Top 10 Cereals That Contain GMOs

The Dangers of GM Foods

While GM foods enojy a long grace period especially in the US, long-term toxicity studies being done to investigate the possible effects of these modified foods are revealing the dangers of consuming such foods.

The most striking study is a French study released in 2012. This study clearly demonstrated the negative effects GM foods can have on the body. For this study, the researchers tested GM foods and non-GM diet on a line of rats known for their ability to develop cancers.

At the end of the study, the result showed that the rats fed with Roundup-resistant (herbicide-resistant) GM foods were 3 – 4 times more likely to grow tumors, and that these rats were more likely to die prematurely than the control rats fed non-GM diet.

The researchers also found out that GM foods can disrupt hormonal balance in the body.

In addition, the locations of the tumors developed were dependent on the sex of the animals. For example, female rats developed tumors in their mammary and pituitary glands while males were more likely to have tumors in their livers and kidneys.

The pictures of rats with bulging tumors were rather graphic but they were necessary to reintroduce the public to the dangers of GM foods and renew the debate on their negative effects.

But how can GM food affect human health? The exact mechanisms are not known and there will not be studies into them until the long-term toxicity of GM foods become more widely accepted. However, a number of possible mechanisms have been proposed.

The most likely way by which GM foods may cause ill-health is through the transfer of genes.

Since foreign genes are forced into ordinary food crops to make GM versions, it is also possible for these GM crops to lose those genes after they are consumed. In fact, there is already evidence showing that plant genes can cross over to humans when consumed.

In a preliminary study, a group of Chinese researchers found rice genes in the blood and organs of people who regularly consume rice. More specifically, these researchers found that rice micro RNA (ribonucleic acid) can accumulate in humans.

Micro RNAs have been proven to contribute to serious human diseases such as diabetes, cancers and Alzheimer’s disease.

It is possible that foreign genetic materials from GM crops can accumulate in the blood and organs and cause harm to the body in much the same way as micro RNAs.

Furthermore, the introduction of GM foods have been linked to sharp increases in food allergies. The most glaring example is the rise in soy allergy cases following the introduction of GM soy in Britain.

When errant genetic materials from GM foods enter the body, they can indeed cause strange disorders.

For example, the consumption of GM foods has been linked to a strange, new disease called Morgellon’s disease. Reported cases of this disease have been linked to the appearance of dark spots or thread-like bodies underneath the skin as well as odd crawling, stinging and biting sensations on the skin.

Lastly, the production of GM crops can have a negative impact on the environment. For example, food crops modified to produce their own herbicides can make the soil in which they grow (and nearby bodies of water) toxic.

In addition, when weeds develop tolerance to the herbicides produced by GM crops, they become uncontrollable “super weeds”

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