Round-Up Is Everywhere but We Can Try to Reduce Its Impact

The more news we get about glyphosate, the more bad news we get about how much we are exposed to glyphosate, no matter what we do to avoid it.I was talking to a doctor this weekend, an integrative physician who tests his patients for toxic exposure. He said that all his patients, even the “health nuts,” have detectable amounts of glyphosate in their urine. After seeing this over and over again, he tested himself. Sure enough, he, too, had been exposed to glyphosate.

Glyphosate is a popular weed-killer. It is used extensively in agriculture, on golf courses, and on people’s personal lawns. It’s the main ingredient in Roundup, which is made by Monsanto. Chances are high that you’ve got a container in your garage.

Why do we need to avoid being exposed to glyphosate?

Trying to avoid being exposed to glyphosate is one of the most important wellness things you can do for yourself and your family.Why? Because:

• Glyphosate is a known carcinogen. Just this week, Monsanto agreed to pay $10 BILLION to settle lawsuits against the company because of people who have gotten cancer from glyphosate exposure. This is one of the largest settlements in the history of civil litigation. But it carries no admission of wrongdoing or liability. So the product is liable for causing cancer, everyone knows it. However, when you are a multi-billion dollar corporation you don’t have to admit it.
• Glyphosate may be a key reason why people get the most acute cases of COVID-19.
• Glyphosate combined with unhealthy foods like sugar cause synergistic negative health effects. Take glyphosate, add lead, or acetaminophen, and the result is disastrous.

A growing body of scientific evidence shows that glyphosate is linked to some of the worst health issues we face in the world today. So much so that 20 countries have banned its use.

But just try to avoid exposure.You can’t avoid exposure to glyphosate like we once thought. Glyphosate is everywhere.

• 28 out of 28 popular oat bars tested positive for glyphosate
• 10 out of 10 wines tested positive for glyphosate
• Glyphosate has been found in health-harming quantities in childhood vaccines

Until recently, we could argue that if you eat 100 percent organic, you could avoid being exposed to glyphosate. But even that’s changing, as a recent study on honey and glyphosate shows.The study is “the latest evidence that glyphosate herbicides are so pervasive that residues can be found in foods not produced by farmers using glyphosate,” Environmental Health News reports.According to the study, government scientists in Canada found the herbicide in 197 of 200 honey samples examined.Why would there be glyphosate in honey? Bees pollinate flowers. If there is herbicide residue on the flowers, they will pick it up. They transfer the residue from sprayed crop flowers or weeds and bring it with them to other flowers, as well as to the hive. Then the honey made by the bees contains herbicides and pesticides. When we poison the “weeds,” it seems we are also poisoning the bees and their honey.Monsanto, a multi-billion dollar chemical company, brought glyphosate to the market in 1974 under the trade name Roundup. It’s a very effective weedkiller. You spray it on and the weed dies.But so does everything else, it seems.And when Monsanto’s patent on it ran out, glyphosate became the killing ingredient in hundreds of other weed-killing chemical formulas made by other companies.According to the National Pesticide Information Center, there are over 750 products containing this herbicide.We have no health choice but to try.Despite this discouraging news about the prevalence and dangerousness of this highly problematic chemical that is ubiquitous in the environment, we have to do everything we can to avoid being exposed to glyphosate.How do you avoid exposure to glyphosate?

1. Eat organic. It may cost more, but it’s worth it.
2. Lobby your local government to ban its use in public spaces. Glyphosate is the last thing we want in our parks or on the lawns at our children’s schools.
3. Get active online to raise awareness by sharing posts like these.
4. Join with health and environmental activists. Both Moms Across America and Children’s Health Defense are nonprofits working tirelessly to stop glyphosate exposure. Donate or volunteer your time to help them.
5. Plant your own organic garden. We have to take back our food. Planting an organic garden in your backyard or in pots on your balcony or even inside in bright sunny windows. This is a small do-able step that will make a big difference.

Jennifer Margulis, Ph.D., is an investigative journalist, book author, and Fulbright awardee. She is the author of Your Baby, Your Way: Taking Charge of Your Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Parenting Decisions for a Happier, Healthier Family, co-author (with Paul Thomas, M.D.) of The Vaccine-Friendly Plan, and The Addiction Spectrum: A Compassionate, Holistic Approach to Recovery. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.