Minimum Carbohydrate Consumption to prevent muscle loss

fat oxidation decreases at high exercise intensities

https://journals.lww.com/acsm-essr/Fulltext/2009/04000/Exercise_Improves_Fat_Metabolism_in_Muscle_But.8.aspx

Fuel Sources for exercise

https://med.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Nutrition/Book%3A_Nutrition_Science_and_Everyday_Application_(Callahan_Leonard_and_Powell)/10%3A_Nutrition_and_Physical_Activity/10.03%3A_Fuel_Sources_for_Exercise

Understanding the factors that effect maximal fat oxidation

https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12970-018-0207-1

Sing Test

https://caasn.com/sports-nutrition/energy-map/metabolism-of-fat-during-exercise.html

https://www.gssiweb.org/sports-science-exchange/article/regulation-of-fat-metabolism-during-exercise

Copyright Carl Janssen 2023

Disclaimer : This information is not guaranteed to be accurate and I am not liable if you make any decisions or take any actions, in terms of medical treatment, health decisions, exercise, behavior or anything else based on the information presented.  I am not telling you any decisions to make even if I use terms like "you" but am using the word "you" as part of a writing style to simplify writing.  Any suggestions for what "you" should do are not for you personally to do but what someone might do as part of a exercise or nutrition program which might help some people's health and make other people's health worse.  You should not do any activity that will make your health worse even if "you" should do it according to the program described.  If the information is wrong and you believe it is true, act on it and it causes you problems, I am not responsible because I have warned you the information is not guaranteed to be accurate.

Purpose : Weight loss occurs when the total amount of Calories expended is greater than the total number of Calories consumed.  This is regardless of the percent of Calories from fat, alcohol, protein or carbohydrate.  In order to maximize the speed of weight loss safely one should reduce the amount of calories from all four sources combined without going below the minimum safe amount.  The purpose is to find how low the amount of carbohydrate calories can go before muscle loss occurs to maximize weight loss speed without the unsafe danger of muscle loss.  Minimum protein and fat requirements will be explored in other articles in more detail.  One should also consume between the lower and upper limits of vitamins and dietary elements, and water in addition to the requirements for fat, carbohydrate and protein while dieting unless directed otherwise by a qualified medical professional these will also be discussed in other articles.  In addition to helping understand dieting this should also be useful for other nutritional purposes and for planning food stock piling in the case of an emergency situation.

Four different nutrient sources of Calories

Fat provides 9 Calories per gram

Alcohol provides 7 Calories per gram

Protein provides 4 Calories per gram

Carbohydrate provides 4 Calories per gram except for Fiber and artificial sweetners

Carbohydrate Fiber provides between 0 and 4 Calories per gram

Carbohydrate or Carbohydrate-Like artificial sweetners provide 0 Calories per gram

When calculating how many calories you get from Carbohydrates I suggest looking at the number of grams of Carbohydrate and subtracting the number of grams of Fiber then multiplying by 4 Calories per gram

1 Calorie = 1000 Calories = 1 kcal = 1 kilocalorie

Assumptions about Carbohydrate Insufficiency and Protein loss

It will be assumed that if someone eats more Carbohydrate Calories per day then the number of Carbohydrate Calories they expend on exercise and brain maintenance then they will not lose muscle from their diet (if they have sufficient protein.)  But if that someone consumes less Carbohydrate Calories then the number of Carbohydrate Calories they expend on exercise and brain maintenance then they will lose at least 1 gram of protein from their body for every 4 Carbohydare Calories they come short once their glycogen storage has been depleted.  Glycogen is carbohydrate stored in skeletal muscles or the liver that can later be used as carbohydrate fuel for exercise or brain maintenance.

If 100% of the Calories from protein can be converted into carbohydrate then they would lose 1 gram of protein for every 4 Carbohydrate Calories.  But if less than 100% of the Calories from protein can be converted into Carbohydrate Calories than more than 1 gram of protein will be lost for every 4 Carbohydrate Calories that are missing below the minimum for brain maintenance and exercise.  If for example X% of the Calories from protein were converted into Carbohydrate Calories than the number of grams of protein lost for every 4 Carbohydrate Calories would be 100% / X% .  For example if only 12.5% of the Calories from protein could be converted into Carbohydrate Calories then they would lose 8 grams of protein for every 4 Carbohydrate Calories that are missing below the minimum required for brain maintenance and exercise.  In such a case you would get 4 Calories per gram of protein but 0.5 of them could be used as Carbohydrates and the other 3.5 could not and might for example be Calories converted to fat storage.  100% / 12.5% = 8

Assumptions about fats inability to prevent protein loss due to Carbohydrate insuffieiency

It will be assumed that even with sufficient Calories from fat in their diet and their body stores the person can not use fat Calories to produce enough Carbohydrate Calories for the functions of the brain and skeletal muscles, either because humans can not turn fat into Carbohydrate or can not turn a large enough proportion of the fat into Carbohydrate to have practical significance.

