

I told him he should not be using the stuff, that it is very toxic, and is not harmless, as its manufacturers like to claim. ‘You should at least be wearing protective clothing, and a mask too,’ I said.

He told me that he had asked for protective clothing, as he is unhappy about using the spray. But his company, which is contracted by the council, has said that they do not want their workers wearing protective clothing around the town when they are spraying, because ‘people will get freaked out’ to see the masks and protective gear.

If people see that workers who are spraying do not wear any protective gear, then they will trust that the spray being used is not harmful.

How evil is that, to knowingly threaten the health of your employees by allowing them to spray toxic poison with no protection. This is how the lie about the safety of such poisons as glyphosate, as in RoundUp, is perpetuated.

It makes no sense to be using toxic chemicals around our city and country environments. They are a hazard to people’s health, and to dogs, cats, birds and bees which may walk in, or come in contact with the sprayed areas. Naturally, manually, hoeing and pulling weeds is the best way to go. Or using hot water if necessary.

Many people in New Zealand are without work, forced to go into fearsome dole offices, where they are often treated like the bane of society, to ask for hand-outs. It is about time weedkillers were outlawed, for the health and safety of the community, and for people to be rightfully given back the jobs of manually maintaining gardens and roadside verges.

Chocolate Brownie Recipe Which Hedgehogs And Children Love

Chocolate Brownie Recipe, Guaranteed To Attract Hedgehogs Into Your Garden

My Grandchildren love these Chocolate Brownie cookies as well:

3/4 cup butter

1 cup white sugar

2 Tablespoons dark brown sugar

3/4 cup S.R.flour

5 Tablespoons Cocoa powder

2 free-range eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup chopped nuts or peanut butter

2 Tablespoons of yellow cornmeal

2 Tablespoons of shredded coconut

Melt the butter a little and add the sugar and cocoa powder.

Add the eggs, peanuts or peanut butter, and vanilla – stir in well.

Add the eggs and vanilla – stir in well.

Add the flour and cornmeal.

Mix altogether.

Grease an oven tray with butter or oil.

Make balls of the dough, and flatten out with fingers or a fork on the tray. You may need to sprinkle some cornmeal or flour over the dough so that the dough does not stick to your fingers when you form the balls.

Bake at 180 degrees C for around 10 minutes. Turn down the oven after about 5 minutes so they do not burn. You can tell when they are cooked, as the most delicious cookie aroma will permeate the air when they are ready.

When you bring out the tray, slide a fish slice or spatula under each cookie, and put on a wire tray to cool.

Once properly cooled, you can put them into a glass jar with screwtop lid, or an air-tight plastic container.

Environment:

Hedgehogs Are Endangered In New Zealand

Hedgehogs are a wonderful asset to any garden, in my opinion. They eat all the slugs and snails which would otherwise eat your vegetables and delicate flowers.

In the United Kingdom, environmentalists are working to save the hedgehog, whose forraging areas are rapidly being depleted, with people culling out gardens and having walls built around their properties which do not allow hedgehogs to visit. The poor hedgehog is having a rough time of it, with fewer good places to live and forage for food.

In the UK, the protectors of hedgehogs are encouraging people to grow hedges, and make little holes in walls and fences where hedgehogs can enter into the garden.

I am sure the UK people will be promoting organic gardening without the use of toxic pesticides and herbicides which have the potential to kill or sicken hedgehogs, birds, cats and dogs. Snail and slug poison is especially bad for hedgehogs, and birds too.

I heard a radio announcer talking on Radio NZ recently, who said that hedgehogs were NOT friends of ours, because of their threat to NZ wildlife, and especially to the Kiwi, the highly prized national icon. A ridiculous and short-sighted view, I think.

It has been decided by MAF in New Zealand that hedghogs, as well as cats and dogs, present a threat to Kiwi. Because they might eat the odd Kiwi egg, it has been decided to kill every hedgehog in New Zealand.

Then the discussion on hedgehogs in New Zealand drew in a scientist/researcher from Massey University, who said that DOGS are the biggest threat of all to Kiwi in New Zealand. Do we want to kill dogs because of their threat to wildlife?

MAF are not interested in destroying every dog in New Zealand, though dogs be the biggest threat to Kiwi, but they want to destroy every living hedgehog. It just does not make sense.

