Why Genetically Modified Food (GMO) is not Clean
By Annie Berryhill
(Featuring Dr. Supna Alis)
As Crossfit athletes, Primal nutrition followers and Paleo eaters our diet comprises as much thought and maybe more effort than the workouts themselves. If you are not familiar with Paleo Eating and Living, this is a good intro.
In pursuit of being “clean” we take out processed food for the most part. And work hard to maintain proper insulin levels by limiting carbs from sugars, and processed grains. And most of you know what a lifestyle change this is. But it’s all for the better.
But that is not where the effort to be clean ends. And the goal should NOT just be about how it makes you look and perform. But what it does for your overall health and longevity. You may not do Crossfit workouts forever.
But I know that you will be living in your body for your lifetime. It is imperative to be educated beyond what promotes vanity but about what preserves health and well-being and protects from disease. Being sick is not fun..ever…
Recently, I had the opportunity to interview Dr. Supna Alis, operates a wellness center, Delta Wellness Group in San Juan Capistrano, alongside her husband Dr. Glen Alis. Dr. Supna is absolutely passionate about nutrition. And most especially as it relates to how nutrition affects the health of children. She has been stunned by the numbers of Autism, ADHD, Allergies and Asthma case she has seen in her practice in the recent years.
It’s prompted her to do a ton of deep research into what may be causing these issues. Read on to learn more about what GMO food is. Why it is dangerous. How we can avoid it. And what we can do to protect ourselves.
What is Genetically Modified Food (GMO)?
Genetically Modified food is made by taking a seed and injecting it with a virus, bacteria, or protein that in turn alters the genes in the seed. This creates a new type of seed. This is done to make the seed resistant to the effects of pesticides. So that when farmers spray for weeds, the seeds survive. While this may seem like a good idea on the surface, in the end, it’s most likely a very bad experiment.
Dr. Supna shared with me that she had learned that while almost every food is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) corn is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency because it is classified as a pesticide.
How Genetically Modified Food started
Dr. Supna shared that she learned that farmers and scientists starting doing the GMO procedures back in 1994 on a very small scale. Currently, unless the food says “Organic”, most food have the potential to be GMO. This is especially prevalent in the oils like Canola, Corn and Soybean oils.
It is so very challenging to determine what effects are actually to blame on this type of food. Because there is no way to really test it in humans. So the only testing has been done on rats. Even then, the research is spotty and incomplete.
How to Protect Yourself
Dr. Supna suggested some steps that we can proactively take to protect ourselves and our loved ones.
- Eat Fresh, grown food only
- Grass Fed meat (not corn, for obvious reasons)
- No Food that is labeled
- Michael Pollen’s suggestion is to only eat foods with 5 ingredients or less
- Eat nothing that contains any of the 3 oils; Soybean, Corn, Canola
- Avoid foods that contain Corn Derivatives (any modifications in corn will be past to products made FROM corn)
Foods with Corn Derivatives to avoid (click)
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Acetic acid |
Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose |
What You can do about it:
Currently, there is push to get an initiative on the ballot in the state of California in 2012 to make it necessary that all GMO food be required to be labeled that way so that consumers are made aware.
Click here to get all the info and how you can help.
More about Dr. Supna
Dr. Supna Alis provided the content for this article. She is passionate about health doing everything possible to maintain it naturally. Knowing that the children are our future, she is especially concerned with what we are putting in their bodies now that may be setting them up for future health issues. Please visit Delta Wellness Group online to learn more about their practice and how they are available to help you with your health.
The more you know, the more you can be empowered to make changes and protect your health.
It’s time to be Lean, Strong and Healthy…let me know how I can help you get there.
Anne (Annie) Berryhill is a Crossfit Level 1 Trainer, USA Weightlifting Sports Performance Coach, Crossfit Athlete and competitor who owns and operates OC Fitness Revival in Orange County, CA. Services include personal and group training, nutrition classes and counseling. As well as providing incredible health-improving supplements to help people to make the most out of what they’ve got.