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Our food supply in the U.S. is highly contaminated with residues of glyphosate and we are not aware of this insidious danger to our national health.

Gluten intolerance is an under-diagnosed but growing epidemic in the U.S, as is celiac disease, a much more dangerous autoimmune-like disorder to which many other diseases are now linked.

Some symptoms of gluten intolerance and celiac disease are obesity, infertility, skin rashes, autism, Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, Parkinson’s disease, thyroid disease, kidney disease, some cancers including non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and melanoma, type-1 and type-2 diabetes, allergies, fibromyalgia, arthritis, panic attacks, depression and other brain problems, migraine headaches, irritable bowel syndrome and acid reflux.

What is causing this spike in celiac disease and gluten intolerance? In a well-researched paper published by Anthony Samsel and Stephanie Seneff, they brilliantly put forth evidence that the herbicide glyphosate (Roundup) causes extreme gut dysbiosis in which pathogenic bacteria kill off healthy gut bacteria interfering with complex nutrient assimilation.

Glysophate creates a situation in which pathogenic bacteria kill off healthy gut bacteria interfering with complex nutrient assimilation resulting in extreme nutrient deficiencies.

Glyphosate usage — the most used herbicide in the U.S. since 2001 — has grown because of the widespread use of Monsanto’s, Roundup-Ready, genetically modified plants. In 2013, the EPA raised the allowable concentration of glyphosate on food crops and animal fodder.

First introduced in 1974, glyphosate is now the world’s most dominant herbicide. Despite claims to the contrary by the EPA, glyphosate residue remains on plants we consume and fodder used to feed commercially raised animals.

Glysophate creates a situation in which pathogenic bacteria kill off healthy gut bacteria interfering with complex nutrient assimilation resulting in extreme nutrient deficiencies.

The foods ingested are not completely broken down during digestion and the particles subsequently bore holes in the intestines causing a toxic condition known as “leaky gut syndrome.”

The undigested protein fragments then trigger an autoimmune response. Furthermore, the resulting toxins travel throughout the body and cross the blood brain barrier, causing many of the neurological problems we are seeing in our population today such as autism, ADD/HD, and many forms of depression and mental illness.

How does glyphosate create gut dysbiosis?

Glyphosate is now associated with the overgrowth of pathogenic bacteria in the human gut and in the intestines of chickens, cows and pigs, resulting in intestinal infections.

Glyphosate preferentially kills beneficial bacteria in the gut such as enterococcus, bifidobacteria and lactobacillus. pathogenic bacteria, such as staphylococcus, salmonella, shigella, and clostridium are especially resistant to glyphosate and begin to proliferate in the gut wreaking havoc in our ability to digest food and absorb essential nutrients.

As a result our bodies cannot make essential vitamins and also cannot utilize important minerals such as zinc, magnesium and selenium.

Taking probiotics and eliminating grains, carbohydrates and sugars will help to eliminate pathogenic bacteria and restore a healthy bacterial profile to the gut.

We depend on our gut bacteria to make and assimilate vitamins and utilize minerals in our food.

The damaged villi associated with celiac disease and gluten intolerance are impaired in their ability to absorb a number of essential nutrients, including vitamins B6, B12, and folate, as well as iron, zinc, calcium, and vitamins D and K.

Long-term deficiencies in B6, B12, as well as zinc, are known to result in mental illnesses and neurodegenerative diseases.

Celiac disease and gluten intolerance, which are now unequivocally linked to glyphosate ingestion, are associated with multiple pathologies in the digestive system including impaired gall bladder function, non-alcoholic fatty liver, pancreatitis and acid reflux.

Glyphosate is also known to disrupt the synthesis of tryptophan and tyrosine in the gut. Tryptophan is the amino acid that produces serotonin. Low serotonin is associated with many of the behavior disorders in children with autism.

All autistic children suffer from severe gut dysbiosis or full blown celiac disease.

An important book to read is “Gut and Psychology Syndrome,” by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride.

Low serotonin is also linked to many forms of depression as well as figuring in autoimmune disorders.

One of the most important links with celiac disease is Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, an autoimmune thyroid disease. Selenium deficiency is associated with celiac disease and its deficiency can lead to impaired thyroid function. Glyphosate disrupts selenium uptake in plants. Supplementation with selenium is therefore important for people with gluten intolerance or who have celiac disease.

Unfortunately, the EPA has accepted Monsanto’s assurances that glyphosate is harmless to humans and animals, but nothing could be further from the truth.

We have also been led to believe glyphosate degrades in the soil, however, radioactive C-glyphosate studies have revealed a half-life of 7 years or even up to 22 years.

A new study from the U.S. Geological Survey in the journal “Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry,” titled, “Pesticides in Mississippi Air and Rain, A Comparison Between 1995 and 2007,” reveals that Roundup (glyphosate) and its still-toxic degradation byproduct AMPA were found in 75 percent if the air and rain samples tested from Mississippi in 2007.

Glyphosate can leach deeply into soil and contaminate groundwater.

Glyphosate is known to disrupt the uptake of minerals in plants thus making the GM plants we consume lacking in these essential nutrients.

This is also true of animal feed. Genetically modified feed sprayed with glyphosate is also devoid of minerals thus impairing the health of the animals.

When we consume these animals and their products (milk, butter, cheese, cream and eggs), we are not receiving sufficient minerals from these foods.

The glyphosate, antibiotics and hormones retained in the flesh and fat of commercially raised animals subsequently winds up in our bodies wreaking further havoc on our immune systems.

In the U.S., we are suffering from massive toxic overload due to our FDA-approved food supply. This is wrong. The western diet is now a delivery system for toxic chemicals and it consists primarily of processed foods made from corn, rice, wheat, soy, canola and sugar.

These foods account for 20 percent or more of the American diet.

We, and subsequent generations, are now subject to a chronic accumulation of glyphosate in our food supply due to the proliferation of genetically modified plants and the fact that these plants can withstand massive applications of glyphosate.

We must urge Congress and state representatives to reexamine their policy towards glyphosate and rapidly move towards legislation that would ban its use. Time is of the essence.

In the meantime, buy organic grain products, organic cooking oils, grass-fed meat, milk, and cheese and organic, pastured eggs.

Pauli Halstead, author of “Primal Cuisine, Cooking for the Paleo Diet,” lives in Nevada City.