Hi fellow Steemians! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and are having an even better Monday! I thought I would take some time today to wrap up the topic of GMOs and talk more about how they are damaging our health. If you've been following along, you can probably tell by now, I'm very passionate about the topic. I have done a great deal of research over the years on genetically modified organisms, or GMOs as they're abbreviated, and more people need to know the truth about them.
Did you know, the significant increase in the number of gluten sensitivity cases in Americans can be linked to GMOs? This is an important topic Jeffrey Smith discusses in the report, Can Genetically-Engineered Foods Explain the Exploding Gluten Sensitivity? Jeffrey Smith is the Founder and Executive Director of the Institute for Responsible Technology and author.
Gluten Sensitivity and Leaky Gut
There are different theories as to why GMOs may heighten gluten sensitivity or gluten reactions. The breeding of wheat is one theory believed to increase the gluten content of the crop, explains Smith. He supports the claim GMOs are largely to blame for gluten sensitivity reactions using evidence from animal feeding and case studies.
He says, “While there is insufficient research to prove that GMO consumption causes gluten sensitivity, the evidence does show how it might, at least, exacerbate the symptoms, or contribute to the conditions that might lead to the development of sensitivity to gluten.”
People that are hypersensitive to gluten, like celiac sufferers, often have an inflammatory condition called leaky gut. In people that have the condition, the cell lining of the intestines opens, causing digestive contents to leak into the bloodstream.
Some doctors estimate over half of the population suffers from some degree of Leaky Gut. Now, I would call that a secret epidemic...
Essentially, leaky gut causes the immune system to launch an attack on whatever leaks out of the gut and into the bloodstream. “Technically, anyone who consumes gluten—whether a celiac sufferer or not—is susceptible to increased intestinal permeability. That’s because the protein class in wheat known as alpha-gliadin can provoke the release of zonulin from our bodies, which can promote intestinal permeability to unhealthy levels,” he says.
Poor Digestion
Digestion, one of the most crucial processes for life, may also be impaired by GMOs. It is important to note, leaky gut and impaired digestion go hand-in-hand. In patients with leaky gut, the microvilli which help aid digestion and line the intestinal walls get damaged, thus impairing absorption of nutrients.
To provide evidence for this, Smith points to a study titled, “Fine Structural Changes in the Ileum of Mice Fed on Delta-endotoxin-treated Potatoes and Transgenic Potatoes”. The study observed Bt-toxin’s damaging effect on the microvilli of mice. Some of the microvilli in the mice's digestive linings were severed or broken completely off.
Now, the looming question is, if Bt-toxin can do this to mice, can it have a similar effect on the microvilli of humans?
Gut dysbiosis
Gut bacteria dysbiosis is also associated with gluten sensitivity/reactions and linked to GMOs. You've probably heard this called a microbial or gut imbalance, and as you may have noticed, this condition has been getting a lot of attention lately, driving the popularity of probiotics and fermented foods.
We've all heard the saying, you are what you eat... well that seems to be a true piece of wisdom. According to veterinarian Dan Skow, the introduction of GMOs lines up with the timeframe he began seeing livestock have gut imbalances. Skow says, ‘Now what set this off and why these disruptions of the balance to the microscopic flora in the intestinal tract? I’m personally suspicious—there’s a lot of impact from the GMOs’.
Even butchers have noticed changes in livestock, specifically, how the dead carcasses smell if they were fed a GMO diet.
‘The pigs fed GMOs have a very dramatic difference in their microflora. [It] has a terrible odor to it compared to the normal microflora because of that changed bio-environment.’ (Emeritus Huber, a professor at Purdue University)
Allergies and immune responses
Lastly, allergies and immune responses are another set of issues associated with GMOs and the poor gut health they cause. But it's not just GMOs that are the culprit, it's also the herbicides used on them. For instance, glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup which is sprayed on GMO crops has been found to be quite problematic for the gut as one study using mice revealed:
‘The study showed that retinoic acid, a metabolite of vitamin A, activated a specific immune response to gluten under inflammatory conditions in the gut. It turns out that glyphosate, the primary herbicide used on GMO crops, increases retinoic acid activity.’
Not only do GMOs trigger gluten sensitivity but also other immune responses. This exposure increases the body’s antigenic load, making a person more susceptible to allergies, even to non-GMOs. For instance, individual studies found the Bt-toxin in GMO corn “triggered immune responses in mice and in farm workers, and allergic- and flu-like symptoms in hundreds of exposed citizens.” Scientists also discovered the immune systems of mice will start triggering due to substances it never did prior to Bt-toxin exposure.
I found these resources to be invaluable for understanding the hidden link between GMOs and health problems. Who would have thought that so many of the gut issues we're dealing with today, like gluten sensitivity, leaky gut, impaired digestion, and gut dysbiosis, can be caused by eating these genetically engineered foods? And not surprisingly, when we have an unhealthy gut, we end up with allergies or autoimmune reactions.
Well, I hope these series of posts on GMOs has opened your eyes or made you re-think the produce and foods you buy at the supermarket. If you suffer from any one of these gastrointestinal issues or have an allergy problem, like so many people do, it is probably best to avoid GMOs altogether or as much as possible.
It's a revolutionary idea but to heal the gut is to heal the body!
Want to learn more about GMOs and how they contribute to poor gut health and allergies? Check out report I highlighted - it's a great resource:
Smith, Jeffrey. Can Genetically-Engineered Foods Explain the Exploding Gluten Sensitivity? Rep. N.p., Sept. 2013. The 13-page report can be downloaded here on thehealinggardens Inside, you will find all the studies mentioned in this post with some great images and diagrams that further document the correlation between a GMO diet and various disorders.
