In the News: "Naturopathic" Mom Lets Kids Contract Pertussis

If you see this floating around your news feed please understand that whatever this woman may claim, she is NOT a Naturopathic Doctor (ND). She did NOT graduate from an accredited medical school and she is working in an unlicensed state where anyone can call themselves a "naturopath" because there is no board or regulations to enforce it.

Purposefully exposing young children to whooping cough, which can have life long effects on developing lungs, is paramount to abuse and bragging about it is down right idiotic. If a child contracts whooping cough naturally and parents choose to treat it naturally I fully support that, as unless antibiotics are given in the first two weeks of the illness (usually before the characteristic "whoop" has begun) they do not significantly alter the course of the disease. However, if there were infants or other children in the household who hadn't yet developed the disease I would make every effort to protect them to avoid the months of torture for the whole family.

Please understand that this is why NDs need licensing in every state so that people without proper medical training can't tarnish the word "naturopath" and provide sub-standard care to their patients.

#uNDsdoitagain #checkyourcredentials #naturopathicmedicine #notadoctor

http://deadstate.org/naturopath-mom-lets-her-children-contract-whooping-cough-because-its-an-immune-building-process/ 

Berberine, a foodie's best friend and the miracle nutrient that you (probably) never heard of

Berberine:

Mahonia aquifolium or Oregon Grape, one source of berberine.

The recent outbreak of hemorrhagic E. coli at Chipotle restaurants is heartbreaking to read about. Here is a restaurant chain which has made applaudable efforts to supply quality, hormone and antibiotic free meat to it's customers which has now gained yet another black eye due to food related illness. Unfortunately, wherever the contamination came from (last I read was narrowed down to lettuce or tomatoes) it wasn't the restaurant's fault. However, the stories you read about the extent of the illness caused would make anyone think twice about eating there, or anywhere really...

The whole situation has made me incredibly grateful for some advice I got from my botanical medicine professor (Dr. Jill Stansbury, ND) in my second year of naturopathic med school. She said that for any case of suspected food-related illness (i.e. as soon as you get that queasy feeling in your gut and think "uh-oh, what did I eat???") to pop a berberine capsule (generally 200-400mg) and to keep doing so every few hours until the feeling completely passed. To this date, it has never failed me or my family and my husband has finally come to ask for it whenever he second guesses that state-fair chili that truly wasn't intended for human consumption.

So what is it?

Berberine is an alkaloid compound that is present in many traditionally medicinal herbs such as Oregon Grape, Goldenseal, and Barberry. It has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for over 1000 years. It is what makes parts of these plants, such as the root of the Oregon Grape, bright yellow and incredibly bitter. 

Why is it so effective against bad gut bugs?

Berberine has been shown to be effective at killing E. coli by a number of methods including damaging it's DNA, interfering with cell wall transport, and inhibiting cell movement. It also messes with the genes responsible for the E. coli's metabolism of carbohydrates and amino acids, essentially starving it.1 It has also shown strong anti-microbial activity against MRSA, vancomycin resistant E. faecium, and Klebsiella pneumoniae.2 It has also shown some promise, although not as well studied, against Salmonella and Candida species.17, 18

Now E. coli is never a fun bug to get, but the strain in the Chipotle cases is particularly bad because it is classified as hemorrhagic, meaning it induces bleeding. Bleeding from hemorrhagic E. coli can take place in the gut, in the kidneys, in mucous membranes, and in pretty much any small blood vessel which can lead to a condition known as HUS or hemolytic uremic syndrome in which the toxins from the bacteria destroy the red blood cells and cause multiple tiny clots leading, potentially, to kidney failure. In a study of five multi-drug resistant hemorrhagic E. coli species (isolated from yaks…. Apparently they eat at Chipotle too), berberine was found to be a highly effective treatment. Oh, if only the sweet kids sickened recently had read up about their yak treatments! Truly though, so far no one has died, but think of the misery berberine could have saved these patients.

What else does it do?

