Anti-GMO rants roll off the tongue these days but still genetically-modified foods are everywhere! Most of the rhetoric surrounds the labeling of GMOs. Or more specifically, that they are not labelled. Meanwhile, organic food producers are eager to label their products and go to great expense to do so, knowing that this label will command a higher price. So since organic foods are labeled, we can safely assume that anything else does have GMOs. Problem solved. Stop the madness! But what is the problem with GMOs anyway?
The official answer is "we don't know". Yet. There has not been enough research done to indict GMO foods but oddly, there are no studies to prove their safety either. Research costs money, and lots of it. The food companies spend money where they can get a return: developing new products. You've heard of Roundup-ready corn. What that means is that corn is doused with Roundup weed killer and but it's "ready" for it; only the weeds die. Brilliant for the farmer but did you catch the part about the corn getting doused with toxic Roundup? Right. So we eat the Roundup and we aren't ready for it. Herbicides are connected with all sorts of diseases, most notably those of the nervous system like MS and Parkinson's. That same corn needs protection from pests too. Again, genetically-modified corn is the answer. Bt toxin (Bacillus thuringiensis) is added to the DNA of corn and then the corn itself becomes a pesticide. Again, brilliant! But... if the corn is engineered to blow up the stomachs of the worms that bite into it, could it also blow holes in our gut? The perforations may be tiny, but that's what we call "leaky gut", the syndrome by which toxins enter our bloodstream and cause inflammation and disease. For more information about glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup herbicide, listen to Dr. Don M. Huber, the world's leading GMO expert.
There's something in there about glyphosate being patented as an antibiotic because it kills off healthy gut bacteria (uh oh) and a chelator which means that it binds to nutrients and minerals, preventing them from being absorbed by your body. That's not good either.
The takeaway is this:
Don't wait for GMO labeling to make good food choices. Always buy homegrown or organic produce and wild-harvested or pastured animal products. Always buy organic dairy, preferably pastured or grass-fed. And change what GMO means to you and your family: Give Me Organic!
