Gut-Wrenching New Studies Reveal the Insidious Effects of Glyphosate
April 15, 2014 |
Story at-a-glance
Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup
herbicide, is possibly "the most important factor in the
development of multiple chronic diseases and conditions that
have become prevalent in Westernized societies”
Glyphosate residues are found in most commonly consumed
foods in the Western diet courtesy of GM sugar, corn, soy,
and wheat
Research suggests that glyphosate may “enhance the damaging
effects of other food-borne chemical residues and toxins in
the environment to disrupt normal body functions [including
gut bacteria] and induce disease”
Glyphosate may stimulate hormone-dependent cancers even at
extremely low “environmentally relevant” amounts
If you buy processed food, opt for products bearing the USDA
100% Organic label, as organics do not permit GMOs
By Dr. Mercola
Increasing exposure to glyphosate, the active ingredient in
Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide, may be at least partially to blame
for rising rates of numerous chronic diseases in Westernized
societies, according to recent research.
The finding, published in Entropy,1
has ramifications for virtually every man, woman and child in
developed nations, as this pesticide is widely used on both
conventional and, especially, genetically modified (GM) crops
(to the tune of more than one billion pounds sprayed in
the US alone).
If you eat processed foods, most of which are made with GM
corn and soy ingredients, you’re consuming glyphosate residues,
probably in each and every bite. Knowing this, and the fact that
tests show people in 18 countries across Europe already have
glyphosate in their bodies,2
the following news should leave you very, very concerned… if not
compelled to take action against this health-endangering
chemical.
Glyphosate May Be a Key Factor in the Development of Chronic
Disease
While Monsanto insists that Roundup is safe, a peer-reviewed
report authored by Anthony Samsel, a retired science consultant,
and a long time contributor to the Mercola.com Vital Votes
Forum, and Dr. Stephanie Seneff, a research scientist at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), reveals how
glyphosate wrecks human health.
They argue that glyphosate residues, found in most commonly
consumed foods in the Western diet courtesy of GM sugar, corn,
soy, and wheat, “enhance the damaging effects of other
food-borne chemical residues and toxins in the environment to
disrupt normal body functions and induce disease.”
Interestingly, your gut bacteria are a key component of
glyphosate’s primary mechanism of harm.
Monsanto has steadfastly claimed that Roundup is harmless to
animals and humans because the mechanism of action it uses
(which allows it to kill weeds), called the shikimate pathway,
is absent in all animals. However, the shikimate pathway IS
present in bacteria, and that’s the key to understanding how it
causes such widespread systemic harm in both humans and animals.
The bacteria in your body outnumber your cells by 10 to one.
For every cell in your body, you have 10 microbes of various
kinds, and all of them have the shikimate pathway, so they will
all respond to the presence of glyphosate!
Glyphosate causes extreme disruption of the microbe’s
function and lifecycle. What’s worse, glyphosate
preferentially affects beneficial bacteria,
allowing pathogens to overgrow and take over, including the
highly toxic Clostridium botulinum.
It has been estimated that only 1 kilogram (2.2 lbs) would be
enough to kill the entire human population.3
At that point, your body also has to contend with the toxins
produced by the pathogens. Once the chronic inflammation sets
in, you’re well on your way toward chronic and potentially
debilitating disease.
In the interview above, Dr. Seneff reviews a variety of
chronic diseases, explaining how glyphosate contributes to each
condition. So to learn more, I urge you to listen to it in its
entirety. It’s quite eye opening. According to Dr. Seneff,
glyphosate is possibly "the most important factor in the
development of multiple chronic diseases and conditions that
have become prevalent in Westernized societies,” including but
not limited to:
Autism
Gastrointestinal diseases such as inflammatory bowel
disease, chronic diarrhea, colitis, and Crohn's disease
Obesity
Allergies
Cardiovascular disease
Depression
Cancer
Infertility
Alzheimer’s disease
Parkinson’s disease
Multiple sclerosis
ALS and more
Glyphosate May Cause Cancer at Extremely Low Doses
To get a bit more in depth on just one of the
chronic diseases highlighted by Dr. Seneff, consider the reports
showing that glyphosate may stimulate hormone-dependent cancers
even at extremely low “environmentally relevant” amounts.
