On June 22, the Canoe Club hosted Ellie Gibson, who taught the senior citizens about organic lifestyles. There were snacks and beverages featured at the club, while Gibson talked about the benefits of a healthy and organic lifestyle.
Gibson first explained that having an organic lifestyle can benefit the health of a person greatly. She said that eating organically can work and decrease health problems, whether the person was older or even a young child. One of the biggest oppositions to having a healthy lifestyle are laws, according to Gibson.
“Corporations support the politicians, and the politicians owe the corporations. That’s what makes the laws. Doesn’t matter if it’s medical or agricultural; those are the laws that are made,” Gibson said.
She went into further detail on the topic, giving an example to the group. She asked if anyone had heard of the abbreviation GMO, which stands for a genetically modified organism. Genes are taken from different crops, and used to modify one bigger and better product. Big corporations use this GMO label to try and trick customers into buying their product, Gibson said, and these modifications can lead to potential hazards.
“One thing I do know is, they had to do this because the insects became immune to the pesticides. In order to make the pesticides stronger that didn’t kill the plants, they had to alter the gene structure of the plants themselves. Wheat alone is sprayed 15 times … the most polluted products in the United States are soy, corn and wheat. Any of those will make you seriously ill, and in all different ways,” Gibson said.
She said that corporations who were against the GMO label had to put “We are not GMO” on their product, due to the big corporations using the GMO label.
Growth hormones are also a concern for Gibson, as she gave the example of extra-sized utters on cows. The damage done to the cows because of these hormones means that antibiotics are necessary for the cows. This leads to pus in milk, and can be unhealthy.
After explaining some information on GMOs and growth hormones, Gibson showed the group some statistics from people she has helped in the past. She had done a study, testing the different levels of health in an individual. Gibson showed charts to the group revealing these levels in individuals she studied, and the results were significant.
One of the participants in the study, only named as Shirley at the event, was a 61 year old who had to cook for five people. Gibson claimed Shirley was not a fan of cooking, and the family ate a ton of processed food. When shown the chart for Shirley, the group was appalled at her health when Gibson first met the woman. Shirley was, as said by Gibson, in the worst health of all the individuals she helped. Shirley was malnourished, and was not getting the nutrients her body needed. In turn, Shirley had weakness in the lower back, hot flashes, tired easily, had a humped back, fearfulness, nausea, cold hands and feet, excessive cavities and even bleeding gums. Gibson tried to help Shirley, and told her that the family could eat whatever they wanted, and however much they wanted.
Gibson explained to the group that she had to get creative for Shirley, opting to trade Cocoa Pebbles for Cheerios and chocolate milk as an example. However, with the organic lifestyle that Gibson had implemented, Shirley had made quite an improvement in the next few months.
Gibson showed Shirley’s chart after a few months, which showed that Shirley had improved the most out of all the individuals Gibson had helped.
“She turned into literally a new person,” Gibson said with a smile.
With Gibson’s advice, many seniors walked away with some helpful information on what foods to avoid, and organic foods to start trying out.