Pleasant viewers, welcome to Healthy Living on Supreme Master Television. On today’s show, the second and final part of a two part series, We further examine the damaging health effects of eating genetically modified or GM foods. Genetically modified organisms or GMOs are living systems that have genes from other organisms inserted into their genomes through genetic engineering.

We’ll once again hear from Jeffrey M. Smith of the US, an expert on genetically modified foods and author of the international best sellers “Seeds of Deception” and “Genetic Roulette.” Mr. Smith is founder of the US-based Institute for Responsible Technology, which informs policy makers and the public about the hazards of genetically modified foods and crops. Widely regarded as the most prominent expert in the field, he has advised many world leaders and spoken to representatives from over 80 countries on GM-related issues.

Last week we learned from Mr. Smith that foreign genetic material inserted into food crops can be transferred into the bacteria living in our digestive systems with potentially harmful consequences. He also discussed the inherent dangers of interfering with the balance of nature and the effects this could have on human health.

To gain a deeper sense of the possible damaging outcomes to our health and planet from this unnatural method of food production, it is important to understand the technology used in creating genetically modified organisms. Jeffrey Smith now gives us a snapshot of the process by which organisms are genetically changed.

The process of genetically engineering a crop is inherently unsafe. You take a gene; let’s say you want to create a corn plant that produces its own pesticide. So you take the gene from a soil bacterium Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) and you make millions of copies of the gene and you put it into a gun and you shoot that gun into a plate of millions of cells, hoping that some of the genes make it into the DNA of some of those cells. Then you clone those cells into a plant.

Now the process of insertion plus cloning causes massive collateral damage in the DNA of the plant. Two to four percent is different; there can be hundreds or thousands of mutations. And there’s also a holistic effect. When you insert a single gene, up to five percent of the natural genes in the plant can change their levels of expression and then produce too much or too little protein.

So, what this does, when you change that much in the DNA, is that the RNAs can change, the proteins can change, and the byproducts of metabolism can change. So you could have increased levels of allergens, increased levels of toxins or carcinogens or completely new allergens and toxins and carcinogens that have never been in the plant before. Now these are not evaluated.

We discovered that there is a known allergen in soy called Trypsin inhibitor, which is as much as seven times higher in cooked GM soy compared to cooked non-GM soy. And in one study comparing GM soy with a wild variety, the GM soy had an allergen that wasn’t supposed to be there and the people can react to a skin prick test to GM soy but not to non-GM soy.

The corn that they looked at after it was on the market; there’s normally a gene in corn that’s switched off, well it was accidentally switched on. And what does it produce? A known allergen!

Both corn and soy produce lignin, which is a woody compound, but the process of the plant producing the lignin also produces a plant pesticide called rotenone which is linked to Parkinson’s disease. So GMOs might increase Parkinson’s disease but we don’t know because of course they are not checking.

Apart from the injuring our health, there is the very real danger that these genetically engineered mutant plants will cross-pollinate with wild varieties of the same species thus passing on their unnatural genetic material with unpredictable consequences to the biosphere.

But the bigger picture may be far worse because we have no technology to fully clean up the self-propagating genetic pollution which has been let out of the bag already. The genes that we’ve been introducing to these species that are not part of the years of evolution of the species but part of like an overnight transformation because of shooting a gene into a plate of cells, these new organisms and the gene pool contamination is permanent.

These genes are going to be with us, outlasting the effects of global warming and nuclear waste. They are part of our landscape now. So the corn has already contaminated the indigenous corn varieties of Mexico. Imagine trying to do a recall on genetically modified mosquitoes from the air. It’s impossible. The same thing with the gene pool.

The Bt toxin created products, for example, they discovered after they were on the market that it’s exuded by the roots and it binds with the clay in the soil and it can stay active for months or years and it could adversely affect the soil microorganisms. It could be washed into water and then down the stream and then it adversely affects the caddisfly which is a part of the ecosystem.

When Healthy Living returns, we’ll have more from our engaging interview with Jeffrey Smith. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television.

Welcome back to Healthy Living on Supreme Master Television featuring a world renowned expert on genetically modified foods, Mr. Jeffrey Smith. He now discusses the extent to which GM crops have become a part of the food supply in the US.

Well, in the US. 91% of the soy is genetically engineered, 85% of the corn, 87% of the cotton, and a large percentage of the canola, although canola is mostly grown in Canada, about 80-85% of the canola and about 95% of the sugar beets.