In a study published last year, researchers concluded that
glyphosate is a xenoestrogen that is functionally similar to
estradiol, the most potent human estrogen, and concentrations in
the parts-per-trillion range had carcinogenic effects.4
Adding insult to injury—in light of the fact that more than
90 percent of
soybeans grown in the US are genetically modified—they also
found that the phytoestrogen genistein, naturally found in
soybeans, heightened the estrogenic effects when combined with
glyphosate. According to the authors:
“This study implied that the
additive effect of glyphosate and genistein in
postmenopausal women may induce cancer cell growth.In
this present in vitro study, we showed an estrogenicity of
pure glyphosate...
Furthermore, this study demonstrated the additive
estrogenic effects of glyphosate and genistein which implied
that the use of glyphosate-contaminated
soybean products as dietary supplements may pose a risk of
breast cancer because of their potential additive
estrogenicity."
Shocking GM Food Feeding Study Retracted -- for Small
Sample Size!
This wasn’t the first time this pesticide has been linked to
cancer. In 2012, the first-ever lifetime feeding study
evaluating the health risks of GM foods was published. It found
that rats fed a type of GM corn that is prevalent in the US food
supply for two years developed massive mammary tumors, kidney,
and liver damage, and other serious health problems.5
According to the authors:
"The health effects of a Roundup-tolerant genetically
modified maize (from 11% in the diet), cultivated with or
without Roundup, and Roundup alone (from 0.1ppb in water),
were studied 2 years in rats. [Editors note: this level
of Roundup is permitted in drinking water and GE crops in
the US]
In females, all treated groups died 2-3 times more
than controls, and more rapidly. This difference was visible
in 3 male groups fed GMOs. All results were hormone and sex
dependent, and the pathological profiles were comparable.
Females developed large mammary tumors almost always more
often than and before controls, the pituitary was the second
most disabled organ; the sex hormonal balance was modified
by GMO and Roundup treatments.
In treated males, liver congestions and necrosis were
2.5-5.5 times higher... Marked and severe kidney
nephropathies were also generally 1.3-2.3 greater. Males
presented 4 times more large palpable tumors than controls,
which occurred up to 600 days earlier.
Biochemistry data confirmed very significant kidney
chronic deficiencies; for all treatments and both sexes, 76%
of the altered parameters were kidney related. These results
can be explained by the non linear endocrine-disrupting
effects of Roundup, but also by the overexpression of the
transgene in the GMO and its metabolic consequences."
They really are not exaggerating when they say it caused
massive tumors… some of the tumors weighed in at 25 percent of
the rat's total body weight. In fact, the researchers had to
euthanize some of them due to the profound pain and suffering
these tumorous animals were observed to be experiencing. You can
see the pictures for yourself here.
The research was considered so "hot" that the work was done
under strict secrecy. According to a French article in Le
Nouvel Observateur,6
the researchers used encrypted emails, phone conversations were
banned, and they even launched a decoy study to prevent
sabotage. The findings were a nail in the coffin for the
pesticide/biotech industry, but then the journal began to
receive Letters to the Editor alleging fraud and calling upon
the editors to retract the paper.
After what the journal described as a “thorough and
time-consuming analysis” of the study, they said they found “no
evidence of fraud or intentional misrepresentation of the data.”7
All they could find “wrong” with the research was that it used a
low number of animals for the study, even though it was the same
number of animals Monsanto used in their study… so they, quite
outrageously, retracted this important paper. Even the
retraction statement admits that the results presented are “not
incorrect” but rather may be “inconclusive”! If every paper that
could be considered inconclusive were retracted, there would
scarcely be a published paper left!
