In Blog

In a prior blog post, Dr. Wahls explained how not all breast milk is created equal. What a nursing mother eats affects her breast milk, and subsequently, the nutrients her baby receives. The quality of a mother’s diet matters, and Dr. Wahls recommends choosing organic food whenever possible to avoid an herbicide that is increasingly in the news: glyphosate.

Glyphosate is a key ingredient in herbicides, particularly Monsanto’s Roundup. The toxin is used to destroy plants and unwanted vegetation. However, glyphosate is absorbed by crops sprayed with it, meaning it’s in the food we eat and thus our bodies. It also can invade our drinking water through runoff. In a pilot study commissioned by Moms Across America and Sustainable Pulse, glyphosate was examined and found in drinking water, children’s bodies, and women’s breast milk. The toxin accumulates in the body, increasing toxic load, and the risk of developing cancer and disease.

The EPA is currently conducting a review of glyphosate; they have been collecting and analyzing data for the last 5 years, and in 2014 will publish a risk assessment of glyphosate. Moms Across America and Thinking Moms Revolution are demanding that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recall Monsanto’s Roundup. Many moms share stories of their children having life-threatening allergies, gastrointestinal issues such as “leaky gut,” autism spectrum disorders, and nutritional deficiencies. The common thread, they say, is an exposure to glyphosate.

Moms Across America garnered support from over 10,000 moms across the country and sat down with EPA employees to explain how their children’s health issues were eradicated once they switched to an organic diet that did not include glyphosate. They also presented scientific articles supporting assertions that glyphosate was a key player in these health problems.

Glyphosate is an endocrine disruptor1, which means it interferes with the hormone system and can cause cancer, birth defects, and developmental disorders. It disrupts gut bacteria, negatively impacting the lining of the GI tract and may be the reason for increasing rates of food allergies, celiac disease, gluten intolerance, and Crohn’s diesease2. In addition, glyphosate, an herbicide, deprives living things of nutrients and vitamins. When introduced into the human body, it causes nutrient deficiency2, which increases the risk of developing disease and cancer. These nutrient deficiencies may also be a cause of the epidemic levels of autism-spectrum disorders and Alzheimer’s disease, and could be linked to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Moms Across America and Thinking Moms Revolution are currently working with the EPA to develop protocols for an independent study of glyphosate and breast milk in the agency’s review. After publishing a risk assessment and opening a 60-day public comment period, the EPA will publish a proposed registration for the future of glyphosate and provide another opportunity for public comments. Finally, the EPA will make a decision whether to continue allowing glyphosate use, place new restrictions on its use, or take it off the market.

References:
1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19539684
2. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24678255

Recommended Posts

Start typing and press Enter to search