Gluten intolerance and celiac disease are a growing problem worldwide. An article written by independent scientists links gluten intolerance to glyphosate use on wheat.
There was a sharp increase of people suffering from gluten intolerance over the last 20 years - in direct correlation with the increased use of glyphosate, as shown in the graph below.
What is gluten?
Gluten is the main storage protein of wheat grains. Gluten is a complex mixture of hundreds of related but distinct proteins, mainly gliadin and glutenin. Similar storage proteins exist as secalin in rye, hordein in barley, and avenins in oats and are collectively referred to as "gluten."
What is gluten intolerance?
Gluten intolerance is a wheat-related disorder. Symptoms occur after eating foods that contain gluten, such as wheat, barley, and rye.
Symptoms can include stomach pain, bloating, diarrhoea, nausea, anxiety, headache, joint or muscle pain and feeling unwell.
What is celiac disease?
Celiac disease is a chronic digestive disorder resulting from an immune reaction to gliadin, a gluten protein found in wheat, barley, rye, and sometimes oats.
In celiac disease, the body's immune system attacks its own tissues, triggered by gluten in the diet. It only happens in people who have a genetic vulnerability. It involves inflammation and destruction of the inner lining of the small intestine and can lead to the malabsorption of minerals and nutrients.
Celiac disease is a complex condition associated with a higher risk of thyroid disease, cancer and kidney disease, and there is also an increased risk to infertility and birth defects in children born to celiac mothers.
Symptoms may include chronic diarrhoea, weight loss and fatigue.
Celiac disease can affect a person of any age.
There is no cure. The only treatment is to be on a gluten-free diet.
What does glyphosate have to do with gluten intolerance and celiac disease?
Glyphosate is the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup, produced by Monsanto (there are a number of other chemical companies who also sell glyposate products, but Monsanto is by far the biggest).
Glyphosate is sprayed on the majority of wheat worldwide. In the late 1990's and beginning of the new millennium Monsanto developed genetically engineered Roundup Ready soybeans, corn, cotton and canola - which enabled them to spray Roundup directly on the crops without killing them. This had a huge impact on the quantities of Roundup sold - with Roundup use increasing about 15-fold between 1994 and 2017. When we eat sprayed wheat, we ingest some of those chemicals.
Glyphosate is known to kill gut bacteria like Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria, which is associated with celiac disease. Glyphosate also promotes an overabundance of C. diff (Clostridium difficile), which is a bacteria in the intestines that can become a serious gastrointestinal infection.
Celiac disease is associated with deficiencies in iron, vitamin D3, molybdenum, selenium, and cobalamin, an overgrowth of pathogens in the gut at the expense of beneficial biota, impaired serotonin signaling, and increased synthesis of toxic metabolites like p-Cresol and indole-3-acetic acid. A study shows that all of these features of celiac disease can be explained by glyphosate's known properties. These include (1) disrupting the shikimate pathway, (2) altering the balance between pathogens and beneficial biota in the gut, (3) chelating transition metals, as well as sulfur and selenium, and (4) inhibiting cytochrome P450 enzymes. A key system-wide pathology in celiac disease is impaired sulfate supply to the tissues, and this is also a key component of glyphosate's toxicity to humans.
In 2013, a European study analyzed 182 urine samples from 18 EU countries for glyphosate residues and found 44 % contained quantifiable levels of glyphosate, which is likely due to their diets.
Another US study (Rancho Bernardo study) tested urine samples from 100 people in California between 1993 and 2016. It shows a huge increase of Glyphosate and its metabolite aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) residues.
The monitoring of glyphosate levels in food and in humans has been inadequate worldwide - and in New Zealand pretty much non-existent. The common practice of desiccation and/or ripening with glyphosate right before the harvest ensures that glyphosate residues are present in our food supply.
Conclusion
The continued use of glyphosate on our food is damaging to our health - not only if you are gluten intolerant or have celiac disease. It is pretty hard to avoid eating food without ingesting some levels of glyphosate - even if you don't eat bread. Most packaged food will have ingredients that have been sprayed with glyphosate - for example cereals, oats, cookies, crackers, flours, beer, wine, milk, vegetable oils as well as fruit and veggies. To avoid glyphosate, our only option is to eat organic (and even with organic there is not a 100 % guarantee that it will be completely glyphosate free).
Monsanto is telling us that glyphosate is safe. They pay huge sums to the regulating agencies as well as pay for studies that will show it to be safe. Just like the tobacco companies used to do. Who do you believe? Studies paid for by Monsanto or by independent scientists?
Here is what you can do to end this glyphosate madness:
vote with your wallet and buy organic food
grow as much as possible yourself
don't use Roundup
speak up and educate people
lobby for change
References:
NCBI: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3945755/
Medical News Today: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/312898.php
C diff Foundation: https://cdifffoundation.org/what-is-c-diff-clostridium-difficile/
Medical Laboratory Bremen, study on glyphosate residue in urine
https://www.foeeurope.org/sites/default/files/glyphosate_studyresults_june12.pdf
Study into glyphosate residue in urine by University of California San Diego School of Medicine
http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/pressrelease/exposure_to_glyphosate_chemical_found_in_weed_killers_increased_over_23_yea
https://medschool.ucsd.edu/som/fmph/research/centers/integrativehealth/Documents/jama_Mills_2017_ld_170034[10][1][2][1][1].pdf
https://health.ucsd.edu/news/releases/Pages/2017-10-24-exposure-to-glyphosate-chemical-found-in-weed-killer-increased-over-23-years.aspx