Should we avoid GMO's? I listen to my gut.

Istockphoto/Eraxion - via Scientific American

There's an English language idiom that's used to encourage someone to trust their instincts or intuition. It's "go with your gut." This expression is often used figuratively, but  I've come to think of it in a more literal sense. When it comes to my health, I am finally learning to listen to my gut and give it the credence it deserves. How about you? Is your gut trying to tell you something?

What's in your gut? -  Although the word gut sounds short and simple, the system it describes is actually very complex and is also absolutely critical to our survival. In fact, the gut is so important that it has its own "brain" - the enteric nervous system (ENS) (3). The gut, or gastrointestinal (GI) system includes the stomach, large intestine and colon, among other things. The major events of digestion and food absorption occur in the small intestine, which is covered in tiny little projections called villi that aid in the absorption of nutrients from the foods we eat (3). Problems can occur when these villi and the gut lining become compromised (3).

Wellness and the gut - When it comes to diagnosing disease, it seems wisdom dictates the symptoms are related to the location where they are present. For example, my Mom had eczema when she was a child. Since the rash was on her skin, the doctors called this a skin disorder. Thankfully, Western medicine has progressed since then and recognizes that there is more to the picture. The diagnosis of disease is now taking a more holistic approach, recognizing that the body is an integrated system and a symptom in one location could actually stem from something occurring in another location.  Applying this understanding to my Mom's eczema, doctors now see a link between eczema and the immune system, even though the symptoms appear on the skin (1). So, clearly this isn't just a skin disorder.

What's all this have to do with the gut? Well, experts are making connections between our gut health and a variety of diseases outside of the GI system itself. I imagine Hippocrates (460-377 BC), who is often referred to as the father of western medicine and is quoted as saying, "all disease begins in the gut" would be amused by modern medicine's reluctant acceptance of his ancient wisdom! (2)

GE foods  - Let's take a moment to discuss the nomenclatures used to describe these

foods. The terms genetically modified (GM) foods, genetically modified organisms (GMOs),  genetically engineered (GE) foods, and bio-engineered foods, all describe products that have had "foreign genes (genes from other plants or animals) inserted into their genetic codes" (5) "creating  combinations of plant, animal, bacterial and viral genes that cannot occur in nature or in traditional crossbreeding" (4).

from USDA Economic Research Service

I'm not eating GE foods, am I? - You may be surprised by just  how much of the food in US grocery stores comes from GE crops. I know I was! In the US there are 4 commonly grown GE crops: corn, soy, canola and cotton.  The USDA’s Economic Research Service estimates that 90 percent of the corn grown in the United States is genetically modified (7) (at time post was written). So, if you're eating corn that was not organically grown you are eating GMO's. Maybe you're careful to not eat GE corn. Good! However, if you eat animals that eat feed that contains GE corn, you are consuming GMO's. Maybe you don't eat meat or GE corn? Well, if you are eating processed foods (which usually contain high fructose corn syrup) you are consuming GMO's. In fact, about 70 percent of processed food in US supermarkets contains GE ingredients, according to the Center for Food Safety (8).

GM Foods and our gut health - Before we talk about our gut health, we need to look at one genetic modification in particular occurring in certain US crops, that is the insertion of a short sequence of genes from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) into plants like corn and potatoes for example. Bt "is a Gram-positive, [naturally occurring] soil-dwelling bacterium" and is now "commonly used as a biological pesticide." (10)  You can read more about it at the University of California - San Diego's webpage here, but here's the shorter explanation:

Image from UCSD 

"Bt has to be eaten [by the insect] to cause mortality. The Bt toxin dissolve in the high pH insect gut and become active. The toxins then attack the gut cells of the insect, punching holes in the lining. The Bt spores spill out of the gut and germinate in the insect causing death within a couple days." Organic farmers have used Bt topically as a pesticide for years. Splicing the Bt genes into a plant is a relatively new occurrence.

What does Bt have to do with our gut health? There is compelling evidence from a study done in the early part of last year that indicates consuming GE foods containing Bt toxin has a detrimental effect on humans. For the first time, researchers have found Bt toxin in the blood stream of people. The doctors who did the study wondered why this would be the case if the Bt toxin were being destroyed in the human stomach during digestion as was originally believed. They argue in their research that "modified Bt toxins are not inert on nontarget human cells and that they can present combined side effects with other residues of pesticides specific to GM plants." (9)

Not too surprisingly, this French study was criticized and attempts were made to discredit it. However, a new study released this year from the University of Brazil reinforces the concerns highlighted by the earlier research and raises disturbing new issues of potential toxic affects to our blood. You can read the details here. (11)

This subject is too lengthy to discuss in one post, so I will wrap this up for now and conclude next time with a discussion of what the recent research reveals about how consuming GE foods impacts our gut and overall health.  In the meantime, consider this quote from another Greek power thinker named Aristotle - "Intuition is the source of scientific knowledge." What do you think? Are you going with your gut? 