Not only does berberine kill the bad gut bugs, it also appears to lower intestinal inflammation levels in response to the pathogen via the Cox-2 pathway, the same target pathway of newer classes of gut-friendly NSAIDS.5,6

Berberine also has consistently demonstrated blood-sugar lowering, cholesterol lowering, anti-tumor, and immune system beneficial effects. It also protects against cardiovascular disease by stopping overgrowth of the inside of blood vessels and reducing atherosclerosis and has been suggested as a beneficial treatment in post-menopausal women to reduce risk of heart disease.7, 11, 13

In case that wasn't enough to have you totally sold on this amazing plant nutrient, it also appears to be quite effective in weight management. Berberine can stop the development of new fat cells and shows the same effect as metformin in the gut where it decreases less beneficial gut bugs yet promotes the growth of bacteria who help produce short-chain fatty acids which not only feed the gut, but are clean and efficient fuel for your body.9,12

Berberine also reduces the liver damaging effects seen in NASH (Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease), halts progression of Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases (Parkinsons, post trauma), and reduces kidney damage due to diabetes.10,14,16

So, are you ready to go buy yourself some berberine yet? I know my cupboards will never be without at least one bottle and my family have come to rely on it to protect us against potentially life-threatening food-born illness, just at the first sign of queasiness. If you've eaten at Chipotle recently, it sure wouldn't hurt….

***Warning: Berberine is NOT pregnancy approved and can induce miscarriage if taken in high doses early in pregnancy. Do not take if you are pregnant! ***

References: 

1. OMICS. 2014 Jan;18(1):42-53. doi: 10.1089/omi.2013.0100. Epub 2013 Nov 16.

Assessment of berberine as a multi-target antimicrobial: a multi-omics study for drug discovery and repositioning.

Karaosmanoglu K1, Sayar NA, Kurnaz IA, Akbulut BS.

2. PLoS One. 2014 May 13;9(5):e97514. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0097514. eCollection 2014.

Rational design of berberine-based FtsZ inhibitors with broad-spectrum antibacterial activity.

Sun N1, Chan FY2, Lu YJ3, Neves MA4, Lui HK1, Wang Y1, Chow KY1, Chan KF1, Yan SC1, Leung YC1, Abagyan R5, Chan TH1, Wong KY1.

3. Asian Pac J Trop Med. 2013 Apr 13;6(4):315-9. doi: 10.1016/S1995-7645(13)60063-2.

Potential antibacterial activity of berberine against multi drug resistant enterovirulent Escherichia coli isolated from yaks (Poephagus grunniens) with haemorrhagic diarrhoea.

Bandyopadhyay S1, Patra PH, Mahanti A, Mondal DK, Dandapat P, Bandyopadhyay S, Samanta I, Lodh C, Bera AK, Bhattacharyya D, Sarkar M, Baruah KK.

4. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 2012 Oct;96(2):503-10. doi: 10.1007/s00253-012-4302-y. Epub 2012 Aug 10.

Effect of berberine on Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, and their mixtures as determined by isothermal microcalorimetry.

Kong WJ1, Xing XY, Xiao XH, Zhao YL, Wei JH, Wang JB, Yang RC, Yang MH.

5. Int Immunopharmacol. 2012 Jan;12(1):182-8. doi: 10.1016/j.intimp.2011.11.009. Epub 2011 Dec 9.

Berberine ameliorates COX-2 expression in rat small intestinal mucosa partially through PPARγ pathway during acute endotoxemia.

Feng AW1, Gao W, Zhou GR, Yu R, Li N, Huang XL, Li QR, Li JS.

6. Poult Sci. 2010 Jan;89(1):13-9. doi: 10.3382/ps.2009-00243.

The effects of berberine on the magnitude of the acute inflammatory response induced by Escherichia colilipopolysaccharide in broiler chickens.

Shen YB1, Piao XS, Kim SW, Wang L, Liu P.

7. Atherosclerosis. 2015 Sep 30;243(2):449-461. doi: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2015.09.032. [Epub ahead of print]

Berberine, a plant alkaloid with lipid- and glucose-lowering properties: From in vitro evidence to clinical studies.

Pirillo A1, Catapano AL2.

8. Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi. 2015 May;40(9):1660-5.

[Effect of berberine in treating type 2 diabetes mellitus and complications and its relevant mechanisms].

[Article in Chinese]

Zhang Q, Li Y, Chen L.

9. Sci Rep. 2015 Sep 23;5:14405. doi: 10.1038/srep14405.

Modulation of gut microbiota by berberine and metformin during the treatment of high-fat diet-induced obesity in rats.

Zhang X1, Zhao Y2, Xu J1, Xue Z1, Zhang M1, Pang X1, Zhang X1, Zhao L1,2.

