The Health Risks of GM Foods: Summary and Debate

I would like to share an amazing summary of Documented Health Risks of GMOs. Credit for this goes to Jeffrey Smith, Author of Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods and Seeds of Deception: Exposing Industry and Government Lies About the Safety of the Genetically Engineered Foods You're Eating    You can find free tools on their home page: www.responsibletechnology.org    The talking points are organized around the 65 main point summaries presented on the left side of the two-page spreads in Part 1 of Genetic Roulette. Each section linked below offers the opportunity for people to submit updates, corrections, challenges and responses. Before making a submittal, please review the full content in that section of the book. Contents at a Glance: Part 1: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods Section 1: Evidence of reactions in animals and humans. 1.1 GM Potatoes Damages Rats (see full content) 1.2 Rats Fed GMO Tomatoes got bleeding stomachs, several died 1.3 Rats Fed Bt Corn had multiple health problems 1.4 Mice Fed GM Bt Potatoes had intestinal damage 1.5 Workers exposed to Bt cotton developed allergies 1.6 Sheep died after grazing in Bt cotton fields 1.7 Inhaled Bt corn pollen may have triggered disease in humans 1.8 Farmers report pigs and cows became sterile from GM corn 1.9 Twelve cows in Germany died mysteriously when fed Bt corn 1.10 Mice fed Roundup Ready soy had liver cell problems 1.11 Mice fed Roundup Ready soy had problems with the pancreas 1.12 Mice fed Roundup Ready soy had unexplained changes in testicular cells 1.13 Roundup Ready Soy Changed Cell Metabolism in Rabbit Organs 1.14 Most offspring of rats fed Roundup Ready soy died within three weeks (see full content) 1.15 Soy allergies skyrocketed in the UK, soon after GM soy was introduced 1.16 Rats fed Roundup Ready canola had heavier livers 1.17 Twice the number of chickens died when fed Liberty Link corn 1.18 GM peas generated an allergic-type inflammatory response in mice 1.19 Eyewitness reports: Animals avoid GMOs 1.20 A GM food supplement killed about 100 people Section 2: Gene insertion disrupts the DNA and can create unpredictable health problems. 2.1 Foreign genes disrupt the DNA at the insertion site. 2.2 Growing GM crops using tissue culture can create hundreds or thousands of DNA mutations.  2.3 Gene insertion creates genome-wide changes in gene expression.  2.4 The promoter may accidentally switch on harmful genes.  2.5 The promoter might switch on a dormant virus in plants.  2.6 The promoter might create genetic instability and mutations.  2.7 Genetic engineering activates mobile DNA, called transposons, which generate mutations.  2.8 Novel RNA may be harmful to humans and their offspring.  2.9 Roundup Ready soybeans produce unintentional RNA variations.  2.10 Changes in proteins can alter thousands of natural chemicals in plants, increasing toxins or reducing phytonutrients  2.11 GM crops have altered levels of nutrients and toxins.  Section 3: The protein produced by the inserted gene may create problems. 3.1 A gene from a Brazil nut carried allergies into soybeans. 3.2 GM proteins in soy, corn and papaya may be allergens.  3.3 Bt crops may create allergies and illness. 3.4 The Bt in crops is more toxic than the Bt spray. 3.5 StarLink corn’s built-in pesticide has a “medium likelihood” of being an allergen. 3.6 Pollen-sterilizing barnase in GM crops may cause kidney damage.  3.7 High lysine corn contains increased toxins and may retard growth.  3.8 Cooking high lysine corn may create disease-promoting toxins.  3.9 Disease-resistant crops may promote human viruses and other diseases.  Section 4: The foreign protein may be different than what is intended. 4.1 GM proteins may be misfolded or have added molecules.  4.2 Transgenes may be altered during insertion.  4.3 Transgenes may be unstable, and rearrange over time.  4.4 Transgenes may create more than one protein.  4.5 Weather, environmental stress and genetic disposition can significantly change gene expression.  4.6 Genetic engineering can disrupt the complex relationships governing gene expression.  Section 5: Transfer of genes to gut bacteria, internal organs, or viruses. 5.1 In spite of industry claims, transgenes survive the digestion system and can wander.  5.2 Transgene design facilitates transfer into gut bacteria. 5.3 Transgenes may proliferate in gut bacteria over the long-term. 5.4 Transgene transfer to human gut bacteria is confirmed. 5.5 GM foods might create antibiotic-resistant diseases.  5.6 The promoter can also transfer, and may switch on random genes or viruses. 5.7 If Bt genes transfer, they could turn our gut bacteria into living pesticide factories. 5.8 Genes may transfer to bacteria in the mouth or throat.  5.9 Transfer of viral genes into gut microorganisms may create toxins and weaken peoples’ viral defenses.  Section 6: GM crops may increase environmental toxins and bioaccumulate toxins in the food chain. 6.1 Glufosinate-tolerant crops may produce herbicide “inside” our intestines. 6.2 Herbicide-tolerant crops increase herbicide use and residues in food. 6.3 Tiny amounts of herbicide may act as endocrine disruptors. 6.4 GM crops may accumulate environmental toxins or concentrate toxins in milk and meat of GM-fed animals.  6.5 Disease-resistant crops may promote new plant viruses, which carry risks for humans. Section 7: Other types of GM foods carry risks. 7.1 Milk from rbGH treated cows may increase risk of cancer and other diseases.  7.2 Milk from rbGH-treated cows likely increases the rate of twin births. 7.3 Food additives created from GM microorganisms pose health risks. Section 8: Risks are greater for children and newborns. 8.1 Pregnant mothers eating GM foods may endanger offspring. 8.2 GM foods are more dangerous for children than adults.