UPDATE: The Research paper referenced above has been retracted by the Journal Food and Chemical Toxicology. The following is a segment of their statement.  You can read it in it's entirety here:

"The journal Food and Chemical Toxicology retracts the article “Long term toxicity of a Roundup herbicide and a Roundup-tolerant genetically modified maize,” which was published in this journal in November 2012. This retraction comes after a thorough and time-consuming analysis of the published article and the data it reports, along with an investigation into the peer-review behind the article. The Editor in-Chief deferred making any public statements regarding this article until this investigation was complete, and the authors were notified of the findings."

In what sounds like a low budget film title, this has come to be known as the Seralini affair. I will leave the determination of whether or not this study was faulty to minds much more scientific than mine. I will say that my gut reaction is to remain skeptical regarding the safety of eating GMO's.  No one really knows the long term effects. The biggest study being conducted is occurring in real time among the general population who consume GMO's. Profit and greed seem to trump health and safety these days. Given the power of the chemical industry in America it doesn't surprise me.  I'll leave you with these facts:

"The U.S. Chemical Industry - The chemicals industry is one of the United States’ largest manufacturing industries, serving both a sizable domestic market and an expanding global market. It is also one of the top exporting sectors of U.S. manufacturing. Accounting for 15 percent of global chemical shipments, the United States is a world leader in chemicals production and exports. The industry’s more than 10,000 firms produce more than 70,000 products. In 2012, the U.S. chemicals industry had sales of $769.4 billion and directly employed more than 784,000 workers, with additional indirect employment by industry suppliers of more than 2.7 million. With investment of $57 billion in research and development in 2012, and strong enforcement of intellectual property rights, one-fifth of all patents granted in the United States are chemistry-related." (Select USA)

Sources -
1) Nature Immunology, Cutaneous immunosurveillance and regulation of inflammation by group 2 innate lymphoid cells, Ben Roediger, et.al., http://www.nature.com/ni/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ni.2584.html
National Institutes of Health, Medline Plus - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002432.htm
2) Hippocrates - Wikipedia from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocrates
3) Understanding Nutrition, Ellie Whitney, 11th edition, Thomson, 2008
4) GE foods and health - http://www.actionbioscience.org/biotech/pusztai.html
5) GMOs -  http://www.nongmoproject.org/learn-more/what-is-gmo/
6) University of Maryland Medical Center - http://www.umm.edu/ency/article/002432.htm
7) USDA Economic Research - http://www.ers.usda.gov/
8) Center for Food Safety - http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/issues/311/ge-foods/non-gmo-shoppers-guide-325/1846/tips-for-avoiding-gmos
9) Cytotoxicity on human cells of Cry1Ab and Cry1Ac Bt insecticidal toxins alone or with a glyphosate-based herbicide - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278691512005637
10) Bt - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bt_toxin
11) Hematotoxicity of Bacillus thuringiensis as Spore-crystal Strains Cry1Aa,
Cry1Ab, Cry1Ac or Cry2Aa in Swiss Albino Mice - http://gmoevidence.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/JHTD-1-104.pdf
12) Serafini affair - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A9ralini_affair
13) Select USA - US Chemical Industry - http://selectusa.commerce.gov/industry-snapshots/chemical-industry-united-states

Healthy nutrition: say no to GMO's

Image: www.foodfightthedoc.com

Are you ready for a food fight?! Sorry to disappoint if scenes from Animal House are running through your mind, because it's not that kind of fight to which I'm referring. The GMO conflict is waging on and at the risk of sounding overly dramatic, the very essence of our food and our health is at stake. One ongoing battle front for concerned American consumers is the call for GM food labeling. Unlike most other industrialized countries, the US doesn't label GM foods (1).

Just what is a GMO? -
I've posted about GM foods in the past, but in case you missed those posts (found here and here), I'll just briefly explain that GMO or GM are acronyms for Genetically Modified Organism. You may also see GE used, and this stands for Genetically Engineered. GM foods are the result of  taking specific selected gene(s) from one kind of organism and placing them into a related or unrelated organism (2). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), GMO's contain genetic material that "has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally" (2). In other words, not "present in, or produced by nature" (8).

