One simple way to decrease your risk of disease!

Shop organically from the EWG dirty dozen list.

So if you haven’t heard of glyphosate yet....you will now.

In short, glyphosate is a pesticide spray. Traditional farming practices use glyphosate on their crops to stop those pesky bugs, mice, weeds, etc. from eating/taking over their crops. Monsanto, the creator of glyphosate also started making seeds that could withstand being sprayed with this bug killer, these are called GMO seeds. Farmers started using a ton (and by a ton, I mean 15x what they were using before GMO seeds came out) of this bug spray and GMO seeds at this point, because it made for quicker work - there was no more need to carefully spray the plants anymore.

So what does that mean for us??

Well, if you think about it, pesticides kill bugs, right? We have millions of bugs in our microbiome (our gut). Guess what? Glyphosate doesn’t stop working at the farm....it continues killing the bugs that make up your microbiome when you eat the produce with glyphosate on it (and washing it off is not a thing - it’s within the produce). These bugs in our microbiome are what keep us healthy! Furthermore, 70% (or even more) of your immune system is in your gut!

There are many lawsuits and scientific peer reviewed studies have proven that glyphosate is not good for us, however, it is continually being used - how is this OK?

The most talked about damage that glyphosate can cause is cancer - yes, I said it, the 6 letter dirty word that we all hate.

Did you know that right now women have a 1 in 2 chance of getting cancer in their lifetime, and men have a 1 in 3 chance of getting it? Look around at your family - one of you will likely get cancer in your lifetime.

Beyond that, some studies have shown that it can contribute to anxiety and depression, irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease because of the disruption it causes in your microbiome.

It can also contribute to liver disease, and Endocrine disruption, which can lead to higher infertility rates, and miscarriages. I don’t know about you, but I’ve heard more and more about infertility issues lately.

Here’s the solution:

In order to minimize your contact with glyphosate, buy organically from (at a minimum) the dirty dozen list that EWG provides yearly. The dirty dozen are the crops that have the highest spray content on them. Again, glyphosate cannot be washed off, so buying organic is key!

You can also buy locally at farmers markets - ask the farmers directly what they use to minimize pests and weeds. Many farmers can still do organic practices but might not necessarily be considered organic by the USDA, because it costs a lot of money to get certified organic. They may even be working to be certified organic as well, which is a long process. You can hear first hand from local farmers if that’s the case!