Our Food is Poisoned

Originally posted on QuoraAugust 28, 2022

Sources:

Glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Round Up commonly sprayed on wheat and other cash crops, has been found to cross the blood brain barrier and linked to neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's. This is from a recent study on neuroinflammation:

In a new study, Arizona State University Graduate Research Assisstant Joanna Winstone, Assistant Professor Ramon Velazquez and their colleagues at the Translational Genomics Research Institute explore the effects of glyphosate exposure on the brains of mice.

The research demonstrates, for the first time, that glyphosate successfully crosses the blood-brain barrier and infiltrates the brain. Once there, it acts to enhance levels of a critical factor known as TNF-α.

TNF-α is a molecule with two faces. This pro-inflammatory cytokine performs vital functions in the neuroimmune system, acting to enhance the immune response and protect the brain.

When levels of TNF-α are dysregulated, however, a host of diseases linked with neuroinflammation can result. Among these is Alzheimer’s disease.

The study further demonstrates in cell culture studies that glyphosate exposure appears to increase the production of soluble beta amyloid (Aβ) and reduce the viability of neurons. The accumulation of soluble beta amyloid, the sticky protein responsible for the formation of soluble beta amyloid plaques, is one of the central diagnostic hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease.

Further evidence suggestive of potential hazards to neurological health were observed when the researchers examined changes in gene expression via RNA sequencing in the brains of mice following glyphosate exposure.

These RNA transcripts hinted at disruptions in the expression of genes related to neurodegenerative disease, including dysregulation of a class of brain cells responsible for producing the myelin sheath critical for proper neuronal communication. These cells, known as oligodendrocytes, are affected by elevated levels of TNF-α.

“We find increases in TNF-α in the brain, following glyphosate exposure,” said Velazquez, the senior author of the paper. “While we examined (Alzheimer’s disease) pathology, this might have implications for many neurodegenerative diseases, given that neuroinflammation is seen in a variety of brain disorders.”

Velazquez and Winstone, the first author on the study, are researchers with the ASU-Banner Neurodegenerative Disease Research Center and Arizona State University’s School of Life Sciences.

The research appears in the current issue of the Journal of Neuroinflammation

An earlier study on chronic ultra low glyphosate exposure found that the toxin can cause significant kidney and liver damage as well even at legally admissible levels:

a 2-year study was conducted where rats were administered via drinking water at a concentration of 0.1 ppb Roundup, thus containing not only glyphosate but also adjuvants [17]. The glyphosate equivalent concentration was 0.05 μg/L and corresponds to an admissible concentration within the European Union (0.1 μg/L) and USA (700 μg/L). The results showed that Roundup caused an increased incidence of anatomical signs of pathologies, as well as changes in urine and blood biochemical parameters suggestive of liver and kidney functional insufficiency in both sexes.

Why do I bring this up? Because glyphosate exposure is not limited to groundskeepers, farmers and agricultural workers. Any one who buys big brand food at the grocery store is exposed to it in one way or another whether it's in cereals, bread, beans, protein powders or any wheat, peas or corn products. And remember even though they are within the legally admissible level, chronic doses below the legally admissible level have been found to cause liver and kidney damage.

The European chemicals agency has classified glyphosate as a substance that causes serious eye damage and the WHO as a probable human carcinogen, yet the Monsanto-Bayer conglomerate, with the backing of the EPA and USDA, has continued to promote their poison as a harmless panacea and even pressured two countries (Mexico and Thailand) into not banning it through lobbying and, in Thailand’s case, threatening to remove favorable trade status.