10. Int J Clin Exp Med. 2015 May 15;8(5):7535-43. eCollection 2015.

Berberine reverses abnormal expression of L-type pyruvate kinase by DNA demethylation and histone acetylation in the livers of the non-alcoholic fatty disease rat.

Zhang Y1, Chang X2, Song X1, Chen C1, Chen H1, Lu Z2, Gao X2, Lu D1.

11. Biochem Pharmacol. 2015 Sep 15;97(2):173-7. doi: 10.1016/j.bcp.2015.07.012. Epub 2015 Jul 20.

Berberine induces GLP-1 secretion through activation of bitter taste receptor pathways.

Yu Y1, Hao G2, Zhang Q3, Hua W4, Wang M5, Zhou W6, Zong S7, Huang M8, Wen X9.

12. PLoS One. 2015 Apr 30;10(4):e0125667. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0125667. eCollection 2015.

Berberine Suppresses Adipocyte Differentiation via Decreasing CREB Transcriptional Activity.

Zhang J1, Tang H1, Deng R1, Wang N1, Zhang Y1, Wang Y1, Liu Y1, Li F1, Wang X1, Zhou L1.

13. Oxid Med Cell Longev. 2015;2015:723093. doi: 10.1155/2015/723093. Epub 2015 Feb 17.

Potential benefits of berberine in the management of perimenopausal syndrome.

Caliceti C1, Rizzo P2, Cicero AF3.

14. Sci China Life Sci. 2015 Jun;58(6):564-9. doi: 10.1007/s11427-015-4829-0. Epub 2015 Mar 6.

Therapeutic potential of berberine against neurodegenerative diseases.

Jiang W1, Li S, Li X.

15. Diabetes Metab Syndr Obes. 2015 Feb 4;8:89-96. doi: 10.2147/DMSO.S78877. eCollection 2015.

Clinical role of a fixed combination of standardized Berberis aristata and Silybum marianum extracts in diabetic and hypercholesterolemic patients intolerant to statins.

Di Pierro F1, Bellone I2, Rapacioli G3, Putignano P4.

16. PLoS One. 2014 Nov 19;9(11):e113398. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0113398. eCollection 2014.

Berberine improves kidney function in diabetic mice via AMPK activation.

Zhao L1, Sun LN1, Nie HB1, Wang XL1, Guan GJ1.

17. Curr Microbiol. 2005 Oct;51(4):255-61. Epub 2005 Aug 2.

Berberine inhibits arylamine N-acetyltransferase activity and gene expression in Salmonella typhi.

Wu LT1, Tsou MF, Ho CC, Chuang JY, Kuo HM, Chung JG.

18. J Nat Prod. 1998 Sep;61(9):1150-3.

Antimicrobial activity of 8-alkyl- and 8-phenyl-substituted berberines and their 12-bromo derivatives.

Iwasa K1, Lee DU, Kang SI, Wiegrebe W.

Birth Control Sans Doctor

This week Oregon followed California's lead and made headlines as legislators passed a series of bills giving pharmacists the ability to give out birth control to women over 18 without a former prescription, or under 18 with a former prescription. (Article found here)

Firstly, I am all for birth control choices for women who are making informed decisions about their future. I also recognize that having easier access and not having to wait for a physician to write a prescription may lead to some great benefits in terms of lower rates of unintended pregnancies. However, I have a few major reservations.

The main issue I have is that birth control is not harmless. A meta-analysis performed by Cochrane (pretty much the top research review group) showed that across the board, oral birth control pills increased risk of developing blood clots, or "deep vein thrombosis" as it is termed medically. This risk increased as the dose of hormones in the pill rose.

For those not in the know, a deep vein thrombosis (DVT) forms when the blood is too thick/sticky, when there is injury to the blood vessel, or when there is turbulence/stasis. This fabulous little triad is known as Virchow's triad and is familiar to every first year medical student. Well, the hormones in birth control make the blood more sticky and thus more apt to forming clots. These often form in lower extremities when there is also stasis, such as long airline flights. As long as the clot stays put in the the leg it's not a life threatening emergency, although it can be mighty uncomfortable. Where the real trouble comes in is when the clot breaks away and travels to somewhere like... the lungs (called a pulmonary embolism) or the brain (called a stroke).