MSG... Excitotoxicity, yeah its as bad as it sounds.

MSG without a doubt, leaves me feeling like crap.

MSG, or Monosodium Glutamate is a salt of the amino acid - Glutamic Acid (glutamate).  A salt is the chemical name for a molecule held together by opposite charges.   Basically one (mono) sodium atom is "stuck" to the amino acid glutamate.

This reaction varies from person to person, and I suspect has something to do with Blood Brain Barrier Health as well as a Hormesis response.


Glutamate is an Amino Acid Neurotransmitter. It tells nerves to activate. It stimulates the Nervous System. Other Amino acids like Taurine and GABA balance that to tell the nerves to calm.


So the issue presents itself in the balancing of these Amino Acids. Keeping them in line with what is found in nature...


Heres the Problem. Theres a short list of Items readily available to Americans that doesnt match that Balance...


A significant quantity of Processed Foods are intentionally modified to free glutamic acid to achieve the same taste structure as MSG. Obviously I have strong opinions against Soy and Grains regardless(if you've read past posts)

• Soy
• Wheat
• Barley
• Corn
• Meat(one of the  reasons processed Red meat is bad, yet Whole Grassfed Beef is still great!)
• Milk
• Fish
• Soy Sauce
• Wheat Gluten (hah!)
• Cheese

Anything with Hydrolyzed Protein, Seasonings and Stocks etc.
Allegro Crop Spray - yes even your vegetables might be contaminated.
Many Vaccines use it as a preservative.
Cigarettes! (Ammonia converts internally)
Aspartame has the same effects! (Don't even drink DIET soda!!!)

How does it affect me?

from: http://www.msgtruth.org/

Pancreas – glutamate stimulates the pancreas and may cause Type II diabetes, obesity, and insulin resistance.  In individuals with Type 1 diabetes, it may cause an excess of glutamate since 85% of those with Type 1 diabetes have antibodies which attack GAD - the enzyme responsible for converting glutamate into GABA.
By directly stimulating the pancreas to release insulin, which drops the blood sugar, MSG can be considered an "anti-appetite suppressant".  In other words, eating MSG makes you hungrier than you would have been, sooner than you would have been.

Brain – during periods of hypoglycemia where low blood glucose levels leave the brain with low defenses, or allergy response where the blood vessels become "leaky", MSG may cross the blood brain barrier and damage brain cells by excitatory neurotoxicity. By affecting the pancreas and creating a situation of hypoglycemia, MSG may bring down the brain’s barriers, carrying it’s own key, in a sense, to get to the brain.

Blood Pressure - may create taurine deficiency – calcium channels stay open – causing high blood pressure and counteracting calcium channel blocking medication.