It will be assumed that Carbohydrate can be converted to fat or glycogen if not used for metabolism but fat can not be converted into Carbohydrate for any purposes of practical significance.  

It will be assumed that Fat Calories can not be converted to Carbohydrate Calories for purposes of some of the functions of the brain and skeletal muscles which run exclusively on Carbohydrates.  It will be assumed that in the absense of sufficient Calorie sources from Carbohydrates the body will use protein to create Carbohydrate.  

It will be assumed that reducing the amount of fat consumed will not cause or prevent muscle loss for a male above 5% body fat or a female above 20% body fat.  Although eating less fat might cause muscle loss for someone below 5% body fat and close to starvation eating less total Calories than they expend metabolicly.

It will be assumed the person does not have a eating disorder and is not starving but are in a situation of food availablility abundance and they are going on a diet because they want to lower their body fat percent and that the starvation situation in which fat consumption reduction could cause skeletal muscle loss does not apply to them 

Assumptions about Alcohol not being considered in regards to protein loss in the event of Carbohydrate insufficiency

Alcohol metabolism will be ignored, it will be assumed the person does not drink alcohol in sufficient amounts to provide a practically countable number of Calories.  

Minimum Requirements for brain maintanence

For the average female 422 Carbohydrate Calories ( rounded down )

For the average male 474 Carbohydrate Calories ( rounded down )

For the world record "neurotypical" brain 696 Calories ( rounded up )

Minimum Requirements for exercise

Between 15 and 70 Carbohydrate Calories for every 100 Calories expended exercising

"The most recent studies show that at low levels of exercise intensity, about 85% of calories are supplied by fats; at medium levels, about half. At high levels of exercise intensity, 70% of energy needs are derived from carbohydrate."

https://web.archive.org/web/20200922085635/https://www.roadbikerider.com/energy-sources-exercise-intensities/he higher intensity the exercise the higher percent of Carbohydrates are expended doing the exercise"

These studies can not be very high intensity if the person is able to maintain exercise for 2 hours.  It would make sense that if an exercise for 2 hours can use 70% of calories from carbohydrate then an exercise so intense it can not be performed for even 10 minutes would require a much higher percent of carbohydrate calories.

I reccommend just assuming 100 Carbohydrate Calories for every 100 Calories expened exercising if the exercise lasts more than 10 seconds but is so intense that it can not be maintained for more than 10 continous minutes without a break.  This is just to be safe in case you are exercising so hard that 100 percent of Calories from Carbohydrates even though I have no third party source to confirm this could happen, it is based on the principle of "better safe than sorry."  The exact percent of Calories from Carbohydrates from such a performance would most likely be more than 70% but less than 100% since the exact percent is unknown I would reccommend going with 100% until it can be known.

I could be wrong but I believe that Anaerobic metabolism of sugar in the short run produces less Calories per gram than aerobic metabolism of sugar but the byproducts of anaerobic metabolism are later aerobically metabolized resulting in the same number of Calories per gram of sugar in the long run after the oxygen debt from Anaerobic exercise has been repaid and the byproducts of Anaerobic metabolism are aerobically metabolized.  It might theoritically be possible under certain circumstances to require more than 1 gram of Carbohydrate for every 4 Calories exercised to prevent the break down of protein even though you would still get 4 Calories per gram of carbohydrate in the long run.

Can weight still be lost if you consume an equal number of Calories in Carbohydrates to the Calories spent exercising plus the Carbohydrate Calories for brain maintenance?

Let's suppose someone would burn 2000 Calories per day

676 Carbohydrate Calories are spent on Brain Function

They spend 200 Calories per day on Exercise.  

Let's say they do not know what percent of the 200 Calories per day from exercise must strictly come from carbohydrate Calories.  

