GMOs Might Be Causing Your Symptoms

There might be a connection to your bloating and wrinkles, and the "healthy" foods you're eating. In an article on Piedmont Health's says, "According to the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM), there are no human clinical trials of GMO foods, but those done with animals indicate serious health risks linked to GMOs. These include:

• Infertility

• Immune problems

• Accelerated aging

• Faulty insulin regulations

• Changes to major organs and the gastrointestinal system."

Let me get this straight. These foods were introduced into our food supply with no human clinical trials. Great! So, my infertility, my husband's autoimmune condition, my friend's diabetes, and all of our gut issues, MAY be affected by the GMO food issues. Got it!

That's right! I've heard that we should avoid GMO (genetically modified organisms) foods but never knew why. On the one hand some GMO crops are delicious - hello, Honeycrisp apples that were genetically engineered at the University of Minnesota, my home state. Genetically modified crops can take the best qualities of others varieties to make them more pest and weather resistant, be more pleasing to our pallet, and here's the not-so-good part…withstand being sprayed with pesticides, herbicides and fungicides. So, the crops can be sprayed and not die along with the weeds. But now there is pesticide or herbicide or fungicide on my food. And, I'm not keen on eating poisons. In fact, I'm actively avoiding eating poisons - just like my Mom taught me. (Do any of you remember the Mr. Yuck frowny face stickers that parents put on household cleaners that are poisonous, so us kids would know not to drink them? If you do, let me know if the comments or reply;)

Another insight I got from my Institute for Integrative Nutrition certification coursework this week is that GMOs were introduced widely in 1976. That's the year I was born. It makes me feel like many of us alive and learning about food and eating food since the time have been set up to fail. We have to take proactive steps to not eat foods sprayed with poison, or eat the meat from animals that ate large quantities of the grain sprayed with poison.

The Alliance for Science stated in a 2018 article, "The issue of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) as they relate to the food supply is an ongoing, nuanced and highly contentious issue." I'm not trying to solve the world's problems here in my newsletter, I just want to share what I learn so that you can make more informed choices for you and your family. In my family, we do eat GMO foods, but when there's a viable alternative non-GMO or organic choice, I choose that one instead. Some foods, I just avoid altogether.

Again, here's some good information from Piedmont Health in Atlanta, "The 10 most popular foods that contain GMOs are:

1. Carbonated soft drinks (high fructose corn syrup made from sugar beets)

2. Milk (cows are fed genetically modified soy products)

3. Meat (farm animals are raised with genetically modified feed containing soy products)

4. Tofu (GMO soybeans)

5. Vegetable and canola oils (rapeseed - canola, soybean, corn, sunflower, safflower)

6. Cereals (corn and soy products and non-cane sugars)

7. Sweetened juices (corn- and sugar beet-based sweeteners)

8. Baby formula (GMO corn, sugar beets and soy)

9. Frozen foods (starch is added from GM corn, fats and oils from GM plants, citric acid made from GM microorganisms)

10. Canned soups (corn-based thickeners and flavoring enhancements)…

How to avoid GMO's…Buy food that is labeled 100% organic. It has no GMOs.

1. Choose whole foods that you can prepare yourself instead of processed or prepackaged foods.

2. Look for "non-GMO" or "GMO-free" labels.

3. Purchase grass-fed beef.

4. Shop at local farmers' markets. These are much less likely to carry genetically altered foods."