GMO – Genetically Modified Organism
What Are GMOs?
GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organism
GMOs are organisms that have that have been manipulated in a laboratory to contain foreign genes such as bacteria, viruses, insects, herbicides, pesticides and human & animal genes. Through a laboratory process these genes are forced into the DNA of unrelated plants (or animals).
There are two main types of GMO crops. The herbicide tolerant variety is engineered to withstand high doses of toxic weed killers. These toxins, which are linked to cancer, birth defects, and hormone disruption, end up actually grown into the food.
Other plants, like corn, are designed to produce their own poisonous insecticide in every cell of the plant. The insecticide, called Bt-toxin, breaks open in the stomach of certain insects to kill them. Recent evidence, and a lot of it, shows the Bt-toxin also breaks open in the wall of human cells. Bt-toxinfrom GMO corn was found in the blood of 93% of pregnant women and 80% of their unborn fetuses.
Many crops grown here in the US are being genetically engineered. This includes most corn, soy, canola, cotton seeds, sugar beets, papaya, crookneck squash, zucchini, and alfalfa to name a few.
Top 10 Worst GMO Foods for Your GMO Foods List – The Best Way is to Buy Organic.
1. Corn: Monsanto’s highly modified variety of corn is grown across North America and has been tied to numerous serious health issues. It’s in our corn based breakfast cereals, corn tortillas, corn snacks and many other products.
2. Soy: Gound in tofu, vegetarian products, soybean oil, soyy flour, and a host of other products, soy is also modified to resist herbicides. As of now, biotech giant Monsanto still has a tight grasp on the soybean market, with approximately 90 percent of soy being genetically engineered to resist Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup. In one single year, 2006, 96.7 million pounds of glyphosate was sprayed on soybeans alone.
3. Sugar: According to Natural News, genetically-modified sugar beets were introduced to the U.S. market in 2009. Like others, they’ve been modified by Monsanto to resist herbicides.
4. Aspartame: Aspartame is a toxic additive used in numerous food products, and should be avoided for innumerable reasons, including the fact that it is created with genetically modified bacteria.
5. Papayas: This one may come as a surprise to all of you tropical-fruit lovers. GMO papayas have been grown in Hawaii for consumption since 1999. Though they can’t be sold to countries in the European Union, they are welcome with open arms in the U.S. and Canada.
6. Canola: One of the most chemically altered foods in the U.S. diet, canola oil is obtained from rapeseed through a series of chemical actions.
7. Cotton: Found in cotton oil, cotton originating in India and China in particular has serious risks. China now requires labeling of all GMOs and India is demanding not only labeling, but a ban on farming GMOs because of the serious health and environmental consequences they are now experiencing.
8. Dairy: Your dairy products contain growth hormones, with as many as one-fifth of all dairy cows in America are pumped with these hormones. In fact, Monsanto’s health-hazardous rBGH has been banned in 27 countries, but is still in most US cows. If you must drink milk, buy organic.
9 and 10: Zucchini and Yellow Squash: Closely related, these two squash varieties are modified to resist viruses.
The dangers of some of these foods are well-known. The Bt-toxin being used in GMO corn, for example, was recently detected in the blood of pregnant women and their babies. But perhaps more frightening are the risks that are still unknown.
With little regulation and safety tests performed by the companies doing the genetic modifications themselves, we have no way of knowing for certain what risks these lab-created foods pose to us outside of what we already know.
The best advice: Buy Organic Everything and stay clear of all GMOs.
Learn the Dangers of GMOs – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6OxbpLwEjQ
Here is a link that will allow you to take action, sign petitions, or donate or both. They make it really easy to sign and send a message to Congress.
