Glyphosate: A Dangerous Threat to Humanity

4 Minute Read
Small plane spraying glyphosate over green landscape

Glyphosate.

It could be one of the most dangerous threats to humanity that you’ve never heard of, but you’re exposed to it every single day. Commonly found in weedkillers, glyphosate is an herbicide, used to control unwanted vegetation on residential, agricultural, and commercial landscapes. It is the most widely used chemical herbicide in history. Introduced in 1974, usage reached 36 million kg in 2000 and by 2014, annual usage was estimated at 113.4 million kg. Between 1974 and 2004, an estimated 1.6 billion kilograms of glyphosate were applied to fields in the USA alone.

Where is glyphosate found?

In a 2017 report, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced it had detected traces of herbicide in nearly 29.7% of the 3188 food products tested. A 2018 report by the Environmental Working Group revealed that glyphosate was present in 43 of 45 samples of products made with conventionally grown oats. In fact, close to 75% of the samples tested had glyphosate levels higher than 160 parts per billion.

Contrary to popular belief, it is not only fruit and vegetables that contain pesticide residues although they are certainly the highest. Foods such as meat, bread, oats, beans and crisps have all been found to contain glyphosate residue. Choosing organic whenever possible can help mitigate your glyphosate exposure and if you’ve got little ones in school, it may be worth the extra time to pack their lunches at home rather than rely on the cafeteria to protect them from glyphosate-laden foods.

What are the effects of glyphosate on human health?

Ultimately, herbicides are poisons.

Long term glyphosate exposure has been linked to Parkinson’s disease; asthma; depression and anxiety; attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); and cancers including leukaemia and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

In March 2015, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer labelled glyphosate as a probable carcinogen. A 2019 study from the University of Washington found that exposure to glyphosate increased an individual’s risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma by 41%.

So significant are the potential dangers that several countries have banned glyphosate use in all public areas. Glastonbury in Somerset was the first UK council to go “pesticide free” in June 2015 and since this date, a further 40 UK councils have made similar decisions.

In August 2021, a court in California upheld an $86 million verdict that found Bayer responsible for a couple's cancer after their use of Bayer's glyphosate-based Roundup against weeds. In July 2022, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Alabama ruled that Bayer had failed to adequately warn about the risk of cancer from Roundup.

Woman stretching outdoors

How to protect yourself and your family from glyphosate

Glyphosate is an environmental toxin that’s virtually impossible to avoid. To best defend ourselves, and our families, from glyphosate, we need to start protecting our bodies from the inside out.

The reason glyphosate is so damaging is that it actually harms your gut barrier. For the uninitiated, gut health is deeply connected to the rest of the body’s health. Beyond digestion, critical functions like immune function and brain health are profoundly connected to and affected by gut health. When your gut comes under attack, the whole body’s health is at risk.

Glyphosate is especially nefarious because of how it damages gut health. Exposure to glyphosate has been shown to loosen the tight junctions that make up the walls of the intestinal tract. That means everything that those cells need to do (very simply: keep good in, kick bad out) are compromised, putting not only your gut function and gut health at risk, but your immune and brain health at risk as a result.

So, what can you do to help mitigate the harm from glyphosate exposure?

Beat it at its own game.

ION* Gut + Microbiome

Meet ION* Gut + Microbiome

Regarding gut health, some of us have probably heard the benefits of probiotics and prebiotics (and even the concerns about antibiotics).

But ION* is none of the above.

ION* was created to go where no other supplement can, to support your body from the inside out and without adding anything new to your system. Instead, ION* helps spark cellular connection and tighten cellular junctions in your intestinal lining - naturally boosting your body’s ability to do, well, all the things Mother Nature designed it to. ION* is both all natural and scientifically proven. (That’s why we’re called Intelligence of Nature.)

How “proven” is proven?

ION* boosts your body’s resilience to glyphosate exposure within 16 minutes.

ION* Gut + Microbiome is safe for children and its tasteless, liquid form means it’s easy to take, too.

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