GMO, Fast Food, & Health Issues: Where Government Agencies Sit

We have been hearing a lot about GMO foods.  What does it stand for?  Genetically Modified Organisms, which are usually some kind of fresh produce, for the purposes of us common people.  For a better definition of how it works, please refer to Non GMO Project 
website to find out more.

The thing about GMO is that not all combinations of the modification are low risk.  Many are consider high risk, and more of them are medium risk, and very very few are low risk.  It's not like taking the heartiest apple, and crossing it with a mildly sweet pear, to get one of those Asian apple-pears, which is more of a hybrid, as opposed to being outright a modified product.  Many of these fruits and vegetables you  buy may have animal and viral aspects mixed in, so those who want to be vegetarian or vegan may end up eating animal products, without knowing about it, because not all of the modifications are necessary to be labeled.  I think this is a crooked practice.  But, you can educate yourself about what products are potentially GMO, just like you can educate yourself on what kinds of eating plan is right for you, depending on what your needs are.

Of course, if you're trying to lose weight, fast food is most definitely the type of thing you want to avoid.  Many of the ingredients are the bottom of the barrel.  The buns are from highly processed white flour of little nutritional value.  The "meat" patties are filled with soy extenders.  The cheese is probably equivalent or lower than the individually wrapped cheese-food product we see at the grocery store.  The fries are deep fried in rendered fats or shortening, and it is all bad for your health.  If we have other health issues that are somewhat connected to being overweight such as high blood pressure or diabetes, a steady intake of fast food is a big No-No.

For those of us who are in our mid 40's and older, we remember the 4-4-3-2 rule of thumb.  4 starches, 4 fruits and vegetables, 3 dairy products (which actually included cheese), and 2 meats.  I don't recall what they told us was the size of each serving.

When my son was in elementary school, it was Pyramid Pete's food pyramid.  The bottom layer is your starches telling us to eat 6-11 servings, the next level was a combination of 3-5 servings of veggies and 2-4 servings of fruit.  The 3rd layer from the bottom is 2-3 servings of dairy, and 2-3 servings of proteins.  The top tip was your fats and sugars, which was to be used sparingly.  Again, cheese is categorized with dairy products.

Today, we have My Plate, where 1/2 of the plate is vegetables & fruits with veggies getting a bigger portion of that 1/2, 1/4 of the plate is starch, 1/4 of the plate protein, and your 1 serving of dairy in a glass.

I'm sure there are other versions, but, I see a problem with all of these plans.  Growing children at different stages of growth have different needs.  You can't lump all elementary school children into one group.  A kindergartener who is small is going to eat a lot less than a 5th grader who hit their pre-teen growth spurt early...  Adults in their 20s have different needs than those who are in their 80s.  Men and women have different needs.  Athletes and couch potatoes have different needs.  So, how do we know, based on this information?  More educating yourself...  Or be able to hire a personal trainer.  There are a LOT of issues that you need to take into the fact that we are all individual, and you should always discuss any drastic changes with your primary care physician.  If your doctor refuses to work with you, maybe you need to find another one who will.

Then there are the health ailments you need to take into account...  Got cardio-vascular issues?  You may need a "heart healthy" diet, which reduces the amount of salt you take in, or, you may have cholesterol issues and need to lower the amount of fat in your diet...  Or even both.  Of course, changing the way you eat this way is not always easy...  Salt can make the flavors of your food blend better, or you have to cook it slower for longer.  Fat also adds that flavor, and it's easy to miss those flavors, and to all of a sudden you have to use spices you've never heard of to put the flavor in it...  But that is okay.  To learn, think about what you are cooking, and what flavors you are looking for.  Let your nose do your bidding.  Yes.  Open those spices up, and take a good sniff.  If it smells like it would go good with what you're cooking, put some in.  Start small.  You can always add more.  Once it's in, you can't take it out.  You'll be surprised with what you can come up with by making your nose do some of the work for you.  It's fun.

If you're diabetic, you need to watch out for those carbs...  They get you in many different ways.  The more processed, the worse it is.  White generic bread, which includes Wonder bread, is the worst type.  Generic wheat is a little  better, but not much.  Cracked wheat is much better, and there are multigrains, ancient grains, etc.  The more complex, the better.  But, different flours are not created equal.  Buckwheat flour is quite healthy, and semolina is fairly healthy, yet other ones are not as healthy.  Not all whole grains are created equal, either.  Oatmeal is a super grain even as oatmeal cookies.  But it has to be old fashioned or steel cut.  Instant oatmeal is a junk food not much healthier than Suzie Q's, so be careful.  What you eat does affect how your body can deal with it.

