Letter
# 309
2009/August/27
Stop eating dangerous genetically modified (GM) foods! That's the upshot of the Lyme Induced Autism (LIA) Foundation's position paper, released today. The patient advocacy group is not willing to wait around until research studies prove that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) cause or worsen the many diseases that are on the rise since gene-spliced foods were introduced in 1996. Like the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) earlier this year, the LIA Foundation says there is more than enough evidence of harm in GM animal feeding studies for them to "urge doctors to prescribe non-GMO diets" and for "individuals, especially those with autism, Lyme disease, and associated conditions, to avoid" GM foods.
Dr. Jannelle Love, founder of the Autism Relief Foundation, is quoted in Kimberly Wilcox's excellent article:
"It is known
that children on the Autistic Spectrum suffer from fragile immune systems,
significant digestive and brain inflammation,
and the environmental
toxin overload. Putting foreign entities such as GMO foods into such a
fragile child may indeed cause further
deterioration and
perhaps block the delicate biochemical pathways needed for appropriate
functioning and possible recovery."
The LIA Foundation calls for physicians and patient advocacy groups to explain to patients the role that GM foods may play in disease and to distribute non-GMO educational materials, including the Non-GMO Shopping Guide, which makes it easier to find brands without GM ingredients. (See www.nonGMOGuide.com). They also called for a moratorium on all GM foods and for "Research to evaluate the role of GM foods on autism, Lyme disease, and related conditions."
GMOs: pervasive and
high-risk
The five main GM
foods are soy, corn, cotton, canola, and sugar beets. Their derivatives
are found in more than 70% of the foods in the supermarket. The primary
reason the plants are engineered is to allow them to drink poison. They're
inserted with bacterial genes that allow them to survive otherwise deadly
doses of poisonous herbicide. Biotech companies sell the seed and herbicide
as a package deal. Roundup Ready crops survive sprays of Roundup. Liberty
Link crops survive Liberty. US farmers use hundreds of millions of pounds
more
herbicide because
of these herbicide-tolerant crops, and the higher toxic residues end up
inside of us. The LIA position paper acknowledges that "Individuals with
infections that compromise immunity… and/or high toxin loads may also be
especially susceptible to adverse effects from pesticides."
Some GM corn and cotton varieties are also designed to produce poison. Inserted genes from a soil bacterium produce an insect-killing poison called Bt-toxin in every cell of the plant. Bt is associated with allergic and toxic reactions in humans and animals, and may create havoc in our digestive system (see below).
All GM crops, in fact, should be considered high-risk. Irrespective of which gene you insert, the process of genetic engineering itself results in massive collateral damage within the plants' natural DNA. This can result in new or higher levels of toxins, carcinogens, allergens, or nutrient-blocking compounds in our food.
Because of a corporate takeover at the FDA, they don't require a single safety test on GMOs—so almost none of the potential side effects are evaluated before the crops are approved for sale. The few animal feeding safety studies that have been conducted, however, show serious problems. It's obvious why those suffering from autism, Lyme, or any ailment, would want to stop being used as a guinea pig in this massive GMO feeding experiment.
AAEM physician Amy Dean, a board certified internal medicine specialist, says:
"GMOs have been shown to adversely affect the digestive and immune systems of animals in laboratory settings. Lyme and autism, on the rise in the US, are also associated with digestive and immune system dysfunction. Therefore, patients with Lyme and autism should avoid GM foods."
Autism, food allergies,
and GMOs
It is noteworthy
that children with autism are often allergic to corn and soy. Both are
genetically engineered. Many are also allergic to dairy. The LIA press
release points out, "dairy cows are usually fed GM feed and sometimes injected
with GM bovine growth hormone." Although no studies have looked at the
impact of eating meat or milk from GM-fed animals, secret FDA documents
made public from a lawsuit revealed that
their Center for
Veterinary Medicine was very concerned that toxins from GM foods might
bioaccumulate in the livestock. If so, their milk and meat may be even
more dangerous than the GM plants.
Studies on the impact of bovine growth hormone on the cows' milk are less ambiguous. The dairy products from treated cows contain higher amounts of puss, antibiotics, bovine growth hormone, and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1). The last on the list is considered most dangerous. IGF-1 is linked to a much higher risk of cancer, and according to one study, may also be responsible for the high rates of fraternal twins born in the US.
This helps to inspire people to use the Shopping Guide. Some of the health risks are included below. (Citations are posted.) See if you're also "inspired."
Digestive disorders
According to GMO
safety expert Arpad Pusztai, PhD, the digestive tract is the first and
largest point of contact with GM foods and can reveal reactions to various
toxins. Lab animals fed GM feed developed lesions in the stomach, damage
intestines, and abnormal and proliferative cell growth in the walls of
the stomach and intestines.
Toxic intestinal
bacteria
The beneficial bacteria
living inside our digestive tract is used for digestion and immunity. Excessive
herbicide residues on herbicide- tolerant GM crops may kill beneficial
gut flora. More importantly, the only published human feeding experiment
revealed that the genetic material inserted into GM soy transfers into
bacteria living inside our intestines and continues to function. This means
that long after we stop eating GM foods, we may still have dangerous GM
proteins continuously produced inside us. Consider, for example, if the
gene that creates Bt-toxin in GM corn were also to transfer. It might turn
our intestinal bacteria into living pesticide factories.