"It's not nice to fool mother nature" -
What's wrong with the good, old, conventional, natural methods of breeding our crops? Well, it's seems they're just too time consuming and not very accurate. Never mind that this is how nature works. Biotechnology now allows scientists to modify plants in a lab in order to enhance certain desirable traits for crops such as drought tolerance and pest and disease resistance. For example, scientists can take a gene from a bacterium that is resistant to an herbicide like Roundup and insert it into a soybean plant cell to create a Roundup resistant soybean (1). This is viewed as a major benefit to farming because now farmers are able to plant these Roundup resistant GM seeds, known as "Roundup ready" seeds, and then use Roundup to kill the weeds without harming the crops. Are you sensing a theme here? The company that patented the Roundup ready seeds also patented the Roundup.

Well, I'm sure it will come as no surprise to you to learn that there's more to the story, but that's for another post. For now, it might be helpful to know how The World Health Organization answers the question of why foods are being genetically modified. After all, they are looking out for the world's health.  Here's what they have to say: 

"GM foods are developed – and marketed – because there is some perceived advantage either to the producer or consumer of these foods. This is meant to translate into a product with a lower price, greater benefit (in terms of durability or nutritional value) or both." [emphasis added]

Hmmm... Let's briefly examine two of the reasons stated in the WHO statement for why GM foods are developed and marketed:

1. product with a lower price
2. product with a greater benefit (durability or nutritional value or both)

Is less expensive food of greater benefit nutritionally? -
A product with a lower price that has a greater benefit than a product with a higher price would be outstanding. I love a bargain, but I'm no economist. However, it's probably safe to say most of us would agree that getting something valuable for a lesser cost seems like a good thing. So, in an effort to make food cheaper and more abundant, cost effective and time efficient farming practices have evolved over the decades. GM crops are one result. Some advantages of GM foods are pest and disease resistance, herbicide as well as cold, heat and drought tolerance, and even greater nutritional benefit (3).  On the other hand, as a very wise biology professor once said, "for every yin, there's a yang", or put another way, for every benefit, there's a consequence.  


Admittedly, the modernization and industrialization of farming practices have brought prices down significantly on some foods. But ultimately at what cost? Consider that the top GM crops are corn and soy which go into many processed foods (9). In fact, "thousands of products on supermarket shelves are made with ingredients from genetically modified crops" (9).  For example, high fructose corn syrup or soy protein is used frequently in the manufacture of prepackaged convenience foods. Yes, the benefits of these foods are that they're cheap and convenient, but there are consequences as well.

A 2006 report from the USDA Economic Research Service revealed some interesting statistical trends on the percent of income American's spent on food over the last 70 years. In 1930, Americans spent 24.2% of their income on food, compared with 9.5% in 2004 (4). Slate has broken it down further by food eaten at home and compared the percentages by country 

Image from: Slate.com

(shown in the bar graph at right). The point being, Americans are paying a lower price for their food than at any other time in history and are also spending less than most countries. If, as WHO states, GMO's are being developed and marketed as products with a nutritional benefit, is the benefit being reflected in the public health? Are Americans healthier?


The fact is obesity rates in America are at the highest rates ever recorded and the diseases that correspond with being overweight/obese are increasing dramatically (5). You can check out the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) interesting animated map here, that shows by state how obesity rates have increased since 1985. The map illustrates that during the past 20 years, "there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States and rates remain high. In 2010, no state had a prevalence of obesity less than 20%. Thirty-six states had a prevalence of 25% or more and 12 of these states had a prevalence of 30% or more" (5).


Is the American penchant for inexpensive, fast, processed and prepackaged, GM foods coming with the unexpected cost of diminishing health and rising health care costs? According to the US Surgeon General, "Obesity is the fastest growing cause of disease and death in America" (6). "One out of every eight deaths in America is caused by an illness directly related to overweight and obesity" and this statement was made back in 2003 (6). Sadly, things haven't improved since then. Does the cheaper cost of GM foods balance out the health care costs of poor nutrition? According to the National Institutes on Health, "on average, people who are considered obese pay 42% more in health care costs than normal-weight individuals" (7). Is there really a lower price/increased nutritional benefit to GM foods?