Then, if you're an organ recipient, and have to take anti-rejection medicines, you have to watch other foods.  There is also the issue of kidney failure, where you have to watch your potassium (vitamin K) intake, and it's not easy to keep everything straight, if you have multiple issues going on.  Again, important to talk to your doctor.  If your doctor isn't working with you, get a different one.

As a person with multiple health issues myself, I refuse to just sit back and let my ailments take over my life.  What ever I can do, I will...  But, I also realize that with what I have, I need to get help from medical personnel.  Just eating right and exercising is not easy, for the fact that I have chronic pain issues that started 31 years ago as a teen, which only lasted a couple days, and about 18 years ago, became 24/7.  It's progressive.  Every year, I can compare from a year ago, and know it's worse now, than it was a year ago.  So, while lifting weights may be out of the question, doesn't mean I can't go swim.  I do what I can.  As a diabetic, I know what I need to stay away from.  Having a genetic disorder called 16p11.2 microdeletion, where just eating less is near impossible, and losing weight is a two fold issue of increased appetite and lowered metabolism.  I'm not giving up.  So far, I've lost 50#s.  I still have a ways to go, but, I am doing what I can to move it along the best I can.  Type 1 is when your pancreas does not make ANY insulin at all.  Most people with this have it when they are very young, but, can occur anytime.  Type 2 is when you either don't make enough insulin, or receptors are not working properly, or your insulin isn't efficient, or any combo.  This is more common today, yet it is not new.

All of these issues can affect different people differently, and the fact that there is so much corn syrup hidden in bread, candy, soda, etc.  GMO.  Processing the nutrition out.  Staying away from fast food.  What is safe or not to your health.  Yes, you have to spend more money on healthier food.  While sure, somethings are easier, such as trading your bag of chips for a bag of apples, or putting down the soda for water.  But, what about breads, and lean ground beef vs. fatty?  90% lean usually what, $4.49/lb?  More?  73% lean hamburger is $2.99/lb.  Bologna is relatively cheap.  Lean chicken breast w/o addatives is relatively expensive.  It's crazy.

Once upon a time, when people were hunter/gatherers, or even old school farmers, people ate a lot of fatty foods, and didn't think much about it.  Now, that there are modern conveniences and such, we are not so lucky.  Part of it is that our biology and physiology has not caught up with technology.  We can't eat like those who used to migrate on foot, w/o getting more exercise.  Does this mean that diseases didn't exist before?  I bet they did, just not as prominent, because they ate real food back then, plus they worked hard to get it.

But if you figure...  Do you know that diabetes has been found and studied for a couple thousand years? And think.  They didn't have highly processed foods back then.  Obesity wasn't as prominent.  People were more active.  Everyone was poor or middle class.  Today, there are such wide spread poverty, it's not funny.

So...  We have government agencies like the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Institute for Health (NIH), Occupational Health & Health Administration (OSHA), National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) among many others that oversee the many different aspects of industries and life in this country.  As governmental agencies, they do not directly benefit from big corporations.  Money may be given to legislators, or maybe a group can lobby hard, but, for the most part, these agencies are government run, and just like anything else, may or may not have the most current information.  I would not say they are corrupt, though are not perfect, either.

The health care industry, on the other hand, can be crooked.  I remember when I had regular insurance, all of a sudden, tons of different places wanted to vie for my business of treating my back pain.  The red carpet rolled out.  As we lost income and went back onto medicaid, the red carpet was taken back, just to say screw it.  What is crazy...  Yes, I agree that those who are able to work should, and I am able, in an office setting.  To expand my scope, my back needs to be better.  To have the better back, I need a job that pays well and can afford to get the treatments.  But to work those jobs, I need to have my back better.  Since it is bad, I am on medicaid, which won't pay for the treatments because I should pay for it...  Catch 22.  Wish I was better.  I'd be wonder woman for sure.  But, I aim to do what I can, and hope for the best, although my patience is definitely tried, and tried hard.

Got questions?  I might have answers.  If not, I'll find out.  Ask away in comments.  Thanks.