I recently wrote about how it can be beneficial to eat organic foods to avoid compounded toxic exposure. Now I will dive a little deeper into the impacts of one of the most prevalent and toxic substances that we are being inundated with in the U.S. This chemical and its effects, in my opinion, equate to the best reason to choose organic whole foods when on a journey back to health and balance.
Glyphosate is the active ingredient found in the weed killer "Roundup" and other herbicides, originally patented as an herbicide in 1974. It is also patented as an antibiotic. After decades of use, in 2015, the World Health Organization finally classified it as a "probable carcinogenic" after reviewing related scientific research. There has since been many studies and papers written on the severity of the impact of using glyphosate and the repercussions on our physical health. The research is shocking. What is more shocking is that it is still available for use when we know how incredibly damaging it is and have loads of scientific data to show the truth.
Currently, glyphosate is used on a widespread basis, all over the US, on farms, in parks, at schools, on public access areas like sidewalks, private residences, near waterways and more. Through laboratory testing, consumer initiative organizations like Moms Across America have found glyphosate in a multitude of foods including alarming amounts in school lunches (over 94% of the food tested in schools had high levels of glyphosate, which is downright criminal). It has also been found in urine samples, breastmilk samples, rain samples, air samples, baby formula, infant feeding tube solution, groundwater, river and lake samples and countless other unusual and surprising places. It is virtually everywhere. Approximately 300 million pounds are used on US soil each year! This is a runaway toxic train situation!
So why is it such a big deal?
Glyphosate has been shown to affect the body in the following ways...
- Endocrine system issues (disrupts hormone production)
- Gastrointestinal issues (especially leaky gut)
- Developmental effects (hormonal imbalances)
- Body weight effects (the body holds toxins in fat)
- Hepatic effects (especially fatty liver disease)
- Mental health effects (hormone and chemical imbalances)
- Reproductive effects (PCOS, the #1 cause of infertility)
- Neurological effects (neurotransmitter disruption, inflammation and oxidative stress and crossing of the blood-brain barrier)
- Renal effects (chronic kidney disease)
- Occular effects (corneal injury)
- Hematological effects (increases cytokines in blood)
- Cancer growth (Bayer is paying out billions of dollars to cancer victims)
- Immunological effects (Autoimmune issues)
- Mitochondrial dysfunction (leading to cell death)
- Primer for other cancer-causing chemicals (synergistic toxicity)
- And much more, it just pretty much damages the entire body to be honest!
Well then how has it been thought of to be relatively safe?
It seems that outdated research, incomplete studies with conflicts of interest and bias as well as straight up corporate lies are to blame.
Let's dive into how glyphosate actually works, and why farmers want to use it, to understand where the misconceptions lie.
In plants, glyphosate disrupts the shikimic acid pathway by inhibiting the enzyme EPSP (for short) synthase. The lacking EPSP production then leads to reductions in aromatic amino acids that are vital for protein synthesis and plant growth. It isn't long before this effectively makes the plant die. This is already a sad story for a plant lover like me...but wait...there's more! Glyphosate, by its nature and function, causes disease. It binds to elements, causing mineral deficiencies and stimulates pathogenic bacteria, causing imbalance. It also blocks C-1 metabolism (a process involved in detoxification) causing an accumulation of formaldehyde which depletes glutathione, a substance needed for many body processes including immune system support. And the way glyphosate works is systemic. The poison is circulating throughout the plant so you cannot just wash it off.
Dr. Don Huber, retired Professor Emeritus in Plant Pathology at Purdue University is an expert in the effects of these harmful pesticides on plants and people. When Carol Grievé of Food Integrity interviewed him on her podcast in 2018, he stated "As far as toxicity, both chronic and direct toxicity and environmental impact, glyphosate is much more extensive and much more damaging (than DDT)". DDT is a harmful pesticide that is banned in the USA. Why then, is glyphosate not banned entirely yet?