Well, I have been looking after the hedgehogs in my area for a while now. I have discovered their very favourite food: Chocolate Brownies. They can smell the rich chocolate of my chocolate brownies from way down the road, which literally gets them running towards my place, and the big fry-pan which I put their food into.

See Merrilyn’s song ‘Marianne, Let Us Be’ on Youtube:

Toxic Weedkiller Sprayed All Around Dunedin Reservoir Jan 2017

Toxic Herbicide A Danger To Health

Well, toxic herbicide such as RoundUp, which contains the especially harmful glyphosate, is bad in any measure for the environment and for the health.

But for a city reservoir to be poisoned all around the perimeter of the reservoir, to about three metres away from the water’s edge, is outrageous.

New Zealand is fast losing its clean green reputation.

I went for a walk with a friend yesterday. Wednesday the 25th January, 2017, from Brockville down to Concord. This is a fantastic walk, with many beautiful trees on the ridge, and wonderful views down to the coast. However:

It was appalling to see the extent of the spraying around the reservoir, and also to witness the dying grass on both sides of the road, almost in a continuous line from Brockville down to Concord. The reservoir was heavily sprayed, and so were the drains on the side of the road. These drains run down to feed a stream at the bottom of the hill. So the water running down into this stream will be poisoned for several weeks, after which the council or their contractors will probably pour poison around the place all over again.

My guess is that Monsanto’s RoundUp was the herbicide used: This is still the most widely used herbicide in New Zealand, to my knowledge. It is very bad stuff – it has been banned in many parts of Europe, and environmentalists hope to get a complete ban on this poison before very long.

World Health Organization have indicated that glyphosate probably causes cancer. My experience indicates that it affects the digestive system, because it upsets the intestinal flora, which causes candida overgrowth and consequent bowel problems. It also causes skin troubles such as eczema, and excites the nervous system in an unfavourable way. It is probably a contributing factor in people succumbing to diseases such as multiple scleroses, and Parkinson’s.

Exposure to glyphosate can also can affect the memory and cognitive functions in my experience.

Glyphosate and other toxic chemicals used in herbicides and pesticides have a harmful effect on our bees and other pollinating insects, as well as birds and animals too.

In my previous post, I wrote about dozens of bumble bees dying on the road and pavement at Kaikorai Valley. This is not far away from the poisoned reservoir and the roads and drains which I witnessed today. Nicotinoid pesticides are well known for their bee-killing potential. But glyphosate in commonly used RoundUp, a Monsanto product, also can kill insects and bees, especially when it is used in such large quantities over many kilometres of ground.

Hundreds of bumble bees, honey bees and other insects must have died in the massive spraying programme which has recently been implemented in our area. No wonder that our beehives are dying of bee colony collapse disorder.

And no wonder so many people get sick from strange viruses. We will have this poison in our water supply for sure, after the reservoir area was sprayed. The wind carries spray particles near and far. We all get affected one way or another.

I am going to return to the Dunedin Brockville dam tomorrow to take photos. I will put some of these up on this page very soon.

Note: Several people in my housing complex have had chest troubles in the past week or more. We live with a kilometre or so of the area which has been heavily sprayed. One old lady went into hospital with pneumonia. Another has had flu-like sort of symptoms which have not developed into a real flu, but which have persisted nevertheless. I had a slight cough over the past week. After walking down these sprayed roads for an hour or so, I developed severe ear trouble by nightfall, with fluid in both ears. A severe pain began in my chest on the left side. I took homeopathic Bryonia and Ferr phos in several doses, which has helped. I visited the sprayed reservoir yesterday to take photos, after which a flu-like condition has manifested, with a lot of fluid on the chest.

Causes of Cancer Article In NZ Listener 2015 Has Major Omissions

Cancer Is A Political Disease, as Doctor Samuel Epstein famously wrote.

This article about cancer, which featured in this week’s NZ Listener, May 16-22, 2015, was yet another gloss-over of the real, underlying causes of most cancers.

Remember that book by Samuel B. Epstein, ‘The Politics Of Cancer’? Epstein’s concerns in the 1970,s or early ’80’s are as relevant today as they were then.

