The scariest thing about GMOs, to me, is that we really don’t know much about them. There’s almost no concrete evidence out there that proves the danger of consuming GM foods to humans. Wonder why that is?
There has only been one study done on the effects of GMOs in humans.
ONE.
And a pretty important little piece of knowledge from the lone study back in 2004 was gained — that GM genes effectively transfer into the bacteria living inside our intestines, causing them to carry out the altered genetic function — which in some GM foods, is PRODUCING PESTICIDES.
Roundup-Ready Gut Flora
The human subjects of the study who ate Roundup-Ready soy, courtesy of Monsanto, were shown to have bacteria in their gut with the same gene that was altered in the soy to withstand the deadly doses of herbicides given to the crop.
So my gut germs won’t be killed by chemical herbicides, you say? Yeah that doesn’t sound too bad. Except, disrupting the delicate balance of healthy intestinal flora, is a serious health gamble. You don’t want to go around messing with this stuff.
Without that normal, probiotic bacteria functioning as it should, your health is shot. Your immune system cannot function. You can’t digest foods. Your “bad” bacteria begins to take over, causing holes in your gut to develop and toxins to produce and leak out into your bloodstream.
We don’t know how altering the genetic makeup of the beneficial bacteria we need to keep our bodies healthy, will affect it in the long run. The thought of having Monsanto-tampered living beings constantly inside my body, does make me want to vomit, however.
Monsters inside me? Pesticide factories living in your body
Here’s the really frightening part though. Around 85% of corn grown today, genetically modified by Monsanto, has been engineered to literally produce its own pesticides. And corn is in seriously everything. It’s very difficult to find a processed food that doesn’t contain some form of a corn-based product, such as high-fructose corn syrup, or starch.
The engineers put the “Bt toxin” gene into the DNA of the corn in order for it to manufacture its own toxins that kill pests. The Bt gene originated from a soil bacteria, Bacillus thuringiensis, so because it belongs inside a natural microflora organism, it’s not that far of a leap for it to infiltrate the microflora in your gut. The Bt gene can convert the microflora in your intestine into toxin-manufacturing machines.
So, to be clear, eating GMO corn products can cause your gut (which is primarily responsible for keeping you healthy) to turn into a breeding ground for tiny little pesticide factories inside your body, actively creating toxins which are designed to kill living things.
Are you scared yet?
Me too.
What Can We Do About it?
It isn’t known how long the effects of the GMO-tainted gut bacteria will stay with us — because again, no one is studying what’s actually happening to us while we serve as Monsanto’s guinea pigs eating up their “safe” poisons. If you’ve spent any number of years eating standard American processed (and thus, GMO) fare, you might be a little freaked out right now that while we load up on carefully chosen organic veggies free of the toxic spray, our gut bacteria is slathering on the pesticides inside us anyway.
I think that the most important thing to do is, obviously, steer clear of any and all GM foods, or foods that are fed GM foods (CAFO animal products), from this point on. That’s actually fairly easy to do — no processed foods (especially polyunsaturated “vegetable” oils like canola and soy — both certainly GMO), and for the few fresh foods you might find that are GM (corn and papayas, in particular), just make sure they’re organic. I also think it’s crucial that we get our guts healthy, and populate them with plenty of GMO-free probiotic bacteria.
And I think it’s important that we spread the message to others. We won’t be the test subjects of this crazy worldwide experiment. We’ll take our health into our own hands, know where our food comes from, and protect ourselves against the corrupted system that we’re now faced with. And we’ll do everything we can to get money-grubbing geneticists out of our kitchens — and intestines.
[Note: You can now also help fight against Monsanto by voting YES on Proposition 37 if you live in California, to require labeling of GMOs!]
What are your thoughts on the effects of GMOs?
Are you as worried as I was to learn that the engineered genes can transfer to other living organisms? What do you think this means for the health of future generations?
I am against GMOs, especially when I found out that the makers of Round Up – and the makers of Agent Orange which gave my dad lung cancer which he died from – patented their own seed to plant. Blech!
