“The problem with GMOs is that they don’t require testing, a loop- hole that seems shortsighted. Without govern- ment safety data, we are unwit- ting, unscientific
Miranda Norris
experiment subjects. We don’t know what’s in the food we buy for ourselves and our growing children,” says Norris, who advises her clients to read labels and pass up “Franken-foods”. Despite the recent release of re- sults from a study by Stanford Universi- ty scientists which concluded that there is no more nutrition in organic foods than in commercially grown produce, Norris advises clients to eat organic as much as their budget can afford. “If they are curious about the difference, I suggest they eat only organic produce for three months and then eat a con- ventionally grown carrot or banana. Most never go back, initially because of the ‘sawdust’ taste and then for all other perceived benefits, such as avoiding GMOS,” advises Norris. She recom- mends that her clients use the Clean 15 and Dirty Dozen–Plus lists on the 2012 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Pro- duce, compiled by the Environmental Working Group and available as a free, downloadable PDF on their website,
EWG.org.
The Dirty Dozen-Plus list—apples, celery, sweet bell peppers, peaches, strawberries, grapes, spinach, lettuce, cucumbers, blueberries, potatoes, green beans and kale/greens—are the most contaminated items. The Clean 15—onions, sweet corn, pineapple, avocado, cabbage, sweet peas, aspara- gus, mangoes, eggplant, kiwi, domestic cantaloupe, sweet potatoes, grapefruit, watermelon and mushrooms—contain the least pesticide residue.
Dr. Eric Gerken
Gerken, who studied natural sciences and earned a Doctor of Chiropractic degree at Northwestern Health Sci- ences University, is also a certified traditional naturopath, specializing in biochemistry and anti-aging medicine, as well as a diplomate of the American
Board of Anti-Ag- ing Medicine. The results of research by a team of scien- tists at Sherbrooke University Hos- pital, in Quebec, published in the journal Reproduc- tive Toxicology,
and corn, impact the immune system. Concerned about insecticidal proteins that interact with human proteins and change the genetic response to the food that we eat, he says, “Unfortunately, we don’t have 20 years of research that determines how all these things affect us biologically.”
Eric Gerken
added hard science to Gerkin’s passion- ate anti-GE opinion. The study found a food toxin produced in insect-resistant crops grown in the U.S. in the blood of pregnant women and their unborn babies, as well as in umbilical cords. “This study is alarming because it shows that toxins such as Cry1AB— produced in GMO foods patented by the agrichemical industry—can not only survive the digestive tract, but also enter the bloodstream, which disputes the claim made by the industry that GMOs were safe and that this was impossible,” says Gerken. Cry1Ab is used in a strain of corn fed to livestock and has been genetically modified to produce an insecticidal protein. Another GMO red flag for Gerken is high-fructose corn syrup. “Since 90 percent of our U.S. corn crop is geneti- cally modified, high-fructose corn syr- up, which is in nearly every processed food, it is potentially laden with toxins and insecticidal proteins that have the ability to wreak havoc in the intestinal track, where 60 percent of our immune system is located. These proteins can also punch through intestinal walls of the gut to create leaky gut syndrome,” advises Gerken, who points his clients to
TrueFoodNow.org, which has a comprehensive Non-GMO Shoppers’ Guide mobile application for iPhone and Android users.
Dr. John Edwards After reading Michael Pollan’s book, In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, Ed- wards began edu- cating his patients about how pro- cessed foods, dairy and gluten, as well as GMO soy
Edwards enjoys edifying his pa- tients and the public about nutrition and is a participant in a Terry Tempest Williams Student Dialogue at Florida Gulf Coast University this month. “The topic of our panel discussion is Sustain- able Food to Nourish the Mind, Body and Soul,” says Edwards, who hosts a monthly Pathways Connect group for community discussions on healthy lifestyles and health care.
This month, the group will screen
the film, Bitter Seeds, about the pres- sure Third World nations face to adopt GMOs. The documentary raises ques- tions about the human cost of geneti- cally modified (GM) agriculture and the future of how food is grown.
Dee Harris Harris, who favors Proposition 37, says her goal is to clean up her cli- ents’ diets, reduce their total health risk and improve their chances of achieving and maintaining better
Dee Harris
health. This goal includes reducing GE food consumption. When advis- ing patients about the health hazards of these foods, Harris frequently meets with resistance. “People complain that organic foods are more expensive, so, like Miranda Norris, I suggest that at a minimum, they follow the Clean 15 and Dirty Dozen list, try to shop at farmers’ markets, Food & Thought 100% Organic Farm Market or Trader Joe’s,” she advises.
Sayer Ji John Edwards
Ji is resistant to GE foods for several reasons. “Roundup [Monsanto’s pat- ented herbicide, commonly used on GE crops] contains glyphosate, which is a powerful endocrine disrupter. Even exceedingly small amounts are capable
natural awakenings October 2012 37
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