The stories became far too frequent to ignore. Emails from folks with allergic or digestive issues to wheat in the United States experienced no symptoms whatsoever when they tried eating pasta on vacation in Italy.
Confused parents wondering why wheat consumption sometimes triggered autoimmune reactions in their children but not at other times.
In my own home, I’ve long pondered why my husband can eat the wheat I prepare at home, but he experiences negative digestive effects eating even a single roll in a restaurant.
There is clearly something going on with wheat that is not well known by the general public. It goes far and beyond organic versus nonorganic, gluten or hybridization because even conventional wheat triggers no symptoms for some who eat wheat in other parts of the world.
What indeed is going on with wheat?
For quite some time, I secretly harbored the notion that wheat in the United States must, in fact, be genetically modified. GMO wheat secretly invading the North American food supply seemed the only thing that made sense and could account for the varied experiences I was hearing about.
I reasoned that it couldn’t be the gluten or wheat hybridization. Gluten and wheat hybrids have been consumed for thousands of years. It just didn’t make sense that this could be the reason for so many people suddenly having problems with wheat and gluten in general in the past 5-10 years.
Finally, the answer came over dinner a couple of months ago with a friend who was well versed in the wheat production process. I started researching the issue for myself, and was, quite frankly, horrified at what I discovered.
The good news is that the reason wheat has become so toxic in the United States is not that it is secretly GMO as I had feared (thank goodness!).
The bad news is that the problem lies with the manner in which wheat is grown and harvested by conventional wheat farmers.
You’re going to want to sit down for this one. I’ve had some folks burst into tears in horror when I passed along this information before.
Common wheat harvest protocol in the United States is to drench the wheat fields with Roundup several days before the combine harvesters work through the fields as the practice allows for an earlier, easier and bigger harvest.
Pre-harvest application of the herbicide Roundup or other herbicides containing the deadly active ingredient glyphosate to wheat and barley as a desiccant was suggested as early as 1980. It has since become routine over the past 15 years and is used as a drying agent 7-10 days before harvest within the conventional farming community.
According to Dr. Stephanie Seneff of MIT who has studied the issue in-depth and who I recently saw present on the subject at a nutritional conference in Indianapolis, desiccating non-organic wheat crops with glyphosate just before harvest came into vogue late in the 1990s with the result that most of the non-organic wheat in the United States is now contaminated with it. Seneff explains that when you expose wheat to a toxic chemical like glyphosate, it actually releases more seeds resulting in a slightly greater yield: “It ‘goes to seed’ as it dies. At its last gasp, it releases the seed” says Dr. Seneff.
According to the US Department of Agriculture, as of 2012, 99% of durum wheat, 97% of spring wheat, and 61% of winter wheat have been treated with herbicides. This is an increase from 88% for durum wheat, 91% for spring wheat and 47% for winter wheat since 1998. Note that bulgur is commonly made from durum.
Here’s what wheat farmer Keith Lewis has to say about the practice:
I have been a wheat farmer for 50 yrs and one wheat production practice that is very common is applying the herbicide Roundup (glyposate) just prior to harvest. Roundup is licensed for preharvest weed control. Monsanto, the manufacturer of Roundup claims that application to plants at over 30% kernel moisture result in roundup uptake by the plant into the kernels. Farmers like this practice because Roundup kills the wheat plant allowing an earlier harvest.
A wheat field often ripens unevenly, thus applying Roundup preharvest evens up the greener parts of the field with the more mature. The result is on the less mature areas Roundup is translocated into the kernels and eventually harvested as such.
This practice is not licensed. Farmers mistakenly call it “desiccation.” Consumers eating products made from wheat flour are undoubtedly consuming minute amounts of Roundup. An interesting aside, malt barley which is made into beer is not acceptable in the marketplace if it has been sprayed with preharvest Roundup. Lentils and peas are not accepted in the market place if it was sprayed with preharvest roundup….. but wheat is ok.. This farming practice greatly concerns me and it should further concern consumers of wheat products.
