A SPECIAL HEALTH
PUBLICATION PROVIDED FREE FOR SUBSCRIBERS OF AFP  REPORT
#5 FOR 2009
Genetically
Modified Organisms Deemed Unfit for Human Consumption by Study
By Ethan Huff
. The
American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) has issued
a warning urging the public to avoid genetically modified
foods and has also called for a moratorium on genetically
modified organisms, or GMOs, until long-term, independent
studies can prove their safety. The group has also called
for required labeling of foods that contain GMOs, a move
that has been strongly opposed by the Food and Drug Administration
and Big Biotech which cooperatively purport that consumers
should not have the right to know whether the foods they
buy come from traditionally bred or artificially engineered
sources.
 While
urging for more independent studies, the AAEM paper cites
its own studies alleging that genetically modified foods
cause serious adverse health effects, emphasizing more than
a mere “correlational association” as is commonly
assumed.
Probably
the worst finding in the AAEM report is the fact that GMOs
can live and reproduce in the intestinal flora of the body
long after being ingested. The genes present in the genetically
modified organisms can transfer into the DNA of intestinal
bacteria, the good bacteria that digest food and maintain
bodily health. This reprogramming can cause the intestinal
flora to begin reproducing Bt pesticides, for example, rather
than producing the harmless bacteria it is supposed to.
The implications of these alterations are mind boggling
since intestinal flora is crucial for life.
AAEM
is urging its members along with the scientific and medical
community to continue gathering case studies and initiate
epidemiological research to help determine, once and for
all, the effects of GMOs on human beings in addition to
their effects on animals.
Some
doctors are now warning their patients to avoid GMOs, recognizing
the possible causation between GMOs and disease. Ohio allergist
Dr. John Boyles believes genetically engineered foods are
so dangerous that people should never eat them. Biologist
Pushpa M. Bhargava, following the review of more than 600
scientific journals, has concluded that the drastic deterioration
of Americans’ health in recent years can be attributed
to GMOs being introduced
into their diets.
Experimental
studies of genetically engineered foods and their effects
in the body are disturbing, to say the least. Biologist
David Schubert of the Salk Institute has stated that children
are the most likely people to experience the adverse effects
of GMOs, noting that apart from adequate safety studies,
children become “the experimental animals.”
In truth, every citizen is a guinea pig when genetically
altered organisms are introduced into the food supply without
adequate safety studies let alone honest labeling.
It
is wise to avoid foods that contain GMOs and ingredients
that are genetically engineered. These include non-organic
corn and soy derivatives, canola and cottonseed oils, and
sugar from sugar beets. Ingredients such as corn starch,
corn meal, and soy lecithin are great examples of common
ingredients that are suspect. Unless labeled as non-GMO
or explicitly organic, these common ingredients are most
likely genetically modified and should be avoided.
 Ethan
Huff is a freelance writer and health enthusiast
who loves exploring the vast world of natural
foods and health, digging deep to get to the
truth. He runs an online health publication
of his own at http://wholesomeherald- blogspot.com. |
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(Issue #28-29 Health Supplement, July 13-20, 2009, AMERICAN
FREE PRESS)
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July
13-20
at
the Battle of Cowpens, S. Carolina, 1781