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Glyphosate – Causing Celiac Disease?

Read what Dr. Mercola has to say about the effects Glyphosate.

Glyphosate: The Celiac-Causing Culprit

Posted on March 30th, 2015 by Dr. Mercola

The mounting incidence of celiac disease in the country is undeniably a cause for alarm. Based on the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness’ report, approximately one percent, or one in every 133 Americans, suffer from this debilitating condition in the United States alone.Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder triggered by a severe reaction to gluten that primarily affects your gastrointestinal system. This ailment is quite difficult to diagnose because it affects people in a myriad of different ways.

There are at least 300 symptoms linked to celiac disease, which include vomiting, abdominal bloating and pain, constipation, chronic diarrhea, and failure to thrive in infants and children. Adults, on the other hand, are more likely to experience:

  • Unexplained iron deficiency anemia (IDA)
  • Bone or joint pain
  • Depression or anxiety
  • Tingling or numbness in the hands and feet
  • Infertility or recurrent miscarriage
  • Canker sores in the mouth
  • Dermatitis herpetiformis

A recent study published by Dr. Stephanie Seneff and Dr. Anthony Samsel revealed that the continuously increasing application of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s broad-spectrum herbicide Roundup, on crops in the last 15 years appears to be strongly connected to the development and skyrocketing cases of celiac and other modern-day diseases like autism.

Seneff, a senior research scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), said:

“There’s an extremely strong correlation between the use of Roundup on corn and soy over time and the increase in all these different diseases, and celiac disease is one of them. We certainly have seen an explosive appearance of celiac disease almost overnight in the last five to 10 years. Now you have a growing section of gluten-free choices of various food products.”

She believes that rather than genetically modified organisms (GMOs), the real missing link between gluten intolerance and celiac disease is the massive use of glyphosate just before the harvesting of many of the non-organic wheat crops. It is applied at the end of the growing process to reduce the amount of residue that needs to be cleared and to get a head start on next year’s weeds.

Interestingly, when you expose wheat to a toxic chemical like glyphosate, it releases more seeds, which results in greater yield. Glyphosate also kills rye grass, a major weed problem for wheat growers as it is resistant to many other herbicides. However, what they’re not taking into consideration is the fact that rye grass helps rebalance the soil, allowing beneficial plants to thrive.

How Glyphosate-Doused Wheat Promotes Celiac Disease

Most of the non-organic wheat supply, which comprises a large percentage of processed foods, is now contaminated with glyphosate. Hence, the explosion of celiac disease and other gut dysfunction.
Many studies have long established that glyphosate has the potential to damage your gut flora and cause chronic degenerative diseases rooted in gut function. Basically, here’s how it works: the villi in your gut get destroyed by the glyphosate, which reduces your ability to absorb vitamins and minerals. Wheat also contains gliadin, which is difficult to break down. Normally, a reaction takes place that builds connections between different proteins in the wheat.

Glyphosate is inserted in the middle of that process, resulting in wheat that is too difficult to be digested. In their paper, Dr. Seneff and Dr. Samsel stated that glyphosate may attach to the gliadin as a consequence of a chemical reaction, causing your body to develop an immune reaction.

Avoid Celiac Disease Naturally

Celiac disease is not to be taken lightly, as it comes with various comorbidities, or diseases that are more commonly seen in people with celiac disease compared to the normal non-celiac population. Individuals with celiac disease have a higher risk of having gastrointestinal cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and producing an offspring with birth defects.

If you or anyone in your family has been diagnosed or suspected of having celiac disease, Dr. Mercola recommends taking these practical but proactive steps:

  • Take Epsom salt baths rather than a sulfur supplement, which bypasses your gut mucosa. The sulfur pathway is implicated in celiac disease, which is an essential component of optimal health. When your gut is inflamed, your body’s innate ability to transport sulfur and convert it into sulfate is impaired.
  • Switch to an all-organic diet to avoid further glyphosate exposure. Visit a farmers’ market near you and support farmers who grow only wholesome, organic, non-GMO produce.
  • Eat sulfur-rich foods like garlic. Raw garlic is highly potent and is easily absorbed by the body. Your red blood cells oxidize it to sulfate, and it gets into your blood as sulforaphane.