One thing the Listener article had right: Just because you carry a gene which might increase your chances of getting cancer, carrying the gene does not mean that you need to succumb to the disease. Most cancers can be prevented through eating the right foods, and living a healthy lifestyle which incorporates regular exercise. You do not need to run out and get a breast cut off to avoid getting cancer, like some well-known film stars have done.

However, if the vegetables, fruit and meat you are buying are devoid of all the main nutrients they are supposed to carry, because of artificial fertilizers ruining natural fertility of the soil, and they are contaminated by the use of various agricultural poisons used in producing them, then diet may not help much in preventing cancer. For diet to prevent or cure cancer, then it is imperative that a clean, organic source of food be found.

Point One On The Omissions In Listener Article: It failed to mention that the widespread poisoning of the planet by agrichemical giants is the main cause of cancer. If we don’t get poisoned through agriculture, then the local council might do it for us: Governments and councils all over the world support these companies by allowing these poisons on our parks, in nature reserves, and around our towns on the pavements.

Point Two: It also declined to mention that poverty, or inequal distribution of the world’s wealth, is another major cause of obesity, which in turn goes hand in hand with higher cancer risk, as well as heart disease and diabetes. This is because vegetables and fresh fruit are expensive, whereas take-away foods such as McDonald’s and Kentucky Fried, are relatively cheap, which is why many poorer families rely on these second-rate choices. Apart from the obvious high-fat in takeaway foods, they contain high levels of genetically-modified items, such as corn, which are contaminated with glyphosphate and other agrichemicals.

On point one: No matter how good the food you eat, chances are it has been exposed to quantities of glyphosphate poison, found in RoundUp, as well as many other contaminants.

The World Health Organization has recently announced that glyphosphate, an active component in RoundUp weedkiller, ‘probably causes cancer’.

Agrichemical giants have argued for a long time that ‘there is no proof that poisons such as glyphosphate are harmful’, and they have aggressively suppressed information which might alert people as to their health risk. At last, WHO have come out with an albeit half-hearted attack on glyphosphate and Monsanto’s RoundUp.

The world-wide push for countries to sign the TPPA trade agreement is going to weaken the power of governments further: It will effectively eradicate our right to free speech, as these chemical giants will rule under USA law, which currently gives them the right to sue if we harm their sales. This means anybody claiming that these poisons harm your health will be sued, just to shut them up.

The end result of this corruption is that our food will continue to be contaminated by the major seed and herbicide-pesticide manufacturers, and will probably become even more toxic with their increased powers, once they have shut down free speech and any adversaries of their ethics.

Monsanto have been using ‘RoundUp Ready’ seeds for a long time now. Being so-called ‘Round-Up Ready’ means that the plant has been developed to resist glyphosphate poison. But it also means that the food, which has come from genetically modified seeds so that it can withstand glyphosphate weed-killer, will be highly contaminated with this poison. The plant may survive the glyphosphate weedkiller, but it absorbs the poison, and then we ingest it.

75% or more of the world’s corn and soybeans are now thought to be genetically modified seeds which are so-called ‘RoundUp-Ready’, which means they can withstand liberal use of glyphosphate-containing RoundUp poison.

So, so sad to see John Campbell leaving TV3 and his programme ‘Campbell Live’. This is a political move, as John is the only journalist who deals honestly and helpfully on all manner of political, social and environmental issues, and I bet the National government is overjoyed he has been pushed out. Now we have no one to defend the poor, or the environment, or to keep the politicians honest.

My guess is that, more than anything, TV3 has come under pressure from the government, who wanted John Campbell quietened down on the serious worries we all have to do with our government and their secret negotiations to sign the TPPA with America, our government’s dubious spy agency, and other things, such as unaffordable housing in Auckland and rocketing house prices.

It has nothing to do with Campbell’s ratings. I believe these have been trumped down in the same way that National’s ratings are trumped up – to suit the government. John Campbell is probably the most loved TV personality ever, and his ratings are still much higher than those of other important programmes run by TV3, or any other station.

A friend of mine told me angrily this week that policital issues should be kept separate from health ones, and that I am wrong to include both. Funny – I pulled all the obvious political stuff from my health site when it was being hacked regularly, around the time just prior to the election three years ago.

I guessed that the reason was political, and that the National lot were to blame. My son discovered that the site had definitely been hacked, and that an ad for ‘viagra for sale’ had been inserted within my articles, along with other examples of sabotage. One sure way to get your site ruined in its ratings is by sticking ads like this onto it.