GM food labeling-
Considering the above information, the critical factor in maximizing our potential for good health is good nutrition. This is only possible by having access to healthy foods and having the ability to make informed decisions about what foods we choose to eat. The fact that GM foods are not labeled in the US makes this impossible. Bearing in mind a 2008 survey, found here, which showed 87% of Americans polled felt labeling of GM food was necessary, it would seem that the US government would enact a GMO labeling policy.  This has been proposed, but unfortunately still not enacted and surely standing to benefit most from GM foods will continue to insist the labeling of GM foods is unnecessary. Considering the mounting research that shows evidence of harm from GMO's (10), it seems prudent to let our government officials know that we feel the labeling of our foods is highly important.

The following statement sums up succinctly the importance of making healthy food choices:

"Every day, several times a day, you make food choices that influence your body's health for better or worse.  Each day's choices are repeated over years and decades, the rewards or consequences become major. That being the case, paying close attention to good eating now can bring you health benefits later"  (5).

Tips to Avoid GMO's:
So, until GM food labeling becomes a reality, and this is a big question mark right now, you will have to do a little due diligence to avoid GMO's. You can limit your consumption of GMO's by making careful food choices. Here are a few suggestions for ways to avoid GM foods:

1. Steer clear of the top 4 at risk ingredients found in prepackaged, processed convenience foods - corn, soy, cottonseed and canola.
2. Try to buy organic foods when possible. 
3. Try to buy only grass fed meat or wild caught fish.  Feed fed cattle and farm raised fish are likely to be fed GM food.
4. Watch out for GM sugar beet sugar which is on the market now.

For more suggestions visit the True Food Shopper's Guide, which includes specific name brand non GMO foods to buy or GM foods to avoid. They even have an app available for your smart phone.  Lastly, please consider signing the petition found at the Institute for Responsible Technology. We need to let President Obama know that Americans want meaningful GM food labeling now, because the stance the US government seems to be taking to human consumption of GMO's is that they are innocent until proven guilty.  This principle may work for the justice system, but seems reckless when applied to our food supply, especially considering how absolutely crucial food is to our health and very survival.
 
Sources
(1) Wikipedia, Genetically modified organisms, Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_organism August 2011

(2) World Health Organization, Food Safety retrieved from http://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/biotech/20questions/en/ August 2011
(3) Whitman, D. B., Genetically Modified Foods: Harmful or Helpful? April 2000, Retrieved from http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/gmfood/overview.php August 2011
(4) US Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service Retrieved from http://www.ilfb2.org/fff06/51.pdf August 2011
(5) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/animated_map_slides/map26.jpg August 2011
(6) US Surgeon General Statement
(7) US Department of Health & Human Services National Institutes of Health, WIN, Retrieved from http://www.win.niddk.nih.gov/statistics/index.htm#overweight August 2011
(8) Free Dictionary, natural, Retrieved from www.thefreedictionary.com/natural, August 2011
(9) True Food Now, Retrieved from  http://truefoodnow.org/shoppers-guide/ on August 2011
(10) Responsible Technology, The Campaign for healthier eating in America, Retrieved from http://www.responsibletechnology.org/docs/140.pdf August 2011

"Frankenfish" and other GE food: friend or foe?

Remember when cloning became a reality? At the time it seemed unbelievable and amazing that scientists could create a genetic twin of another organism, in this case a sheep named Dolly. Then came cloned goats, pigs and cows, the meat and milk of which has been deemed safe to eat (Newsweek).  Now scientists can genetically engineer (GE), or genetically modify organisms (GMO) of all sorts. They do this by combining genes or sequences of DNA from one organism with another and altering things like hormones, plants and now animals, like the salmon.

So back to "Frankenfish". Why is this salmon stirring up controversy? After all, given the growing consumer demand for salmon, the fact that overfishing and other issues have caused salmon to decline, and combined with the world's need for increased food security, a farmed salmon that can grow more quickly seems like a good thing, right? Well, yes... and no.

As biotechnology continues to advance, even more questions are generated. Such as, what makes something natural as opposed to artificial? According to Dictionary.com, natural is defined as "existing in or formed by nature". Could a genetically engineered salmon be considered natural? After all it is derived from things that exist in nature. A few other questions. Are GE foods safe? Should we as consumers have the right to know whether or not what we are eating is a GE food?

