In my last blog, I barely scratched the surface on the topic of glyphosate (a toxic herbicide that is the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup).

Its ill effects on plants, animals and the human body seem endless.

Once sprayed, it gets into our soil and water systems and eventually into our oceans, killing the healthy bacteria in these environments.

We depend on our oceans. The majority of our oxygen comes from the oceans¹, and we’re destroying them.

What else does this mean for us?

First and foremost, glyphosate completely disrupts our gut microbiome.

Second, glyphosate gets into the proteins in our body and alters them (“Glyphosate is insidiously, cumulatively toxic through its diabolical insertion into proteins in place of glycine.”²)

This in turn means:

• the good bacteria in our guts designed to kill any bad bacteria coming in get destroyed
• our immune system gets clobbered
• our ability to mount a defense against illness and disease is destroyed (e.g., it weakens our lungs so that we cannot fight off Covid)
• allergies and autoimmune disorders
• depression and other mental disorders
• we cannot make the essential amino acids methionine, tyrosine, tryptophan, or phenylalanine
  • methionine is required to produce glutathione – a necessary anti-oxidant for the liver
  • tyrosine, tryptophan, phenylalanine (aka: the three aromatic amino acids) are the precursors for all the neurotransmitters (like serotonin, melatonin, and melanin), thyroid hormones, and folate
• collagen disorders (25% of the proteins in our body are collagen; they’re in the joints, bones, and skin)
• disruption of our body’s ability to metabolize sulfur (Sulfur becomes toxic. So, people don’t eat sulfur containing foods, creating a systemic sulfate deficiency problem. Insufficient sulfate contributes to many of the diseases we see today and it inhibits the ability to clear cellular debris.)^3,4

What can we do to protect ourselves?

1. Stop using roundup on your lawn or garden. There are alternatives to this toxic weed killer. (See Note 1.)

2. Be aware of your surroundings. Know what’s being sprayed on lawns, and at nearby parks and farms.

Inform others who are using it of its widespread ill effects. Speak up. Become an activist.

3. Move toward 100% certified organic diet. (You can do this by choosing just one item to start buying organic.)  The non-GMO foods with the highest glyphosate content are: wheat, oats, barley, rye, sugar cane, beans, lentils, chickpeas, peas, flax, sunflowers, and other seed oil crops.

4. Eat whole foods, avoid highly processed foods.

5. Get plenty of sunshine (without sunscreen and without sunglasses). It’s not just Vitamin D which is important. Sunlight is vital in many other ways. So much so that I will have to cover this in a separate blog. (See Note 2 regarding Vitamin D.)

6. Eat probiotic foods – sauerkraut, kimchi, homemade pickles, kombucha

(Sauerkraut and apple cider vinegar contain Acetobacter, one of the very few classes of microbes that can metabolize glyphosate.⁵)

7. Eat cultured dairy – yogurt, kefir cultured cream (preferably homemade from raw milk dairy)

8. Enjoy homemade bone broth, one of the best (if not the best) mineral supplements

9. Get plenty of Vitamin C in whole food form, such as:

• Sauerkraut and other probiotic foods (sauerkraut has ten time the Vitamin C than cabbage)
• Organ meats
• Grass-fed meats and poultry
• Rosehip Tea
• Hibiscus Tea
• Red bell peppers (ounce for ounce red bell peppers have more Vitamin C than an orange)
• Citrus

10. Take Epsom salt baths or foot soaks. You get sulfur through the skin this way.  This can be a life saver for people with sulfur sensitivity.

11. Build up a tolerance to sulfur containing foods:

• Cruciferous veggies like cauliflower, broccoli, and cabbage
• Garlic
• Onion
• Eggs
• Cheese
• Properly raised meats, fish, and seafood.

You don’t need to do everything. It’s always best to pick one thing to start with.

Otherwise we find ourselves in overwhelm and don’t do anything.

Doing nothing is not an option here.

Don’t let the momentum gained by reading this blog disappear.

I help people figure out how to get started, whether its knowing how to:

• source and properly prepare organic foods
• get the rest of the family onboard
• learn more about what’s in our food
• become an activist…

Click here now to book your free 30-minute Strategy Session to get started. 

Thank you for standing with me in this fight against toxicity.

Together we can help each other not just survive, but thrive.

Peace and grace,

Karen

Note 1: You can use vinegar and salt. And you can pull weeds by hand. Contrary to modern culture, which believes everything should be quick, easy and convenient, pulling weeds by hand can be highly beneficial. We need to be outside, we need to have natural movement in our days, and we need to be in contact with the earth.

What’s more we don’t necessarily need to get rid of all the weeds. Dandelion is a beneficial herb. They’re good for you (they sell them at grocery stores and farm markets) and the environment. Extracts from common plants such as dandelions, barberry, and burdock can protect from damage, especially if administered prior to exposure. (C Gasnier et al. Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology 2011, 6:3)

Note 2: Vitamin D deficiency is associated with 4-fold increased risk of dying from COVID-19.⁶

So, get you Vitamin D levels up. Sunshine and Cod Liver Oil. You don’t want a Vitamin D supplement without Vitamin A. Taking either Vitamin A or Vitamin D in isolation can deplete you of the other. Better yet, take it with butter, ghee, or butter oil so that you are also getting Vitamin K. All three (Vitamin A, D & K) are essential for bone formation.