The argument that Monsanto initially made as their claim to safety was that the human body does not have shikimic acid pathways, which is true, but the reality is much more complicated. It turns out that although we do not have the EPSP enzyme in our cells, our gut microbes (a super important component of balance throughout the body) do, and they use it to make essential amino acids...which we do need to build specific proteins. These amino acids are precursors to a lot of molecules including very crucial neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, melatonin, melanin, thyroid hormone, and B vitamins to name a few. Now we can start to see the harmful domino effect of glyphosate exposure, as these neurotransmitters control things like sleep, metabolism, mood, adrenal health and much more.
Studies have also shown that the "good" bacteria like lactobacillus are more sensitive to glyphosate than the "bad" pathogenic bacteria, causing even more of an imbalance. Lactobacillus also has specialized enzymes that help us break down the casein in dairy products and the gluten in bread and other grain products. When casein and gluten are not properly broken down in the digestive process, the gut reacts by releasing zonulin, an enzyme that essentially "opens up" the tight gap junctions in the gut barrier or lining. This upregulation in zonulin causes a condition we call "leaky gut" which involves the release of things into the bloodstream that should not be there, resulting in cytokine reactions and inflammation. And now that laundry list of ailments caused or correlated with glyphosate is starting to make sense. You mess with the endocrine system, and you mess with the balance of the entire human body, its as simple as that...but also incredibly complicated.
Another reason that glyphosate has not yet been banned entirely in the U.S. is that when they study it for safety, they only test the glyphosate by itself, which is not an accurate depiction of what is being sprayed all over our towns and cities. The Roundup product, and all other formulations of glyphosate geared for agricultural and domestic or commercial use all contain other synergistically harmful chemicals. These specific chemicals are needed to facilitate the uptake of the poison into the plants cells mostly, and its easy to see that without these other chemicals present, the harmful nature of glyphosate would be minimized, painting a picture of safety. So the studies that deemed it safe really need to be dumped, since they are incomplete and deceptive.
The creation of "Roundup ready" crops has also exacerbated the problem. Roundup ready seeds are genetically modified to not die when exposed to glyphosate. "Wonderful!" says the farmer, trying to protect his bottom line by easily killing weeds and not his crops. Unfortunately, this has only made it easier for commercial agriculture to use even more of this poison. Add to this the fact that struggling commercial farmers also use glyphosate as a desiccant (drying agent), speeding up the rate at which plants dries out and go to seed, avoiding frost. This leads to an even higher level of glyphosate toxicity, especially in wheat products. I will talk more about genetic modification in a separate article, but you can see clearly why its a problem in the arena of glyphosate exposure. (Quick note: When you buy certified organic, you are not getting GMOs, but when you buy "Non-GMO" food that is not certified organic, it could have still been grown using harmful pesticides.)
So studies are clearly showing that glyphosate is an endocrine disruptor, cancer causer, has lasting effects and is harmful even at low levels, so what can we do?
Until our corporate owned government organizations are ready to value human lives over profits and ban glyphosate like many countries, some states and counties have already done...there are some things that we can do to limit our exposure...
- Buy only certified organic food
- Buy imported food from countries that have already banned glyphosate
- Know your organic farmers (visiting your local farmer's market is a place to start)
- Filter your water (reverse osmosis will work, but you should add minerals or salt afterwards)
- Zeolite, Fulvic and Humic acid have been shown to bind to glyphosate, so it can be moved out of the body. (Note that these binders can also bind to other important minerals in your body, so it is crucial to take a good mineral supplement if you are using these binders)
- Avoid wheat, oats, beans and soy products.
- Buy only organic grass-fed meat
- I do not recommend buying any non-organic products. The following list is the most contaminated fruits and vegetables, so you can avoid these altogether in non-organic choices.
Dirty Dozen
- Strawberries
- Spinach
- Kale, collard and mustard greens
- Peaches
- Pears
- Nectarines
- Apples
- Grapes (This is why you want your wine to be organic. Bonus: no hangover!)
- Bell and hot peppers
- Cherries
- Blueberries
- Green Beans
To find more information on glyphosate toxicity and exposure and to be more involved in the process of joining together to make positive changes happen...see the following resources: