One of the biggest debates between the natural health movement and science is the safety of GMO produced food.
I rather side on the err of caution and avoid them if all possible. It is very hard to avoid everything produced from using genetically modified organisms in the United States because most products made from them are unlabeled. There is even controversy surrounding the USDA organic certification because their organic certification does not always mean that it will be completely free.1 The most anyone can do in this situation is to limit the amount that they consume or come into contact with in their daily lives.
Some of your supplements are carrying fillers or vitamins derived from genetically modified sources as well.
GMO Produced Fillers(unless listed):2
- Modified food starch (genetically modified corn)
- Corn starch
- Hydrogenated soybean oil
- Maltodextrin (genetically modified corn)
- Genetically modified soy lecithin
- GMO produced crop fed pork/beef gelatin
- Whey/egg white protein from GMO produced crop fed cattle/chickens
- Unlisted flavorings
- Citric acid
- Lactic acid
- Xanthan gum produced from GMO’s
- Ascorbyl palmitate from genetically modified corn
GMO Derived Vitamins(Unless listed from a non-GMO source):
- Vitamin C – derived from genetically modified corn dextrose fermentation3
- Vitamin E – derived from genetically modified soybean oil, cottonseed oil, and from corn oil4
- Vitamin K2 – derived from genetically modified soybeans5
Non-GMO derived vitamins can be hard to find in a lot of the different supplements. I let this slide for a lot of supplements because the vitamins are so heavily refined that very little if any genetically modified proteins are found in the final product. That being said try to find non genetically modified organism derived supplements if possible.
Recommended Vitamin C:
Recommended Vitamin E:
- North American Herb & Spice Purely-E
- Thorne Basic Nutrients 2 A Day
- http://gmo-awareness.com/2011/05/05/is-organic-always-gmo-free/ ↩
- http://www.nongmoproject.org/learn-more/gmos-and-your-family/ ↩
- https://www.pureencapsulations.com/media/Ascorbic%20Acid.pdf ↩
- http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/database/e-numbers/203.vitamin_e.html ↩
- http://chriskresser.com/vitamin-k2-the-missing-nutrient ↩
Thank you very much for your research and writing. I care fervently about keeping my diet free of gmo.
Hi John,
You recommend NOW foods in your recommended supplement brands but I read only few of their supplements use Non GMO ingredients.
I recommend NOW foods on the supplement list because they are very accessible as a brand that can almost be found anywhere. I never mentioned that they were fully non GMO. On my tier list they are listed as mid tier. They are descent (better than what you would find in Wal Mart) but far from optimal.
Yes, I still recommend it for most people because we truly do not know if the Ascorbyl Palmitate used is GMO since it is unlisted. I will write to PE and see what they say. We do know that their vitamin C is non gmo. Also there would be little to no GMO protein in the Ascorbyl Palmitate.
GMO’s in your Supplements: Pure Encapsulations Magnesium Glycinate, which you recommend, uses Ascorbyl Palmitate, listed as a GMO. Do you still recommend it now !!