Recently I was reading about the connection of glyphosate and cognitive decline, as sadly my father is on the long road with Parkinson’s disease and is in care.
With all the knowledge I have gained over many years with Earthfood, it really got me thinking how this could be and left me wondering what might be my destination in 20 years time – as that’s how older my dad is than me. Just 20 years – that goes so fast. I remember what I was doing 20 years ago as a mum of a young school son and all that went with that suburban lifestyle.
It was Agent Orange in the Vietnam War where Monsanto took the rights of ownership and claimed the left-over post war bombing and fire chemicals that literally burnt off the skin of the recipients who unfortunately found themselves in its blast.
Now it has systemically taken over the world in every country with industrial agricultural narrative and spin doctor marketing yet this disgusting product will sell 1 million tonnes every year both in the past and now.
Some countries have completely banned glyphosate but others like here in Australia are in Government Corporation partnerships and University blessings to continue. Why? There are natural options.
Is this safe? What does it do to our systems? Why? And are there natural options instead of glyphosate?
Bayer-Monsanto would have us believe in their advertising that there are no issues, and so the marketing for the business model of return business ever-flows, despite the research into glyphosate exposure suggesting links to depression, cognitive decline, and nervous system health issues.
So, I decided to use myself as test case. And this is the framework for discovery:
- The US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey aka NHANES is one of the most comprehensive and widely used sources of health-related data in USA. Details here. They found:
- Higher levels of glyphosate in the urine were linked to the worst performance on memory tests.
- Higher glyphosate levels were more likely to have severe depression symptoms compared to those with lower levels.
- Mental health issues are at an all-time high and that the levels of glyphosate are at their all-time higher levels of use in Big Ag.
- Over $1billion a year is spent on mental health care in Australia and more and more people are affected by Alzheimer’s every year and Depression is on the rise with 1 in 7 people on anti-depressants, in Australia.
- Brain function is decreasing due to the impact on the gut and gut microbes. ROUNDUP is designed to kill microbes in the soil and that impacts hugely on us as humans and consumers.
Association between glyphosate exposure and cognitive function, depression, and neurological diseases in a representative sample of US adults: NHANES 2013-2014 analysis - PubMed (nih.gov)
One of the ways glyphosate's impact on the gut and more specifically our gut microbes works is, glyphosate disrupts a biological pathway found in plants called the ‘shikimate pathway’. Plants rely on this pathway for many important functions and when it’s disrupted, the plants die
Human cells do not contain this pathway - because of this we’re told glyphosate is harmless to humans!
But that’s only half of the story. See while it’s true that we do not possess this pathway, our gut microbes do!
When the ‘shikimate pathway’ is disrupted in our microbes, they are damaged and unable to do their important work that we rely on them for. They are the only makers of selenium and trace minerals which we need for food to be your medicine. We have not had this for over 80 years and now we are a sick and tired humanity.
Keeping our immune system healthy, producing important neurotransmitters like serotonin & regulating our mood is necessary. The crazy bit is that while the beneficial bacteria is vulnerable to glyphosate, certain bad bacteria are not!
This can lead to an imbalance of good and bad bacteria, also called dysbiosis. Because our gut health is so intimately tied to our brain health, this imbalance can lead to depression and other mental health issues.
While there are multiple factors when it comes to mental health, we can’t ignore glyphosate as one of them.
In my opinion, it’s a major one!
Bayer/Monsanto are holding fast to the lie that this poison is perfectly safe. There is an Australian Government and Corporate connection to allow the bulk spraying here in Australia when it is banned in so many other countries.
Meanwhile, more and more evidence is appearing saying the opposite.
At the same time a class action lawsuit recently began in Melbourne, where 800 people diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma are claiming that their cancer is linked to ROUNDUP exposure.
You may have heard of a similar case in the USA back in 2018, it was the first of its kind and Bayer/Monsanto lost the case and were ordered to pay hundreds of millions in damages!
So I have now started my Mosaic Diagnostics Test Collection Kit from Australian Biologics. This will test the glyphosate in my body. I grew up in the Lockyer and Brisbane Valleys in the Queensland food bowls and glyphosate was sprayed like Vietnam. I will let you know the results and what I will do to get my best health practice regime and share with you as the guinea pig.
Moya from Australian Biologics will be pleased to talk with any of you who wish to check your levels. But all I know is the ‘long goodbye’ of Agent Orange in our bloods over time will make the ending we all do not deserve. So as I am in the afternoon of my life I want the best it can be and this is part of the direction and planning for that. Stay close dear Earthfood friends we are on a journey together.
Remember true health starts in the soil.
If you’d like to read more on the study I mentioned, you can find it here.
And for additional insight into glyphosate, check out: Why Glyphosate is Dangerous, and How to Avoid Eating it.
From heart and soil.
Bronwyn Holm
Earthfood Founder