Compromised immune
system
Virtually every
animal feeding study that looked for immune changes from GMOs found them.
GM-fed animals had a sluggish immune responses, damaged organs associated
with immunity, altered parameters in the blood, and dangerous inflammatory
and immune reactions.
Allergies
No tests can guarantee
that a GMO will not cause allergies. Although the World Health Organization
recommends a screening protocol, GM soy and corn fail those tests—because
their GM proteins have properties of known allergens.
Soon after GM soy was introduced in the UK, soy allergies skyrocketed by 50%. A skin prick allergy test verified that some people react to GM soy, but not to natural soy. GM soy contains as much as 7-times the amount of a known soy allergen. Both GM soy and corn contain at least one new unexpected allergen, not found in natural crops.
The biotech industry claims that Bt-toxin is harmless to humans and mammals because the natural bacteria version has been used as a spray by farmers for years. In reality, hundreds of people exposed to natural Bt spray had allergic and flu-like symptoms. Now, farm workers throughout India are getting those same symptoms from handling Bt cotton. Likewise, mice fed natural Bt had powerful immune responses; now mice and rats fed Bt corn also show immune responses.
GMOs may make you
allergic to non-GM foods
Since GMOs were
introduced in the US, food allergies have become a huge problem, especially
for kids. Some of the foods that trigger reactions, however, are not genetically
engineered. But studies show how GM foods might create sensitivity to other
foods, and may in fact be contributing to this national epidemic.
GM soy, for example, drastically reduces digestive enzymes in mice. If our ability to breakdown proteins was impaired, we could become allergic to a wide variety of foods.
Mice fed Bt-toxin not only reacted to the Bt itself, they started having immune reactions to foods that were formerly harmless. The Bt-toxin in the corn we eat may have a similar impact. Mice fed experimental GM peas also started reacting to a range of other "safe" foods. The allergen responsible for this reaction may be found in GM foods on our supermarket shelves.
GMOs and liver problems
The liver is a primary
detoxifier. Its condition can indicate if there are toxins in our food.
Mice and rats fed GM feed had profound changes in their livers. In some
cases, livers were smaller and partially atrophied. Some were significantly
heavier, possibly inflamed. And certain cellular changes indicated a toxic
insult from the GM diet.
Reproductive problems
and infant mortality
Both male and female
animals showed horrific problems when fed GM soy. More than half the babies
of mother rats fed GM soy died within three weeks, compared to 10% of the
non-GM soy controls. The GM babies were also considerably smaller, and
were unable to conceive in a subsequent study. Male rats and mice fed GM
soy had changed testicles, including altered young sperm cells in the mice.
And when both mouse parents ate GM soy, the DNA of their embryos functioned
differently. GM corn also had an impact. The longer mice were fed the corn,
the fewer babies they had and the smaller their babies were.
Livestock sterility,
disease, and death
Many of the problems
seen in laboratories are also reported by farmers and investigators in
the field.
• Thousands of sheep,
buffalo, and goats in India died after grazing on Bt cotton plants after
harvest. Others suffered poor health and serious reproductive problems.
• Farmers in Europe
and Asia say that cows, water buffaloes, chickens, and horses died from
eating Bt corn varieties.
• About two dozen
US farmers report that GM corn varieties caused widespread sterility in
pigs or cows.
Ready to change your
diet? Inspired? How about alarmed? Choosing non-GMO diets is not only a
good idea for those suffering from disease, but for anyone wanting to eat
healthy and prevent disease.
[1][2][3][4][5]
__________________________________________
[1]Jeffrey
M. Smith: Spilling the Beans Newsletter - August 25, 2009
[2]
Centre for Foodsafety 2009: Bush-Administration left
behind nothing but contaminated land, junk scientists and junk burocrats.
Science
Review Letters 8, # 271. Darin: latest scientific research on
health risks of GMOs: State of the science
on the health risks on food and how to avoid Foods made with genetically
modified organisms (GMOs) Non-GMO shopping
guide
[3]
Centre for Foodsafety 2009: Toxic
food - not only for cows, sheeps and honeybees - made by Monsanto &
Co. Apicultural Review Letters 8, # 351
[4]
Centre for Ecological Apiculture 2009: Better
natural produce such as comb in the comb, milk, joghurt than artificial
produce such as dangerous candies from genetically modified raw materials,
"sugarfree" diet drinks, sugar substitutes, artificial additives, artificial
milkproduce. Press-Release
[5]
Centre for social medicine and natural Apitherapy 2009: Natural
Apitherapy instead of red Biotechnology - Natural Api Therapy with comb
in the comb honey, run-honey, pollen, beebread, propolis, royal gelly.
Press-Release
Back to content page of Science Review Letters
The complete edition of "science review letters" published in supplemrnt of online-magazine "Natural Science"
Follow us in social Networks:
Save
Beecolonies | Natural Apitherapy Council
Api
/ Science Review Letters
Centre
for Ecological Apiculture / Apitherapy
Centre
for Social Medicine / Apitherapy
Zentrum
fuer wesensgemaesse Bienenhaltung