They therefor just decide to consume 1 Carbohydrate Calorie for every 1 Calorie they exercise.  

This person then decides to eat 900 Carbohydrate Calories based on 200 Carbohydrate Calories for Exercise plus 676 Carbohydrate Calories for brain activity adding up to 876 Carbohydate Calories which they round up to 900 Carbohydate Calories.

That leaves 1124 Calories left over for fat and protein.  Let's say they consume 126 grams of protein which would would be 504 Calories that would leave 620 Calories of fat left.  If they limit themself to no more than 100 Calories of fat per day.  That would leave them 500 Calories short of 2000.  At this rate they could lose 3500 Calories or 1 pound of fat per week.

In reality most people would probably lose weight at a faster pace then a pound per week because they probably would burn more than 2000 calories per day if they were over weight and did 200 Calories worth of exercise per day.  Walking 1 mile for a 70 Kilogram man might be about 100 Calories but walking 1 mile for a 140 Kilogram man might burn 200 Calories.  Someone who is over weight might think they are burning 200 Calories per day but actually be burning more.  Likely the amount of weight they would lose if they are sedentary would also be higher than a less heavy person with the same body fat percentage, although it might be more complicated to calculate because they would probably have a different higher body fat percentage if they felt the need to lose weight in most cases unless they were in a weight class or body image related hobby or profession like modeling, dance performance, judo, boxing, kickboxing or wrestling, etc.

Even though 1 pound of fat is more than 3500 Calories, when you lose fat you also lose water molecues which are chemically bound to fat resulting in losing 1 pound of weight for every 3500 Calories.

Can eating extra protein calories prevent muscle loss on a no carbohydrate diet?

For brain maintenance alone someone would have to consume between 111 grams and 174 grams of carbohydrate.  If each gram on a no carbohydrate diet was replaced with a gram of protein,

It will be assumed that consuming extra fat fat will not cause or prevent muscle loss.

Although I will explore the protein recommendation by various instituitions in another article which may give different amounts, I will use the following for a hypothetical example which maybe different between the ranges suggested by different instituitions but should be somewhere close to being within the higher and lower part of the range of suggestions.

I will assume the following protein recommendation for an 18 year old male between 5% and 20% body fat composition is as follows

0.8 to 1.0 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight - sedentary

1.2 to 1.4 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight - endurance exercise

1.6 to 1.8 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight - weight lifting

I will assume the male is 70 kilograms and 20% body fat and wants to get down to 5% body fat and has decided to try a no carbohydrate high protein diet to lower his body fat composition.  And he probably will lose weight on that diet, that is he will lose muscle weight!

Here is the upper estimate for how much protein he should consume on a sufficient carbohydrate diet 

70 grams - sedentary

98 grams - endurance

126 grams - weightlifting

He should consume 474 Calories of Carbohydrate just to maintain his brain if he has a average male brain mass

Rounding down he would have to consume 118 grams of protein to compensate for 118 grams of non fiber carbohydrate in 474 Calories in addition to the reccomendations above which would result in 

188 grams - sedentary 

216 grams - endurance 

244 grams - weightlifiting

188 / 70 = 2.685 ( rounded truncated )

216 / 98 = 2.204 ( rounded truncated )

244 / 126 = 1.936 ( rounded truncated )

That is before counting any extra protein needed to deal with the Carbohydrate Calories expended for exercise.

Eating this much extra protein close to double or triple the recommendation to compensate for a lack of carbohydrate might result in kidney damage.  

Not eating the extra protein to compensate for the lack of carbohydrate might result in about 1 kilogram of skeletal muscle lost every 10 days

Alternatively he could just not eat the extra protein, on a no carbohydrate diet this would result in losing 1180 grams of protein from his body per week or 1.18 kilograms of protein, which would result in losing 1.18 kilograms of skeletal muscle if all the protein loss is from skeletal muscle.  And if it is from something else it might result in worse health problems then skeletal muscle loss depending on what other body part or type of body tissue he loses protein from.

Let's look at this another way.  How much protein should you consume according to this Atkins website diet guidelines

"Exercise physiologists are now recommending that those undergoing endurance training might need about 1.2 to 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight"

https://www.atkins.com/how-it-works/library/articles/are-you-getting-enough-protein

70 *1.6 = 112

So 112 grams of protein for a 70 kilogram man but that man needs 118 grams of protein just to make up for the missing carbohydrate,  There is no way to gain muscle mass on such a diet because if you spent 100% of the protein to make up for the carbohydrate deficit and was still short 6 grans you would be in the negative and have no protein left over to build or even maintain skeletal muscles.

