Living Maxwell

Better Choices

 #1 Health Question You’re NOT Being Asked – What is Your Glyphosate Mitigation Strategy?

After being in the wellness world for more than 14 years and having eaten close to 100% organic since 2001, it has become painfully clear that almost everyone is ignoring one critical issue when it comes to their health – glyphosate.

Not paying attention to it could have very serious ramifications to your physical and emotional well-being, starting with your gut health.

And eating an all-organic diet is just not enough.

WHAT IS GLYPHOSATE AND WHY IS IT SO PROBLEMATIC?

Glyphosate is the primary ingredient in Monsanto’s toxic chemical Roundup , and it is the most widely sprayed herbicide in the world.

Approximately, 281 million pounds of it are used each year on U.S. farms, and this number does not include the amount sprayed on public parks, schools, homes and gardens.

Evidence of its pervasiveness:

In a 2022 study from The Detox Project, 45 out of 86 food products, such as chickpeas and sprouted bread, contained alarming levels of glyphosate, with the highest level detected at 1,150 parts per billion.

In 2022, a study by the Center for Disease Control found that 87% of children had detectable levels of glyphosate in their urine.

In 2022, a study by the Center for Disease Control also found that 80% of adults had detectable levels of glyphosate in their urine.

Frankly, these numbers look low and could be significantly higher, especially when you look at the testing done in other countries.

Glyphosate residue was recorded in 99.6% of Germans, and 75% of the target group in the study displayed levels that were five times higher than the legal limit of drinking water.

98% of Ecuadorian children living in an agricultural area tested for high concentrations of glyphosate in their urine.

HEALTH RISKS OF GLYPHOSATE

For the purposes of Proposition 65, the State of California has said that glyphosate “causes cancer.”

The World Health Organization has labeled glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans” – which means that it “probably causes cancer.”

Glyphosate has been linked to a litany of other serious ailments, including liver and kidney damage, fertility issues, respiratory issues and developmental effects.

GLYPHOSATE AND GUT HEALTH PROBLEMS

As many people have come to realize over the last decade, the connection between gut health and physical & emotional well-being is incredibly strong.

Unfortunately, numerous studies have linked glyphosate to detrimental effects on the microbiome, including disruption of gut bacteria, impaired gut barrier function and reduced microbial diversity

ISN’T EATING ORGANIC FOOD GOOD ENOUGH?

Eating organic is an incredibly important way to avoid glyphosate.  The toxic herbicide Roundup, whose primary ingredient is glyphosate, is prohibited in organic agriculture.

However, glyphosate — because it is so ubiquitous and has even showed up in our air and water supply — has contaminated parts of the organic supply chain.

That is why many organic food brands have obtained the Glyphosate Residue Free certification — because they want to prove to consumers that their products are truly glyphosate-free. Unfortunately, since USDA organic certification is largely a paper-based system, most organic products are never tested for glyphosate.

WHY I USE ION* GUT SUPPORT? 

Even though I have been eating close to 100% organic since 2001, I am very concerned about glyphosate inadvertently getting into my body, and the product that I use to protect myself is called Intelligence of Nature, also known as ION* Gut Support.

Developed by Dr. Zach Bush, a triple board-certified physician and a well-known figure in the regenerative organic community, ION* Gut Support is something I have been using for many years and is founded on the principle of letting the intelligence of nature lead the way.

How does it work?

The science behind ION* lies in strengthening the cellular integrity of your body’s barriers, including not just your gut, but your sinuses and skin as well. Keeping your cells connected keeps these barriers intact, which sets the stage for seamless interaction between you and your microbiome.

What it all comes down to is tight junction integrity.

Tight junctions are the seals between your cells which help to create defensive barriers at the gut, skin and sinuses. They act intelligently to keep toxins and foreign particles out of the blood stream while also allowing nutrients to enter. These seals are protected by the carbon and mineral metabolites of bacterial digestion.

Unfortunately, tight junction barriers can be degraded with exposure to glyphosate, gluten and other environmental insults. ION* has been scientifically shown to promote the strengthening of this barrier through redox signaling, even in the face of those environmental insults.

All-natural and derived from ancient soil, ION* functions as a signal, not a nutrient, and contains the same redox signaling molecules that are naturally produced by your own bacteria. These bacterial metabolites reinforce the communication network that already exists within you.

By supporting a beneficial shift in bacterial composition, ION* helps cultivate the types of microbes that reinforce your cellular integrity…and by reinforcing cellular integrity, ION* strengthens the terrain upon which your microbiome resides, further promoting its ability to diversify and thrive.

In addition to ION*’s peer-reviewed studies, the company has conducted two foundational double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials that demonstrate the ability of ION* Gut Support to promote innate health in two important ways: lysine production and immune function.

Incredibly, the Immune Trial resulted in the reduction of glyphosate levels in the urine of adult humans by 23% over a two-week course without change in diet or exercise behavior.

ION* Gut Support, which is Glyphosate Residue Free certified, gluten-free and produced in the U.S., is something I take before every meal. And I always put some in a small glass bottle for when I am traveling, and it is odorless and tasteless.

The unfortunate reality is that we have been left no choice — every person needs a glyphosate mitigation strategy.

Mine is an all-organic diet and ION* Gut Support.

What is yours?

(Disclosure: I am an affiliate of ION*, but I pay for this product myself and am on the auto-ship subscription. Without question, ION* Gut Support is one of the most important things I take for my emotional and physical well-being, and I also use ION* Skin Support.)