Inflammation - The  immune response allows the blood vessels to become "leaky" so that the white blood cells can get to the site of the injury.  This flood of fluid leaving the blood vessels and entering the tissue is what we recognize as swelling. 

Leptin- leptin did not work on test animals that were obese due to MSG-induced obesity.  This suggests that perhaps the damage to the hypothalamus caused by MSG, caused the hypothalamus to  become resistant to the effect of leptin. *(go back and read my post on Leptin if you need to!)

Hidden Names!

MSG	Gelatin	Calcium Caseinate
Monosodium glutamate	Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP)	Textured Protein
Monopotassium glutamate	Hydrolyzed Plant Protein (HPP)	Yeast Extract
Glutamate	Autolyzed Plant Protein	Yeast food or nutrient
Glutamic Acid	Sodium Caseinate	Autolyzed Yeast
Vegetable Protein Extract	Senomyx (wheat extract labeled as artificial flavor)

What can I do to counter MSG?
Id personally avoid them like the plague. Eating Whole Natural Foods will ensure that you're getting Glutamate in Balance with Cystene, Taurine, GABA, etc comparable to what is found in nature.
 Barring that, accidental or intentional ingestion, MSG Truth has a nice list:
http://www.msgtruth.org/remedies.htm

Further Reading

Dr Russell Blaylock is considered one of the foremost experts on Aspartame/MSG Excitotoxicity.

http://www.russellblaylockmd.com/

He wrote an excellent book: Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills

Be sure to visit MSGTruth.org and MSGMyth.com as well.

Everything you need to know about Dangerous GMOs

I insist that anyone who cares about Human Beings, Animals or the Environment watch this video:


Everything You HAVE TO KNOW about Dangerous Genetically Modified Foods from Jeffrey Smith on Vimeo.


http://www.responsibletechnology.org/gmo-dangers/Everything-You-Have-To-Know-about-Dangerous-Genetically-Modified-Foods-September-2009

http://www.responsibletechnology.org/take-action/join-the-campaign

Corn vs Grass. Its all about Oil.

Arin Training put out this great little video.

Corn(OIL) vs Grass.



in addition, saw this really exciting Video as well...

Plastic, back into Oil.

Want to Eat Healthy, but never learned to cook?

Luckily the Interwebz is here to save the day.

I learned how to cook with the Bachelor Method. Open Box, remove processed Garbage, read instructions on box. Get Fat and Unhealthy, Repeat.

Luckily, nowadays I can cook. Ive picked up a few simple skills... some through trial and painful error.

But the Internet and tools like YouTube are incredible resources.

Just wanted to share my current 2 Favorite sites for finding recipes (instructions for when you dont have that Box of Garbage) for Healthy Food.

http://www.thefoodee.co/

http://www.chowstalker.com/

Absolutely love these resources, let me know what you think, and if you know of other great Healthy Recipe Resources.

Quality of Life: Taking Stock at 69

Quality of Life.

That's my entire mission, and what I hope to share with anyone reading this. Art DeVany, Jack Lalanne and other Older, yet Fit and Active Humans are a great inspiration.

My new Goal. Match this guys feats when i'm 69.

Reversing Desertification and providing Sustainable Meat.

 http://challenge.bfi.org/winner_2010

This project demonstrates how to reverse desertification of the world’s savannas and grasslands, thereby contributing enormously to mitigating climate change, biomass burning, drought, flood, drying of rivers and underground waters, disappearing wildlife, massive poverty, social breakdown, violence and genocide.

Description of Initiative

Our work established a previously unsuspected cause of desertification – that humans of all ages and cultures make decisions using the same core decision framework. Flaws in this universal framework made world-wide desertification inevitable. Modifications, explained in "Holistic Management" A New Framework for Decision Making" Savory & Butterfield Second Edition 1999, Island Press, make reversing desertification possible.

This work, begun in the early 60s gave erratic results. Since 1984 when the decision-making piece of the puzzle fell into place, as long as the process is followed results in restored grasslands have been consistent and can be guaranteed.