If almoset zero carbohydrate diets result in muscle loss than how come some people get stronger on them?

You can lose muscle mass while also losing fat mass

Neurological Gains resulting in increase in strength with weight training in spite of muscle mass loss

Someone can gain strength while losing muscle mass if the nerve cells recruit the muscles in a more efficient pattern as an adaptation to strength training.  Therefor people on almost zero carbohydrate diet can gain strength while losing muscle mass.  This is often called "beginners gains"

Decrease in body fat percentage in spite of loss in muscle mass

Fat free mass includes everything but fat.  Fat free mass includes but is not limited to muscle mass.

Let us say someone has a total body mass 100 kilograms and has 40 kilograms of bodyfat and 60 kilograms of fat free mass then their percent body fat would be 40%

They then lose 10 kilograms of body fat and 10 kilograms of muscle so now they have 30 Kilograms of body fat and 50 kilograms of fat free mass and a total body mass of 80 kilograms.  They would now have a 37.5% body fat.

Increase in Relative Body Strength as a result of total body weight loss in spite of muscle mass loss

Relative body strength is the amount of force you can lift divided by your weight.

This decrease in percent body fat percentage would most likely mean they would have a higher relative body strength even though the person has lost muscle mass.

Increases in Absolute Body Strength as a result of total body weight loss in spite of muscle mass loss

Absolute body strength is the amount of force you can lift and is not divided by your weight

The person can also increase in absolute body strength while losing muscle mass because of a decrease in body fat percentage in some situations although this is more complicated to explain

For a weighted squat in which you have to lift the weight of your own body plus the weight of a object you are holding.  The heavier your body weighs the less heavy the object you can lift because you have to lift it plus your body weight.

K1 > K2

K1 > 0 pounds per kilogram

K2 > 0 pounds per kilogram

Body Mass is short for Total Body Mass

Body Mass = Fat free mass + Fat Mass

Fat Free mass * K1 - Body Mass * K2 = Absolute Squat Strength

Loss in Body Mass = Original Body Mass - New Body Mass

Loss in Fat Free Mass = Original Fat Free Mass - New Fat Free Mass

Increase in Absolute Squat Strength = Loss in Body Mass * K2 - Loss in Fat Free Mass * K1

Loss in Fat Free Mass * K1 = Loss in Body Mass * K2 - Increase in Absolute Squat Strength

K1 / K2 = ( Loss in Body Mass - Increase in Absolute Squat Strength / K2 ) / Loss in Fat Free Mass

If increase in absolute squat strength = 0 Then K1 / K2 = Loss in Body Mass / Loss in Fat Free Mass

If K1 / K2 = Loss in Body Mass / Loss in Fat Free Mass then Absolute Squat Strength stays the same

If K1 / K2 > Loss in Body Mass / Loss in Fat Free Mass then Absolute Squat Strength increases

 If K1 / K2 < Loss in Body Mass / Loss in Fat Free Mass then Absolute Squat Strength decreases

These quanitities were made up to test the format of the equation and were not measured with actual squat data or body fat composition data.  Here is the thinking process behind the choice of the quantities K1 and K2 for the examples

They were based on the assumption that a 70 Kilogram man with 100% fat free mass should be able to lift four times their fat free body mass after the weight of half their total body mass is subtracted.  Which would be about four and one half times the weight of their fat free body mass before half their body weight is subtracted.  1 pound is about half the weight of a kilogram of mass.  

Half the body weight was subtracted based on the assumption that the weight above the pelvis makes squatting more difficult but the weight below the pelvic does not, which is not entirely true.  This whole process is a oversimplification and perhaps the entire body weight should be subtracted instead of only half of it but I just do not feel if all the fat weight was distributed on the feet below the pelvis for example that it would reduce how much someone could lift where as if all the fat weight was on top of the head it would reduce how much someone could lift by 100% of the weight if the person has a vertical straight "back" or torso and torque is not involved.

