You’ve seen the commercials. All American Dad, pump sprayer in hand, attacking those pesky weeds growing in the cracks of his family’s driveway with a vengeance. He chooses Roundup, of course.
Why? Â Because Roundup kills weeds to the root so they won’t come back making you the laughingstock of your suburban neighborhood.
Roundup, Roundup everywhere. Most homeowners use it without a second thought. Many schools even use it, blithely spraying around planting beds and sidewalks where children walk and play, tracking its residues into classrooms, cars, homes and little bodies.
Roundup is indisputably the King of Herbicides and one of Monsanto’s most lucrative crown jewels. Not only is it widely used by consumers, it is also heavily used by industrial agriculture – more popular than any other herbicide worldwide. Its residues are found on the staple crops of the Western diet – sugar, corn, soy and wheat – and in the plethora of processed foods made with these foods as well. Â In particular, GMO corn and soy are heavily doused in Roundup as these crops are genetically engineered to be immune to its withering effects.
The trouble is, while Roundup is highly effective at killing weeds, it’s also proving highly effective at killing us too – slowly but surely and insidiously – via Roundup’s deadly active ingredient – glyphosate.
While the pesticide industry maintains that glyphosate is minimally toxic to humans, new 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.
In the in-depth video interview below on her groundbreaking research, Dr. Seneff describes the mechanism by which the glyphosate in Roundup disrupts human biological processes.
The currently accepted view is that glyphosate is not harmful to humans or any mammals because the shikimate pathway found in plants is absent in animals. Â The shikimate pathway is involved with the plant’s synthesis of certain amino acids and is lethally disrupted by glyphosate.
What has been completely overlooked until now is that the shikimate pathway is present in beneficial gut bacteria, which play a critical role in human health. Gut bacteria aid digestion, prevent permeability of the gastrointestinal tract, synthesize vitamins and provide the foundation for robust immunity.
Glyphosate Disrupts the Functioning of Beneficial Gut Bacteria
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 summary, Dr. Seneff’s study of Roundup’s ghastly glyphosate uncovers the manner in which this lethal environmental toxin gradually and inevitably disrupts homeostasis in the human body with the tragic end result of disease, degeneration, and widespread suffering.
Still want to “shoot” those weeds this weekend with some Roundup and buy those unlabeled, GMO laced processed foods in the pretty packages at the supermarket?
In addition, Roundup residue in organic hydroponics is possible as there is no transition period from conventional farming. Stick with soil based organics!
References
Glyphosate’s Suppression of Cytochrome P450 Enzymes and Amino Acid Biosynthesis by the Gut Microbiome: Pathways to Modern Diseases
Institute of Responsible Technology: Monsanto’s Herbicide–Featuring the Darth Vader Chemical
More Toxic Than Declared
More Information
Toxic Wheat
Glyphosate used on DOZENS of Food CropsÂ
Dutch Ban Glyphosate, France and Brazil Likely to Soon Follow
Shirley Zupancic via Facebook
Interesting. Glad others understand the slow poisoning that is taking place. Maybe we can save our future generations.
Joseph Skrip via Facebook
Scary
Connie
Follow-up question to previous question…I also have wild dandelions and wild strawberries growing that we’d love to eat, but is it safe? Is anything really safe anymore?
Connie
How long does Roundup stay in the ground? I know my husband has sprayed some weeds before, and I have no idea about previous landowners. However, I’m needing to move soil around my yard and I want to grow more food. I can’t afford to buy “new” soil (and wonder if that would technically be free from Roundup anyway!) but I’m still concerned.
B
It persists in the soil for a very long time, contrary to marketing claims that it degrades quickly. I would avoid that area, or build very high raised beds and put a barrier in the bottom.
EC
There are ways to build soil health and encourage the soil to repair itself. You could have free wood chips or manure delivered and spread it thickly over suspect areas. For the latter, you’d want to find out how they feed and care for the animals and what kind of bedding is used. You could also look into planting some of the things that pull and store toxins from the soil (phytoremediators.)
For now, you could plant berries and fruiting plants – pumpkins, tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, we know that this part of the plant holds the least amount of toxins, and hold off on root crops and herbs until your soil has had time to build up its microbial life again. Healthy, active soil has the ability to process and bind up pollutants.
Michelle Rowland via Facebook
Please don’t ‘toss out that container’, it’s toxic waste, take it to a toxic waste disposal site.
Helen T
I’ve used the boiling water and vinegar – but then I saw an ad in a
horticultural magazine for ‘flame weeders’ or ‘weed wands’.
Google search for flame weeders:
https://www.google.fr/search?q=flame+weeder&rlz=1C1SAVA_enFR505FR505&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=GPuWUaL9DISY0QWbhYCoDQ&ved=0CC4QsAQ&biw=1600&bih=799
I would pass on this below unless you need an industrial strength weeding system. I’ve seen municipalities use this for urban areas:
This is more for the home garden:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFCrrPBPDiY
In fact I have a version (another brand) using the smallest gas canister – the bunsen
burner size. It works so well, especially on weeds peaking through gravel or on
a reconstituted stone patio. I believe the smallest gas canister lasts 2 hours and you can go into a contemplative zen state just doing it.
Look at ads in horitcultural magazines – you’ll find it!
Tom Riley via Facebook
the weeds come back….people who knows
Keith Gillie via Facebook
We are planting Roundup Ready corn now and will be seeding Roundup Ready soybeans in the morning.
Joyce
Trollie Trollster.
shey
keith, do us a favor, when you spray this years crops leave the windows and if possible the door to the tractor open. And if you have the extra roundup put an extra dose on…….youre great…..thanks!
Zeena Monasa via Facebook
Todd Omel, are you running to your garage to throw it out yet?
Brenda Yost via Facebook
I am encouraging my daughter to play with the dandelion seed heads so we will have enough later in summer!