In this particular project ACHM has demonstrated on 6500 acres of grasslands in Zimbabwe the process of reversing desertification. Livestock have increased 400% using holistic planned grazing and we now enjoy open water, water lilies and fish a kilometer above where water has been known before in the dry season. The livestock are integrated with Africa’s big game avoiding competition and wildlife are on the increase. Currently, we can barely keep pace with grass growth even in dry years. This is greatly influencing scientists, NGO’s and pastoralists from all over Africa.

More Meat, Less Wheat. This is really exciting stuff. Sustainable Food, that sustains the environment, unlike conventional agriculture that is practiced around most of the world, which actually has been proven to cause a desert when not continually replenished.


Another link in the chain.

NPR.org » Food For Thought: Meat-Based Diet Made Us Smarter

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128849908

Our earliest ancestors ate their food raw — fruit, leaves, maybe some nuts. When they ventured down onto land, they added things like underground tubers, roots and berries.

It wasn't a very high-calorie diet, so to get the energy you needed, you had to eat a lot and have a big gut to digest it all. But having a big gut has its drawbacks.

"You can't have a large brain and big guts at the same time," explains Leslie Aiello, an anthropologist and director of the Wenner-Gren Foundation in New York City, which funds research on evolution. Digestion, she says, was the energy-hog of our primate ancestor's body. The brain was the poor stepsister who got the leftovers.

Until, that is, we discovered meat.

NPR has a great series going on right now, The Human Edge.

Check it out.

Also Semi-Related, a Great Book Recommendation:

Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human

Where Can I Find Real (Raw) Milk?

Just a quick Link share....

http://realmilk.com/where1.html

Make sure if you do get Raw Milk, that its from Grass Fed Cows. Raw milk from Sick cows would be scary. Raw Milk from Healthy Natural Cows is ideal.

Looking for Cows with Casein A2, Jersey, Asian and African Breeds. These will have fewer potential allergen response, and tend to be less overbred.


and a reminder,

http://eatwild.com/

to find GrassFed/Pastured Meats!

Have some Butter...

Eat your Butter... Its good for you.

Taste - Honestly who doesnt love butter? It's Betta with Budda.

We personally LOVE Kerrygold, for taste and nutritional benefit, its a Grassfed Butter, we get it at Costco, Sams Club, Kroger or Trader Joes...

Nutrition - A Great Source of Vitamins A, E, K(will have another writeup on this oft overlooked vitamin), Iodine, Anti-Oxidants, Selenium, Butyric Acid(anti inflammatory)

Vitamins are Fat Soluble  - Your body absorbs vitamins better when it has dietary fat.

What good is eating the Healthy Food without the benefits... make sure you add a Healthy Dietary Fat with every real meal to ensure absorption. If you take supplements(I prefer real food), make sure you take them with a meal, with Dietary Fat!

Heres a Great Writeup over at Weston A Price. 

http://www.westonaprice.org/food-features/519-why-butter-is-better.html

Quality Saturated Fat. Heart Healthy. and Happy Tastebuds to boot!

Carotenoid bioavailability is higher from salads ingested with full-fat than with fat-reduced salad dressings as measured with electrochemical detection.American Journal of Clinical Nutrition- Brown, M.J., Ferruzzi, M.G., Nguyen, M.L., Cooper, D.A., Eldridge, A.L., Schwartz, S.J., & White, W.S. 

Carotenoid absorption from salad and salsa by humans is enhanced by the addition of avocado or avocado oil.Journal of Nutrition - Unlu, N.Z., Bohn, T., Clinton, S.K., & Schwartz, S.J..

Intermittent Fasting: A Primer

Lets get one thing on the table right off the bat... Breakfast is NOT the most important meal of the day.

Your metabolism does NOT start as soon as you start eating. Quite the Opposite!

Your metabolism only slows down when your overall caloric intake doesnt meet your bodies needs for an extended period of time, not a day, but weeks.

If you skip a meal, you wont Starve!!!

We store Fat for a reason. To use later. Its our built in Rechargeable batteries. Why in the world would our system decide if we aren't Constantly charging the batteries that they would not provide the juice to our systems?

The truth is, our body is supplying energy via stored fat almost all the time. Its our go to. Heres the kicker. As soon as you eat, your body stops pulling from stored energy and converts over to using (and storing) the incoming food. Eating also releases Insulin, your "Storage and Growth Hormone", which means your body is charging the batteries, rather than pulling from them...