There have been a few media stories lately about young women who developed blood clots that threatened their life after starting oral birth control pills. These are tragic and scary stories that make you think twice about popping that little pill every morning and there is good reason to pause and think.

Thankfully, in the hands of good and diligent physicians, the risk of developing a DVT from birth control can be minimized. Every woman who is considering oral birth control pills who comes through the naturopathic clinic system where I was trained was screened very carefully for anything additional in her health history that might increase her clotting risk. Things like age (over 35), smoking history, history of prior blood clots, NSAID use, family history of clotting disorders, early heart disease, diet, cholesterol, liver disease, blood pressure, etc. These are all little drops in the bucket that if combined with oral birth control can lead to greatly increased risk of DVT. If a woman has no additional risks, most birth control are considered oaky options. However, if a woman has multiple risk factors, careful consideration is given before a prescription is written. Often we would counsel her on her other options for birth control such as an IUD, or discuss using the lower dose oral birth control options. All in all, this can be a lengthy conversation that can sometimes take weeks (if there are labs involved) before a final decision is made.

I understand that to the rest of the medical world, this often seems like overkill, but in Naturopathic medicine we take our first tenet very seriously "first do no harm" and we would like to avoid any of our patients having a serious health consequence that could have been avoided through due diligence. I have counseled some older women to switch to a different pill or use a different method when they have been prescribed (sometimes very high) birth control pills by a different physician. One woman was over 40, had smoked for 20+ years, and had a history of hepatitis C which can alter blood coagulability. She was on one of the highest doses available! How could I let her walk out of the office without practicing yet another tenet of naturopathic medicine "doctor as teacher" and informing her of the risks she was unknowingly taking with her health. She was so grateful she called me a week later to thank me after having a conversation about the situation with her other doc. Maybe I saved a life?

My hesitation with whole heartedly endorsing this new ruling in Oregon has to do with everything I mentioned above. Is a pharmacist trained and qualified to fully evaluate all of these aspects of a woman's health? I plan to ask my local pharmacist the next time I am in what training they have around this issue, but I fear it may be less than my ideal of holistic health. I absolutely hope that we do not see a significant rise in DVTs due to improper use of birth control, but I definitely think this needs to be part of the conversation moving forward.

Vegi-Scream- a healthy ice cream alternative that the whole family loves!

I recently purchased the KitchenAid ice cream maker attachment for my mixer and have been having a blast experimenting with different healthy ice cream alternatives. This one though, totally hit the spot as every family member polished off their bowl and my 4 year old even had seconds (and thirds!). It is a total winner!

You will need a juicer, blender, and ice cream maker, but truly from start to finish it takes less than 30 minutes!

Here is the recipe and instructions:
Makes 6-8 servings.

Juice: 1 apple, 6 stalks celery, 5 carrots, 1/2 stalk of ginger (half your thumb size), 2 beets, and 4 stalks of kale. Process through juicer according to manufacturer instructions.

Then blend: the juice made above, 1/2 cup orange juice (or 1 fresh juiced), 1 cup strawberries (frozen or fresh), 1 banana, 1 can full fat unsweetened coconut milk (I like Native Forest Organic), 1/4 c maple syrup, and 1 shot coconut rum (optional!). Blend until all ingredients are thoroughly pureed.

Pour this blend into the ice cream maker and run for 15 minutes on low or until it looks like the proper texture. Eat immediately or transfer into an airtight container and eat within 1 week. Yum!

Enjoy your Vegi-Scream!

Are we really Roundup ready?

After hearing wind of this issue I spent several weeks researching and diving down the rabbit hole, but it was worth it as what I have come across has opened my eyes wide. This is worth reading, although if you're here, you probably know that already. Be prepared for a game changer.

Glyphosate is a broad spectrum herbicide which was first discovered in 1950 by a Swiss chemist, but whose discovery remained unpublished. It was later independently discovered in 1970 and developed under the name Roundup by the agricultural giant Monsanto. Since then it has been heavily marketed and is now an active ingredient in most popular pesticides worldwide.⁸ Glyphosate has been touted as being safe for humans ⁹, under the general consensus that it only acted on plants.⁸ Really? It wrecks havoc on plants but has no effect on us? That just sounds too good to be true. And it is. Read on.

