Scientists have admitted they are not sure how GMOs will affect human health. We do know however, that humans can be affected by the food we eat and GMOs can affect our genome, either directly or through Epigenetics.
Epigenetics is the study of how our environment (food, air, water, chemicals etc) affect certain proteins and other biochemical processes that tell our genome which genes to turn on and off. It’s actually more like “turning up the volume”. This is how our environment affects the expression of our genome, and hence our susceptibility to disease or health.
What are the top four crops that are typically genetically modified? (GMO) Buy these foods organic only:
- SOY (89%) Buy all organic soy products: tofu, edamame, soy milk, tempeh, miso, soy sauce, soy proteins. Also watch for ingredients, soy flour (in breads), soy lecithin and baby formulas.
- CORN (61%) Purchase only organic corn and corn products: corn tortillas, corn chips, cornstarch, crackers with corn, gluten free breads with corn. This is why corn-fed beef is a problem. The GMO corn fed to the cow will be concentrated. Watch also for high fructose corn syrup in many products and avoid this completely.
- CANOLA (80%): Canola oil and fried products that use it, baked goods, can be found in health products
- COTTON (83%): Watch for cottonseed oil in fried snack foods and chips
3 tips for avoiding GMO products at the Grocery store:
#1: Purchase Organic. Look for the USDA organic sticker or the California organic sticker (which is stricter than USDA). Here are some definitions of organic:
- “100% organic” means all ingredients are organic
- “Organic” means that at least 95% of the ingredients are organic, the other 5% still have to be non-GMO.
- “Made with organic ________”, this means that at least 70% of the ingredients are organic, the other 30% still have to be non-GMO.
#2: Look for “non-GMO” labels: Look for companies that label their product as “non-GMO”.
#3 Avoid GMO ingredients as listed above: The four major GMO crops are soy, cottonseed, canola, and corn. Three smaller GMO crops are some papaya, a small amount of zucchini, and yellow crook neck squash. Recent inventions such as seedless watermelon, pear/ apple combos, and tangelos are a product of development and are NOT genetically engineered.
Join us in a revolution to decrease the demand and hence the value of producing and making GMO crops!