Have you ever wondered what the heck a GMO is? Well, here’s the DL (down low) on the what, why, and where so you can shop knowing you are buying healthy food for your family!
GMO stands for genetically modified organism. They are organisms whose genetic DNA has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally. So why is that a big deal? Here are a few reasons:
- Food allergy symptoms increase dramatically.
- Bodily toxicity increases-high toxicity in our system which can lead to other serious health problems.
- Negative reproductive effects-lab animals became sterile in a matter of weeks when fed GMO foods.
- Negative effects to the digestive system.
- Unknown genetic effects on humans-the jury is still out on how eating GMOs affect us.
- Death-in some cases rats and mice die in a matter of weeks when eating only genetically-modified foods.
Did you know that in North America, more than 70% of our packaged foods contain GMOs? 70%! If your pantry contains an item that’s not natural or organic it is most likely GMO contaminated.
But know it’s not just what you eat it’s who eats GMOs as well. If farmers are feeding your cow, your chicken, or your fish GMO; i.e., corn, soy, and alfalfa grown from a GMO seed, guess what? Your milk, cheese, meat, eggs, and fish have been GMO fed.
Ever wonder about fruits and veggies? Corn (corn syrup and cornstarch), sugar beets (processed sugar), edamame (soy), zucchini, yellow summer squash, and Hawaiian papaya are known as “high-risk” GMOs. If your packaged foods use these ingredients and they are not organic or 3rd party verified that they are not GMO that means your ketchup, chewing gum, soda pop, salad dressing, cookies, crackers, alcohol, peanut butter, enriched flour, and pasta have GMO in them. And that’s just to name a few!
If you want to shop with GMOs in mind, look for non-gmo labels on your packaging. You will feel better making the purchase and know that your family is on the path to staying healthy!
So where does this leave you, the shopper? You know by now you can’t eat just anything…just kidding. The alternative is to buy natural and organic products, but we all know this is EXPENSIVE. makeena takes the sticker shock out of buying organic and natural products and removes the obstacles to eating healthy!
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