Here’s what wheat farmer Seth Woodland of Woodland and Wheat in Idaho had to say about the practice of using herbicides for wheat dry down:
That practice is bad . I have fellow farmers around me that do it and it is sad. Lucky for you not all of us farm that way. Being the farmer and also the president of a business, we are proud to say that we do not use round up on our wheat ever!
This practice is not just widespread in the United States either. The Food Standards Agency in the United Kingdom reports that the use of Roundup as a wheat desiccant results in glyphosate residues regularly showing up in bread samples. Other European countries are waking up to the danger, however. In the Netherlands, the use of Roundup is completely banned with France likely soon to follow.
Using Roundup on wheat crops throughout the entire growing season and even as a desiccant just prior to harvest may save the farmer money and increase profits, but it is devastating to the health of the consumer who ultimately consumes the glyphosate residue laden wheat kernels.
The chart below of skyrocketing applications of glyphosate to US wheat crops since 1990 and the incidence of celiac disease is from a December 2013 study published in the Journal Interdisciplinary Toxicology examining glyphosate pathways to autoimmune disease. Remember that wheat is not currently GMO or “Roundup Ready” meaning it is not resistant to its withering effects like GMO corn or GMO soy, so the application of glyphosate to wheat would actually kill it.
While the herbicide industry maintains that glyphosate is minimally toxic to humans, research published in the Journal Entropy strongly argues otherwise by shedding light on exactly how glyphosate disrupts mammalian physiology.
Authored by Anthony Samsel and Stephanie Seneff of MIT, the paper investigates glyphosate’s inhibition of cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes, an overlooked component of lethal toxicity to mammals.
The currently accepted view is that ghyphosate is not harmful to humans or any mammals. This flawed view is so pervasive in the conventional farming community that Roundup salesmen have been known to foolishly drink it during presentations!
However, just because Roundup doesn’t kill you immediately doesn’t make it nontoxic. In fact, the active ingredient in Roundup lethally disrupts the all important shikimate pathway found in beneficial gut microbes which is responsible for the synthesis of critical amino acids.
Friendly gut bacteria, also called probiotics, play a critical role in human health. Gut bacteria aid digestion, prevent permeability of the gastrointestinal tract (which discourages the development of autoimmune disease), synthesize vitamins and provide the foundation for robust immunity. In essence:
Roundup significantly disrupts the functioning of beneficial bacteria in the gut and contributes to permeability of the intestinal wall and consequent expression of autoimmune disease symptoms.
In synergy with disruption of the biosynthesis of important amino acids via the shikimate pathway, glyphosate inhibits the cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes produced by the gut microbiome. CYP enzymes are critical to human biology because they detoxify the multitude of foreign chemical compounds, xenobiotics, that we are exposed to in our modern environment today.
As a result, humans exposed to glyphosate through the use of Roundup in their community or through the ingestion of its residues on industrialized food products become even more vulnerable to the damaging effects of other chemicals and environmental toxins they encounter!
What’s worse is that the negative impact of glyphosate exposure is slow and insidious over months and years as inflammation gradually gains a foothold in the cellular systems of the body.
The consequences of this systemic inflammation are most of the diseases and conditions associated with the Western lifestyle:
- Gastrointestinal disorders
- Obesity
- Diabetes
- Heart Disease
- Depression
- Autism
- Infertility
- Cancer
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Alzheimer’s disease
- And the list goes on and on and on …
In a nutshell, Dr. Seneff’s study of Roundup’s ghastly glyphosate, which much of the wheat crop in the United States is doused with annually, uncovers the manner in which this lethal toxin harms the human body by decimating beneficial gut microbes with the tragic end result of disease, degeneration, and widespread suffering.
Got the picture yet?
Even if you think you have no trouble digesting wheat, it is still very wise to avoid conventional wheat as much as possible in your diet!