280 Kilograms of mass weighs about 617 pounds

70 kilograms * 10 pounds per kilogram - 70 kilograms * 1 pound per kilogram = 630 pounds which is very close to 617 pounds

If K2 = 1 pound per kilogram

And K1 = 10 pounds per kilogram

Examples

Someone loses 1 kilogram fat free mass and 10 kilograms body weight

10 pound per kilogram / 1 pounds per kilogram = 10 kilogram / 1 kilograms

( 10 Kilograms * 1 pound per kilogram ) - ( 1 kilogram * 10 pounds per kilogram ) = 0 pounds

Squat Strength increases by 0 pounds

Someone loses 1 kilogram fat free mass and 16 kilograms body weight

10 pound per kilogram / 1 pounds per kilogram < 16 kilogram / 1 kilograms

( 16 Kilograms * 1 pound per kilogram ) - ( 1 kilogram * 10 pounds per kilogram ) = + 6 pounds

Squat Strength increases by 6 pounds

Someone loses 2 kilogram fat free mass and 8 kilograms body weight

8 pound per kilogram / 1 pounds per kilogram < 2 kilogram / 8 kilograms

( 8 Kilograms * 1 pound per kilogram ) - ( 2 kilogram * 10 pounds per kilogram ) = - 4 pounds

Squat Strength decreases by 4 pounds

Increase in Absolute Squat Strength = Loss in Body Mass * K2 - Loss in Fat Free Mass * K1

Does Fiber provide Carbohydrate Calories?

Despite trying, dieticians did not manage to reach any agreement on the amount of energy that is absorbed from fiber, though quite a few accepted that each gramme of soluble fiber provides around  2kcal (8.5 kJ). In some countries, it is customary for food labels to omit fiber altogether, on the assumption that it provides 0 kcal. In other countries, both types of fiber have to be specified on food labels, on the assumption that the total calorific value of the food is increased by 4 kcal with every gramme of fiber. (This is because, in chemistry terms, fiber is a type of carbohydrate and other carbohydrates do provide 4kcal/g.) In the USA a distinction is made between the two types of fiber. Soluble fiber is taken to provide 4 kcal/g while insoluble fiber, assumed to provide 0 kcal, is ignored in food labelling.

https://web.archive.org/web/20210926223036/https://dietaryfiberinfo.com/calories.html

Artificial Sweetners

Stevia and Xylitol exist in nature.

Stevia comes from a plant

Xylitol naturally occurs in multiple life forms but not at the concentration used for sweetning,

Xylitol should not be consumed in large amounts such as in foods or beverages with extra added Xylitol beyond the naturally occuring amount but should be safe in cough drops and chewing gum as a replacement for sugar to reduce risk of tooth decay since most cough drops and chewing gum can not be gotten with neither sugar nor artificial sweetners.  Xylitol cough drops although consumed in the same way hard candy is consumed when it dissolves in your mouth will not result in as much xylitol consumption as people would if they poured it onto or into food items that they consume in much larger quantities.

Some other artificial sweetners were invented not discovered and do not have a track record of hundreds or thousands or more years of human consumption to confirm safety

Glycemic index and it's relation to exercise intensity, exercise duration and meal time for people without metabolic disorders such as diabetes

Close to High Intensity exercise time - Soon Before Exercise, During Exercise, or Soon After Exercise - Eat Higher Glycemic Index Foods - Refined grains or simple carbs, fruit, fruit juice, sugar, eat no fiber or lower fiber carb sources and carb sources with no fat or a lower percent of calories from fat

Close to Low Intensity, long duration, exercise time - Soon Before Exercise, During Exercise, or Soon After Exercise - Glycemic Index does not matter

Close to Low Intensity, short duration, exercise time - Soon Before Exercise, During Exercise, or Soon After Exercise - Eat lower glycemic index food - Whole grains, complex carbs, higher fiber carb sources, or carb sources with natural plant fat

Far away from exercise time - Eat lower glycemic index food - Whole grains, complex carbs, higher fiber carb sources, or carb sources with natural plant fat

Factors that influence Glycemic Index

Higher percent of Calories from fat lowers glycemic index

Lower percent of Calories from fat raises glycemic index

Higher percent of Calories from protein lowers glycemic index

Lower percent of Calories from protein raises glycemic index

More fiber lowers glycemic index

Less fiber rasises glycemic index

Higher percent of Carbohydrate Calories from Simple carbs raises glycemic index

Higher percent of Carbohydrate Calories from Complex carbs lowers glycemic index

Low glycemic index does not always mean healthy

Deserts, Cake, Candy Bars and Ice Cream that are high in animal fat are more bad for you than 100% fruit juices, fruits, and tuber vegetables like bananas, orange juice, carrots and potatoes ( without added toppings ) even if they have a lower glycemic index than fruits and tuber vegetables.  The animal fat simply slows down the rate at which the carbohydrate can be absorbed but can still promote a heart attack.

