The Dangers of GMO Foods and How You Can Avoid Them

“Any scientist or politician who assures you that these products are safe is either very stupid or lying.” – World renowned geneticist Dr. David Suzuki

Are you worried about GMOs or Genetically Modified Organisms?

Do you fear for the health of your children, grandchildren and the effects of GMOs on the environment?

Do you want to avoid eating GMOs and ward off a whole host of chronic diseases for you and your children?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you’re not alone. The vast majority of us are concerned about the impact of GMOs on our environment and of course, our health.

Below you will find a brief overview or what GMOs are and the possible health implications of consuming them.

I will also show you how you can easily identify GMO products and list the most common genetically engineered foods.

What are GMO’s

Step into any major supermarket in the US or Canada and you will find hundreds if not thousands of products that have been genetically modified in one way or another.

But what is a GMO?

A GMO is a Genetically Modified Organism.

In genetic engineering (GE), a foreign gene is taken from an external plant or animal source and inserted into the target in order to make the characteristics of the gene more pronounced in the target plant and or animal.

This results in a merging of the DNA from two different species.

Genetic engineering can be done with plants, animals or with microorganisms. It can also be done between different species, e.g. from animal to plant and visa versa.

Why Create Genetically Modified Food?

As an example, scientists have genetically modified some sweetcorn so that they produce a poison that kills insects. In this case, the corn would be Bt-corn which refers to the bacteria Bacillus Thuringiensis which contains an insect killing gene.

This would mean that the farmer may no longer need to fight pests using insecticides.

In the very first example, tomatoes were genetically modified back in 1994 so that the tomatoes would create less of the substance that made them rot. This would result in fresher tomatoes that had a longer shelf life.

Other reasons to use GE may be pest resistance, herbicide tolerance, disease resistance, drought tolerance, cold tolerance or nutritional purposes.

Although there appear to be many benefits to using GMOs, there are also many potential risks to our health and the environment.

Let’s take a look!

Why Are They Potentially Harmful?

Biotech companies such as Monsanto will have us believe that GM products are harmless to our environment and are completely safe to eat.

The US government is thought to be “in bed with” the likes of Monsanto and allows these biotech companies to dictate government policy on the safety of GMOs and their usage.

The fact is that no long-term safety testing has ever been done on GMOs and the biotech companies would rather leave it that way.

However, we don’t always need hard evidence to suggest that GM foods are to blame for the increase in many chronic diseases throughout the US since first being used in 1994.

A number of studies have shown a direct correlation between the introduction of GMOs in the mid 90s and a sharp increase in many serious illnesses. ⁵

The American Academy of Environmental Medicine recently released its own position on the use of genetically modified foods and stated:-

“Several animal studies indicate serious health risks associated with GM food consumption including infertility, immune dysregulation, accelerated aging, dysregulation of genes associated with cholesterol synthesis, insulin regulation, cell signaling, and protein formation, and changes in the liver, kidney, spleen and gastrointestinal system.” ³

The AAEM have also called for:-

“a moratorium on GM food, implementation of immediate long term independent safety testing, and labeling of GM foods, which is necessary for the health and safety of consumers.” ³

As for the biotech companies argument that their GMO products are perfectly safe to eat….not sure about you, but I agree with the AAEM when they say:-

Another often used definition originated from an environmental meeting in the United States in 1998 stating: “When an activity raises threats to the environment or human health, precautionary measures should be taken, even if some cause and effect relationships are not fully established scientifically. In this context, the proponent of an activity, rather than the public, should bear the burden of proof (of the safety of the activity). ³

The public are not guinea pigs! The onus must ALWAYS be on the biotech companies to prove that these frankenstein style foods are safe to consume.

Although many GMOs are programmed to be herbicide resistant, this has not reduced the overall use of toxic herbicides such as Roundup, a product of Monsanto. In fact, between 1996 and 2008, farmers in the US sprayed an extra 383 million pounds of herbicides on crops.

It’s thought that superweeds are becoming more resistant to Roundup, which will likely lead to an increase in its usage. Alternatively, we will see farmers using more potent herbicides, traces of which end up in our food.

Roundup contains glyphosate, which has been linked to a number of health issues including birth defects, hormone disruption, endocrine disruption and tumor activity. ⁵

So there you have it. Not very encouraging is it?

Still want to feed yourself and your children with GMO contaminated products?

I could go on and speak about the long-term risks of GMOs, but until proper research and testing has been done, we will never know the full impact they will have to both human health and to the environment.

Labelling of GMO Foods

The labelling of GMO products is a legal requirement in 64 countries around the world. This allows consumers to make the choice and decide whether they wish to take the risk of eating any food that may contain genetically modified ingredients.

Worryingly though, for those living in the United States and Canada, this is not the case.

For the US FDA (Food and Drugs Administration) and Health Canada, there is no distinction between GMO and non-GMO food, so the labelling of GMO products is not compulsory.

In 2013, a New York Times poll, found that 93% of people were in favor of GMO labelling! ⁷

Yet, it still hasn’t happened. Why not?

How To Avoid GMO Food Products

If you’ve read this far, I’m guessing that you’ll want to know how to avoid them right?

Unfortunately, If you’re in the US or Canada, your food labels will not indicate whether a product contains GMO ingredients or not.

This will mean that you will need to do a fair amount of detective work if you want to stay informed and avoid purchasing GM products.

The only real way to avoid GM foods is to educate yourself as to which ingredients are most likely to be genetically modified and to read food labels very carefully. Even then, you may not be able to reduce your exposure completely.

There are a number of food products and ingredients that are known to be genetically engineered. The ones to look out for are:-

• Soybeans
• Corn
• Rapeseed
• Canola
• Vegetable oil
• Alfalfa
• Potatoes
• Tomatoes
• Squash
• Sugar beets
• Cottonseed
• Dairy produce – Much of which is from cows injected with GM bovine growth hormone. Look for labels that state No rBGH or rBST.
• Papayas
• Zucchini
• Baked goods, cookies and similar snacks
• Meats – As corn and soy are dominant in the US, the vast majority of animals are fed using GM crops.
• Cereals – Unless labelled GM free, most will contain GM ingredients.

Other ways to avoid GMO foods include:

• Buy foods labelled 100% organic or “GM Free”
• Look for “Non-GMO Project” food labels
• Avoid certain ingredients (listed above)
• Assume that all non-organic soy, canola, corn and cottonseed ingredients are GMO.
• Purchase beef that is 100% grass fed
• Purchase certified organic rBGH free dairy products
• Shop locally and use local farm produce which are less likely to be GM.
• Buy whole foods – The majority of processed foods contain GM ingredients.
• Grow your own

At the Budwig Center, we would encourage you to eat non-GMO food as much as possible. Try to stick to 100% organic whole produce where you can and educate yourself, especially when it comes to reading food labels.

You can download our FREE 96 page Budwig diet which also provides you with a lots of information on the kinds of foods you should be eating and of course, foods you should definitely be avoiding.

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SOURCES

1. http://www.nongmoshoppingguide.com/
2. http://www.wikihow.com/Avoid-Genetically-Modified-Foods
3 .http://www.aaemonline.org/gmopost.html
4. http://www.responsibletechnology.org/10-Reasons-to-Avoid-GMOs
5. http://sustainablepulse.com/2013/04/27/dr-swanson-gmos-and-roundup-increase-chronic-diseases-infertility-and-birth-defects/
6. http://sustainablepulse.com/wp-content/uploads/GMO-health.pdf
7. http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/issues/976/ge-food-labeling/us-polls-on-ge-food-labeling#

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