At the Los Angeles Fit Expo last weekend one of the hot topics for many people who came and talked to me was GMOs—genetically modified organisms, or the more recent expression GE (genetically engineered) crops.
People are understandably concerned or downright frightened about the safety of the food they’re buying, and want to know the “latest” in terms of GMO dangers and how to avoid them.
What makes this even more challenging is that the waters are getting increasingly muddy—major food manufacturers like Kellogg’s, Del Monte, General Mills, Nestlé’s and Campbell’s Soup are discretely funding efforts to defeat proposed legislation that would require stricter labeling identifying GMO ingredients.
And many are actually using GMO ingredients in their products as well.
So, my friend, you can be eating GMO foods by the boatload and not even know it.
Let’s take a look at the latest on GMO foods, what studies have been done regarding their safety, and how you can avoid them.
First the basics—what they are
Genetically modified organisms are created when the DNA of one organism is “inserted” or “spliced” into the DNA of another organism.
Nature has been doing something similar to this since the beginning of time—different variations of crops have been created when the wind or insects move pollen from one plant to another, many times creating a more hearty or nutritious species.
But with GMOs we’re not talking about plant to plant transfers of pollen.
Instead scientists are cutting off bits of a living organism's DNA and splicing them into the DNA of a completely unrelated species.
For example, chicken genes have been inserted into potato DNA or fish genes into strawberry DNA.
So for all of you who are allergic to seafood, think about that next time you eat strawberries.
In addition, rodent genes have been inserted into tobacco.
Bacteria and viruses are being spliced into cucumbers and tomatoes.
And the big one--chemical pesticides, fungicides and herbicides (especially Roundup) are being inserted into numerous crops.
Now, the way the idea of GMOs is being “sold” to the public is that they’re “necessary” to address our ever-skyrocketing demand for food—since these “Franken-crops” aresupposedly better able to resist pests, droughts, disease and other crop-destroying forces and produce higher yields.
But, my friend, none of this has been shown to be true.
On the contrary, genetically altering plants actually increases disease susceptibility of the plants by impairing their immune response!
It also decreases--not increases—crop yield.
According to Dr. Don Huber (an award-winning, internationally recognized scientist, and professor of plant pathology at Purdue University for the past 35 years), there has neverbeen a genetically engineered plant that increases the intrinsic yield of a plant.
But that’s just the tip of the GMO iceberg.
Now let’s look at…
The safety record of GE crops
Regardless of what food companies, the media, Monsanto (the manufacturer of the herbicide Roundup) and various so-called “experts” claim, there are simply NO peer-reviewed scientific papers clearly establishing the safety of GMO crops.
There are, however, clinical and peer-reviewed scientific papers and other mountains of evidence showing their dangers.
GE foods, as well as conventional crops that are heavily sprayed with glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup), have lower nutrient density than organic foods.
They also contain high amounts of pesticides which have a long list of well-documented harmful health effects.
In addition, genetically altering crops creates “Franken-proteins” which are completely foreign to your body, and can put your immune system on alert, creating potential allergic reactions that simply cannot be predicted.
Epidemiological patterns show an increase in over 30 human diseases correlating with our increased usage of glyphosate and the increased prevalence of these genetically engineered proteins in our food.
In addition, glyphosate is a known chelator—meaning it pulls essential minerals out of your body. It also immobilizes nutrients, so they’re not physiologically available for your body.
Plus glyphosate also happens to be patented as an antibiotic—and if you’ve been a reader of mine for even a short time you know what that means…
It destroys your beneficial gut flora which can weaken your immune system and lead to GI problems of all kinds!
GMO = Growing massively obese?
Yet another suspected danger of GMO crops has recently arisen.
Obesity!
That’s right.
As part of a project examining the health effects of GMOs, researchers from Norway studied 2 groups of rats. One group was fed food containing GMO corn and the other was given food made with conventional corn.
Over the course of 90 days, the rats eating the GMO corn diet grew fatter and consumed more food than the rats on the non-GMO diet.
The researchers also observed that rats got fatter when they ate fish that had been raised on GMO corn--so there's a chain reaction effect!
They also tried the experiment on salmon and saw similar results.
Fish eating GMO corn grew faster and ate more than fish eating non-GMO corn.
And the salmon eating the GMO corn were also less able to digest proteins, and experienced immune system changes that didn't occur in the non-GMO-fed fish.
So the dangers I quoted up above regarding proteins and immune responses were shown in the fish!
How will I know?
Hopefully you’re wondering at this point how you can spot a GE food or GMO crop.
Well, food companies and Monsanto are doing their best to keep you in the dark, but there are some ways you can help keep these Franken-foods out of your life and help your body recover from any of the harmful effects that you may have already unknowingly encountered.
Here's how--it just involves these 5 smart strategies:
1) Become a careful label reader
There's no need to panic and avoid buying produce and missing out on all its awesome health benefits.
All you need to do is when shopping for produce look closely at the little stickers on the items. Here's what they mean:
- 4-digit code: It’s your regular old traditionally grown produce
- 5-digit code: Look at the first number.
- If it starts with a 9, it's organic and safe.
- If it starts with an 8, it's a GMO!
2) Avoid processed foods
GMO crops are also slipped into in packaged/processed foods, and the labels don't need to spell that right out for you.
For example, many types of snack chips are made with GMO corn.
Sodas are sweetened with high fructose corn syrup made from GMO corn.
The general rule of thumb to ensure your safety is that if a food is processed and not organic, assume it is made with GMO ingredients.
Now if you wish to indulge in a snack or convenience food, make sure it's organic (more on that in number 3 below).
3) Buy organic whenever you can
Organic foods by their very definition do not contain GMO ingredients.
So if you want corn chips or other packaged foods, at least opt for organic brands.
And try to buy as much organic meat and produce as possible.
If you're on a tight budget and can't afford to go 100% organic, here are the items which have the largest amounts of pesticide residue and are most important to buy organic:
- Celery
- Peaches
- Strawberries
- Apples
- Blueberries
- Nectarines
- Bell Peppers
- Spinach
- Cherries
- Kale/Collard
- Greens
- Potatoes
- Grapes (Imported)
An easy rule of thumb is if you’re going to be eating the entire food (skin and all) try to go organic. If you’re going to be peeling or paring a thick skin on the food (such as with bananas, pineapple or avocado), traditionally grown is acceptable.
4) Eat real foods & have good digestion
When you eat real foods and have efficient digestion, you are significantly minimizing your chances of taking in GMOs, and you also help nourish your body the way Nature--NOT the biotech industry--intended.
Not only will this help regular BMs become YOUR morning glory, but you'll be less likely to overeat and gain weight (unlike the unlucky rats and fish in the studies I mentioned above).
And of course, good digestion can also mean less acid reflux, gas and bloating too!
All you need to do is follow a reliable program that will show you how to structure healthy, easier to digest meals and guide you on making REAL foods that are positively scrumptious.
"It often takes more courage to change one's opinion than to stick to it." Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742-1799) Physicist and philosopher