The US Human Genome project coordinated by the US Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health, was responsible for identifying the human DNA sequence and was the first scientific organization to look at the ethical, legal and social issues arising from their genetics work. A few of the benefits and controversies relating to GE foods that they have identified are:
Benefits

• increased nutrients, yield and stress tolerance
• increased hardiness, resistance and productivity
• better yields of milk, eggs and meat
• enhanced taste and quality
• reduced maturation time

Controversies
"Potential human health impacts, including:

• allergens
• transfer of antibiotic resistance markers
• unknown effects

Potential environmental impacts, including:

• unintended transfer of transgenes through cross-pollination
• unknown effects on other organisms (e.g. soil microbes)
• loss of flora and fauna biodiversity"

One of the first things to jump out at me from the Human Genome Project's list of controversies relates to allergens. Would you be surprised to learn that food allergies are in the rise in the US?  The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lists the top food allergens here. Milk, soybeans, peanuts and wheat are included in the top ten.

Milk is genetically modified when cows are given a growth hormone called rBGH. You can read more about this here. Wheat and soybeans are two GE crops grown in the US. Interestingly, a protein in soybeans can have a "cross-reactivity with peanut allergies", so it's believed that soy allergens are linked to peanut allergies (Organic Consumers Association, OCA). It's significant that since the GE soybean was introduced in the US in 1996, peanut allergies have doubled from 1997-2002 (OCA). Also, intolerance to gluten found in wheat has quadrupled since the 1950's (LA Times).

As the Human Genome Project's list shows, the issue of allergens is just one area of concern. Additionally, the Union of Concerned Scientists includes antibiotic resistance, production of new toxins, concentration of toxic metals and increased risk of toxic environmental fungi as other potential harms to our health posed by GE food. As food consumers, it seems prudent to be aware of what foods are genetically engineered. The Union of Concerned Scientists has a list of the GE foods currently allowed on the market here. However, GE crops can also be found in many processed foods. According to the Colorado State University Extension, "the most common GE crops in the United States are soybean, corn, cotton, and canola.... Because many processed food products contain soybean or corn ingredients (e.g., high fructose corn syrup or soy protein), it’s estimated that 60 to 70 percent of processed foods in grocery stores include at least one GE ingredient."

So, how do we determine which foods contain GE ingredients? The reality is we aren't able to choose between GE foods and non-GE foods because we don't know which foods contain GE ingredients. It comes down to labeling. This concern has been raised in the past when other GE foods have been created. Aqua Bounty's GE salmon has brought the issue of food labeling to the forefront once again. Groups like the Center for Food Safety and the Truth in Labeling Coalition are requesting that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) require GE foods be labeled as such. As of this date, no mandatory labeling law is in place. The Colorado State University Extension has a current fact sheet on the labeling of GE foods here. There's also a non-GMO shopper's guide app for your smart phone available from here and a word document version here. 

What's the bottom line? Admittedly, there are benefits to GE products. The FDA states that, "Only food from GE animals that is safe to eat will be permitted into the food supply."  I wonder. How can we know at this early stage if the GE salmon will be safe for human consumption in the long run? Is this "Frankenfish" friend or foe? It's true that great accomplishments often come with an amount of sacrifice and risk. In this case, are the sacrifices and risks greater than the benefits? I think that remains to be seen. Until there is sufficient scientific data showing GE foods to be without risk, I believe we should be able to make informed decisions about what foods we choose through labeling. What do you think?

2/11/11 Update: Washington, DC – “On Tuesday [2/8], a bi-partisan group of U.S. House Representatives introduced critical legislation (H.R. 521) mirroring a Senate bill from the end of January (S. 230) to keep the first genetically engineered (GE) food animal, AquaBounty Technologies AquaAdvantage salmon, off our plates...At least 30 House members and 14 senators have written the Obama administration either expressing serious concerns about the manner in which the FDA conducted its review of Aquabounty’s GE salmon, or calling for the outright prohibition of its approval for human consumption." Stay tuned for the FDA's response.


Sources
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_engineering
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/natural
http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2010/09/22/130040472/a-tale-of-frankenfish-will-genetically-modified-salmon-hit-the-storeshttp://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/gmfood.shtml
http://www.fws.gov/salmonofthewest/overfishing.htm
http://www.newsweek.com/2008/01/17/would-you-like-fries-with-your-clone.html
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/foodnut/09371.html
http://www.latimes.com/sns-health-gluten-allergy-growing,0,1991692.story 
http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/science_and_impacts/impacts_genetic_engineering/risks-of-genetic-engineering.html
http://www.gmofoodlabel.org/index.html
http://truefoodnow.org/?CFID=24889389&CFTOKEN=30132594
http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/DevelopmentApprovalProcess/GeneticEngineering/GeneticallyEngineeredAnimals/ucm113597.htm 
http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/pressreleases/congress-unites-against-fda-approval-of-genetically-engineered-salmon/