My Approach To GMO Food...

My approach to GMO food is I try to avoid it if possible, but you will need to put on your “Sherlock Holmes hat” and do some investigating. GMO food has caused severe food allergies in people. I became aware of this when one of my daughters told me everyday she got sick at school after she ate her sandwich. (Sherlock moment!) I had no idea this had been going on! I also happened to have been baking homemade bread periodically during this time – and I asked her if the homemade bread made her get sick too? She said no. (Sherlock moment!) This told me she was reacting to something in the store bought bread, besides the gluten or wheat. This is what lead me to discover the truth about soybean oil and how it has been added to virtually all prepared food.

Then the following summer I discovered virtually all the flour and rice sold in America is GMO, (Sherlock moment!) even though it is still not permitted to grow GMO wheat in the United States, although Monsanto already broke that boundary and Oregon wheat farmers filed a class action lawsuit against Monsanto, when a field of illegal GMO wheat was discovered there. Then other fields of Monsanto GMO wheat were found in other states (Idaho, Kansas, Washington) – even though this is AGAINST THE LAW. Monsanto ended making small ($50,000) donations to agricultural schools (Sherlock moment!) in seven states (Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Oklahoma, Texas, Mississippi & Louisiana) where they were also discovered growing their crops illegally, but refused to admit liability. (Sherlock moment!) Japan and South Korea canceled purchasing wheat from the U.S. due to the discovery of the GMO wheat – this hurt independent farmers!

My daughter went to France and told me she never felt healthier (Sherlock moment!) – so I switched to all non-GMO flour, rice, organic butter and now we pretty much eat organic. I use hormone free eggs, meat and milk. These changes have made a difference for her and improved the health of the whole family. I realized one of my children’s ADD was from soybean oil! True!!! So many drugs – in fact virtually every drug you see advertised on TV has been created to treat problems we now suffer due to all the GMO soybean oil in the food! This is not an exaggeration. If you feel good about eating soy, you have bought the massive PR and advertising campaign they engage in to convince you soy is good for you. I go into this more in the Light Weigh One King program I wrote.

I am the first person to admit it can be overwhelming!!! Everyone not only has to worry about availability depending on where you live, but also the cost. I have found Trader Joe’s, which just came to our area two years ago, to be very reasonably priced. Trader Joe’s is committed to not carrying GMO food and they are not “all over soy” – but you still have to read labels.

It is important not to overwhelm yourself about GMO food, but it is also important not ignore the fact that food has changed and these changes have the potential to really mess up your health & the health of your family. You need to access your own situation.

If you have food allergies you should do the following as well, but go a little further as discussed below.

If you and your family do not have food allergies, try to cook from scratch a little more and cut out certain ingredients for health alone – the main ones being soybean oil, canola oil, vegetable oil (soybean oil), corn oil, cottonseed oil, all margarine (use butter or pure olive oil), ALL Nutrasweet/aspartame & Stevia. Purchase pure cane sugar only. GMO sugar beet sugar (over 90%) can legally be called sugar on packages (Sherlock moment!). Look for jelly etc, made from pure cane sugar. Do not buy GMO flour or rice. GMO food is not marked GMO, (Sherlock moment!) so you will have to buy flour that says Organic or purchase from a store such as Trader Joe’s that does not sell GMO food. That is a great start right there.

Then move to not using cake mixes, canned frostings, pancake mixes (soybean oil Sherlock moment!), pancake syrup, powdered sugar (GMO cornstarch Sherlock moment!) or store bought cookies such as Oreos. Bake from scratch; it tastes way better any way! Quite drinking soft drinks (GMO corn syrup Sherlock moment!) Start with one area to change in and move from there.

Here is a plan if you have food allergies or your children may be suffering food allergies and you may not realize it. Many suffer in silence because no one really wants to talk about the symptoms. If you or someone you love is experiencing a reaction to food, such as vomiting, intestinal problems, skin rashes or problems, mouth, head or body itching etc. - do not ignore it. These are clues! (Sherlock moment!) It will not “go away.” In fact – if ignored a food allergy to one allergen, such as soybean oil, will morph into allergic reactions to other foods such as dairy, wheat, gluten, meat, certain fruits, fish, etc. The reason for this is the body reacts to the first allergen by producing histamines. If you keep eating the first allergen, the body (which originally felt attacked from the first allergen) starts detecting other foods may pose problems too, since the histamine release for the first allergen does not seem to be working. The body thinks, “Oh, maybe it’s the soybean oil and the dairy!” Later, “Oh, maybe it’s the soybean oil, the dairy and the wheat!” And so on. Ignoring a food allergy only makes things worse. (Sherlock moment!)

If you think you are allergic or someone in your family may be allergic, immediately cut the problem food or foods out of your diet for at least three weeks. Do the symptoms go away or continue? (Sherlock moment!) If they are continuing during the three week period, remove other foods you think may be culprits. (Sherlock moment!) Try to get to the point, where you are not having any symptoms. I will talk more about what to do after this process – next week.