The world’s preeminent scientific journal recently editorialized that we are now swimming in information about genetically modified crops, but that much of that information is wrong—on both sides of the debate. “But a lot of this incorrect information is sophisticated,” they write, “backed by legitimate-sounding research and written with certitude.” When it comes to GMO’s, they quip, “a good gauge of a statement’s fallacy is the conviction with which it is delivered.”
With USDA’s approval this month of Dow Chemical’s commercialization of a new round of GMO crops, it’s more important than ever to assess the human health implications of genetically engineered foods. Any time there’s billions of dollars at stake, combined with flaring political ideologies, it’s hard to know who to trust. So as always, best to stick to the science. This is easier said than done, though–more than 41,000 papers have been published on GMOs in the medical literature, totaling a couple hundred million words. But that’s what you have me for! I live in the library so you don’t have to.
Reviewing all the primary sources I could find on the public health implications of GMO crops I created four new videos:
- Are GMOs Safe? The Case of BT Corn
- Are GMOs Safe? The Case of Roundup Ready Soy
- Is Monsanto’s Roundup Pesticide Glyphosate Safe?
- GMO Soy and Breast Cancer
They are all available right now as a video download as part of my new Latest in Clinical Nutrition volume 21 (all proceeds go to this charity). It can also be ordered as a physical DVD. The GMO videos are all scheduled to go up on NutritionFacts.org by mid-November, but you can download and watch them right now. The current batch of videos from volume 20 on NutritionFacts.org just ran out, so starting this month and running through December, I’ll be rolling out the videos from this new DVD, volume 21. The DVDs give folks the opportunity to sneak-preview videos months ahead of time, watch them all straight through, and share them as gifts, but there is nothing on the DVDs that won’t eventually end up free online here at NutritionFacts.org. If you’d like the works–40+ hours of video–you can get the complete DVD collection.
Here’s the list of chapters from the new volume 21 DVD — a preview of what’s to come over the next few months on NutritionFacts.org:
- Does Cholesterol Size Matter?
- Cooked Beans or Sprouted Beans?
- Lifestyle Medicine Is the Standard of Care for Prediabetes
- Hibiscus Tea vs. Plant-Based Diets for Hypertension
- Protecting Teeth From Hibiscus Tea
- Is There Too Much Aluminum in Tea?
- How Much Hibiscus Tea is Too Much?
- PCBs in Children’s Fish Oil Supplements
- Can Flax Seeds Help Prevent Breast Cancer?
- Turmeric Curcumin and Pancreatic Cancer
- Infectobesity: Adenovirus 36 and Childhood Obesity
- Juicing Removes More Than Just Fiber
- The Role of Diet in Declining Sperm Counts
- Dairy Estrogen and Male Fertility
- Hospitals Selling Sickness
- Antibiotics: Agribusiness’s Pound of Flesh
- Are GMOs Safe? The Case of BT Corn
- Are GMOs Safe? The Case of Roundup Ready Soy
- Is Monsanto’s Roundup Pesticide Glyphosate Safe?
- GMO Soy and Breast Cancer
- Caloric Restriction vs. Plant-Based Diets
- How Much Added Sugar Is Too Much?
- Preventing Alzheimer’s with Lifestyle Changes
- Preventing Alzheimer’s Disease with Diet
- Inhibiting Platelet Activation with Tomato Seeds
- Eliminating 90% of Heart Disease Risk
Order my new DVD at DrGreger.org/dvds or through Amazon. It can also be ordered as a video download at DrGreger.org/downloads.
If you were a regular supporter, you’d already be a GMO expert by now, having gotten the new DVD two weeks ago! I now come out with DVDs at an exhausting pace–a new one every 9 weeks. If you’d like to automatically receive them before they’re even available to the public, please consider becoming a monthly donor.
Anyone signing up on the donation page to become a $15 monthly contributor will receive the next three DVDs for free (as physical DVDs, downloads, or both–your choice), and anyone signing up as a $25 monthly contributor will get a whole year’s worth of new DVDs. If you’re already signed up and didn’t receive your volume 21 yet, please email Tommasina@NutritionFacts.org and she’ll make everything all better.
If you’d rather just watch all the videos online as they launch, but would still like to support my work of cutting through the confusion and educating millions about healthy eating, you can make a tax-deductible donation to NutritionFacts.org using a credit card, a direct PayPal link, or by sending a check to “NutritionFacts.org” P.O. Box 11400 Takoma Park, MD 20913.
If you missed it last week, I featured an exclusive guest blog post (a NutritionFacts.org first!) by two of my favorite dietitians, Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina, who argue that plant-based diets may be closer to the actual diets of our paleolithic ancestors than so-called “paleo” diets. Check it out: Will The Real Paleo Diet Please Stand Up?
In my next DVD I’ll address the saturated fat “controversy”–stay tuned!
-Michael Greger
