Glyphosate

Glyphosate (Roundup, the weed killer), began its spree in 1974 and is now the most heavily used pesticide globally. We even use it in our home gardens! Many studies suggest links between glyphosate and cancer, kidney disease, infertility, and more. As a herbicide, glyphosate disrupts EPSPS, a specific plant enzyme in the shikimate pathway, resulting in protein shortage and eventual death. Animals do not have the shikimate pathway- but plants and bacteria do. Noteworthy is the probable effect that glyphosate exerts on the human microbiome. A 2019 study in rats has shown that glyphosate and Roundup can alter the “shikimate pathway” in the gut microbiome. Even at regulatory permitted levels of exposure glyphosate caused alterations in the abundance of certain bacteria. The study found that the inhibition of the shikimate pathway from glyphosate exposure caused a significant increase in shikimic acid and 3-dehydroshikimic acid in the gut, suggesting that these substances could be used as biomarkers of exposure to these pesticides.  

Glyphosate and health

Glyphosate is ubiquitous in agriculture. If you eat a slice of bread or pizza, a bowl of pasta or oats or drink a glass of red wine, glyphosate is part of your meal and is in now your system. Before being fed to animals (soon to be consumed by us), or supplied to humans for direct consumption, genetically modified monocrops have been blasted with glyphosate .

The latest Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) Total diet survey reported that glyphosate is present in most bread, savoury crackers, rice-based breakfast cereals, flour, even infant baby cereal. The survey found that contaminant levels are ‘generally low’ and are considered safe.

But it is the active chemical ingredient in a weed killer!! A weed killer is in our foods! I don’t care how safe anyone tells me it is.

A study published in Toxicology in 2009, highlighted that even in low doses, glyphosate is toxic to human liver cells, and causes genetic mutations, disrupting endocrine function.

The widespread use of glyphosate has generated alarm in scientific communities due to possibility of carcinogenic effects in human cells. It seems the evidence is inconclusive and still hotly debated, however, a report from seventeen experts from eleven countries has strongly implied that glyphosate does increase our risk of cancer.

As you continue your journey through I will give you some tips on growing your own food and reconnecting with nature as these are really key factors in developing mental health and wellbeing.

Next we will discuss carbohydrates and mental health. Click on the button below.

CM Benbrook (2016). ‘Trends in glyphosate herbicide use in the United States and globally.’ Environmental Sciences Europe. Vol 28 (3). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12302-016-0070-0

Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (2019. ‘Glyphosate.’ https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/consumer/chemicals/Pages/Glyphosate.aspx Accessed 2020/3/10

C Gasnier, C Dumont, N Benachour et al. (2009). ‘Glyphosate-based herbicides are toxic and endocrine disruptors in human cell lines,

Toxicology’. Vol 262 (3) pp184-191.

International Agency for Research on Cancer (2016). ‘IARC Monograph on glyphosate.’ https://www.iarc.fr/featured-news/media-centre-iarc-news-glyphosate/ Accessed 20.03.1

A Samsel, S Seneff (2013). ‘Glyphosate, pathways to modern diseases II: Celiac sprue and gluten intolerance.’ Interdisciplinary Toxicology. Vol 6(4) pp159–184. doi:10.2478/intox-2013-0026

 R Mesnage, M Teixeira, Dmandrioli et al (2019). ‘Shotgun metagenomics and metabolomics reveal glyphosate alters the gut microbiome of Sprague-Dawley rats by inhibiting the shikimate pathway.’ BioRxiv. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/870105

 C Jayasumana , P Paranagama, S Agampodi, et al. (2015). ‘Drinking well water and occupational exposure to Herbicides is associated with chronic kidney disease,’ in Padavi-Sripura. Sri Lanka Environmental Health. Vol 14(1) p 6.

 C Sakpa, S Popoola (2018). ‘Effects of glyphosate on sperm parameters and pregnancy success rate in Wistar rats.’ Annals of biomedical sciences. Vol 17(2), pp. 156–-164.

Z Honeycutt, H Rowlands (2014). ‘Glyphosate Testing Report: Findings in American Mothers' Breast Milk, Urine and Water.’ Moms Across America. Available online at: http://www.momsacrossamerica.com/glyphosate_testing_results. Accessed 2019.07.15.