In a perfect world, all our food would be grown in rich, nutrient-dense soil that provides plants with a wide array of nutrients, that would in turn provide nutrients to our bodies. The sad reality is that most of our industrially-produced monoculture crops are grown in highly depleted soil that lacks any real nutritional value, and produces plants that are sickly and are also devoid of any meaningful nutrition. Sick plants, like sick people, require a lot of external chemicals to survive, such as herbicides and pesticides in the case of plants.
(Diverse crops grown in rich soil that have the nutrients they need to thrive are more resistant to predators and weeds and need far less chemical inputs. They contain more nutrients and antioxidants, because those are the compounds that act as “natural” pesticides and herbicides and are beneficial to us as well. And they taste better. Industrial crops are grown for high-yield, long storage times and the ability to withstand long-distance shipping, often at the expense of flavor. Read this article to learn more about the benefits of eating organic foods.)
Important update: Last Month, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) implemented new labeling requirements for GMOs. The label changes the name from GMO to “Bioengineered” products. Avoid any foods that contain Bioengineered or “BE” products. They are Genetically Modified Organisms with a less dangerous sounding name. Read this article for more details about the new (and deceptive!) labeling requirements.
In this post I outlined a bit about the dangers of glyphosate, the main component of the weed-killer RoundUp. In this article I go deeper into the serious health consequences of consuming glyphosate and finally, explain how you can protect yourself from exposure to this dangerous toxin.
Roundup is a broad-spectrum, non-selective, systemic herbicide, meaning it kills any plant not genetically engineered to withstand its use. It permeates our environment in a variety of ways:
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Roundup is sprayed on hundreds of millions of acres of industrial crops, including wheat, corn, soybeans, beets and sugar beets, cotton, canola, alfalfa and more.
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It is used as a dessicant to dry out certain crops and make them easier to harvest.
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It is used by consumers on their lawns and gardens.
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RoundUp that is sprayed on plants also gets in the soil, killing off the beneficial bacteria that do so much to help our crops grow.
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As runoff from the soil into groundwater, it eventually evaporates into the atmosphere and is recirculated in rain.
Because RoundUp is being used so widely, and is reaching plants and weeds that it is not even sprayed on through rain, it has led to the evolution of “super weeds”, or weeds that are resistant to the powers of RoundUp and other strong herbicides.
According to this Reuters article, tests discovered “glyphosate residues in 41 of 69 honey samples; Microbe tests detected glyphosate in three of 18 breast milk samples and in six of 40 infant formula samples.”
In 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans”. Monsanto, the maker of RoundUp, strongly disagrees with this assessment. It claims its product is perfectly safe because glyphosate disrupts the shikimate pathway, which is an enzymatic pathway only found in plants and not in mammals. While it is true that humans do not have a shikimate pathway, our beneficial gut bacteria do. Glyphosate’s original patent is as an antibiotic and the prolonged, persistent exposure we face from the millions of pounds of glyphosate used since its inception have taken an inevitable toll on our health and well-being.
Another way glyphosate severely damages our all-important gut health is by stimulating the production of zonulin. Zonulin is a protein produced in the intestines that weakens the tight junctions (TJs) of the intestinal wall. TJs are gate-keepers in the microvilli of the intestines that create a near-impermeable barrier to prevent undesirable large molecules (undigested food and certain bacteria, for example) from getting into our bloodstream.
TJs do allow digested nutrients to pass through to nourish and repair our bodies as needed. There are times when relaxing the TJs is necessary, and zonulin is triggered, usually by pathogenic bacteria so they can be flushed out of the digestive tract. When the onslaught of glyphosate causes over-production of zonulin, our TJs are weakened on an on-going basis. This leads to hyperpermeable intestines, aka leaky gut, and the serious diseases and autoimmune dysfunctions that follow leaky gut. These include diabetes, obesity, cancer, Irritable Bowel Disease, and many more.
Glyphosate itself has been linked to various cancers, non-Hodgkins lymphoma in particular. And some studies are suggesting that glyphosate and its various products (RoundUp) may adversely affect fetal development.
Read this article to learn more about keeping your gut health in tip-top shape.
So now that you have a little better understanding of how glyphosate impacts our health, how can you protect yourself and your loved ones from the serious health consequences of this dangerous toxin?
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Choose certified organic foods, as they are not allowed to use glyphosate at any point in their growing cycle. Be sure to choose organic beer, which is made from grains that can be Roundup contaminated, and organic wine. Non-organic wines have been shown to have high levels of RoundUp.
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Never eat factory-produced foods as they are made primarily from Genetically Engineered (GE) crops that are designed to withstand high amounts of RoundUp, such as corn, soy and wheat as their main ingredients. They also use copious amounts of industrially-produced chemical additives such as flavorings, colorings and artificial sweeteners that are harmful to gut bacteria.
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Avoid all vegetable oils. They are one of the biggest health hazards we consume on a regular basis, and are often made from GE crops. Read this article to learn about the dangers of vegetable oils.
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Eat nutrient dense foods that nourish your gut and body. Read this article to learn what those are.
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Avoid chlorinated and fluoridated water. Both of these chemicals kill bacteria and disrupt gut health.
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Have mercury amalgam fillings removed from dental work. Mercury is not only a potent neurotoxin, it is also highly disruptive to the healthy balance of bacteria in our mouths and guts.
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If you are already experiencing severe gut issues, glutamine can be a helpful supplement. This is an excellent brand.
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Restore is another supplement that can help to directly repair the tight junctions in our gut. You can buy it here.
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High dose intravenous vitamin C therapy shows promise in reversing the damaging effects of glyphosate exposure. This can only be done with the assistance of an experienced integrative physician.
The steps outlined here will protect you from more than just the damaging effects of glyphosate. They are a solid foundation to have the energy you deserve to live the life you want.
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