This article was previously published on August 4, 2019 and has been updated with new information.
Glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup, is a chemical of concern, in part because no insecticide or herbicide has yet reached the level of “widespread and intensive use”.first The data on the amount of glyphosate sprayed in the US is puzzling and plus more than 1.6 billion kilograms (3.5 billion pounds) have been applied since 1974.
This represents 19% of the glyphosate used globally during that time, and most (2/3 of the glyphosate applied between 1974 and 2014) was used in just 10 years.2 Glyphosate should get your attention because it’s present almost everywhere – in breast milk, water,3 disposable diapers4 and honey, for starters.
It caught the attention of Stephanie Seneff, a senior research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for quite a different reason.
I met Seneff at an autism event in Atlanta, Georgia, called Autism Community Action (TACA). She’s a champion for helping understand how glyphosate is a problem, and she presented some of her new findings at the conference, where I recorded the interview above.
Seneff had been studying glyphosate for many years and was determined to determine what made this popular chemical so toxic:
“Glyphosate is an absolutely fascinating molecule. I was excited about it so to speak. And I just love research; I love puzzles. And glyphosate is the mother of all puzzles in my opinion. I believe I’m finishing up on the mechanism of toxicity, and it’s unique to glyphosate, insidious and cumulative.
So it’s extremely dangerous in the sense that it doesn’t knock you down. You are exposed to small amounts of glyphosate all day long in food, in the air, in water, possibly breathing air from a gas tank. We do not know. But it’s rampant in the environment so we can’t avoid it. And the US has the highest…we use the most glyphosate per person per capita in this country. “
Does Glyphosate Cause Chronic Disease?
According to Seneff, the increase in glyphosate use in the US, as well as in Canada, is very strongly correlated with the simultaneous increase in the incidence of multiple diseases, including breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, and cancer. kidney cancer, thyroid cancer, liver cancer, bladder cancer and myeloid leukemia.5
“[B]oth among those countries has a lot of heart health problems, high rates of autism, many autoimmune diseases, food allergies; Alzheimer’s disease is on the rise. Of course, diabetes, obesity, all these things are increasing dramatically in our population,” Seneff said.
“We don’t know why. We found that glyphosate correlates perfectly with many of these diseases. It also progresses precisely with these diseases, and there are a lot of plots that I’ve worked with. the others. “
Research scientist Anthony Samsel is one of Seneff’s co-authors, and together they’ve suggested that one of the ways glyphosate is harmful is through disrupting glycine homeostasis. Glyphosate has a molecule of glycine as part of its structure (hence the “gly” in glyphosate). Glycine is a very common amino acid that your body uses to make protein.
Samsel and Seneff believe that your body can replace glyphosate and its metabolite, aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) into peptides and proteins, resulting in the creation of damaged peptides and proteins. According to Seneff:
“I believe that in certain proteins, at certain points, glyphosate can mistakenly enter the protein instead of the amino acid glycine. And, to understand that glyphosate is a complete glycine molecule, it is a result It combines perfectly with glycine, except that it has filler materials attached to its nitrogen atom.
… [T]the protein that would recognize glycine to get it into DNA must leave the nitrogen atom outside its pocket because nitrogen must connect to the next amino acid. So the fact that nitrogen has something on it doesn’t matter to it. It said, ‘Oh, I’ve got to put the exact glycine tight.’
Glycine is the smallest amino acid. And to distinguish glycine from all the other amino acids, all I needed to do was make sure I created a small gap that would only fit glycine…
Glyphosate would be suitable as it is a perfect glycine molecule. Except for the nitrogen that sticks to the outside of that bag so it can hook up. So nitrogen additions are not restricted. This is important because I think a lot of people think, ‘Oh, that can’t happen.’
Glycine also plays a role in soothing inflammation and is used up in the detoxification process. Due to the toxicity of glyphosate, many of us may not have enough glycine for effective detoxification.
That being said, glyphosate-induced glycine disruption is a matter of great controversy, as it is theoretical in nature, unproven. But, it makes a lot of sense, partly because of the shikimate path.
Seneff also mentions glyphosate as a glycine analog and how it is mistakenly incorporated into proteins, in her paper,6 “The synergistic toxicity of Glyphosate in combination with other factors as a cause of chronic kidney disease of unknown origin,” published in the International Journal of Environmental Research. This article also provides support for many of Seneff’s statements in this interview.