If weight loss is a goal, the less time in Storage Mode the better.


Hunger is the real roadblock for most. The best I can recommend, until your body is used to running on stored fat for longer periods of time, is to move gradually into it.

Delay Breakfast.
Skip Breakfast
Delay Lunch
Skip Lunch.

personally almost every single day I skip breakfast, its easier. then depending how ive been eating lately, I choose to skip lunch or have a breakfast lunch(eggs and bacon!) at lunchtime. Depends how much ive decided to eat lately and my weight/fitness goals. I eat more when Im working out, I eat less if I notice ive gained some weight. I generally dont eat if im not hungry. Generally a 16-18 hour fast, or the days I skip lunch, a 24hr fast.

Martin Berkham over at Leangains.com has a TON of information about Intermittent Fasting if you want more information to read about.

also below Ill post a Number of studies talking about the weight loss and other benefits, but honestly, the list goes on and on far beyond what im sharing here.




Studies show that meal frequency is unimportant. In addition, eating less often and therefore spiking your insulin less often, results in improved insulin sensitivity. Meaning your body is better able to understand when to start and stop storage, signal when you should eat, control hunger, and give you a lower setpoint.

Meal frequency influences circulating hormone levels but not lipogenesis rates in humans - 

Peter J. H. Jones, Gayle L. Namchuk and Raymond A. Pederson

Effect of meal size and frequency on the thermic effect of food- 

Ph.D.Amy Z. Belko^a and M.A.Teresa F. Barbieri

Influence of Diet Composition on Nitrogen Balance and Body Composition in Meal-Eating and Nibbling Rats1-AYSEL OZELCI, DALE R. ROMSOS AND GILBERT A. LEVEILLE

The Human Body May Buffer Small Differences in Meal Size and Timing

during a 24-h Wake Period Provided Energy Balance Is Maintained1-Ulf Holmba, Arne Lowden,Mats Stridsberg and Anders Forslund

The Effect of Meal Frequency on Preprandial Resting Metabolic Rate-Abby Goodman-Larson, Kristine Johnson & Krista Shevlin

Effect of the pattern of food intake on human energy metabolism-BY WILHELMINE P. H. G. VERBOEKET-VAN DE VENNE', KLAAS R. WESTERTERP' AND ARNOLD D. M. KESTER'

Heres a Study showing Intermittent Fasting lowering Inflammation.

Interleukin-6, C-Reactive Protein and Biochemical Parameters during Prolonged Intermittent Fasting- Fehime B. Aksungar^a, Aynur E. Topkaya^b, Mahmut Akyildiz^c

Alternate-day fasting and chronic disease prevention: a review of human and animal trials- Krista A Varady and Marc K Hellerstein 

Calorie restriction (CR) and alternate-day fasting (ADF) represent 2 different forms of dietary restriction. Although the effects of CR on chronic disease prevention were reviewed previously, the effects of ADF on chronic disease risk have yet to be summarized. Accordingly, we review here animal and human evidence concerning ADF and the risk of certain chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. We also compare the magnitude of risk reduction resulting from ADF with that resulting from CR. In terms of diabetes risk, animal studiesof ADF find lower diabetes incidence and lower fasting glucose and insulin concentrations, effects that are comparable to those of CR. Human trials to date have reported greater insulin-mediated glucose uptake but no effect on fasting glucose or insulin concentrations. In terms of cardiovascular disease risk, animal ADF data show lower total cholesterol and triacylglycerol concentrations, a lower heart rate, improved cardiac response to myocardialinfarction, and lower blood pressure. The limited human evidence suggests higher HDL-cholesterol concentrations and lower triacylglycerol concentrations but no effect on blood pressure. In terms of cancer risk, there is no human evidence to date, yet animal studies found decreases in lymphoma incidence, longer survival after tumor inoculation, and lower rates of proliferation of several cell types. The findings in animals suggest that ADF may effectively modulate several risk factors, thereby preventing chronic disease, and that ADF may modulate disease risk to an extent similar to that of CR. More research is required to establish definitively the consequences of ADF.