You Must Avoid Toxic Wheat No Matter What
The bottom line is that avoidance of conventional wheat in the United States is absolutely imperative even if you don’t currently have a gluten allergy or wheat sensitivity. This includes bypassing food products made with it such as the popular meat substitute seitan also called vital wheat gluten. The increase in the amount of glyphosate applied to wheat closely correlates with the rise of celiac disease and gluten intolerance. Dr. Seneff points out that the increases in these diseases are not just genetic in nature, but also have an environmental cause as not all patient symptoms are alleviated by eliminating gluten from the diet.
The effects of deadly glyphosate on your biology are so insidious that lack of symptoms today means literally nothing.
If you don’t have problems with wheat now, you will in the future if you keep eating conventionally produced, toxic wheat!
How to Eat Wheat Safely
Obviously, if you’ve already developed a sensitivity or allergy to wheat, you must avoid it. Period.
But, if you aren’t celiac or gluten sensitive and would like to consume this ancestral food safely, you can do what we do in our home. We source organic, naturally low in gluten, unhybridized Einkorn wheat for breadmaking, pancakes, cookies, etc. Please note that einkorn is not to be confused with the more general term farro, which includes emmer and spelt, which are both hybridized. You can learn more about the scientific research on the “good” gluten in einkorn in this article.
When we eat out or are purchasing food from the store, conventional wheat products are rejected without exception. This despite the fact that we have no gluten allergies whatsoever in our home – yet.
I am firmly convinced that if we did nothing, our entire family at some point would develop sensitivity to wheat or autoimmune disease in some form due to the toxic manner in which it is processed and the glyphosate residues that are contained in conventional wheat products.
What Are You Going to Do About Toxic Wheat?
How did you react to the news that US wheat farmers are using Roundup, not just to kill weeds, but to dry out the wheat plants to allow for an earlier, easier and bigger harvest and that such a practice causes absorption of toxic glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup and other herbicides, right into the wheat kernels themselves?
Did you feel outraged and violated as I did? How will you implement a conventional wheat-avoidance strategy going forward even if you haven’t yet developed a problem with gluten or wheat sensitivity?
What about other crops where Roundup is used as a pre-harvest desiccant such as barley, sugar cane, rice, seeds, dried beans and peas, sugar cane, sweet potatoes, and sugar beets? Will you only be buying these crops in organic form from now on to avoid this modern, man-made scourge?
UPDATE: The Soil Association in July 2015 called for an immediate ban on the use of glyphosate for wheat ripening and desiccation purposes. The nonprofit reports that glyphosate residues are widely found in nonorganic wheat samples and the use of the herbicide on wheat crops has increased 400% in the past two decades.
Dr. Robin Mesnage of the Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics at Kings College in London, revealed new data analysis showing Roundup, the most common brand of Glyphosate based herbicides, is 1,000 times more toxic than genotoxic glyphosate alone due to the inclusion of other toxic chemicals in its mix.
Peter Melchett, Soil Association policy director said; “If Glyphosate ends up in bread it’s impossible for people to avoid it unless they are eating organic. On the other hand, farmers could easily choose not to use Glyphosate as a spray on wheat crops – just before they are harvested. This is why the Soil Association is calling for the immediate ending of the use of Glyphosate sprays on wheat destined for use in bread.”
References
Glyphosate now commonly found in human urine
Study: Glyphosate, Celiac and Gluten Intolerance
The Glyphosate, Celiac Disease Connection
Pre-harvest Application of Glyphosate to Wheat
Glyphosate’s Suppression of Cytochrome P450 Enzymes and Amino Acid Biosynthesis by the Gut Microbiome: Pathways to Modern Diseases
Yield and quality of wheat seeds as a function of desiccation stages and herbicides
Wheat farmer weighs in on the use of Roundup as a wheat desiccant
More Information
Roundup: Quick Death for Weeds, Slow and Painful Death for You
Hybrid Wheat is Not the Same as GMO Wheat
The Dutch Ban Roundup, France and Brazil to Follow
How to Mix and Use Gluten Free Flour
Can Celiacs Eat Sourdough Bread?
