Doctors Warn: Avoid Genetically Modified Food

( – promoted by buhdydharma )

The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) is warning people to avoid genetically modified foods.

This is scary stuff.  


They conclude, “There is more than a casual association between GM foods and adverse health effects. There is causation,” as defined by recognized scientific criteria. “The strength of association and consistency between GM foods and disease is confirmed in several animal studies.”

Here is the paper:

http://www.aaemonline.org/gmop…


Animal studies also show altered structure and function of the liver, including altered lipid and carbohydrate metabolism as well as cellular changes that could lead to accelerated aging and possibly lead to the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). 7,8,10 Changes in the kidney, pancreas and spleen have also been documented. 6,8,10 A recent 2008 study links GM corn with infertility, showing a significant decrease in offspring over time and significantly lower litter weight in mice fed GM corn.8 This study also found that over 400 genes were found to be expressed differently in the mice fed GM corn. These are genes known to control protein synthesis and modification, cell signaling, cholesterol synthesis, and insulin regulation. Studies also show intestinal damage in animals fed GM foods, including proliferative cell growth9 and disruption of the intestinal immune system.6

Isn’t that special?  Has this been in our mainstream “news”?  No, of course not, because the corporations that own the “news” media would throw a f**king fit.

I remember when this stuff started coming out.  I’m not a doctor, but I was pre-med in college, and learned a lot about biology.  I thought “well, they’ll have to test this stuff thoroughly before it becomes commercial”.  Wrong.  They NEVER tested any of it.  

They just started growing this stuff, willy-nilly, all cross the world, with not precautions or testing as to what might happen when this modified DNA enters the biosphere.  We’re talking DNA here.  DNA that is going to merge with other DNA, DNA that took millions of years of evolution to develop, suddenly being f**ked with arbitrarily by idiot humans.


With the precautionary principle in mind, because GM foods have not been properly tested for human consumption, and because there is ample evidence of probable harm, the AAEM asks:

Physicians to educate their patients, the medical community, and the public to avoid GM foods when possible and provide educational materials concerning GM foods and health risks.

Physicians to consider the possible role of GM foods in the disease processes of the patients they treat and to document any changes in patient health when changing from GM food to non-GM food.

Our members, the medical community, and the independent scientific community to gather case studies potentially related to GM food consumption and health effects, begin epidemiological research to investigate the role of GM foods on human health, and conduct safe methods of determining the effect of GM foods on human health.

For a moratorium on GM food, implementation of immediate long term independent safety testing, and labeling of GM foods, which is necessary for the health and safety of consumers.

Why were these foods never tested?  

Money.  Short term financial gain by a few corporations.  That is the ONLY reason.

Why did Congress let this happen?  Because Congress is in the pockets of the corporations.

Why did Americans let this happen?  Because their windows to the world are literally owned and manipulated by the same corporations.

Your “reality” is what you see, and what Americans see is through their TV sets, and so their reality is literally OWNED and CREATED by the corporations that sell crap to them.

Thanks, Corporate America.  You’ve really done it this time.

Here’s another link, at Seeds of Deception:

http://www.seedsofdeception.co…

Please spread this far and wide!

31 comments

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  1. Gaia has been around somewhat longer than agri-corporations, I trust the natural evolution of that which we eat rather than corporate Frankensteins.

  2. Saw that several years ago on one of those tv news magazine shows. It was well…frightening. And the guy who was “developing” these “fish” was so gung-ho!

    Not to mention tomatoes with spider genes!!! In a sane world those whatever they ares (madmen? criminals?) would be removed from society.

  3. It gets better Inky – GM corn will be fed to cows, so even if you avoid eating it directly off the cob, you’ll be drinking it in your milk and eating it in your burger.

    Why is “corn fed beef” touted as “better”? A cow would not willingly eat corn if it had a choice. A diet of corn makes it bigger faster, and marbles the meat with fat, but makes the cow sick.

    And who cares if the cow is sick as long as feeding it was profitable? And why was it profitable? Because corn is taxpayer supplemented. So WE ARE PAYING to make the cows bigger faster for someone else’s profit, then we are forced to consume meat from sick animals. How sick are they going to get on GM corn?

