Metal Trace Minerals. Their use in Humans. Essay #5. Lanthanides and Soybeans.

Today we are going to have some fun and cross over the isle and talk a little bit about some Lanthanides and how they tie in with metal types of minerals. Along with that we will actually focus on one in particular namely, Phosphorus and make mention of a few related ones. So here goes.

When looking at the roles of any one of these minerals, without regard to what type of mineral they are, I am amazed at how similar the needs of a human being and the needs of the soil are in order to produce a good healthy plant. In simple terms, biological entities and plants both get their nutrients from the earth in one form or the other. The earth provides all of these various nutrients in ratios that are similar to the needs of plants and of these biological entities. But both plants and animals, IE: humans, might have very similar needs, many times these balanced ratios are prevented from becoming balanced as a natural course of life/nature. The causes are many, so we need to be careful to not place the blame in the wrong places. Let’s move past the blame and focus on what is and what is to come.

When working with the soil and comparing what is there or needs to be there based on the need of the plant  can be a challenge. Many of you are familiar with the standard big 3 of fertilizers that are normally applied to soil in many crop situations, namely;NPK. That is an acronym for Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium. There are many different forms of each one of these, some being more effective than others, are applied based on perceived plant requirements. These are the main macro-nutirents and there are many other micro-nutirents, IE: minerals than participate in the diet of the soil. No matter how important these 3 are, the one, Phosphorus, is likely a very critical one. So today we will focus on that one as part of this discussion. 

The importance of Phosphorus is widespread as every cell and most every action within the body requires the contribution of Phosphorus. From the Mountsinai.org site in their discussion on Phosphorus they give a long list of where and how Phosphorus is used and what happens if there is too much. From my perspective in studying their material and the material from many other sources as well as my own experience with the soil and animals, all I can say is there is no way these various groups of people are out to lunch on this subject.  Since we have been talking about some of the following, it brings this mineral into focus a lot clearer. “Quote”, Phosphorus is also needed to help balance and use other vitamins and minerals, including vitamin D, iodine, magnesium, and zinc. “Unquote”. In the last essay we looked at the vital role of Zinc. Then here we learn of just how important Phosphorus is in the overall Zinc balance. 

Now I am sure that many of you are starting to think, “Hey, I thought something about Soybeans was mentioned earlier, so what gives”? It now “gives”. Normally, the best and most efficient way to obtain Phosphorus is through the diet. Most of the time that list consists of  animal and fish sources. But other sources are grains and legumes, of which Soybeans are considered a legume. The problem here is that Soybeans have a real hard time in the uptake of Phosphorus. While Soybeans have a real hard time in the uptake of Phosphorus, they generally up take a lot of other nutrients which helps them in the production of usable/metabolized proteins. Grains also provide a good source of Phosphorus, so those people that avoid grains, miss out on a good Phosphorus source, Vegans also miss out by not using the animal sources of this mineral mainly because it is hard to eat enough of the non animal sources to get enough. Then we have pretty much everyone else being included in missing out because of their off balance of many other nutrient contributions that manifests as other diseases that people miss the boat with because they try to equate the single cause of the disease without considering the over contribution or under contribution of Phosphorus. I use Soybeans as an example because of the large amounts of soy that are used in many of the Western world processed food products.Another factor that affects the quality production with Soybeans is the Arsenic connection in the soil. While Arsenic is vital to the plants health, as a general rule, Soybeans have a real difficult time with Arsenic and this mineral just plain stresses the daylights out of Soybeans. Basically a Soybean plant cannot tolerate Arsenic stress as well as other plants do. Although both a Soybean plant and an Alfalfa plant are both legumes, an Alfalfa plant can do very well with a high Arsenic setting whereas the same PPM levels of Arsenic will pretty much wipe out Soybean plants. 

One of the big factors concerning Arsenic is to think of this in terms of the Gender of Males.  It is without question a necessary aspect of being male. But only a tiny amount is needed. Females do not need even that much, but only a very small fraction of what males need. Arsenic is appropriated on a need basis within the body and thus a tiny amount is needed for anything female, so you don’t really want more than necessary for them. So do you see how that works? Many trace minerals work in much the same way. Perhaps this is the “behind the scenes” actions with Soybeans and Estrogen. As a general rule, many people associate Soy with Estrogen. While Soy tends to activate or promote the expression of estrogen, it isn’t as drastic as many make it out to be so. 

Some of the real and actual problems with Soybeans is the GMO aspect. Pretty much all of the Soy used in the industrial food machine are GMO’ed and have had Herbicides applied to them. This is where the negative aspect of Soy is the most drastically observed. The next is the low levels of Phosphorus is present, which leads to many other issues, such as some cancers. Many of the Calcium related issues are because of the low levels of Phosphorus and off balance of the C-P ratio as well as many other ratios, because of the Phosphorus contribution to the many aspects of this one mineral. In most of these settings, as in natural health discussions, we hear a lot about the Soybean connection and how bad the stuff is. Perhaps the worst thing about Soybeans is the GMO factor. It just really messes with the natural assimilation of the plant, at some point down the road. But in reality one might be able to argue with solid evidence that it has more to do with the contribution of the herbicide use on the plant than even the GMO aspect. One of the main reasons for the GMO aspect of the plant is to tolerate the use of various herbicides, namely Glyphosate. As a side note here, I am not discussing this product from a keyboard warrior angle. I have used this product in my own agricultural pursuits over a number of years. So I think I have at least an actual frame of reference to this item. The dangers of this herbicide is from the financial angle of the user of the stuff. The stuff costs a lot of money. Then as the plants have moved to a high resistance state to this chemical,  it becomes less effective .So other herbicides are generally incorporated into the chemical cocktail, the financial costs rise even more. But the nice thing about it is that as it degrades, it eventually breaks down to a simple Carbon and Nitrogen source. So it can be argued that since it breaks down to those two main elements, it saves on fertilizer costs. But with that concept it seems like the weeds are the only ones to benefit. 

When we look at the studies on Soybeans we will see many studies linked to Glyphosate, it seems like the two go hand in hand. 

The whole Glyphosate thing has been studied extensively over time. For example, a study in 1999 showed that Glyphostae poses no bad health responses. Several others in this time frame found the same results. I would say that this would likely be a true statement. Back in that time frame the whole research community was essentially whoring after money to do research from anyone that would front them the money. Keep in  mind that in academia, you must publish or die.In going this route you are kind of under obligation to produce the findings the funding mechanism wants, if you want to have more funding in the future. So it kind of produced a new monster called for research that produced results based on desired outcome. For the most part, the majority of research in the Western World and in the US in particular still follows that model. But outside the US, one can find some legitimate studies, for the most part anyway, that you can glean legitimate data from. However, in the US, we are now starting to see a few studies with legitimate material in them.

Now within that light we can begin to see some data coming to light about this Glyphosate deal. Now keep in mind that in some of these studies the researchers have made the additional comment that Glyphosate is among the least harmful of the Herbicides normally used in these settings. Let that sink in. Keep in mind that Glyphosate is much like a glue. When applied it is in liquid form, then once applied, it is somewhat sticky, then it dries on the surfaces and it is never washed off. Since many of the weeds are Glyphosate resistant, other chemicals are used with Glyphosate to make a cocktail to kill weeds and defoliate. One of the more widely used ones known widely as Diacambia. This is just a renaming of a weed killer and defoliates from the past known as 2,4,D.  This chemical is one that I have used in the past as well, it comes in 2 forms, a water based and an oil based. (I always preferred the water formulation myself). The kicker here is that the 2,4 D chemical formulation is pretty much a calmed down version of, can I have a drum roll here… Agent Orange. In the recent past, after they started using the stuff mixed in with Glyphosate, Alfalfa that had been treated with the stuff and sent to China and Japan, was rejected for importation to those countries. Those 2 countries were not going to have any part of that stuff. Needless to say the Alfalfa growers here said that it was perfectly safe. Those 2 countries said we disagree. So a lot of containers of Alfalfa were just dumped at sea, a lot are still sitting at the ports here in the US, so I am told from reliable sources. Those countries remember full well from this type of chemical being used in their own backyard and the multi generational effects of the stuff. 

