GMO foods - question from reader

Question:

I recently read an article from the "Well Being Journal" re: GMO's. I'm assuming you avoid tofu, but I've noticed on your blog that you have some recipes with edamame. What about fresh corn on the cob? Can you help shed some light?

Answer:

This one is really hard. This article brings up some points that I had not considered before, and they are scary. I can't seem to link to the article, but the website for the Well Being Journal is here.

Supposedly organic products are made from non-GMO plants, and I have eaten a small amount of organic tofu and some edamame in the past year. I’ve also read, however, that no soy can be guaranteed non-GMO because of cross-contamination.

The bottom line for me is that I use only organic soy products, and I generally tend to eat only edamame. No matter what, tofu is a processed food. I don’t eat edamame at sushi restaurants because there is no way to tell if it is organic. I haven’t had any reactions such as stomach ache or headache from the amount that I’ve been consuming.

As for corn, I react with bloating and cravings, so I don’t eat it. Like soy, it can be assumed that no corn available in our markets is non-GMO because of years of cross-contamination. I generally tend to recommend that people who are looking to lose fat avoid it also because of its high starch content. Fresh corn on the cob, local and in season, could be a treat for some people who don’t react.

The idea that GMO foods “might be colonizing the gut flora of North Americans” is extremely frightening and I will be doing more research. The author also has a website.