You see, your body works around the clock to remove glyphosate (AKA ‘Roundup®’) and all sorts of other nasty chemicals, and it relies especially on glutathione to do it.
Often called the ‘master antioxidant’, glutathione is a natural compound your body (especially your liver) produces to remove anything harmful, whether it’s a poison that comes from outside, or a waste product that comes from inside.
Various studies have looked at glyphosate levels in people’s urine, with one study finding it in 87% of children and another study finding it in 93% of pregnant women.
It’s becoming widely accepted that glyphosate is bad news, with even the World Health Organization classifying it as a ‘probable human carcinogen’.
It also has a ton of negative effects on the microbiome. In fact, Monsanto patented it as an antibiotic in 2010.
Avoiding glyphosate by eating certified organic is of course the best way to protect yourself, but even if you have the money to buy 100% organic groceries, you’re getting plenty of it in your food at virtually every restaurant you enjoy.
If you can better understand the way your body eliminates it, then you’ll be several steps ahead of most people in terms of protecting yourself against its negative effects.
How much exposure to Roundup is dangerous?
In a previous blog post, we explored the groundbreaking work of molecular biologist Dr. Gilles-Eric Séralini, a man who’s likely done more to expose the toxicity of glyphosate than anyone on the planet (be sure to read that article if you’d like to learn more about its negative health effects).
In a paper he published in 2017, Dr. Séralini gave an ‘ultra-low dose’ of Roundup to rats for a full 2 years, and observed a number of disturbing changes in their biochemistry.
What exactly did they mean by ‘ultra-low dose’?
Only 4 nanograms per kilogram of body weight, which is actually 400,000 times less than the maximum amount of glyphosate the FDA considers safe for humans (which happens to be 6 times as much as what’s allowed in Europe).
Just to put that in perspective, a large adult rat might weigh around 500 grams, which means that these animals were only given approximately 2 billionths (0.000000002) of a gram per day.
Thus, a crystal of glyphosate the size of only one grain of salt would be enough to give this amount to almost 350 rats every day for 2 years straight. Truly a tiny amount.
How glyphosate taxes and depletes your glutathione system
Even with this seemingly miniscule microdose of glyphosate, the researchers observed a number of disturbing biochemical changes in these rats’ detox pathways, many of which are consistent with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
Most importantly, they found alterations in the rats’ glutathione systems.
Here are some of their findings:
- Oxidative stress (from free radicals) that activated the glutathione system
- Two markers of glutathione depletion–called ‘ophthalmate’ and ‘norophthalmate’ were increased
- Depletion of cysteine, the most critical amino acid building block of glutathione (the popular detox supplement NAC is a form of cysteine)
- Mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation was disturbed, meaning the rats’ livers were less able to turn fat into energy
There have been a number of other studies on glyphosate that have also showed how glyphosate can deplete glutathione:
- One study showed that it triggered liver cell death by suppressing glutathione and NRF2, a signaling pathway involved in detoxification
- Another study observed increases in homocysteine, indicating depletion of the glutathione precursor cysteine and increased risk of cardiovascular disease
- This study showed depletion of glutathione, reduced lung function, and increased inflammatory markers in farmers
How to remove glyphosate from your body
It’s pretty clear that glutathione is critical for removing this pesticide from your body.
We’re extremely aware of the negative effects of chemicals like glyphosate, and formulated APEX Glutathione to help protect you against various toxic insults that you might encounter in modern life.
APEX not only contains a highly absorbable form of liposomal glutathione, but also 12 other ingredients expertly formulated to optimize your body’s glutathione system, including:
- NAC – an essential amino acid precursor to glutathione (which studies show is depleted by glyphosate)
- Alpha-Lipoic Acid – antioxidant that helps regenerate the glutathione molecule and supports liver detoxification
- B vitamins that your body uses to generate glutathione
- Minerals that are essential for your detox pathways
- Organic Milk Thistle Extract for liver health
- Ginkgo phytosome, Bacopa monnieri, and Jiaogulan – herbs that support glutathione production in the brain, protect the nervous system from toxic insults, and boost mood and focus
APEX Glutathione is the most advanced glutathione system on the market, but here are some more tips you can use to protect your health from this ubiquitous poison:
- Take NAC, which is a cost-effective way to boost your body’s glutathione production
- Find a decent probiotic, as studies have also indicated that glyphosate can wreck the microbiome
- If you can’t afford to buy 100% organic, use EWG’s Dirty Dozen & Clean 15 list, as it will help you avoid the most pesticide-laden produce items and only buy organic when it’s most important
- Don’t eat out too often, as 99% of restaurants use entirely conventional food
- Make sure you’re drinking plenty of water, as dehydration gets in the way of healthy detoxification
If you’d like to learn more about APEX Glutathione, you can visit this detailed information page here.
And if you’d like to learn more about glyphosate and detoxification, you’ll enjoy these other articles:
