It was not until I became pregnant with my son that I began to scrutinize a world overrun with chemicals. I thought I would be done with the research portion of the program following a few hours on the internet one Saturday afternoon. Three years later, stacks of books, newspapers, magazines, countless hours following online leads, numerous conversations with environmental advocates, I am no closer to understanding chemical exposure but I have added reason to be concerned.

Environmental scientists have been sounding the alarm for years but not much is being done to stop the poisoning of our supply of food, air, and water. For every step forward we take, we slip back even further as thousands of new chemicals are introduced each year with almost no testing being done as to how these chemicals will react when combined together.

During this journey I have learned that it is not only the future at issue but where we are right now. Consider today's escalating disease statistics and if you delve just a little bit deeper than acknowledging sickness and disease is running our economy and our lives, you will see that chemicals and a varied mixture of chemicals are at the ship’s helm determining our course and will continue to do so long into the future.

When I learned that a vast majority are not similarly concerned at the daunting statistics associated with chemical exposure, it occurred to me that when evidence is unpleasant and would require too great an effort to change the outcome, one inevitably redefines what is normal. Apparently it is now normal to have bodies that deteriorate after death at a slower rate because of all the preservatives contained therein!

It is normal to have our infants and small children injected with dangerous chemicals, such as mercury, aluminum, MSG, and formaldehyde – chemicals linked to disorders ranging from brain and nerve damage to autism and attention deficit disorder – and call it vaccination from disease.

Apparently it is now normal to be surrounded by people with chronic ailments, drugging symptoms into submission until the next symptom emerges (as a side effect) and needs another drug to suppress that symptom. Conditions such as fibromyalgia, autoimmune disorders, multiple chemical sensitivities, osteoporosis, heart disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s Disease, ADD/HD, autism, brain tumors, crippling pain, not to mention frequent colds and viruses, strep throat, ear infections, and subsequent overuse of antibiotics and pharmaceutical drugs. I do not even work in an industry that is at high risk for chemical exposure but the topic of disease has now replaced “water cooler chatter”.

It is now normal to be young and yet have attended several funerals of friends who have died of cancer.

I began to study nutrition and supplementation like I have never studied it before – and I was no slacker during previous years. My son was not going to succumb to a life of ill health – not on my watch! And as I implemented my strategy I quickly learned that I did not have the support of my peers, medical advisors, corporate America, government, and certainly not the pharmaceutical drug industry which, of course, would prefer I use their method of immune support – vaccinations!

My desire to detoxify and arm the immune system was met with mockery from nearly everyone I encountered until I slipped slowly into the sub-subculture of natural health where I found acceptance, although there is always reason to disagree.

Some of the individuals I have come to admire most have been driven from the country and have opened clinics in Tijuana, Mexico, and some are merely isolated from their peers for practicing “quackery”. Numerous medical doctors have become licensed naturopathics just so they could drop ties to the pharmaceutical drug companies and actually help people get well. Others try to lead their patients to better health by carefully chosen words, trying to not upset the guarded mindset of those who need to believe they are not being poisoned by the food they eat, air they breathe, water they drink, and the very alluring appeal of consumerism which is cloaked in chemicals.

It occurred to me that I live in a country where the word “choice” is a battle cry from every corner, an undeniable right, and yet there is to be no choice when it involves caring for your health naturally. Your health insurance provider will not reimburse you for it, the pharmaceutical drug company will not tolerate it, and your doctor is not allowed to recommend it.

How is it we have come to this state of anti-choice when it involves our health? We have excellent doctors who now must practice medicine out of the country in sub-standard clinics and in turn will be criticized by the drug industry for practicing medicine in sub-standard conditions! The hypocrisy abounds.

We are now the guinea pigs in a grand experiment of chemicals, simmering in a pot of toxic soup just waiting to see who survives and what mutant species emerges strong enough to withstand the poison of our environment. Not only are we playing a nasty game of Russian roulette with ourselves as we accept each new chemical being released into the environment but we have absolutely no idea what happens when you mix certain chemicals together. More than 3,000 synthetic chemicals are regularly introduced to U.S. food products each year. Most have not been tested for their toxin producing effects in the human body. The EPA relies on safety data determined by the manufacturing company.

Now let’s consider the medical profession’s tool to help us deal with our toxic bodies shaking and burning with disease from all these chemicals. Synthetic drugs that are, once again, toxic to our systems. Consider this, seriously, when you observe pharmaceutical drugs being pulled from the market after years of approval, as was the case with Vioxx, a drug being used to treat arthritis responsible for causing thousands of individuals to experience strokes and heart attacks before the FDA finally stepped in and had the drug removed (the manufacturing company actually knew of the danger four years before it was officially pulled!); patients prescribed Propulsid for heartburn and also Rezulin for diabetes experienced intestinal damage, heart arrhythmia and liver toxicity; Mellaril – after five decades of use has been linked to heart damage; Posicor, a treatment for angina and hypertension interacted dangerously with 25 other medications; vaccines containing thimerosol have now been linked to neurological disorders (however, the drug companies denied the connection even while pulling the vaccines out of U.S. clinics and shipping to third world countries for distribution!). There are numerous similar reports. Please note, as dangerous as thimerosol is to our health, it is still being used in some vaccinations and you should always make sure your fu shot or vaccination does not contain this mercury-laden preservative.

So I ask you, why would you EVER trust the pharmaceutical drug company to treat your ill-health? Why would you trust ANY drug when you do not know which one will be later pulled following you dropping to the floor?

Considering the fact that the Journal of American Medical Association revealed 106,000 people die each year in American hospitals from the side effects of properly prescribed prescription medications, why would you not do everything in your power to stop drugging yourself and instead strengthen your immune system through natural means, buy organic food, supplement your diet, and avoid chemicals every single chance you get!

We need to stop and consider the consequences of a modern age constructed on the precept that life is better when created through chemistry. Perhaps we have been heading in the wrong direction for 100 years and now need to strip our belief system down to one that can lead us to a better quality of life. The first step: Denial of our chemically laden reality will need to be shed if we are to change this tragic course.

Imagine if for the past 100 years we had put the same sort of effort and financial resources into developing natural supplements, and studying health rather than disease intervention – instead of developing toxic drugs? Personal responsibility has never been more critical to our continued survival.

We have become so distracted by terrorism from outside forces, we did not even notice the dangers lurking right inside the borders of this country, legally operating and profiting from this new version of chemical warfare being waged on our society! As we are lulled into a false sense of security, adverse reactions to properly prescribed medications have become the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S.

Take a look at your own family and if you find that you are constantly dealing with sickness, begin the journey today to get well. It will not be found in a bottle of Robitusson, Tylenol, asthma inhaler, shot of insulin, blood pressure medication, etc. but in a radical change in your internal climate which can only be accomplished through restricting chemical exposure in your food, water and air; detoxification of the chemicals that are now currently making you sick; supplying your body with the nutrients necessary to thrive rather than just survive.