The Dirty Little Secret About Gluten-Free
I urge everyone to get this book: The Myths of Safe Pesticides. It is so amazing how the poisons are tested that do not protect us.
Odd, we’ve been growing wheat for my entire life, 50 or so years and never sprayed chemical prior to harvest! Wonder where this type of farming is practiced.
Don’t know about wheat, but here in Devon, UK, I regularly passed a lovely field of corn on my way into Totnes. One day, in the autumn, I passed it and the whole crop looked dead!! I was shocked, as it had been fine the previous week. The following week I noticed that the entire field had been cut, leaving 6″ stumps. Now, after reading this, I know what happened. I’ll not be eating corn again – I already don’t eat any wheat product, already, as I know I’m not strictly a cealiac but know that any wheat-based product immediately causes huge GERD and intestinal problems. I’ve just purchased some organic einkorn wheat, and I’ll even be wary of trying that, but I will, just to prove my reaction to modern wheat is not imaginary.
I’ve never heard of anyone intentionally killing corn prior to harvest. I of course wasn’t there but it sounds to me like this corn was frost killed and then chopped for silage.
This article is about desiccation of wheat, not corn. Most corn is GMO and resistant to roundup application anyway.
I recently stopped eating any and all grains such as wheat, barley, rye and oats…all of which contain gluten…but now I suspect also contain glyphosphate. F**K Monsanto and DOW chemical companies. These corporations server absolutely NO purpose whatsoever to the human race or this planet in general.
No purpose? Maybe you could consider the fact that without herbicides, pesticides, and genetic modification for chemical and drought resistance, our global annual crop yields would be much, much lower — and likely would produce insufficient yield to feed our ever expanding population.
I disagree entirely. I think we could feed “OUR ever expanding population” quite well. The issues are there would likely not be enough for export and prices would rise. Of course, since these pesticides are only “minimally toxic” that means they are safe enough for us so nothing will be done about them.
Yeah!!! Finally someone who understands agriculture on a global scale.
Care to provide any references for that assumption, Emile?
http://www.globalresearch.ca/us-genetically-engineered-agriculture-is-outclassed-by-europes-non-gm-approach/5341518
Obviously, Milie, you haven’t at all grabbed the problem at hand. How about couple up your brain with your vocal cords before giving your opinion? Your argument is virtually the same as saying it’s okey for an athlete to consume drugs in order to achieve better results. Your hint at ‘insufficient yield’ is plainly absurd.The ethanol plants process about 40 percent of the U.S. corn production! Read yourself up on what fuel production from grain crops / price hike / hunger in the third world. Try to understand that Monsanto only has profit and control over food production in mind. Not feeding the poor and the hungry. The rule is, ‘who controls the food, controls the people, controls the worldæ! Wake up, Emilie. 😉
The increase in glyphosate usage is a result of the increase in usage on Roundup Ready crops like corn, soybean, and cotton. Not wheat. I’ve been a certified crop advisor and in the agricultural industry for a short 5 years but in that time I’ve never observed or recommended anyone apply glyphosate to wheat at any point of the growing season. Please contact a specialist like Dr Jim Shroyer or Dr Dallas Peterson (Kansas State University Extension) or Dr Mark Loux or Dr Laura Lindsey (Ohio State University Extension) to learn how wheat is grown in the United States and how often certain practices are used.
Whether or not you are recommending it, farmers are using it. The chart in the post showing increasing glyphosate useage is for WHEAT, not any other crop.
And that of course would be just fine.
There is nothing wrong with sustainable far,ing practices. You needn’t feed the whole world, nor an overpopulated US.
Which is why I’ve been screaming BIRTH CONTROL for the last 50 years, to no avail. We can thank our religious freaks for the destruction of this planet and the poisoning of our food!