A high glycemic index can mean carbohydrates are more immediately available for exercise or to replenish muscle glycogen ( carbohydrate ) fuel stores after exercise

Eating foods with a low glycemic index close to exercise time can lower exercise performance (relative to eating high glycemic index foods instead) by preventing carbohydrate availability to the body for exercise and diverting blood flow to the digestive system and away from the skeletal muscles and can create digestive cramps felt when exercising

Eating foods with a high glycemic index when it is not close to exercise time can increase the risk of diabetees and cause undesirable blood sugar fluctuations resulting in fatigue

"Sugars that release quickly and help to spare or replace burned glycogen may be suitable during or after exercise. Sugars that release moderately slowly may be more suitable several hours before or after exercise."

https://web.archive.org/web/20200922085635/https://www.roadbikerider.com/energy-sources-exercise-intensities/

Foods to avoid when choosing a Carbohydrate source

At all times avoid or reduce animal fat in food sources

Although fat can lower foods glycemic index, try to avoid foods with animal fat.  Try to stick with plant fats that are not hydrogenated or trans.

Avoid Hydrogenated or Trans when it comes to oils and fats

At all times avoid Hydrogenated Fat or Hydrogenated Oil also known as trans fat.  Do not confuse Hydrolyzed and Hydrogenated.  Hydrolyzed Protein is not the same as hydrogenated fat nor hydrogenated oil.

USDA Organic vs Organic

If you are legally buying a product in the United States while living in the United States then all Organic Products are USDA Organic.  ( Reference Required)

For those living outside the United States of America Organic Products are not necessarily USDA Organic unless labeled as such

Organic Products that are not USDA organic do not necessarily meet the USDA Organic criteria and you might not know what criteria is being used.  

Look for the USDA Organic Label or the Non-GMO label when buying products outside the United States that are on the list of bio-engineered foods to make sure they are not bio-engineered.  In the absense of the USDA Organic Label find out if the criteria is such to prevent genetic engineering

What foods can be genetically engineered

https://www.ams.usda.gov/rules-regulations/be/bioengineered-foods-list

Foods that are not on the list are supposed to not be genetically engineered

Foods that are on the list might be genetically engineered unless they are USDA Organic, Non-GMO or some other label to indicate they are not genetically engineered.

Animal Products that are not organic might be fed genetically modified plants even though the animals used to make the product themselves are not genetically modified

Organic animal Products can include RNA "vaccines"

An RNA "vaccine" is being worked on with Cows, Bulls or Bovine.

https://web.archive.org/web/20220219050326/https://portal.nifa.usda.gov/web/crisprojectpages/1027610-novel-mrna-vaccine-technology-for-prevention-of-bovine-respiratory-syncytial-virus.html

Organic animal products may come from a animal that has been vaccinated 

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=can+organic+animals+be+vaccinated&ia=web

Genetically engineered oils that are snuck into processed foods

Avoid Vegetable Oil if the type of vergetable is not specified unless the product is labeled as organic or Non-GMO.

Avoid Vegetable Oil, Corn Oil, Canola oil, Cottonseed oil and Soybean / Soy Oil  if the type of vergetable is not specified unless the produce is labeled as organic or Non-GMO.

Carbohydrate sources common in processed foods or available as food in and of themselves that are potentially genetically engineered

The carbohydrate sources of Wheat, Corn, Sugar and Syrup might be genetically engineered if they do not have a Non-GMO nor Organic Label for those in the United States of America.  

Products that contain apples or apple juice can be genetically engineered.  As well as plain Apples.

There are genetically engineered artic apples.  Some juice products that are not labeled as containing apple juice on the big label in the front contain apple juice in the list of ingredients.  Avoid Juices that contain Apples, Syrup, or Sugar unless listed as Non-GMO or Organic.

Potatoes or products with potatoes in them can now be genetically engineered

Potatoes were a good source of carbohydrates but are now on the genetic engineering list.  Only get potatoes or products with potatoes if they are listed as Non-GMO or Organic