April 23, 2026

Food Pollution: What The Heck Is That?

By: Dr. J. Renae Norton

Here are just a few of the things that I discovered over the past 10 years when it comes to U.S. food supply. Not only were they shocking to me they are very contrary to both popular beliefs and current medical wisdom. By pointing them out, it is my hope that I can help you or someone you love by sharing this information:

  • Thyroid disease is epidemic, under-diagnosed 60% of the time, and drives everything from diabetes to schizophrenia.9 It is a major factor in the obesity epidemic in the U.S. It also has been implicated in diabetes and high cholesterol as well as ovarian, prostate, and breast cancer. Much of it is the result of iodine deficiency, which affects 72% of the world’s population. The rest is due to attacks on the thyroid gland from pollutants found in our food, disordered eating, and/or lifestyle issues. 
  • Many of the foods Americans eat on a daily basis contain sugars that are as addicting as heroin and cocaine.10 They are usually genetically engineered. Sugar has been implicated in most inflammatory diseases including Alzheimer’s.
  • High cholesterol is not the problem and statins are not the solution. Cholesterol is good for you when it comes from healthy fats. Bad cholesterol is not caused by eating foods high in cholesterol. It is caused by eating too much sugar, which oxidizes the LDL cholesterol. It can also be caused by having undiagnosed thyroid problems. Finally, it turns out that supplementing with Vitamin D3 raises your LDL cholesterol. I bet your doctor doesn’t know it either. I am guessing you didn’t know that. I sure didn’t. 
  • Glyphosate (Round-Up) and GMOs are fattening us, sickening us, and aging us, and are a major contributor when it comes to the drastic downward turn in the health of Americans. Outlawed in most other industrial nations, or at least labeled, GMOs are in almost every processed and/or non-organic (conventional) food in the U.S. Despite the terrible impact that polluted foods are having, the laws in this country still do not mandate labeling foods containing GMOs. This is a serious problem when you consider that they are sprayed with glyphosate which is an obesogen, autogen, allergen and carcinogen. 

What I have discovered on this journey that I have been on for more than a decade, is that Americans and their doctors are either not informed or are misinformed when it comes to good health. I am even more determined today than ever before to provide accurate information so that you can regain your health and reverse the aging process just as I have been able to do armed with this information. 

Currently, I am known as a wellness expert who walks the talk. About that. When I started this journey, I was aging very poorly. My hair, what little I had, and which I referred to as “micro-hair”, was falling out. I had dry eye syndrome, high cholesterol, rising blood sugar levels, and the beginnings of dementia. This was not for lack of interest in good health as you can see from the photo below of me in my 20s with Kenny Waller, Mr. USA, when we both worked for a fitness company. 

But drinking vodka tonics for 25 years and eating conventional food had taken its toll, and at the age of 60, I was seeing the effects. After shifting to a clean diet and ditching the vodka tonics with all of that GMO high fructose corn syrup, I began to reap the benefits of clean eating and I still do today. 

At 76, I am healthier now than I was 10 years ago. My hair is back, skin is radically improved, cholesterol is great, eyes are perfect, blood sugar is good, and absolutely no dementia. I am still on occasion mistaken for my grandson’s mom! I have reversed the aging process and so can you.

The first thing I would recommend is to eat organic non GMO foods. Why? We are seeing major problems with GMOs. Here are a few of the most important reasons to avoid GMOs according to the Human Genome Research Project:

  • In a study using fish that ate GMO grains, the fish became obese. More importantly, the animals that ate the fish that ate the GMO grains also became obese and suffered the same gastrointestinal disturbances and immune disorders as the fish. In other words, if you eat the animal that ate the GMO food, you suffer the same consequences the animal suffered. Uh oh! Unless you are eating 100% grass-fed or wild-caught and all organic, (like I am) you are very likely eating the animal that ate the GMOs.
  • Besides becoming obese, animals fed a GMO diet also had significant changes in the digestive system and major organs, including the liver, kidneys, pancreas, and genitals. This may help to explain the recent increase in diseases associated with these organs in humans, especially cancer. 
  • Animals fed genetically engineered biotech corn were less able to digest proteins. This has huge implications. If you can’t digest proteins, you cannot use them. The amino acids we get from proteins are necessary for all life processes. Also when the body does not know what to do with something, it often just stores it as fat. Great! This is one of the reasons I recommend going organic if you want to lose weight. But I get so much push back. 
  • Finally, researchers found distinct changes in the intestines of animals fed GMOs compared to those fed non-GMOs. This confirms observations by other U.S. researchers that GMOs impact the gut and may help to explain the rise in Leaky Gut Syndrome (LGS) and the more recently discovered Leaky Brain Syndrome (LBS).

I think Gonzalez is right. Stay tuned for how to clean up your diet on a budget.