Actually, there is not a single country in the western world with a birth rate that is higher than replacement rate. Even the US is not quite at replacement rate (2.05 children/woman, when replacement is 2.1), and just about every other western country is lower than that. Our population is growing from immigration, not childbearing, and the only reason it’s even at replacement rate is probably because of those religious people you hate so much.
Thank you! Wish more people understood this – and other countries are heading that way (it was very enlightening to have a class on Population – very!)
Thank you Brianna; I am pretty sure 44Special took a wrong turn and ended up on this website..
lol, uhh..?? the scientists that made all those nukes that were thrown all over the ocean contaminating it with mercury ?
the GMOs? or the twisted studies/research that supported the American and by extension western diet and its manufacturers, constantly pushing products for profit – margarine/partially hydrogenated oils, misconception about saturated fats, supplements, synthetics etc etc, anti-bacterial cleaners, disinfectants, ETC ETC – that has caused obesity, disease, waste, ETC ETC?
F#ckin seriously?
Do u think monsanto is religious?
Currently worldwide agriculture produces 4600 kcal per person per day. That is enough food to feed 14 billion people. That is a huge amount of breathing room for crop yields. No purpose? Absolutely NO Purpose.
For anyone interested, I just read this article about the use of Roundup for pre-harvest in Montana.
http://www.northernag.net/AGNews/AgNewsStories/TabId/657/artmid/2927/articleid/3608/Default.aspx
We who are going to do the lobbing? . Most people want to believe what Monsanto tells them as well as the FDA. They criticize the work of the MIT woman who actually works on artificial intelligence and not credible to be reporting her or their findings because she is not a biologist. There aren’t enough people aware of the problem which is our problem. More people need to become aware of this issue and you don’t have to be a biologist to see there is something wrong. These practices over time are showing there true colors with the increase of problems going up right a long with them.
If each of us can make just one other person a believer and supporter then our numbers will keep growing. Keep spreading this and hopefully sooner then later we can encourage a ban again this practice as well as gmos. Keep studies and reading and keep sharing we need a lot more people to support banning both!
Thanks for your support!
Yet another reason to only eat organic unbleached wheat or give it up altogether.
Coming from a farmer, I would first like to say that RoundUp is a herbicide. No doubt about it. What you all don’t know, is that it’s a contact killer. This means it attacks the stomates of plants. It directly targets the photosynthetic process. Last time I checked, people don’t have stomates and don’t photosynthesize. So to us, roundup is actually drinkable. People need to do actual research instead of sitting at a computer reading articles written by people with no agricultural experience and have never set foot on a farm. Do scholarly research and see for yourself
LOL Jeff, thanks for the comedy! Nobody needs to have a Masters Degree to know that they ARE NOT feeling well – Nothing “Scholarly” about that.
PS – OF COURSE MONSANTO IS GOING TO CLAIM THAT THEIR PRODUCT IS SAFE!
I was born at night, but Not last night!
Do you have any idea how many chemical reactions take place inside the human body? I know off the top of my head that the liver is responsible for over 300 alone that we know of so far. This is a chemical used to destroy life at the first stage on the food chain. Please don’t for a second think it will have no consequences for other life forms further down the chain who consume it.
Farmers love their Roundup. I know, I live in a heavy farming area and know & talk to lots of them. They like it so much that they’ll ignore any evidence about the harmful impact of glyphosate on the environment or human / animal health. Is that what you did just now?
I think Sarah went to great lengths to explain the mechanism by which glyphosate impacts human health: by targeting gut flora. And if you’ll take the time to browse around this site (and that of the Weston A. Price Foundation) and follow all the references to those scholarly research papers you value, you will come to accept the vital importance of healthy gut flora.
Your comment lacks any resemblance to logic. Since it is made to kill plants, it is o.k. for people to drink it? Wow! Drink up dude!