    I’ve been carnivorous (eyes in front) all my life. I’m seriously considering a vegetarian existence, but how do I avoid GM food?

  4. It is not like they ever hurt anyone?

    Snark

    • pico on June 11, 2009 at 00:38

    but the truth is, I don’t have a problem with genetically modified foods so long as they’re treated with the same level of care and testing as “naturally” modified foods.    

    That extends to this paper, which – it should be noted – is not a peer-reviewed study but a statement of principle from an interest group.  There’s nothing wrong with that per se, but it’s important to make a distinction between doctors reaching a conclusion via studies, and doctors presenting an opinion on health issues as part of their organization’s purpose.  

    But it leads to some uncomfortable elisions.  For example, three times the authors cite a study in Toxicology about mice fed GM rice.  These are the three times it’s cited:

    The strength of association and consistency between GM foods and disease is confirmed in several animal studies.

    Multiple animal studies show significant immune dysregulation, including upregulation of cytokines associated with asthma, allergy, and inflammation.

    Regarding biological gradient, one study, done by Kroghsbo, et al., has shown that rats fed transgenic Bt rice trended to a dose related response for Bt specific IgA.

    What the authors elide over is the fact that the study concerned two different forms of GM rice, and one had no effect whatsoever on the health of the mice.  This is from the study (note: Cry1Ab = Bt, which is where it’s derived)

    No adverse effects of Cry1Ab protein were found. An anti-PHA-E and anti-Cry1Ab antibody response was induced both after inhalation (control groups) and after inhalation/ingestion (groups fed recombinant protein alone or together with transgenic rice). In conclusion, only PHA-E lectin was found to have an immunomodulating effect when feeding rats for 90 days with approximately 70 mg PHA-E/kg bodyweight per day.

    The problematic PHA-E lectin comes from kidney beans, incidentally.

    Now, the authors of the Toxicology paper warn sensibly about introducing GM without further testing:

    [I]t is important to make careful considerations when designing future animal studies to avoid intake of proteins from the other groups by inhalation as well as to examine the sensitization and elicitation potential of ‘foreign’ proteins before introduction to the world market.

    That’s just common sense, and in that respect I agree with (some of) the prescriptions that the “American Academy of Environmental Medicine” recommends.  But there are two things to keep in mind.  First is that common and perfectly natural foods on the market have adverse affects that would show up in studies like this, and I don’t see any reason to trust a GM corn less than, say, a yucca root that I haven’t cooked myself.  Second is that these studies being cited in the AAEM paper are not anti-GM by a longshot.  

    It’s not about mother nature versus science, and it shouldn’t be.  I certainly agree that science is more shortsighted insofar as it doesn’t always recognize what the benefits of various foods are: it takes a lot of work to find all the tertiary benefits that something as simple as a seed of grain give our bodies.  But I don’t think that should keep us from trying, nor do I think this should lead to our parodying science as some kind of frankensteinian bargain.  A lot of modern medicine is ‘unnatural’, but it’s got a pretty decent track record, all things considered.

    (note: that last paragraph is more in response to comments than to the AAEM paper itself.)

    I also agree that we have to fight against unethical use of foods, from terminator seeds to GM seeds that require patented fertilizers/insecticides to grow.   In that respect, I think we’re all on the same page for sure.

  5. but I try to at least avoid them as much as possible.

    Does anyone know of a more up-to-date list of what to avoid than this? http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/news/true-food-shopping-list

  6. People think I am a CT for saying these things, but they have no business messing with our food supply.  You would be surprised at the amount of toxins we eat/drink/breathe in each day.

    Here’s a fun fact:  They tested breast & cow’s milk in 18 different states who all came back positive for Perchlorate, a toxic chemical in rocket fuel.  Seems that we breathe/drink it in regularly.  

    http://www.bioedonline.org/new

    Living next to a major airport doesn’t make me happy about it.  