Glyphosate disrupts the Shikimate . pathway
Glyphosate inhibits the shikimate pathway, which is involved in the synthesis of the essential aromatic amino acids phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan.7
“Super, super important,” Seneff said. “[These amino acids are] … Not only are they part of the building blocks of proteins, which are already quite heavy, but they are the precursors to all neurotransmitters. Dopamine, serotonin, melatonin, melanocytes. Skin tanning agent. They are also precursors to some B vitamins like folate and I think niacin. “
While the shikimate pathway is absent in human and animal cells, it is present in the intestinal bacteria of mammals, including humans. So for your gut bacteria, glyphosate has a significant effect on human health. For example, Seneff says, “Sleep disturbances are one of those diseases that develop with the use of glyphosate in corn plants, partly due to the melatonin problem I suspect.”
In addition, glyphosate travels to both the growing point and storage structures (including roots and seeds) of plants to target EPSP synthesis, inhibit the production of certain amino acids, and convert energy from essential plant process. This is a key point as far as glycine disruption takes place. Seneff says:
“… [I]More and more I am studying, first of all, from the point of view of enzymes being broken down by glyphosate.
And, I was able to find these glycine sites that it would displace in the cell, including, of course, EPSP synthase, which is the enzyme that… I started with… because EPSP synthase is an enzyme in the pathway. shikimate which glyphosate breaks, notoriously breaks . They know that. And they studied it. There are a lot of papers on it. It’s very, very interesting. “
Connecting Glycine and Myosin
So, according to Seneff, glyphosate is essentially a glycine molecule with a side chain attached to a nitrogen atom, and even though it’s a modified glycine molecule, it’s still glycine. This is why it can replace the regular amino acid glycine in your system. Unfortunately, it’s malicious now.
“Going back to this EPSP synthesis,” Seneff said, “it’s really fascinating … the way they discovered the version of the EPSP synthetic that they inserted into GMO crops … so they made those plants. This Roundup Ready plant is glyphosate-resistant. And they do that by inserting a bacterial version of EPSP synthesis… and that bacterial version has alanin instead of glycine at that location.”
To understand why this is so important, certain proteins must have glycine to function properly. If you change the glycine to alanine by adding an extra methyl group, it will damage the protein. Seneff refers to a recent DowDuPont paper that talks about using the gene editing technology CRISPR to make plants resistant to glyphosate by tweaking glycine residues.8
“This is really scary,” Seneff said. “They know, ‘First we have to get rid of the glycine.’ And then that affects the enzyme. The enzyme doesn’t work well because it has alanine there. It has the extra methyl group that’s getting in the way, the same problem that glyphosate causes.”
In contrast, Myosin is a prime example of a protein that requires glycine to function properly, which can be broken down by glyphosate. Myosin is an important contractile protein for moving stool through the intestines, but if it is mutated it cannot contract anymore. Seneff adds:
“[I]If myosin is paralyzed, you will have a bowel movement disorder. You will get intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) because everything is being prophylactic. You have a lot of problems with your gut because myosin can’t contract. Of course you will be constipated. And all of this has to do with autism, these problems.
And so I think myosin in the gut is being poisoned by glyphosate in the same way that the EPSP synthase chain in the shikimate pathway is poisoned. Because this glycine is where the phosphate is supposed to bind, it makes a beautiful environment to throw in glyphosate in place of the glycine in the protein itself. “
Glyphosate also causes sulfate deficiency “in so many ways,” Seneff said, “it’s almost like a perfect storm” and impairs the heme’s pathway.
Solution for Glyphosate Toxicity
As the reality of glyphosate toxicity grows, you can take steps to protect yourself, starting with limiting your exposure by eating as much organic or bio-grown food as possible. . Consuming organic, unpasteurized apple cider vinegar is another strategy, as it contains acetobacter, which can break down glyphosate.
“We make salad dressings [with apple cider vinegar]”Seneff said.” We have a salad for dinner and I think it can really help you break down any glyphosate in your mouth, because it will work to turn glyphosate into useful phosphorus. It completely gets rid of it. “
Seneff also suggests eating garlic and cruciferous vegetables, which are good sources of sulfur. Glycine supplements may also be a good option to help with glyphosate detoxification. To get rid of glyphosate, you need to saturate the body with glycine.
Dietrich Klinghardt, an expert on metal toxicity and its link to chronic infections, recommends taking 1 teaspoon (4 grams) of powdered glycine twice a day for several weeks and after then reduce the dose to a quarter teaspoon (1 gram) twice a day. This forces glyphosate out of your system, allowing it to be eliminated in your urine.
Natural collagen is rich in glycine, but if going this route I would recommend looking only for organic grass-fed collagen. Organic bone broth is another great source of glycine-rich collagen.
