GMO or GMO NO-GO?

Joseph Carrera R.H.N.

www.triple3holisticnutrition.com

We’ve all heard the term, read it on a package, maybe even looked it up to understand it. Some of us have given it more thought than others. Maybe you look for food items that specifically say “NON-GMO” when you’re shopping. Maybe you don’t care? But shouldn’t you at least understand them?

So, what are they? Are they harmful or beneficial? Were they meant to be beneficial and ended up being harmful, and if that’s the case, why are they still around?

By definition, GMO’s are genetically modified or altered organisms. The purpose of them was, or is to provide a more sustainable flow of food globally. To ensure those in need of food the most, get it without worry or hesitation. That doesn’t sound like a bad thing, does it? I mean, how can providing food to people worldwide be a bad thing? Well, I guess it depends on the origin of the food and how that food effects the people consuming it.

GMO seeds are broken down to their bare genetic make up, and built back up ensuring they are stronger and able to thrive in environments they wouldn’t normally have a chance of thriving. That’s normal right? Is it not perfectly natural to place sea life in a desert and expect it to live?

GMO rich foods are specifically designed to grow in soils they normally wouldn’t and to be resistant to pesticides and bugs. The point of them is to grow regardless of where they are planted and cultivated. The problem is once something is altered on a genetic level; it’s never the same, and it is especially not the same to the human body. The human body is programmed to understand and carry out certain functions. One of those functions is the breaking down of food into nutrients and waste. How is your body supposed to understand what to do with something it has never been programmed to handle? The human body is an incredible thing. It has to do so many things correctly for you to be healthy and to be able to function. One of those functions is recognizing the fuel you’re feeding it.

You’re probably asking yourself, so if I eat something that is altered, my body will shut down? What your body can’t understand, it can’t break down. What your body can’t break down, it stores, and that is where disease comes from. The very meaning of disease is dis-ease, an interruption somewhere along the way that caused a reaction, disease itself.

Talk to anyone’s grandparents, read a history book, delve into religious teachings. and you will see the importance wheat has in history. It is the very staple that has sustained humanity since it’s inception, and most, if not all previous generations lived off it, depended on it, and you know what, most of those people were strong and disease free.

So, what’s wrong with today’s wheat? Well, most of it is genetically modified. Ever stop and think why so many people have allergies, or intolerances, gluten intolerance being once of them?

The most common GMO foods are wheat, soybean, canola, corn and cotton. Is it a coincidence that these foods, or derivatives of those foods are in most of the foods we consume? Corn syrup is in everything, from breads, to alcohol. Sure, it doesn’t all stem from wheat, but how can modified organisms contribute to good health?

Our ancestors also did one big thing that we just don’t do today. They ate foods that were in season. Foods in season are at the highest point of their nutritional value, and that’s when they should be consumed. Ever wonder why you may crave an orange in February? Think about it. You may not understand what your body wants or needs, but your body does. Listen to it and you will be amazed how things become clear.

We live in a society where instant gratification is a daily occurrence. We want what we want, when we want it, end of story. You wouldn’t put your winter tires on in July, so why eat a peach in January?

Either option is doing nothing for you at that particular time.

Many places in the world allow GMO foods, such as North America, but most of Europe does not allow them. What do they know, that we should know as well?

The fact is, no matter how much humanity tries to replicate or improve on Mother Nature, we just can’t win.

As they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Did this road skew so far off that we can’t see the starting line anymore? Perhaps GMO’s were meant to be a help to the world. Maybe they were meant to be a good thing, but somewhere along the line the purpose of them may have become modified as well, and not necessarily in beneficial ways.