The Shift Doctors (Marion Ross & Tracy Latz) are thrilled to have Michael Borkin, NMD post as a guest blogger here at Shift Your Life®. Dr. Michael Borkin, NMD is a pioneer in hormone and electrolyte research and is considered to be the “Father of Naturopathic Endocrinology”. He specializes in hormone and electrolyte testing and balancing. He is also one of the creators of the science of bio-identical hormones and transdermal (through the skin) creams. Unique creams are created for each patient to restore hormonal homeostasis. The creams are made up of hormones, hormone precursors, nutrients, homeopathics, herbs and electrolytes. Specific electrolyte and nutrient rich supplements help balance each patient’s bio-chemistry in all their cells, including the brain. Some of the most famous actors, stars and athletes are his patients. They keep his name as a jealously guarded secret so he will personally have time to work with them. They want to take advantage of his knowledge and research so he can create and monitor their special balancing programs. They are desperate to look younger, have more energy, feel their best and perform at optimal levels.
What Did I Eat?! by I. Michael Borkin, NMD
How many times have you asked yourself, “What did I eat?” No matter how healthy we try to be, we just can’t seem to find real food. I thought I was blessed because as a child I grew up in a household that did not contain sodas or Coco Puffs. However, even the fruits and vegetables we consumed had been sprayed with pesticides such as DDT. In retrospect we realize that not only were we eating poison, but that we had no concept of how it was going to someday poison our children and their children’s children. Recent studies from research dating back to 2005 indicate that what our Great-Great-Great Grandparents were exposed to is even still now active in our bodies causing dysfunction and disease.
The fact is that we been unaware that what we expose ourselves to can have transgenerational ramifications. Until recently we didn’t realize that when the first generation eats a GMO, it can affect as many as five subsequent generations. “Ignorance is bliss” is no longer the acceptable status quo. It is time that we wake up and realize that if we don’t address this issue now, many generations will be affected. When it comes to finding food, if we go back in 90,000+ years time, to the origin of our modern human body, we were nomads and our diet was a reflection of the environment in which we lived. We didn’t have a specific diet, we didn’t cultivate and never had an idea that we even could. Man was dynamic, moving from one place to the next based on several factors. The prevalence of food in a survivable and ideally congenial climate, a desire to find a “greener pasture,” and a lack of plumbing, kept us on the move.
Today our food travels further than we do and is subject to continual assaults from a variety of sources: pathogenic bacteria, pesticides and fumigation and, more recently, the advent of hybridizing staples with Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO), which are now ubiquitous in food products. Corn’s DNA now contains a gene from soil bacteria called Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) that produces the Bt-toxin. It’s a pesticide that ruptures the stomach of certain insects and kills them.
The Bt-toxin is believed to be completely destroyed in the human digestive system. However, new research confirms just the opposite. Doctors at Sherbrooke University Hospital in Quebec found the corn’s Bt-toxin in the blood of pregnant women and their babies, as well as in non-pregnant women. (Specifically, the toxin was identified in 93% of 30 pregnant women, 80% of umbilical blood in their babies, and 67% of 39 non-pregnant women.) Additional studies have identified the BT toxin to be a danger not only to the first generation that consumes it, but also subsequent generations.
One of the areas of concern has to do with the brain’s ability to recognize a food and use it appropriately. Our brains start early, even before we are born, learning what is safe based on the diet of our mother. As mama eats food, developing baby starts sampling this food in the amniotic fluid, establishing a food knowledge from which all of our future choices will be based upon. Studies show that as early as during week 32 of development, we begin developing this food inventory based on what Mama is eating because it is perceived to be safe. How a woman eats while pregnant establishes how baby will process these foods.
When produce is genetically modified it is not part of the food inventory established during fetal development. This affects the way that it is utilized and causes an immune response because, when unrecognized, the brain has no way to sequence the events necessary for it to be properly used. For instance, when we eat a tomato that has been influenced by genetic modification, there is no preexisting knowledge to identify how to use it and it will be identified to be a foreign invader. That’s what our brain says every time you put something genetically modified into your mouth. This allergic response causes an inflammatory response preventing it from being absorbed in the proper manner. This continual assault leads to mal-absorption and gastrointestinal disease. This can be passed on in the form of micro RNA (miRNA) and affects future generations even if they are never exposed first-hand. The implications are devastating and the more we learn about GMO the more we are coming to understand that this is not a viable food source. It should be abandoned in favor of sustainable agriculture. This would provide higher-yield crops and eliminate the negative transgenerational effect that GMO is now proving to cause.
Common GMO foods grown in the USA include soy, corn, sugar beets, yellow squash, zucchini, canola oil, cotton seed oil and papaya (from Hawaii) — and, as of November 2015, salmon. None of these foods are required to be labeled, making it all but impossible for the consumer to avoid them. The companies that make billions of dollars from genetically modified are among the most powerful in the world: chemical companies such as Monsanto, pharmaceutical companies, and agribusiness (Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland, ConAgra), and food producers (Nestlé, General Mills). They have government agencies such as the FDA, USDA and NIH; most dietary and nutritional academic research; and the mainstream media bought and paid for and are able brainwash the public that GMO’s are not only safe but importantly beneficial. It is up to enlightened medical professionals to educate their patients on what they can do to protect themselves, and to do what we can to stop this cataclysmic health juggernaut.
1). Anway MD, Cupp AS, Uzumcu M, Skinner MK (2005) Epigenetic transgenerational actions of endocrine disruptors and male fertility. Science 308: 1466–1469. doi: 10.1126/science.1108190
2). Aris A, Leblanc S. “Maternal and fetal exposure to pesticides associated to genetically modified foods in Eastern Townships of Quebec, Canada”. [Reprod Toxicol. 2012]
3). Skinner MK, Manikkam M, Guerrero-Bosagna C (2010) Epigenetic transgenerational actions of environmental factors in disease etiology. Trends Endocrinol Metab 21: 214–222. doi: 10.1016/j.tem.2009.12.007
4).Anway MD, Leathers C, Skinner MK (2006) Endocrine disruptor vinclozolin induced epigenetic transgenerational adult-onset disease. Endocrinology 147: 5515–5523. doi: 10.1210/en.2006-0640
5). Cuda-Kroen, (2011) Baby’s Palate and Food Memories Shaped Before Birth. NPR News.
Here’s wishing you Healthy Eating to Shift Your Life!
Dr. Michael Borkin with the “Shift Doctors” Marion Ross & Tracy Latz
— I. Michael Borkin, N.M.D., in professional practice for 17 years, is dedicated full-time to endocrine research and is CEO/Director of The Foundation for The Advancement of Endocrine Research. He is also Director of Research and Development for Sabre Sciences. A pioneer in transdermal delivery systems, his ideas have given birth to naturopathic therapies, including Neuro Emotional Sensory Training (NEST) and Quantum Magnetic Manipulation (Q2m). He is past president of the California State Naturopathic Medical Association, and is an independent medical/nutritional consultant. To schedule a consultation regarding hormonal testing or therapy, contact him by email: drmichaelborkin@gmail.com