Interested in the topic of health? Check out my other posts:
How Most Americans Are Secretly Being Poisoned Almost Daily
Engineering Death - How Genetically Engineered Crops Have Been Created to Kill
There is a documentary called and maybe you've heard of it, 'What the Health,' currently on Netflix, which covers GMOs and the entire food industry in greater detail. Scary thought as there is mention that some people have actually been put in underground jails, just for writing, talking, or anything exposing the corruption in the food industry.
Hi @whileoutsanch :) Yes, I've seen that documentary once or twice. It's very good.. I'm personally a huge fan of these documentaries because I think they reach a different audience on TV and people who may have never sought out the information to begin with. Hopefully it will help motivate people to try and get well the natural route.
Good article. Resteemed and upvoted. I stay away from both gluten and GMO's.
That is the safest bet. Right now, I'm trying out some gluten free alternatives to things like flour tortillas and corn chips. Cauliflower is a great substitute. You can even use it to make pizza crust
Greats post Natalie!!!
Thanks @rogasa3000 =)
This post received a 5% vote by @minnowsupport courtesy of @followbtcnews from the Minnow Support Project ( @minnowsupport ). Join us in Discord.
Upvoting this comment will help support @minnowsupport.
Very good and informative post.
thanks!
Again, great article! We tried to eat gluten and sugar free for a time but while you are travelling it's so hard! We didn't find enough options on the way especially in south east Asia...but we felt so much better while eating less gluten and sugar, so it's definitely worth going trying it again! Greetings @travellove
It is super hard to eat healthy, especially gluten free while travelling... That's something I hate about travelling! You get back home and you're way off track.
@nataliejohnson Masses of knowledge. Many thanks. Resteemed.
=)
@nataliejohnson Thanks for your work as well!
@nataliejohnson Masses of knowledge. Many thanks..
No, no they aren't.
Hi @justtryme90, I'm open to hearing what you have to say about gmos, if you care to. I prefer to keep an open mind
I have written several posts on the subject in the past. While I don't agree with all implementations of the technology (ie inclusion of pesticide resistance) there is no evidence that any current GMO being developed, or any GMO product has a negative effect on human health. They do potentially have unforseen effects on wildlife populations (in the case of the pesticide resistance) as they lead to more pesticide usage, changing insect populations in a given area and potentially disrupting the food chain in some capacity.
Your claims in this post indicate a specific health response to 'GMOs' which first off isn't possible because no GMO food is equivalent to another, they are all modified for different purposes (knockdowns of an enzyme to slow ripening, addition of vitamin A precursor beta-carotine with golden rice). Many of these things have no possible negative effect (which is supported by the literature). But even if they did (let's go hypothetical) they would each effect us in a different way, because the modification made to them was entirely different.
I just read your posts on GMOs and vaccine potential, which I really enjoyed reading. You're really good at taking technical information and putting it into an easy to digest format. (I will definitely have to follow your posts).
Although I'm not a PhD biochemist, I have been learning about GMOs since I was in high school. Ever since then, I've been fascinated by biotech and its possibilities. There are so many cool things that can be done with GMOs but I personally don't like the evidence I've found so far. The studies and information I'm most familiar with focus on some of the main food or animal feed crops, like soy, corn, canola, etc which are almost entirely GMO now.
I never thought of the possibility someone may interpret this article in the way you're describing...It's great to see your point of view. I wasn't necessarily trying to say all GMOs are bad, or proven to be bad, just discuss some of the issues around them.
Thank you for the nice and thoughtful response.
There are some issues to be discussed (none that are a deal breaker IMO), however importantly there is no known negative human health relationship with GMO's. They are a touchy subject, because people are very easily scared of things they do not understand. So them reading positive things only sways their opinion a little in the positive direction. However because of the inherent fear of the unknown, reading negative things drastically seems to worsen peoples overall opinion.
I have felt for quite a long time, that the only way to circumvent this inherent fear of the unknown phenomenon surrounding recombination DNA technologies is to educate people in the simplest and easiest to digest ways. A little bit of understanding goes a long way to putting the pros and cons of the technology into perspective.
Just my two cents, and a bit more as to where I am coming from.
And Monsanto says there's absolutely nothing wrong with GMOs. I have started growing my own food and buying from local sources to avoid the possibility of GMOs in my diet. I have also become quite the label reader when I do go to market.
Very informative article. Thank you for sharing, @nataliejohnson, and for your upvote on my most recent post. Upvoted and Followed!
See you next time,
Mo
I think it's funny how similar Monsanto is to monster. :)
That's a great idea, growing your own food and shopping locally. Where I just moved to, there's a great local market that's open all year round which is so exciting. I love knowing that I can buy locally-grown food that supports the locals where I live and that hasn't traveled across the seven seas to get to me. That just makes a lot more sense!
Thank you for following and upvoting <3 Re-followed!
:)
1-2 weeks ago I was watching the docu series GMO's revealed where Zach Bush, one of the people who got interviewed, talked about the connection between GMO's - leaky gut - gluten sensitivity. I also think that vaccines are connected to leaky gut as well if we are to believe people like Dr Andrew Wakefield and others.
http://www.gmosrevealed.com/
Thanks for sharing this, @johnblaid. I have not seen this one but I'm always looking for new documentaries on gmos. I agree, vaccines could very well contribute to leaky gut since they are so toxic. This is a great article on the topic:
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/vaccine-injury-first-gut-then-brain
Thanks! @eadabrinn