Since we have touched on the multi generational stuff here, let’s talk about that stuff. The big danger here is with these chemicals that have an enormous down range/multi generational effects. Studies that were done in the past, the “next” generation was yet to come into existence. Now that these multi generations have come into existence, many problems are being manifested. Once these health related issues have manifested themselves, an investigation is launched. This is done in a large part by reverse engineering tactics. Basically, you follow the flow by going up stream and find the source of the issue. 

  Summary;

Let’s move on. I have talked about all kinds of stuff. But here is the danger of Soybeans and 

Soy products. The Soybean in and of itself is really a pretty good plant. But it is what people have done to it that makes it essentially bad. First off it is GMO’ed. That makes it a different plant in many ways that is not recognized by nature, as a naturally created plant, IE;, square peg in a round hole. There are excessive amounts of various …cides (Herbicides, Pesticides, etc.,), used on the plant. As a result, many of the ill effects on humans, animals and even the overall environment are not always immediate. Many very serious ill effects are not manifested  until you get down to the F 1 or F 2 generations. Then most people, either from being dumb or not wanting to recognize the facts, will “look for airplanes in the sky” by never looking up, so to speak., while proclaiming, “Nothing to see here folks”.  Then we have to look at the plant itself, because of all of the mutation factors used during the whole growing process, it causes other problems. First off, Soybean plants are notoriously famous for being bad for the uptake of Phosphorus. IE: they are really bad when it comes to the uptake of Phosphorus. Phosphorus is one of those elements that touches every single cell, every muscle, every bone and plays an important role in all mental health issues. Phosphorus is also an important factor with all things in the metabolism of Calcium. Have you ever heard of the so-called, “Downer Cow Syndrome”? Yeah, that is the one where cows will hit a point of becoming immobile. The whole energy thing just won’t work. 

So what basic thing does all of these Herbicides do to the plant, most any plant. Well, they totally mess with the Manganese operations within the plant. They totally mess with the Iron operations in the plant and totally shut down Photosynthesis. 

So what happens when you are dealing with energy issues in soils and soil growing conditions? Yes, feed the soil more Nitrogen. That usually causes some form of Nitrate issues that tend to run off from the soil into water ways. It isn’t a good thing. This Phosphorus deficiency doesn’t seem to plague the Non-GMO Soybean plants. Do I need to say more?  They tend to work just fine with this Phosphorus thing. Same as with Nitrogen use, they don’t need as much added Nitrogen. Remember that they are a Legume and these Legumes fixates their own Nitrogen. But generally the Soy plants are asked to do more than what can be fixed in a season. 

So how do you work with it. Many herbs will contain good solid levels of metabolize Phosphorus. When it comes to Essential Oils, the first go to ones are Marjoram and Boron. Why Boron? Because of the messing up of the Iron and Manganese, well, Phosphorus as well, it tends to mess up any Estrogen in the plant and it’s promotion of Estrogen properties. Many people, using outdated models have come to the conclusion that high levels of Estrogen causes cancer. Present day models tell a much different story. Boron helps to fix that concern. Plus with the Marjoram use, which is essentially a Phosphorus promoter/activator, energy, muscle movement and the Calcium factor is restored. Bottom line; Phosphorus runs Calcium and all things Calcium. Does more need to be said? Well, more can be said.

How many of you have heard of beets? Well those thins are powerhouses of nutrition, especially Phosphorus. Many small grains such as Oats and Barley are excellent sources of Phosphorus. Many garden plants are too. But the key here in many of these are that in order to be powerhouses of nutrition, they can't be "..cided to death". For thousands and thousands of years, none of these plants  exhibited anything but good properties. Then along came the man made chemicals. Then they are all of a sudden "Bad" food.

Earlier in this discussion I mentioned how people must be dumb to not recognize the danger of these assaults being placed nature created good foods. Actually, they aren't dumb, they are just falling into the age old category that is found in the Game Theory branch of modern Psychology. This is a question that baffles researchers there, this is the question; Why do people not act in their own best interests?

Thank you for your time and interest. KK

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