The Affects of Genetically Modified Foods 

According to the Non-GMO project, a GMO, or genetically modified organism, is a plant, animal, microorganism or other organism whose genetic makeup has been modified in a laboratory using genetic engineering or transgenic technology. These creations are combinations that do not occur in nature. GMOs affect a huge number of products that everyone consumes on a daily basis. This kind of food is developed and marketed because farmers and agricultural companies are benefitting from it. Dr. Peter Goldsbrough states that When it comes down to GMOs, they are able to repel on the insect that is attracted to that certain food. This is why farmers and the agricultural companies seems to be benefitting from GMOs. They are having to use less pesticides and they deliver higher crops. They are also able to withstand droughts and have been said to increase the richness and taste. However, this does create rooms for a large amount of problems with the general public in the long run.

According to The Non-GMO Project, GMOs safety is unknown. They have been linked to causing infertility, which is one of the most crucial problems that is caused men and women when it comes to reproducing. In 2008, the Austrian Health Ministers presented how the fertility rate have dropped. Woman have had less pregnancies and men have had a lower sperm count. This not only has occurred in humans, but in animals as well. Women has had more of a difficult time than men have had. They have higher risk of infertility, premature births, and lower birth rates.

It’s vital that we, the general public, are aware of GMOs. GM foods have been on the market only since 1994, and research on their long-term effects on humans is scarce. Most of the studies have been done on animals. As stated by Rachel Mount, a journalist with Oprah, some of those studies link GM foods to altered metabolism, inflammation, kidney and liver malfunction, and reduced fertility. In one experiment, multiple generations of hamsters were fed a diet of GM soy; by the third generation, they were losing the ability to produce offspring, producing about half as many babies as the non-GM soy group. This can change the human population in a very dramatic way. Our bodies are made to be a specific, detailed system made up of cells.

People should be aware of what they are eating and putting into their bodies. There have been over twenty-five countries that require companies to replace their GMO ingredients in their products. According to Hethir Rodriguez, a certified herbalist, and Dr. Christine Taxler, an OB/GYN, has stated that GMOs has caused so many problems that the EU has actually banned the use of GMO products throughout Europe, while the United States continues to allow them throughout our nation. Russia being another of the major countries that have banned these kinds of products. The prime minister of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, expressed his opinion by saying, “If the Americans like to eat GMO products, let them eat it then. We don’t need to do that; we have enough space and opportunities to produce organic food.”

This is very important when it comes to health-related issues. There have been no long-term studies on the impact GMOs have on the human body. The Reproductive Medicine Center of First Hospital of Lanzhou University, stated that genetically modified foods may impact our reproductive potential in several levels. GMOs transfer new genes to the human species. GM foods have also been implicated in the reproductive capacity of males as well. Since the 1970s alone, sperm counts among the world’s male population have declined as much as 40-50%, according to some studies. Infertility can be an emotionally devastating situation for couples.

Although assisted reproductive technologies have advanced and become widely available, many still choose not to pursue these routes due to financial restriction or ethical/religious reasons. Evaluating and correcting the root causes of reproductive difficulty should include an honest assessment of the presence of GM foods in the diet, educating couples on the importance of an organic, non-GMO diet, and offering natural solutions to detoxification.

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