If you’ve been a reader of mine for a while, you probably remember me saying this at one point or another about processed foods:

The farther you venture away from Nature with what you eat, the less nutritious (and quite likely more harmful) it is to your body.

This is especially true when it comes to the latest “hot topic” in the world of highly processed food products…

The Impossible Burger!

Here’s the scoop on what the Impossible Burger is all about, and why it’s quite possibly harmful!

What it is

The Impossible Burger is lauded as a plant-based alternative to traditional meat burgers that allegedly replicates the flavor, texture and aroma of beef.

The original ingredient list included:  Water, textured wheat protein, coconut oil, potato protein, natural flavors, soy leghemoglobin, yeast extract, salt, konjac gum, xanthan gum and soy protein isolate.

Earlier this year soy protein replaced the wheat protein, making it gluten-free, and some of the coconut oil was replaced by sunflower oil to reduce saturated fat.

It also provides added nutrients including:  Vitamin E, vitamin C, thiamin (vitamin B1), zinc, niacin (vitamin B3), vitamin B6, riboflavin (vitamin B2) and vitamin B12.

The Impossible Burger was originally created as a more environmentally friendly alternative to beef from livestock raised in the “mass production factory farms” otherwise known as concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs).

Cows raised in CAFOs require about 30 pounds of corn and soy for every pound of meat produced, and all that corn and soy requires LOTS of herbicides to be sprayed.

So the manufacturers contend that the Impossible Burger is gentler to the environment.  And it’s gluten-free and nutritious too!  Just look at those added nutrients and all that soy protein!

Sounds good, right? 

Not so fast.

Let’s look at…

The rest of the story

First of all, the Impossible Burger is made with soy leghemoglobin manufactured from GMO yeast—that’s what provides the beefy blood-like ooze when you cut into one of these burgers.    

Although GMO foods are Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) by the FDA, the fact still remains that they create proteins that are completely foreign to the human body, so the long-term health effects of these lab creations are largely unknown. 

Allegedly the manufacturer of the Impossible Burger (Impossible Foods) did 2 short rat studies (one for 14 days and another for 28) to test the safety of these franken-proteins and gave the burger the green light. 

But an independent analysis of these studies found weight gain and signs of toxicity in the animals.

This is consistent with other studies done in the past on GMOs!

In one study, researchers from Norway observed two groups of rats--one group was given food made with GMO corn and the other was given food made with conventional corn.

Over the course of 90 days, the rats eating the GMO corn diet grew fatter and consumed more food than the rats on the non-GMO diet.

They also observed that rats got fatter when they ate fish that had been raised on GMO corn--so there's a chain reaction effect!

Plus let’s not forget that with GMOs comes glyphosate—and that has been shown to cause cancer as well as disrupt your gut microbiome (where most of your immune system resides).

But what about the environment?

Even the spin on “saving the environment” has holes. 

While it may be true that the food used in CAFOs requires lots of herbicide use and this is harmful to the environment, that’s not true of grass-fed beef.

So, if the environment is truly the concern, let’s find ways to increase the number of farms that practice grass-fed cattle ranching!

Let’s get back to Nature!

The closer you are to Nature with your diet, the better nourished, healthier, slimmer and less diseased you will be!

Here are some ways you can avoid GMO foods and support better health:

Avoid processed foods

Unless a packaged food is 100 percent organic, you should assume it has GMO ingredients.

The answer here is easy—stick to nutritious real foods and avoid the packaged stuff as much as possible. 

Buy organic whenever you can

Organic foods by definition do not contain GMO ingredients, so if you want snack chips, cereals or other packaged foods, at least opt for organic brands.

Also try to buy as much organic meat, milk and produce as possible—to not only minimize your exposure to GMOs but also hormones, antibiotics, pesticides and herbicides.   

If you're on a tight budget and can't afford to go 100 percent organic, here is a good rule of thumb:  If you are going to be eating the entire food, skin included (like with grapes, peppers or lettuce), strive to buy organic.  If you will be peeling the food (such as with bananas, avocado or oranges) conventional is probably OK.

Also, check out local farmer’s markets and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs in your area.

Help your gut bacteria recover

Unless you’ve been diligent about eating 100 percent organic food, chances are excellent your gut bacteria may have already taken a harmful hit from GMOs, because the glyphosate that they are sprayed with destroys your microbiome. 

In addition to a healthy diet of real foods, supplementation with a full spectrum probiotic formula like Super Shield can help your gut bacteria bounce back and provide their sickness and disease-fighting protection.   

Supplement with a quality multi-vitamin

If your diet is a little dicey or you just want to make sure all your nutritional bases are covered, then Super Core is your ticket!

Super Core provides a health-supporting dose of a wide range of essential vitamins and minerals, plus it provides the added disease-fighting benefits of natural anti-inflammatories and antioxidants!

Remember YOU alone are responsible for your health--not food companies. 

Don't offer yourself up as a guinea pig, jeopardizing your health while you help to grow their bottom lines. 

When it comes to real health, natural is always best.

To your health,

Sherry Brescia