It’s on CNN, CBS, MNN, YouTube, The Guardian … even The Huffington Post. And 224,000 other results on Google. A guy named Dwayne Johnson (no relation to the movie star) was awarded $289.2 million by a California jury a week ago … finding the chemical giant, Monsanto, and its glyphosate-based weedkillers, including Roundup, liable for causing his terminal cancer.
This is HUGE … and reminds me of the days when the tobacco industry swore up and down that cigarettes didn’t cause cancer. It took one guy to bring them down … one guy who almost didn’t tell-all on 60 Minutes because that once-powerful industrial machine threatened to sue CBS off the planet. Or harkens back to the famous Erin Brockovich PG & E pollution case. Landmark health turnarounds so groundbreaking that they’ve even made movies about them.
Monsanto Denies Glyphosate Problems
And, of course … as in the cases above …Monsanto denies that glyphosate, the world’s most widely used herbicide, causes cancer and says decades of scientific studies have shown the chemical to be safe. Of course, they will appeal the verdict. And issued a statement that said, “Today’s decision does not change the fact that more than 800 scientific studies and reviews…support the fact that glyphosate does not cause cancer, and did not cause Mr. Johnson’s cancer,”
But co-lead counsel David Dickens explained, “Many of these confidential Monsanto documents were unsealed for the first time. They show that Monsanto knew that its testing was insufficient and that there was a synergistic effect when glyphosate is combined with surfactants which help the glyphosate penetrate both plant and animal cell walls.”
And there are more than 4,000 cases looming alleging that Roundup causes non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, the cancer that is rapidly killing Johnson. And, I’m sure, there’ll be a lot more after this verdict.
Roundup abuse has been on my radar for some time. When I wrote my book, Gluten-Free in 5 Days, I found research that showed that Roundup is used on vast wheat fields to ripen them all at the same time so that they can be economically harvested. And that this continuous use may be one reason that up to 60% of Americans have what is now called non-celiac gluten sensitivity.
What Glyphosate Actually Does
True to my good fortune to have information synchronicity literally fall into my lap when I’m working on an article, into my inbox just yesterday came an interview by Dr. Christine Schaffner, an internationally-renowned naturopathic physician who specializes in Lyme disease and healing spaces and speaks all over the world about alternative medicine modalities. She was interviewing Dr. Stephanie Seneff, a senior research scientist at MIT’s prestigious Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Stephanie has been studying Roundup and the mineral sulfur for some time, and has authored over 30 peer-reviewed journal papers over the past few years on these topics.
In the interview, Stephanie explained that, when she heard a lecture about glyphosate five years ago, she dropped everything else and devoted her life to researching it. According to her, “[Glyphosate] … is not only toxic, but probably one of the most toxic of chemicals in our environment … I’ve been looking very hard into the chemistry of glyphosate to understand why this molecule could be so toxic. And I’m finding many answers.”
One of the things she found was that glyphosate can bioaccumulate in the body … in other words, it can build up. Monsanto themselves found proof of bioaccumulation as early as 1989 in never-published (why are we not surprised) secret experiments. Yet they claim that it moves through the body very quickly and is excreted. That’s just not true.
Highest amounts were found in the bones and bone marrow. Which is very serious because stem cells and other immune complexes that heal our wounds are then carrying glyphosate to wound sites, making healing difficult and generally worsening whatever condition they have come to heal.
Dr. Seneff also found definitive links between glyphosate and autism. Glyphosate makes things like vaccines and other toxic chemicals even more toxic, as well as creating powerful metabolites when it interacts with the metals mercury (think tooth fillings) and aluminum (stored in the brain). It therefore can damage parts of the brainstem and even participate in creating leaky gut through its effect on digestive enzymes.
Stephanie’s studies with other colleagues revealed high levels of glyphosate contamination in laboratory-produced trypsin, a digestive enzyme. Trypsin disruption by glyphosate will cause digestive issues and gluten intolerance. Therefore finally explaining the link between Roundup, gluten sensitivity and gluten-intolerant celiac disease, the incidence of which now doubles every 10 years, that I found when I researched my book.
There’s a ton more issues Dr. Senoff discussed in the interview, but I think you get the idea. Glyphosate is bad, bad, BAD. And the Johnson verdict is perhaps just the beginning of an avalanche of lawsuits due to the damage it causes. And a possible path toward banning this terrible substance once and for all.
So What Do We Do
Prospects are bleak. Glyphosate does accumulate ,,, Monsanto proved it in their secret experiments. So, even if you buy organic food, it’s everywhere. Some remedies discussed in the interview were taking some apple cider vinegar or other fermented food before a meal to clear out the glyphosate before it can be absorbed. Or generally detoxifying by soaking in Epsom salt baths (I chuck some Miracle 2 soap and essential oils in there too). Banning seems to be the only solution … it’s actually happening in some countries … but not fast enough.
Sadly, Stephanie explains, “They can’t use glyphosate in organic. It’s against the law, but it’s all over the place. It’s in the rain. It’s in the air. It can be drifting in from the neighbors’ farms. So you can’t avoid it. It’s very sad. In this country, you pretty much cannot avoid glyphosate categorically. But you can reduce your risk through choosing to buy organic food, which I would encourage listeners to do. I think it can really help to keep you safe.”
Leave Your Comments about Roundup Stampeded! Below
What do you think about this landmark court decision? Are you now more likely to buy organic? Or choose a healthier lifestyle?
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