Now, the Hawaiian Papaya, I would say the majority, and for zucchini and yellow squash, very little, but some. And also it’s a smaller percentage for corn on the cob, it’s not 85% of corn on the cob, it’s a smaller percentage. Fortunately popcorn is not genetically engineered, so you’re safe eating popcorn.

The evidence continues to build that genetically engineered foods are a clear threat to public health and Jeffrey Smith recommends proactive action by taking steps to avoid these unnatural products.

When GMOs were largely introduced in 1996, seven percent of Americans had three or more chronic illnesses. Nine years later it was 13%. Food allergies doubled in less time. Food-related illnesses doubled in seven years from 1994 to 2001. Autism has been on the increase, obesity, and diabetes. There’s so many things that can go wrong and do go wrong in the process of creating a GMO.

On top of that you have the Bt toxin, on top of that you have the extra herbicides that we’re eating because of the high residues in the crop. Any of those problems could easily have been associated with GMOs.

Soon after GM soy was introduced to the UK, soy allergies skyrocketed by 50%. There’s many reasons why GM soy might be the culprit there. So I say, we don’t have to wait around until the research is done, we can opt out of that experiment.

(Right) And there’s many doctors that are now prescribing non-GMO diets.

To protect your health and that of your loved ones, it is important to choose GMO-free foods. As organic foods by definition are not genetically modified, an organic vegan diet is the best choice for enhancing strength and vitality as well as bettering our environment.

When I go out to buy food, I prefer to buy organic whenever I can because organic not only disallows the GMOs, but studies show that there is a 25% on average increase in antioxidants, there’s more vitamins and minerals, it supports the soil, it supports farmers doing better growing practices.

Buying products at natural food stores instead of supermarkets will make it a lot easier to choose brands that don’t use GMOs. Not everyone has access to a natural food grocery, which is a problem. And so it’s a question of getting to know the brands that you choose and selecting new brands.

Apart from purchasing organic vegan foods, spreading the message that we as consumers do not want genetically engineered foods is also essential so that the agriculture industry and food manufacturers stop raising GM crops, thus making our world safer for us and future generations. Europe is a wonderful example where people demanded GMO-free foods and major food companies quickly ended the practice of selling genetically modified products.

Remember in Europe, within 10 weeks the tipping point of consumer rejection had been achieved. The tipping point is a very powerful concept. A small percentage of people avoiding, or doing a particular activity or action, can influence the entire population. But it’s particularly effective in making food choices with GMOs, here’s why.

GMOs give no consumer benefit. So if it turns into a marketing liability, they’re not going to hold onto GMOs like they hold onto trans-fats, because of the mouth-feel, they’re not going to hold onto GMOs like they hold onto salt and sugar, or carbohydrates, if there’s an anti-salt, sugar or carbohydrates, thing going on in the population, they’re going to get rid of GMOs completely.

Without even having to change the recipe, they can switch from GM corn derivatives to non-GM corn derivatives without even moving it from corn to something else.

We’ve seen the tipping point achieved with bovine growth hormone, where we see companies kicking it out. So we think only five percent of US shoppers avoiding GM ingredients would be sufficient to eliminate GMOs.

Five percent.

Five percent, 15 million people. The good news is, we’re already starting to have the impact. Supermarket News at the end of 2009 predicted that 2010 would see an unprecedented upsurge of consumer awareness and concern about GMOs.

So this is one of the biggest signs of the coming tipping point, is that there is a growing number of people. And if we only need 15 million Americans, there’s already 28 million Americans that buy organic on a regular basis, 87 million that think GMOs are unsafe. And 159 million that say they wouldn’t eat GMOs if they were given a choice. (If they were labeled.) Yes. So, we are in a very good position to end GMOs, and I think it will be done soon.

In closing we would like to convey our sincere gratitude to Mr. Jeffrey Smith for all he has done to inform the public and governments across the world as to why natural foods free of genetic engineering are best. May organic farming soon become the only way we raise crops on our planet.

For more information on Jeffrey Smith, please visit www.ResponsibleTechnology.org
The Non-GMO Shopping Guide is available at www.NonGMOShoppingGuide.com
“Seeds of Deception” and “Genetic Roulette” are available at www.SeedsofDeception.com

Wise and caring viewers, thank you for your presence today on Healthy Living. Coming up next is Enlightening Entertainment right after Noteworthy News. May the light of God always shine within us.