EM Technology simply explained

EM stands for Effective Microorganisms and it has a fascinating history. The product was discovered by a Japanese horticulturalist, Dr. Teruo Higa, some 25 years ago. The good doctor had spent years researching various microorganisms trying to find some combination of beneficial bacteria theres good and bad bacteria, you know that would enhance the growth of plants without the need for pesticides.

Here is a very dedicated scientist with a laudable purpose and probably very squinty eyes. And he is rewarded beyond his wildest dreams. The payoff, however, is almost an accident, because after years of  examining some 2,000 microorganisms and discarding the bad ones he is left with a cocktail of 80 strains of beneficial bacteria, which, not knowing exactly what he had, he unceremoniously throws out on the back lawn of his office one day and goes away for a long weekend.

Upon returning he notices that the patch of lawn onto which he threw the mixture is lush - greener, taller, more vibrant - than the surrounding area. The door was opened. EM is a unique combination of beneficial microorganisms that operate in a revolutionary relationship with each other and in so doing make living organisms (plants, animals, human bodies) hum like Lance Armstrong at the Tour De France.

Which means? Stay with me here because this gets good.

The most extraordinary microbe in this serendipitous gathering of bacteria from the Far Side the leader of the pack, so to speak is the phototropic microbe. Fascinating creature, this bug has been here since before there was oxygen on the planet.  In fact, it is anaerobic (hates oxygen).

How, you might wonder, does a living organism survive without oxygen? In a simple act of adaptive Darwinian brilliance, it consumed what was in the environment: epicurean delights like carbon dioxide, ammonia, methane and hydrogen sulfide. And still does. And in case the light-bulb didnt go on as you read that, take note that these are all modern-day toxins. In other words, we have here a microbe that thrives on poisons and pollutants.

Which is really the beginning of the story.

The other bacteria in EM are aerobic oxygen loving. It had been thought that these two different kinds of bacteria could not survive together because of the dramatic differences of the environments in which they lived. But they do, in a liquid, and heres how. The Phototropic bacteria, as I said, consume carbon dioxide and other toxins and pollutants. And then in a performance that confirms Mother Nature as the planets true environmental Magic Maker, these microbes excrete oxygen, amino acids, antioxidants and other substances that enhance life. 

Green Peace loves you Baby!

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The aerobic (oxygen loving) bacteria then consume the oxygen generated by the Phototropic bacteria. They in turn give off, thats rightcarbon dioxide, which the Phototropic bacteria consume. And so you have this revolutionary relationship - this symbiotic union of beneficial bacteria that, like an organic PacMan, goes charging through the environment in which it finds itself, devouring toxins and pollutants and giving off amino acids, vitamins, trace minerals, enzymes and antioxidants.

This is EM Effective Microorganisms. This is what Dr. Higa discovered. Nobody had ever put these microbes together this way before and the results have been nothing short of astounding.

The agricultural applications of the technology quickly spread around the globe and today it is used in 120 countries. Crop yields have increased dramatically in areas where EM has been used virtually eliminating the need for pesticides or herbicides in the process. Case studies show increases of 30%-40% by rice farmers in Japan and cucumber yields increasing from one vegetable per node to 4-5 per node. Same with corn. Eggplant farmers whose plants were getting 80-90 fruits per plant were able to yield 150 fruits per plant when cultivated with EM.

There may be a few of you a handful, perhaps - that arent eggplant farmers. So let me give you an example a little closer to home. Last year my wife put on an environmental conference. Before she left, she happened to have purchased two small plants and put them on the back patio. Since the plants were the same size, we decided to try a little experiment and we sprayed the soil of one of them with EM. I paid no further attention to the plants. They got some watering from the gardener, but no attention from me. Barb returned 9 days later. We went out together and looked at the two plants: the EM sprayed plant was 2 to 3 times bigger than the other one. For real. Nine days. I blinked. I bent down and looked more closely. No mistake. I stood up and looked around the back yard to see if Houdini might step out from behind a tree and bow. The H man was AWOL.

Its 2 to 3 times bigger than the other one, I say to Barb. She smiles enigmatically and walks back into the house.

But its not just the soil and plant life. Like an organic Swat Team of Eco-police, EM also targets and consumes toxins and pollutants in water. It not only turns the offending chemicals into anti-oxidants and nutritional fairy dust, it helps rid ponds, lakes, rivers and even bays of pathogenic bacteria (bad bugs). Accounts of EM cleaning up toxic bodies of water, large and small, abound in books and literature on the subject.

Descanso Gardens is a beautiful, 160-acre, public garden nestled at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains in La Canada. Set among the oceans of lilacs, camellias, and roses is a 25,000 gallon koi pond that was so thick with algae you couldnt see below the surface, let alone the shrouded fish. The parks management had tried to eliminate the bacterial sludge with repeated chlorine-based chemical strikes. But the algae dug in like a microbial terror cell and held tough.

The koi, hostages in their own homeland to a blanket of environmental debauchery, suffered in contaminated silence.

Enter EM. Gil was introduced to the manager of the park, who was persuaded to use EM to deal with the recalcitrant algae. A few applications just poured the liquid EM into the pond and, well, take a quick look. Go ahead, check it out at www.effens.com. Go to the bottom of the home page and click on the Ponds icon. Then, compare the before and after pictures. Here is a totally organic solution that treated the fungus like a banquet at Buckingham Palace and freed the fish from their prison of the putrid

But the story doesnt end with plants and ponds. Further research revealed an astonishing number of applications for EM including odor control, an organic household cleaner, applications for pets, etc.

