Rebuild from Depression Blog

Being good marketers, one rice variety was supposed to improve vitamin A deficiencies in the third world by having super levels of beta carotene, the vitamin A precursor found most famously in carrots. That is a noble goal and one that would get my attention.

However, whenever you hear the word "precursor" in nutrition, be skeptical. The deficiency is in vitamin A and it is a serious health problem on the planet. Healthy bodies convert some beta carotene to vitamin A, though the process is inefficient at best. A nutrient deprived child may convert none of it. Golden rice with super levels of beta carotene will not help a deficient child. While a great marketing tool, super levels of carotenoids will not make a bit of difference in world health.

Or will it?

Health Risks

I had the opportunity to hear Jeffrey Smith, author of Seeds of Deception and Genetic Roulette, speak recently about the dangers of GM foods and his evidence of health risks was fairly compelling. Actually, more accurate is "the small bit of evidence available is fairly compelling." There simply are not a whole lot of studies, but those that are out there should get our attention.

The core problem is that when the DNA structure of food is changed, it may have unintended and unknown consequences. Scientists are discovering that in the field of genetics, they didn't actually know what they thought they knew.

Smith recounts a study of a GM potato conducted by Arpad Pusztai in the 1990s in Great Britain. The potato was genetically modified to contain an pesticide so that the potato plant could fight off pests. In a rodent feeding study, three groups of rodents were fed potatoes as part of a balanced diet: 1) Mother Nature potato group, 2) GM potato group, and 3) Mother Nature potato with a side of the pesticide. (In the last group potatoes were basically spiked with the pesticide that the GM potato produced.)

Those eating Mother Nature's potatoes and even those eating them with a side of pesticide faired well. The GM rodents were damaged by the study. After just ten days of potatoes in a well-rounded diet, some of the rodents in each group were autopsied. Upon examination, the GM-fed rodents had smaller brains, livers, and testicles. White blood cells and organs related to the immune system were damaged.

The study got Pusztai fired after a 30-year career with a distinguished record.

So why were the rodents harmed by the GM potato? It's hard to say without follow-up studies, but it appears that it was something about the change in the food brought about in the laboratory. I know that's not a satisfying analysis and perhaps we will know more about GM foods some day. Or perhaps the issue will become irrelevant as we make other choices.

Listen to Smith's talk for free here - Health risks of genetically modified food. You can download it to your computer or iPod and listen to it as you have time. His latest book Genetic Roulette focuses on the health risks as well.

What You Can Do
Most of us are becoming increasingly paranoid about our food and it looks like in this instance that paranoia is in order. We need to do two things:

1) Avoid the food ourselves to avoid unknown health risks

2) Help increase consumer awareness so that consumer pressure will put an end to GM food production.

To avoid GM food:

* Buy organic

* Avoid the big four: corn, soy, canola, and cotton (cottonseed oil). Buy organic when you buy these foods or avoid the foods altogether. Keep in mind that soy and corn derivatives are in most processed foods.

* Over 50% of Hawaiian papaya is GM and small amounts of zucchini and yellow squash are GM. Buy organic.

* The bovine growth hormone used in dairy (rBST) is GM. Buy organic or dairy labeled "cows not treated with rBST."

There are other sources of GM food as well. Check out Jeffrey Smith's site and sign up for your newsletter while you're there to begin working on eliminating GM foods from your life: GM Foods at Genetic Roulette.com.