Then, just two weeks before this last election, someone invited a response from me, in a comment that they made on my site. So, for the first time in around three years, I mentioned the National government, whom I had criticized earlier. I said that my site had been hacked because of my views on the current government, which I consider to be their obliviousness to the urgencies of social issues such as housing, and jobs, their lack of concern for the environment, and their greedy desire to sell off every part of our country for quick profit.

Within an hour of writing this, my whole site was totally blocked. I was effectively silenced, not able to answer comments, not able to agree with the arguments put forward by Nicki Hager, that the National government had serious bloggers out there to undermine the other parties. Now I knew how serious this movement to protect the status quo really was – that they have the power to stop any protesters or dissenters, by de-activating their sites. And I couldn’t write about it, because my site was down.

The site wasn’t able to be restored until two days AFTER the election, because the ‘WordPress’ help-desk was conveniently shut until then. Well – Great to see all this stuff printed in ‘The Listener’ on diet, and what foods to eat for keeping healthy and avoiding cancer. But we, who have long held serious doubts on the belief systems of the medical establishment, knew all this a long, long time ago.

Weight Loss Research Shows Thunder God Vine Slows Appetite

Natural Remedies

Harvard Medical School has just published a paper in the science journal ‘Cell’ on 20th May, 2015 which indicates the Chinese herb ‘Thunder God Vine’ could be very promising for curing obesity.

Radio New Zealand gave us a report on the new findings today, Saturday 23 May, 2015, just before 1PM.

With the numbers of obesity growing throughout the world now – over a third of the population is supposed to come under the obese category – the need to find a non-toxic and effective remedy for weight loss is becoming urgent.

A selection of herbal remedies, known to be helpful in weight loss, were used in the recent Harvard studies: The one which came top of the list for its effectiveness was the Thunder God Vine. It has the remarkable capacity to slow down the appetite because of a compound called Leptin.

Leptin warns the brain that you have had enough to eat. People who are deficient in Leptin eat too much because they still feel hungry, even after eating a full meal.

This ancient herb, which is native to China, Korea and Japan, has been used in Chinese medicine for centuries.

Research on mice at Harvard has proved that Leptin in the Thunder God Vine reduced appetite, causing weight loss. A reduced food intake resulted in a 45% weight loss over several weeks of taking the herb each day.

And there have been no toxic effects observed in the use of the herb.

The Leptin within the Thunder God Vine looks to be very promising for curing obesity: It has the capacity to awaken the appetite centre in the brain, so that instead of ignoring those signals to stop eating, when you already have a full tummy, the brain will have the right response. With the help of Leptin from the Thunder God, you should feel full after a meal, and not want to overeat.

Of course, the herb will not be enough on its own in maintaining a healthy body. Adequate exercise must be taken.

Food choices should still be sensible ones, with sugary foods, wheat flour breads and cakes all omitted from the diet Yeast products should be avoided too.

It is really best to avoid dairy foods as well, and use soya milk instead of dairy milk. Remember that the pastures where dairy cows graze have been sprayed with many chemicals, and these chemicals get absorbed in concentration in the cow’s milk. Some of these chemicals can cause cancer and other health problems, such as obesity and depression. See the paragraph on herbicides and pesticides below.

Another negative aspect of dairy milk is that it is spoilt for human consumption by pasteurization. Pasteurized milk is difficult to digest properly, and many people have a problem with it. Dairy milk, and especially pasteurized dairy milk, causes mucous to form in the intestines, and this milk makes a home for intestinal parasites, or worms.

If the milk is not digested properly, then it causes bloating in the bowel, which causes the stomach to swell. Wheat products can do the same thing. Wheat bread is especially bad when it is made with yeast, as the yeast tends to continue fermenting in the intestines.

Food additives in the way of colourings, preservatives and flavourings, are a must to avoid. Many of these chemicals have very damaging effects on the health, as well as the appetite.

Another thing to be careful to avoid is herbicides and pesticides, as these can interfere with the body and brain functions in many ways which are damaging to health. The glyphosphate weedkiller such as RoundUp is very bad, and I believe that the world-wide use of this is one major cause of obesity. It damages the natural intestinal flora, killing off the beneficial bacteria and increasing others, such as candida albicans, which causes yeast infections.