Desiccation

So far, no one I have asked about the term dessication had heard of it in this context. Desiccation is an agricultural process where the crop is killed right at the end of it's life cycle which sends it into shock and forces it to put all its last gasping efforts into seed production, thereby increasing the crop yield. Glyphosate is one of the most common chemicals applied to conventionally grown (i.e. not organic) wheat in the United States for the purpose of desiccation. It is estimated that approximately 90% of conventionally grown wheat is sprayed with Roundup in the days leading up to harvest. It is also used in the "ripening" of conventionally grown sugar cane and several other crops. The Healthy Home Economist blog had a great article on this last month which is how I happened to stumble down this rabbit hole in the first place.¹ What is most concerning is that glyphosate residues are now showing up in human samples due to all this food contamination. So, let's look at its effects shall we?

The heart

Acute exposure (i.e. a lot of glyphosate in a short time) has been shown to prolong certain signals in the heart which can lead to arrhythmia. Arrhythmia is any heart rhythm that isn't the normal "lub-dub" that we all love to hear. The authors of this study postulated that heart rhythm abnormality may be the cause of death in acute glyphosate poisoning.⁴

More acute exposure

In one case report of acute glyphosate poisoning in which a woman drank 500ml of Roundup in Thailand her corpse showed hemorrhage of the stomach wall and thinned walls, erosion of the tissues of the mucous membranes of the GI tract and lungs, pulmonary congestion and edema in both lungs, and drug induced hepatic toxicity in the liver.⁹

The stomach, liver, kidney, brain, pancreas, and spleen

While this study was done in rats, it still bears consideration. This is especially so since the dose of glyphosate were not acutely fatal, but rather was a low chronic dose. What happened is as follows:

Stomach- the lining, muscle, and glands were degenerated

Liver- the cells around the portal vein were degenerated

Brains- neuronal degeneration

Pancreas- acinar cells degenerated

Spleen- depopulated (empty) cells in both the red and the white pulps

This study did have one thing that wasn't so degenerated… that supplementation with zinc before the exposure protected the cells from all this havoc. At least there was something positive!⁶

The developing brain

Again, the poor rats take the hit. This study showed that either acute exposure or chronic low amounts during pregnancy and lactation induced toxicity in a part of the brain called the hippocampus in immature rats. This study elucidated that the mechanism for this toxicity was due to excessive extracellular glutamate levels. Glutamate is our brains "on" switch which has been implicated in a broad range of brain diseases.¹¹

More nerve damage

In 2009 there was a case report of a 26 year old teacher who suffered nerve damage to his vocal chords after using Roundup correctly. It took him 6 weeks to get his voice back. The doctors called this intermittent neuropraxia of the laryngeal nerve. I call it just plain scary.¹²

Oh and those NFL concussions?

A study that was published in June, 2014 noted several environmental toxins, "particularly glyphosate," which played a part in increasing the brain's susceptibility to mild brain trauma, concussion, and downstream neurodegeneration by disrupting the brain's innate switching mechanism (remember that glutamate mentioned a few paragraphs ago?), which "normally turns off the immune response to brain injury once danger has been removed." ¹³ Hello? Where is the lawsuit over this???

Cancer- you knew it was coming

A Systematic Review and Meta Analysis (a really big review of a lot of studies) showed a positive association between glyphosate and B cell lymphoma.¹⁴ Breast cancer was also found to have a link to glyphosate. In this study, researchers showed that glyphosate had estrogenic activity (it acted like estrogen) and altered both alpha and beta forms of the Estrogenic Receptor (ER). This study was specifically looking at concentrations that mimicked those found in the environment. Additionally, since most of the soy grown in this country is GMO (Roundup ready anyone?) it is often sprayed heavily with this pesticide. This research showed that there was an additive estrogenic effect between glyphosate and genistein, the phytoestrogen found in soybeans.¹⁷ That’s a whole lot of estrogen having a whole lot of effects.

There are probably more cancer links. These just happened to be the ones I stumbled across. It was enough for me.

Mitochondria

If you don't remember what mitochondria are from general biology class, essentially they are the power plant of the cell. Mitochondrial dysfunction has been implicated in a broad array of diseases such as chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, lupus, and many other autoimmune and rheumatologic diseases. What this study showed was that epithelial (the cells that line our body- skin, GI, nose, etc) cells that were sprayed with a 450 x dilution of the level used in agriculture spraying showed membrane damage and impairment of mitochondrial function along with DNA damage. They postulated that inhalation during spraying may be enough to cause these cytotoxic effects and DNA damage. ¹⁸ And it keeps getting better.

