Are Genetically Modified Foods Affecting Your Low Carb Diet Plan?

Are you following a low carb diet plan, yet find yourself hungry, tired and feeling sick? Has your weight loss stalled? Thanks to the prevalence of genetically modified foods in the U.S., your low carb meals might not be as grain free as you think.

Most Cheeses Contain GMO Corn and Rennet 

Many low-carb followers, especially those who do their own research, understand the effect that various sugars can have on the body when their metabolism no longer functions properly. In fact, most low carb diet plans, such as the Atkins diet or the Protein Power Lifeplan, place insulin resistance and other metabolic issues at the heart of the obesity epidemic.

Excessive dietary carbohydrates keep insulin levels too high for too long, which prevents fat mobilization for energy. Lower your carbohydrate intake and your insulin level drops quickly, keeping the doors to your fat stores open, so your body can use its stored body fat as needed. That’s basic low-carb philosophy.

Today, however, we have a new kid on the block that’s causing havoc: genetically modified organisms -- also known as GMOs. Unlike the results of traditional crossbreeding techniques such as the gluten molecule, genetic manipulation involves inserting or deleting genes in a lab. Generally, genes are transferred from one organism to another.

Since the resulting plant, fruit, vegetable, grain and nutritional value are said to be essentially the same as the original, manufacturers in the U.S. are not required to tell you when these altered foods are in the products you buy. GMOs are not a secret though; most people know they exist. Seeds have been altered for decades that allow farmers to use quite a bit more herbicide on their crops than they could safely use before. Safely for the plant, that is.

This is how much I knew about genetically engineered foods, until recently. As many of you know, I’ve been researching the role that various health issues and food sensitivities play when following a low carb diet long term: 

• I have been studying how and why a low carb diet works.
• I’ve read every book that Dr. Atkins has ever published, including the book he wrote for the non-dieting general population.
• I’ve read every book that Dr. Eades has ever published.
• I've read almost all of Lyle McDonald's books.
• I’ve read Dr. Atkins’ public interviews.
• I’ve read all of Dr. Eades’ blog posts.
• I've read everything on Lyle McDonald's website as well as his two forums.
• I’ve read everything I could get my hands on concerning insulin resistance, diabetes, celiac disease, allergies, dairy sensitivity, and elimination diets.
• I have bounced many of my ideas and theories off of a friend who has a Ph.D. in biochemistry.
• I’ve spoken to various medical doctors and other medical professionals.

Why? Because I got stuck about halfway to my goal weight, and I wanted to know why! The success I have had so far was only brought about by a very low-calorie, very low-fat, low carb diet (rather than a typical high-fat, low carb one), and I wanted to know why that was necessary. I wanted to know why a low carb diet doesn’t quench my appetite, as promised. I wanted to know why I gain weight, the fewer carbs I eat. I wanted to know why a standard Atkins Induction sends my blood glucose levels into dangerous territory.

In my search for health, I’ve dumped gluten, dairy, and beef -- all of which, I’ve spoken about here on this blog -- in hopes of being able to help someone else who might be going through what I am. (I do cheat with the beef sometimes, but I itch like crazy whenever I do.) Recently, I talked about my beef sensitivity, my nightmare of a trip to Colorado, and having to live on Fritos and diet Coke for three days while there. The sad thing about that trip is that as soon as I got home, within only a day or two, I started reacting to “something,” but I didn’t know what.

At the time, I blamed it on a new brand of gluten-free pasta I had eaten, but that was only partially correct. I did react to the pasta, but not for the reason I thought. I didn’t react because it was not gluten free. I reacted, because it was made with GMO corn -- the same as Fritos. My guess is that having to live on those Fritos flooded my body with so much GMO corn that it tagged the corn as an enemy. It now only takes a fraction for my immune system to attack it in the same way it attacks gluten and dairy.

Okay…so just go back onto a lower carb diet, since the lower levels of the Atkins ladder doesn’t include corn, and then everything will be fine, right? Not exactly. That’s what I thought -- until I did a little bit of investigation. Did you know that: 

• When “natural flavor,” “natural flavorings,” “citric acid,” “lactic acid,” “alcohol,” “enzymes,” “amino-acids,” and other additives are listed on the label, they generally come from GMO corn.
• Enriched products can be enriched with GMO corn-based vitamins.
• Almost all sugar substitutes are derived from corn sugars. Maltodextrin is also a GMO corn.
• Many stores and manufacturers dust the plastic that meat is wrapped in with GMO cornstarch to keep the meat from sticking.
• Many stores and manufacturers place a lactic-acid or citric-acid-soaked pad underneath the meat.
• The foam trays that meats and poultry come in are generally made from corn.
• Poultry and other meats can be dipped in a corn-containing wash prior to packaging?
• Poultry and other frozen meats can be injected with a corn-containing solution?
• Fruits and vegetables are often gassed or sprayed with a corn-containing wax that doesn’t wash off.
• GMO feed passes into the cow’s milk contaminating typical low carb foods.
• Cheese is generally made with a GMO rennet.

That is just the tip of the low carb problem. There’s GMO corn in our pharmaceuticals and vaccines too. And that’s just corn. Add in the soybeans, the Canola oil, the individual modified ingredients like xanthan gum and you’re left with very little real low carb food. In fact, about 90 percent of the corn, soybeans, cotton, and sugar beets in this country come from genetically modified organisms. That means that most low carb diets are not as healthy as we think.

For me, I've found that genetically modified foods seriously affect not only my metabolism, but my blood glucose levels as well. By removing GMO corn and corn derivatives from my maintenance diet, my high pre-diabetic blood glucose levels have now returned to absolutely normal. Even with an occasional high-carb real cane sugar treat, I have yet to see my blood sugar go higher than 124. While I continue to eat a lower carb maintenance diet, I have high hopes that eliminating all GMOs, not just corn, might be the solution that finally gets an Atkins-type diet to work for me. Only time will tell.