My interest soared when I discovered that EM was also used as a probiotic for people. You probably know that probiotics are things you eat or drink which provide your digestive tract with beneficial microorganisms important because 70% of the immune system is managed from the intestines.

Most people associate probiotics with yogurt, which it is. And yogurt is fine. Its good. But EM has many more strains of beneficial bacteria than yogurt and, much more importantly, yogurt does not have the mighty Phototropic microbe and its amazing relationship with its politically incorrect allies.

Comparing EM to yogurt is like comparing Lombardis Green Bay Packers to a junior high school football team. And that understates it. Think about a team of microbes that are: 1) thriving on toxins and polluting elements in your digestive track; 2) generating antioxidants and other healthy by products while doing so and overcoming pathogenic (read, bad) bugs all at the same time.

I started drinking it personally andandand

You see here is where we run into a little problem, because the FDA wont permit me to tell you that I now have X-Ray vision and can jump over tall buildings in a single bound. I cant share Tigers email with you about whats behind his 350 yard drives or Warrens letter about what really fuels his stock picks. And some of you may wonder how Steve came up with iTunes and the iPhone. Will the FDA let me tell you? No. (If you work at the FDA and are reading this, I am using a literary genre called satire: sa-t-i-r-e. I dont really have XRay vision.)

While the results were dramatic and noticeable, I cant really relay the specific results to you. In their benevolence, the high priests of health at the FDA only permit one to say things like, It supports a healthy digestive system, which is like saying Bill Gates has an adequate financial statement.

If that was all, if it were just an extraordinary probiotic, I wouldnt have taken on another hat. I would be using the product, probably telling a few friends about it and waving to the Roadrunner as I blew by. 

But thats not what happened. Dr. Higa took the human health applications of EM one step further, and it was a giant step.

In the early nineties he conducted research with his teams of microbes. He fed them a nutrient-rich mixture of rice bran, brown rice, papaya, and kelp. A unique fermentation process occurred. The process took six months. The result was a clear, golden liquid that is an extraordinarily powerful antioxidant and immune system-boosting supplement.

It is composed of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, amino acids and phytonutrients designed to synergistically maximize the self-healing power of the body.

One often hears words and phrases like these in the world of nutrition and dietary supplements. But I was intrigued.

Sherlock Holmes on steroids, I turned up the research volume. One night, I stumbled across several volumes of research on the use of this product in Japan, China and Pakistan. There were 94 different studies which had been conducted by doctors, scientists and researchers. I dove in. I read all night until my eyes burned and shafts of morning sunlight breached the shutters and announced the reality of morning. I did it the next night, and the next.

What I read in those studies was jaw-dropping. (I can say Jaw-dropping because Im not making any claims; but if I refer you to the site where I found these studies, my FDA attorney says I will be burned at the stake as an FDA heretic. And the Joan of Arc of nutritional supplements I am not.)

Still, there were words in the studies that I didnt understand and enrolling in medical school seemed a bit much. So I gave a half a dozen studies to an MD friend of mine and asked her to read them. She called a week later and gave me a report (which, of course I can not relay to you) and asked where she could buy the product.

I got serious. I contacted two other doctors; one an MD, the other a PhD in clinical nutrition for 25 years. I paid each of them separately - to read all of the studies and give me a summary report good, bad, whatever. I wanted to see if what I was reading about this product was as profound as I thought it was. (Remember, this is an additional, derivative product.)

Weeks later both sent me summary reports which were extraordinarily positive. They said.hmmm, I cant really tell you what they said, either. 

Actually, I can do a little better than that. I sent one of the reports to our aforementioned FDA attorney who works for a law firm in Washington that has more partners than the population of Ecuador.

She sliced and diced it like the sushi chef at Chin Chin. But whats left has been edited by a 900 pound, legal gorilla and it gives us something we can show you.

Here are some of the health benefits included in the report by Dr. Allan Sossin, M.D., a preeminent physician, author and Medical Director of the Institute for Integrative Medicine in Irvine, California.

The product was combined in Japan in 1991 by Professor Teruo Higa.  Many of the nutrients were identified in 1999.  Eighteen amino acids have been identified along with lycopene, CoQ10, carotenoids, quercetin, and numerous other vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

Beyond its application in immune health, the product:

1. promotes gastrointestinal health by promoting healthy flora balance.  It is helpful in relieving occasional constipation, promoting regularity;

2. helps to replenish nutrients lost while taking antibiotics;

3. when used as part of the diet, it may help maintain healthy blood sugar levels;

4. helps to promote healthy and beautiful skin and hair.  It can help with dry, itchy skin;

5. promotes the bodys defense system;

6. promotes energy and stamina which helps to counter fatigue;

7. helps to maintain hepatic health and a healthy liver;

8. promotes a healthy blood clotting response. It also supports healthy blood coagulation;

No toxicity has been found in humans or animals. The potential health benefits alone, or in combination with the probiotic EM, are vast.  Its beneficial metabolic changes are well documented, particularly increased antioxidant levels and optimal immune system functions. 

We have entered the era of promoting health naturally, of promoting health by enhancing innate body functions. Probiotics promote overall health with few side effects.  EM may be one of the most potent probiotics yet developed, and has revolutionized agriculture and animal husbandry in many areas of the world.  The antioxidant is the fermented offspring of EM, a kind of super fuel.  It has already revealed its effectiveness.  

 Bruce Wiseman