“Since it is made to kill plants, it is OK for people to drink it”
Onions kill dogs and cats, but are harmless to humans. Not everything that’s poisonous to one species is also poisonous to all others. Eating a berry in the wild because you saw a bird or even another primate do it is no guarantee that it won’t kill you.
And there is such a thing as a non-toxic level of poison, as well. Oxalic acid is the poison in rhubarb leaves, but it’s also present in spinach and kale and nobody worries that eating a dish of spinach will kill them. It’s perfectly safe to eat apple seeds as well, despite the fact that they contain minute quantities of cyanide.
Jeff, you are correct that RoundUp is a herbicide and targets the photosynthetic process. It appears to works via the shikimate pathway which occurs not only in photosynthetic plants but also microbes in our gut. In addition, while the target of RoundUp is the shikimate pathway there is also evidence that RoundUp inhibits P450 cytochrome enzymes, an important mammalian component of intermediary metabolism. See http://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/15/4/1416.
More study of the impacts of RoundUp on the human microbiome may resolve some issues, but we cannot rule out that RoundUp has direct health effects on non-photosynthsizing life forms.
Maybe you should read a book called “The World According to Monsanto”
Actually, I AM doing scholarly research. I’m currently working on a MSc in Food Production. Right now, I’m actually doing an intensive research project on the effects of Glyphosate use and Round Up. Glyphosate actually attacks the shikimate pathway, the process by which plants and bacteria produce essential amino acids. And while yes, humans don’t have this shikimate pathway, beneficial gut bacteria do. Furthermore, independent studies (read: not paid for by Monsanto) are showing significant evidence that Glyphosate is a endocrine disrupter, carcinogen, and a neurotoxin. There has been a significant rise in the prevalence of every major disease known to humankind since Glyphosate was introduced as a commercial herbicide. Much of the data out there is correlative, and therefore can’t be taken as complete proof of causation, but with near-perfect correlation coefficients such as those shown in this study (http://www.organic-systems.org/journal/92/abstracts/Swanson-et-al.html), we would be wise to investigate the relationship. I would also strongly advise against drinking RoundUp, unless you want to develop cancer, liver or kidney disease, Alzheimers, renal failure, or any number of other life-threatening conditions.
This article was an eye opener for me. I am anti-GMO crops. Believing this standpoint protects me from glyphosate. It never dawned on me the chemical was being used on non-GMO crops. While I am still trying to digest this new information, no pun intended, it raises more red flags.
I am a beekeeper. I just sat through a lecture regarding chemical herbicides and pesticides and their effect on our bees. One chemical that was mentioned more than once – glyphosate. I was shocked to learn it is being used on sugar cane. I am currently supplementing my hives with sugar syrup. Syrup made from sugar and water. What is this doing to the bees long-term? What are my options? How can I find sugar that is not farmed in this manner?
Yes, this is a real problem!
“What are my options?” – Look into organic beekeeping, a couple of names of the top of my head include Dee Lusby, who runs an organic beekeeping Yahoo! support group, and Michael Bush who has an incredibly deep website full of info. You can and should try to keep bees without feeding them sugar syrup. Less harvesting of honey and allowing them to build up enough stores to feed themselves is the sustainable way to go. Good luck.
Don’t be ridiculous, there’s no way an herbicide can be killing your bees. I’m aware that the bees are in trouble, and it scares hell out of me, but you’re barking up the wrong tree. It’s those damn neonicotinoids that are killing off bees, and I suggest you focus your outrage in that direction rather than wasting any more time and effort blaming glyphosate for this.
Arthur – I just read his comment, and cannot find anything that says anything is killing HIS bees. Where did you read this? Your aggressive/defensive attitude betrays a doubtful mindset, i.e., you sincerely HOPE that glyphosate isn’t implicated also.
One possible reason for the increase in the number of people sensitive the wheat, the skyrocketing global population and increased dependence on these types of crops to keep people from starving to death?
starving to death might be a bit of an exaggeration, but otherwise agreed.