Basically, RoundUp and many other agricultural chemicals alter the balance of organisms in the bowel. When candida gets out of control, it means you do not digest your food properly, your immune system is weakened, and you are likely to fall sick. Deficiencies in nutrients can arise, which can lead you to be continually hungry.

When these chemicals are sprayed continually around your environment, then you really are in trouble.

The other thing that some of these herbicides and pesticides do is alter the hormonal secretions: The pineal and pituitary glands, I find, are noticeably affected. These centres seem to become inflamed and disconnected from the brain after exposure to weed-killer such as glyphosphate-containing RoundUp. These important energy centres can get out of control, doing their own thing regardless of what the body needs. The disturbances in their normal functioning can cause a feeling of alienation from the world, as well as depression and appetite disturbances.

Last, but not least, meditation and yoga can help enormously to de-stress the body and brain. Yoga Nidra, an ancient practice of relaxation, is a wonderful technique which can relax the brain, allowing you to reprogramme yourself, devoid of the emotional clutter which prevents you from really enjoying your life.

Natural Remedies

Culpeper says of Sage that it ’causes the hair to become black’.

Garden sage has many therapeutic uses.

In the garden, its flowers provide medicine and nectar for the bees, as well as a herbal tonic to the neighbouring plants.

It is well-known as an aid to oral hygiene. It has strong antiseptic qualities and is supposed to whiten tooth enamel.

Sage is still used today in some tooth-pastes. It is reputedly one effective remedy for bleeding gums, and improving gum health: The crushed fresh leaves are massaged several times a day onto the gums and teeth.

The tea is gargled to relieve sore throats, colds and flu, and ulcers in the mouth.

It can be effective to reduce fevers, and has been used in the past for thyphoid fever. (see ‘Herbal Remedies and Homeopathy’ published by Geddes and Grosset.)

It is a valuable nerve medicine, and is a useful stomach remedy for improving a weak appetite.

Natural Herbal Hair Dye and Tonic: Sage can help restore healthy hair and improve the colour.

Strong sage tea encourages hair growth and darkens the hair, if it is used on a regular basis. Many herbalists describe it in their writings: see John Heinerman’s ‘Encyclopedia of Fruits Vegetables and Herbs’.

Rosemary is another wonderful herb which can help hair growth, but it does not have such a darkening effect on the hair, as sage does.

Recipe For Sage Hair Dye: Here is a simple, natural hair dye and tonic which you can try. It is perfectly safe to use, as it does not contain any harmful additives such as you might find in commercial dyes for darkening the hair.

Take two cups of fresh sage leaves and put into a stainless steel saucepan.

Add one cup of dry black tea leaves

Add half a cup of cider vinegar and eight cups of water.

Simmer very gently, with no lid, for one hour on a very low heat. You should have around half the original quantity of liquid left at the end of an hour. If you need to add a little more water, make sure you do so well before you finish simmering the brew. If you add more water at the end of the simmering, then your mixture will not keep so well.

Take off the heat after an hour of simmering. Set aside to cool.

Once your sage mixture has cooled properly, strain it off.

To the liquid remaining add the same amount of vodka.

Put into a bottle with a screw-top lid and store in a cool place.

Massage around a tablespoonful of the sage infusion into the hair each day. Use more or less, depending on how much hair you need to cover.

Massage the sage tonic well into the roots of the hair as well, so that it feeds the scalp and hair follicles. Massaging the scalp with the sage tonic will help the hair to grow again.

The oils in the sage leaves will put a natural shine to the hair.

Once the hair is sufficiently darkened, which may take several weeks, you can reduce the amount of applications each week. Once or twice a week may be enough to maintain the darker colour.

Sage is really very good for the hair in so many ways.

Alternative Sage Tonic Without Alcohol: You could make up your sage tea without the alcohol if you wish. Only, remember that your mixture will not keep for longer than a week, and it must be kept in the fridge. You could make up a lesser amount, enough to last a week, and then make up a fresh brew of tea for the following week.

My new book is available on Amazon:

Yoga Nidra Deep Relaxation

Soya For Weight Loss And Lowering Cholesterol

Castor Oil And Ginger For Weight Loss

March Against Monsanto Planned New York 23 May 2015