The gut

This is the biggie. This is the one that made my jaw drop. Stay with me here.

First, the cows. In 2013 an article was published looking at the increased rates of Clostridium botulinum (the bugger that causes botulism) in cows in Germany. What they found was a disturbance in the balance of the bacteria in the gut of the cows. Namely, the good bacteria that produce lactic acid and help keep other harmful bugs away were being destroyed. Researchers proposed that ingestion of glyphosate laced crops were to blame due to glyphosate's incredible toxic effects on the these beneficial bugs.⁵

Next come the chickens. Another 2013 study looked at the microbiome (the bio-dome inside the birds) of poultry. What they found was astounding. All of the highly pathogenic (i.e. disease causing) bacteria such as Salmonella entridis  (the most common Salmonella found in our food supply- yes, this is the same Salmonella that makes you wish you never ate that hippy fair chicken), Salmonella gallinarum, Salmonella typhimurium, Clostridium perfringes, and Clostridium botulinum (remember the botulism?)…… ALL OF THESE bacteria were highly resistant to glyphosate. Even more concerning was that most of the beneficial bacteria (Enterococcus faecalis, Enterococcus faecium, Bacillus badius, Bifidobacterium adolescentis, and Lactobacillus spp.) were found to be moderately to highly susceptible. One bad bug, Campylobacter spp. were found to be susceptible to glyphosate.⁷ Whew! I thought that was going to be ALL bad news! Interestingly, my first hospitalization as an infant was for Campylobacter gut infection from playing with my chickens. I guess future generations won’t have to worry as much about that one, thanks to Roundup! Obviously, I jest. Food borne illness from contaminated poultry is serious business and kills many every year. If consumption of glyphosate laced feed is killing off most of the good bugs and allowing most of the bad bugs to thrive… well… you made it this far so I will let you draw your own conclusions about how much safer our world will be.

SIBO: Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth. If you have heard of this one you can skip this paragraph. SIBO is a condition which is getting increasing awareness these days. Essentially, we are meant to have good gut bugs living happily in our large intestine where they live in harmony with our gut. However, when something impairs the motility (the squeezing ability) of the gut to push things down in the right direction, it creates the perfect scenario for the bacteria to migrate up from the large intestine into the small intestine. They do not play happily with our small intestine and cause a whole host of symptoms such as cramping, bloating, chronic diarrhea or chronic constipation, and a lot of other fun things. The current treatment is essentially antibiotics to wipe out the bacteria or an herbal protocol to wipe out the bacteria, followed by intensive repopulation of the gut with good bacteria. However, many practitioners realize that this is only a band-aid and that it does not usually treat the underlying motility issues. There are some suggested herbs and medications that can help improve motility, but often SIBO sufferers have frequent relapses and usually end up with major dietary changes to essentially starve the bacteria and prevent them from colonizing the wrong area. Okay, super long winded discussion, but it will pay off next.

A study published in July of 2014 investigated whether glyphosate might have an effect on the motility (tube squeezing down) of the small intestine. This investigation was done as prior research had shown that shortly after oral exposure, glyphosate is found in the highest concentration in the small intestine. What they found was that glyphosate impairs gastrointestinal motility at concentrations that are noticed in humans exposed to non-toxic doses of glyphosate.⁸  This was the jaw dropper for me. Finally! Is this the answer behind why we are seeing SIBO in such high levels? It seems entirely possible from this study. Please, please, some researcher look further into this!

And there's more…

Celiac. This is the "true gluten allergy" that damages the lining of the small intestine and causes malabsorption in those plagued with this miserable malady. I have written previously on gluten and celiac so I won’t go into too many details here, but one study in 2012 put the rate of celiac at 1 in 144 of Caucasians in the United States.³

A December, 2013 article published in the journal Interdiciplinary Toxicology discussed the possible explanation of the celiac rate explosion via glyphosate.² Obviously, we can't blame all of celiac on glyphosate as it has been around far before the invention of glyphosate. However, these findings are too interesting not to warrant further investigation.

These are their findings:

·       We know that celiac disease is associated with imbalance in gut bacteria. Recall the article about the chickens above? Boom. Gut bacteria down, celiac up.