I am very concerned about this. More studies — especially long term studies — need to be done. I cannot believe the GMO pesticides that do inside of us would have a difficult time mutating just a bit more and turn into killers of gut flora. I’ve been off of soy for a couple of years due to allergies. My sister-in-law has had a lifetime allergy to corn. All of my children have various allergies including wheat, lemons, peanuts, treenuts and shellfish. They are very tough to feed without corn and soy. Thankfully, we can all drink milk and eat eggs and meat.
This leaves me terrified and speechless when I think about the future of our country. 🙁
The article that you included from nature.com concludes that the results were not positive for gene transfer during the feeding experiment. I am wondering if you could cite a source for the information that you’re providing. I would like to read more about this from a scholarly source. Thanks!
Hi, Kristen. Thanks for your comment. The abstract showed that gene transfer was indeed evident, from even prior to the experiment, but they were unable to confirm further transfer from the actual experiment. The fact remains that it was discovered that the modified genes were present in the intestinal microflora in some subjects. The conclusion, then, is that gene transfer from GMO to bacteria is possible and has been shown to have occurred. Dr. Joe Mercola reached the same conclusion from the data and published the information in this article as well:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/02/27/10-reasons-why-no-one-needs-gm-foods.aspx
Holy cow. ONE study? Are the people who work at Monsanto completely blind and ignorant to these dangers or do they really just not care, being so caught up in money and ‘science’ that they miss the forest for the trees? I honestly don’t know which one is worse . . .
Thanks for the reminder to avoid any non-organic corn product (and GMOs in general) like the plague.
I cannot eat non organic corn or any product made from the thousands of corn by products. As I understand it its the Cauliflower mosaic virus that is responsible for manufacturing the BT and it is this virus that causes irritable bowel syndrome like symptoms in me. After consuming just a small product made with, oh lets say, cornstarch, or BAKING POWDER!, or popcorn (direct), or anything with high fructose corn syrup, or an candy made in the USA (I buy canaberra licorice – Australian – from Sprouts in bulk!) The effect if I do so is anal bleeding during the few bowel movements after consuming the poison.
So yes we need to arrest those responsible for poisoning me and our planet – the bollworm that eats corn that is supposed to die from the BT GMO corn? Its now resistant to the BT and destroying monocultured corn crops just as it did before GMNO corn, Cause the problem is monoculture – not bollworms!
f
i need to speak with you on this its very important… the same exact thing is happenijg to me.. i thought i was reading my own post it’s identical to the problems i qm having now…. please email me at Wizard298 at comcast.net
Horrible and shameful. Have you read Robyn O’Brien’s book, The Unhealthy Truth: How are food is making us sick? I’m reading it right now…
I read that..one of the best take care of your health books out there and she documents everything! Anne (aka http://www.facebook.com/MyGreenLivingCoach )
Very well done blog post. If you’re not taking some kind of probiotic supplement now, you will pay for it later. Right now the only way to avoid GMO’s is to go organic (one that has the USDA Organic seal). We need to vet all of our sources, ask questions from the suppliers, and lend all our support to those who care about their health as well as ours! Anne (aka My Green Living Coach)
Okay, I for one may not be the biggest fan of all GMOs, but I gotta say this about the whole pesticide in gut flora deal. The protein that the corn makes is designed to operate in an alkaline environment in order to target receptors found only in insect guts so it won’t target our own system or our intestinal flora because the protein can’t function in our body and because we lack the right receptors. The protein is already used in organic agriculture as a pesticide because it naturally occurs, humans are exposed to the protein as well as the bacterium that makes it and have been exposed for thousands of years in nature, it isn’t something worth worrying about. The big issue is how GMOs increase dependence on herbicides and chemicals, which is the biggest concern and a massive ecological disaster in the making.
This is really scary! Do you think that all the GMO’s
we have eaten could cause polyps to be cancerous
in our intestine??
This all makes sense! I was diagnosed with h-pylori which is a bacterial infection in your stomach. I have been suffering with this disease for over 3 years and had no idea. Every time I would eat something, I would end up with diarrhea. The bacteria was preventing my body from digesting the food which caused all sorts of other health problems. I then had an endoscopy performed which found gastric ulcers in my esophagus.
I want to see that one study done on the effects of GMOs in humans from 2004.
would like to know if there are birth defects like anorectal malformation or any related malformations associated with monsanto or similar kind.
kindly pls guide me and also if any associated website and also any supportive group where i can get more information on same.
thank you