As reported by the Institute of Science in Society (ISIS):
“…the unsettling results of the Séralini study… almost
certainly lie behind its notorious retraction by the journal
editor a year after it was published.” The most damning
revelation of this debacle was that a former Monsanto employee,
Richard E. Goodman, early in 2013, was appointed “Associate
Editor for biotechnology” for the journal that retracted the
study.8
The obvious question is: was Monsanto behind the retraction?
Warning: Eat Glyphosate-Laced GM Foods at Your Own Risk
You may be wondering why, if GM foods are so potentially
toxic, Americans aren’t dropping like flies. Well, this is a
debatable statement, as with rates of chronic diseases climbing
exponentially, many Americans are dying before their
time. Furthermore, rats only live a few years, which is why
you’re able to see tumors develop rapidly in response to dietary
changes. Humans live around 80 years, so we will notice these
effects in animals long before we see them in humans. The
gigantic human lab experiment of eating GM foods is only about
10 years old, so we are likely decades away from tabulating the
human casualties.
As discussed above, glyphosate contamination is but one route
by which GM foods are poisonous. It has a number of devastating
biological effects. So much so that it may very well be one of
the most important factors in the development of a wide
variety of modern diseases and conditions. In summary, these
detrimental effects include:
Nutritional deficiencies, as glyphosate immobilizes
certain nutrients and alters the nutritional composition
of the treated crop
Disruption of the biosynthesis of aromatic amino acids
(these are essential amino acids not produced in your
body that must be supplied via your diet)
Increased toxin exposure (this includes high levels of
glyphosate and formaldehyde in the food itself)
Impairment of sulfate transport and sulfur metabolism;
sulfate deficiency
Systemic toxicity—a side effect of extreme disruption of
microbial function throughout your body; beneficial
microbes in particular, allowing for overgrowth of
pathogens
Gut dysbiosis (imbalances in gut bacteria, inflammation,
leaky gut, and food allergies such as gluten
intolerance)
Enhancement of damaging effects of other food-borne
chemical residues and environmental toxins as a result
of glyphosate shutting down the function of detoxifying
enzymes
Creation of ammonia (a byproduct created when certain
microbes break down glyphosate), which can lead to brain
inflammation associated with autism and Alzheimer’s
disease
Vote with Your Pocketbook, Every Day
The food companies on the left of this graphic spent tens of
millions of dollars in the last two labeling campaigns—in
California and Washington State—to prevent you from
knowing what's in your food. You can even the score by switching
to the brands on the right, all of whom stood behind the I-522
Right to Know campaign. Voting with your pocketbook, at every
meal, matters. It makes a huge difference.
As always, I encourage you to continue educating yourself
about genetically modified foods, and to share what you've
learned with family and friends. Remember, unless a food is
certified organic, you can assume it contains GMO ingredients if
it contains sugar from sugar beet, soy, or corn, or any of their
derivatives.
Copyright 1997- 2014 Dr. Joseph Mercola. All Rights Reserved.
If you buy processed food, opt for products bearing the USDA
100% Organic label, as organics do not permit GMOs. You can also
print out and use the
Non-GMO Shopping
Guide, created by the Institute for Responsible Technology.
Share it with your friends and family, and post it to your
social networks. Alternatively, download their free iPhone
application, available in the iTunes store. You can find it by
searching for ShopNoGMO in the applications. For more in-depth
information, I highly recommend reading the following two books,
authored by Jeffrey Smith, the executive director of the
Institute for
Responsible Technology:
Seeds of Deception: Exposing Industry and Government
Lies about the Safety of the Genetically Engineered Foods
You're Eating
Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health
Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods.
For timely updates,
join the Non-GMO
Project on Facebook, or
follow them on
Twitter. Please, do your homework. Together, we have the
power to stop the chemical technology industry from destroying
our food supply, the future of our children, and the earth as a
whole. All we need is about five percent of American shoppers to
simply stop buying genetically engineered foods, and the food
industry would have to reconsider their source of
ingredients—regardless of whether the products bear an actual
GMO label or not.