·       Many factors in celiac disease suggest impairment of liver detoxification enzymes, specifically the cytochrome P450 enzymes, which are involved with detoxing environmental toxins, activating Vitamin D3, catabolizing vitamin A, and maintaining bile acid production and sulfate supply to the gut (makes digestion happy). Glyphosate is known to inhibit cytochrome P450 enzymes.

·       Deficiencies in iron, cobalt, molybdenum, copper, and other trace metals are common in celiac disease. Glyphosate strongly binds these metals.

·       Deficiencies in certain amino acids (building blocks of protein) such as tryptophan, tyrosine, methionine, and selenomethionine are associated with celiac disease. Glyphoshate has a known depletion effect on these amino acids.

·       Celiac disease patients have a known increased risk for developing non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Recall the B-cell cancer risk associated with glyphosate mentioned above?

·       Infertility, miscarriage, and birth defects found in celiac patients… yup… you guessed it. Glyphosate could explain them.

Wow. That was a lot to take in. So why are they spraying this on our food again???

So how much does it take?

One study done in 2012 showed glyphosate induced biochemical changes in the livers, kidneys, and intestines of rats at 20 fold lower doses than the oral reference dose of 2mg/kg/day set by the EPA in 1993. ¹⁰

Even more worrisome is that the commercial formulations of glyphosate (i.e. Roundup) are even more toxic than glyphosate by itself due to the other chemicals added in the toxic plant cocktail. ^15,16

So, do you want to keep eating conventionally grown wheat, sugar cane, and other crops sprayed with glyphosate before harvest? For me, the answer is crystal clear.

Edit 4/24/15
Testing available to the general public!!
Feed The World, a program through the WHO, has just announced that they will be offering glyphosate testing for urine, tap water, and soon, breast milk to the public. Find out more information and order your testing here: http://feedtheworld.info/glyphosate-testing-test-yourself/?ngo=Organic+Consumers+Association+(OCA)

References

·       http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/real-reason-for-toxic-wheat-its-not-gluten/

·       Interdiscip Toxicol. 2013 Dec;6(4):159-84. doi: 10.2478/intox-2013-0026.

Glyphosate, pathways to modern diseases II: Celiac sprue and gluten intolerance.

Samsel A1, Seneff S2.

3.     Am J Gastroenterol. 2012 Oct;107(10):1538-44; quiz 1537, 1545. doi: 10.1038/ajg.2012.219. Epub 2012 Jul 31.

The prevalence of celiac disease in the United States.

Rubio-Tapia A1, Ludvigsson JF, Brantner TL, Murray JA, Everhart JE.

4.     Cardiovasc Toxicol. 2014 Sep 23. [Epub ahead of print]

Glyphosate-Based Herbicides Potently Affect Cardiovascular System in Mammals: Review of the Literature.

Gress S1, Lemoine S, Séralini GE, Puddu PE.

5.     Anaerobe. 2013 Apr;20:74-8. doi: 10.1016/j.anaerobe.2013.01.005. Epub 2013 Feb 6.

Glyphosate suppresses the antagonistic effect of Enterococcus spp. on Clostridium botulinum.

Krüger M1, Shehata AA, Schrödl W, Rodloff A.

6.     Comp Clin Path. 2014;23(5):1535-1543. Epub 2013 Oct 10.

Influence of zinc supplementation on histopathological changes in the stomach, liver, kidney, brain, pancreas and spleen during subchronic exposure of Wistar rats to glyphosate.

Tizhe EV1, Ibrahim ND1, Fatihu MY1, Onyebuchi II2, George BD3, Ambali SF4, Shallangwa JM5.

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The effect of glyphosate on potential pathogens and beneficial members of poultry microbiotain vitro.

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Glyphosate affects the spontaneous motoric activity of intestine at very low doses - in vitro study.

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Non-Hodgkin lymphoma and occupational exposure to agricultural pesticide chemical groups and active ingredients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

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Ethoxylated adjuvants of glyphosate-based herbicides are active principles of human celltoxicity.

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Glyphosate induces human breast cancer cells growth via estrogen receptors.

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Cytotoxic and DNA-damaging properties of glyphosate and Roundup in human-derived buccal epithelial cells.

Koller VJ1, Fürhacker M, Nersesyan A, Mišík M, Eisenbauer M, Knasmueller S.