  7. the Clinton’s also as they pushed the GMO’s through the process with no input. A stealth okay to Monsanto. Trouble is they are in the system and it’s hard to control the wind and seeds. Labeling is essential.  

  8. it on my own for quite some time.  People are far too sickly and using way too many drugs all at one time to combat the debilitating of their bodies.  

  9. called “The Future Of Food” that has aired several times on Link TV. I have watched it a couple of times and the last time it aired I called all of my relatives and told them to watch it. My relatives are spread across the country, from Ohio to California and none of them had ever heard of Monsanto and knew nothing about GM food. I imagine most people (in this country anyway) also don’t know what they are eating. There is a perception that anything you find in a grocery store in this country is not only safe but has gone through a lengthy testing process.

    Besides GM food/Monsanto, the documentary also covered the people who have worked for both Monsanto and the government, an endless revolving door. Even I was shocked at how many there were and how high up in the government their positions were (and it is both parties). At one point I nearly got sick…They covered the story of how one of Monsanto’s genes has been proven to increase the risk of breast cancer and how Monsanto actually sued a university in California who was working on cancer research. Monsanto had a patent on the gene and won the lawsuit. Fucking monsters.

    There is no way to stop it. They are now operating in over 61 countries. They are blackmailing poor countries into using the products or get cut off from financial-aid. The only people in any position to stop them are Americans and unfortunately Americans get their information from American media, so that’s not going to happen. A frightening statement came from Japan. They won’t allow these products in their country and have stated that they will “monitor” the “health of the American children” over the next 10-20 years before discussing the matter further. Our kids have become the world’s guinea pigs.

    Putting all other health risks aside, the infertility studies are alarming. The movie “Children of Men” may end up being very prophetic.  

    • sharon on June 12, 2009 at 01:05

    i buy as much as i can at my local green market – does not allow gm foods – and i look at the labels on fruits and vegetables.  the labels can tell you if a fruit/vegetable is conventionally grown, organic or gm.  from http://open.salon.com/blog/bon

    Concerning food labeling, the issue is whether you can tell how the fruits and veggies for sale at the local grocery store were raised by deciphering the codes, and the answer is a resounding maybe. Here is the key as certified by the International Federation for Food Standards (note that the wording is mine, not theirs):

       * Four-digit code – A conventionally grown crop. Conventional could mean that the foodstuff has been repeatedly doused with one poison or another — or not. But at least its genes should not have been artificially altered (though one wonders how many food execs are doing hard time in stir for violating the rules).

       * Five-digit code starting with the number 9 – Organically grown in compliance with the USDA standards.

       * Five-digit code starting with the number 8 – GMO foods. (Why didn’t they just use 666?)

    But before you think you can rely on the fact that foods without the dreaded “8” are not Frankenfoods, you should know that the labeling system in the United States is voluntary. And that means growers who want you to know they are doing good things – basically, the organic folks – are probably quick to slap a “9” on that rutabaga you are scrutinizing.

    But I suspect only a truly dumb Frankenfood producer would be likely to warn you off with an “8” on that great-looking tomato. (The logic seems impeccable: “What they don’t know might hurt them someday, but telling them would hurt our sales today.”)

    she also suggests checking out http://www.wikihow.com/Avoid-G… for ways to avoid gm foods.

  10. Can I convince you to crosspost this at La Vida Locavore?

  11. What is the putative causative mechanism here?  which modifications were studied?  

    Lumping all together is pretty much disingenuous, since it suggests that it’s the modification itself that’s the issue, which seems extremely unlikely.  Now I could see having BT laced corn for example could be an issue, but clearly, there’s a need for somebody who understands the issues to report on this.

  12. Diet anything has always left an aftertaste sort of like battery acid in my mouth.  I took that as a warning and avoided this toxic stuff even before I found all of the aspartame info on the net.

    I have also had the same impressions over seemingly wonderful tasting butter and sugar corn on the cob from of all places the supermarket.  Any Yankee New Englander worth his salt knows proper tasting corn only comes from “it was picked ten seconds ago from a local farm”.

    Trust you instincts because it won’t be on the label.

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