Dear nécessité,
Happy day. Happy November. How are you? Are you feeling blah and yucky and cannot determine why? I have had so many days of that in my life, but I am here to tell you to push through and keep going forward regardless. Use this time to work on you. Do not be influenced by what others are or are not doing. Your time for calling, is your time for calling. Honor it. Do not be afraid.
As you may know, aside from my own health challenges, I have raised two children with food allergies, food sensitivities, environmental challenges, skin issues, and a bit more. I have spent many years crying and feeling helpless, but also on a mission to achieve and sustain optimal health for us all. I want to share with you what I have been thinking of often lately that is indeed impacting all of our health and some more serious than others, and yes, including you too darling.
Are you allergic, sensitive, or even sick from the dangerous ingredient glyphosate? Have you ever heard of glyphosate? (GLY-PHO-SATE)
Well, honey, I had not either until recent years. Once I dove more into educating myself on it and becoming more aware of this super dangerous ingredient and speaking to numerous doctors about it, I was not able to stop my mind from running wild with curiosity.
The question over and over was, “How much have I been consuming all this time and feeding my body, our children, and loved ones this super dangerous, silent naughty ingredient?” (And I mean naughty). I had to share this with you so you can arm yourself too and become more aware for you and your loved ones. Let’s press rewind for a second to give a backdrop of the pre-glyphosate days. My mother and grandmother, like your mother and grandmother, had fresh food supplied to them. Especially our grandmothers. They grabbed their collard greens and tomatoes from their backyard gardens. They never really thought or heard about food allergies or food sensitivities, because while it did exist, it was not so prevalent like today. They simply ate for nourishment. Fresh food was bountiful. Food was food. Food was fresh and honest. Bread was freshly baked. Gluten-free what? Um, organic what? Excuse me, pesticides? Herbicide? Get the freak outta here.
No, no, that was not a part of the conversation like today. The food was basically, food. And healthy! Corn was corn, sugar was sugar, and the story goes on…The food was not a serious business commodity like it is today. Hurry up and plump everything up, mix organisms to create this and that, not enough food to feed the world and so on. Not heard of in those simple, humble days.
The fields belonged to the farmers. It was agriculture at its best. The wheat growing was real wheat, not caramel color added to wheat bread to give it its color (like it is for some bread today). It was bonafide real wheat. There were 2 types of bread: white (no nutritional value) or wheat (the grain that offered better quality and nutrition). Look at all the bread on the market today.
Back then, the crops were well cared for and handled with respect, as if watering and caring for our plants with love, patience, sun, water, and soil that was of high quality and loaded with minerals and the components required to produce clean untampered fruits and vegetables was the code of armor in farming. Everyone did their job, and it was simple. People were not sick from what was being farmed or from what they were eating.
Fast forward to this century…
Climate change, tampered food, contaminated water, and this list goes on, but let’s get a peek more into glyphosate. This herbicide (a chemical that is known to destroy plants, pests, and weeds) is produced worldwide. In America, use all you want it seems like. In some other countries like France, Denmark, and Italy to name a few have bans and restrictions on it, and basically say, keep it out of our food, do not poison us so to speak. It is so dangerous.
Sometimes people do not care, or they are not well educated and properly informed on toxins, chemicals, and health. I feel bad for the people that spray this for a living. Please, please, please look at what they have to wear in order to work as a herbicide sprayer.
Would you wear that to work and take a chance on your health and on your one life? Is it worth it? I understand you must work to feed yourself and perhaps your family, but how and where is the line drawn? Is the herbicide worth your life? Where is Dave Chapelle for this conversation? As our food supply chain has become more fake with genetically modified foods (aka GMOs), this herbicide has been more and more on the rise. GMOs we’ll talk about another time, maybe next time. Stay tuned…
Unfortunately, we are all exposed to it. I strongly believe many of us are gluten-free and having more gastro/digestion issues than ever before, because our gut flora, mitochondria, microbiome has been affected at some capacity and knocked out of balance and forced to wreak havoc as a result. I believe it is irritating our large and small intestines, causing liver and bile issues and adding to possible leaky gut syndrome and more as we are consuming this way too often since it is in so much of our food supply. What has changed is we are surrounded by and eating this toxic chemical that has serious repercussions on our health. A dangerous disruptor!
My family first became gluten-free over 15 years ago and you could barely find gluten free items then, yet alone have or know of friends and peers that were also gluten free. Since then, it has been a serious uptick. Why? What is different? I look at the environment and what we are eating and inhaling daily. If you ask me, the environment and the food has drastically changed from quality and real clean healthy food. Our drinking water is contaminated with it and we drink it. When it is sprayed on weeds and other field items, I have since learned from one of our last conversations that it indeed can spread onto many crops that are not intended for spraying.
Therefore, it is important to go for organic, although it can still be tainted, we are better off selecting organic than not. We absorb this toxin through eating it, our skin can absorb it from drinking it and inhaling it. It is in the environment and so are we!
Glyphosate can affect kidney health, thyroid, cause cancers, create much havoc in our digestive system, our spleen and basically our entire biological system. It is dangerous and quite frankly, deadly. Please, arm yourself in the best way possible. We all must do our part some way somehow. If you have grass in your home yard, be sure to know what is used. Know your fertilizers and herbicides that you are in contact with at home. If you are loving and buying oat milk, is it organic? Oats are on the list as possibly exposed to glyphosate, especially if not organic.
We cannot wash this creature off, cook it off, or disinfect it. We cannot live in a bubble or in fear. We must try to keep our exposure as low as possible and that is through our choices we do or do not make. I simply want to help you do so and not feel so overwhelmed. I completely understand that a feeling you may be having right now is “Then what the heck is left for me to eat?” I am right there with you. We simply do our best. Put in much effort, educate ourselves like reading this and applying it as it is a nécessité. Please keep reading below. Do not freak out. Brace yourself.
Healthy Tips to Help Avoid Glyphosate Exposure:
- Avoid living or moving to where there are fields that spray herbicides
- Grow your own produce (I know not the easiest, but something rather than nothing)
- Avoid buying GMO Food
- Avoid eating GMO foods
- Avoid processed Foods
- Avoid gluten
- Avoid gliadin
- Avoid grains (I have heard that even organic are contaminated, I am not 100% positive)
- Buy certified organic
- Buy Non-GMO Project Verified Products (the label is usually on the front of the package. If there’s no label, then think twice, but still no guarantee). Learn more about them from The Non-GMO Project. I am not sure if they guarantee no glyphosate, but they are about no GMOs
- Buy organic cotton (I am not kidding)
- Know that the product “Round-Up” contains glyphosate
15 Foods Known to be Contaminated by Glyphosate (not limited to only this list, there is much more):
- Wine (yes, wine, I hear your disappointment)
- Sugar beets
- Grains
- Buckwheat
- Corn
- Potatoes
- Canola oil
- Soybeans
- Flax
- Oats
- Wheat
- Sorghum
- Barley
- Nuts
- Sugar
- Farm raised fish
How to Live in a World With Glyphosate:
- Read, learn and apply the knowledge
- Make tweaks where you can
- Stay positive
- Eat healthier
- Read all ingredients
- Get your levels of glyphosate tested here
And keep in mind, this is not everything listed here, so be mindful. We are in this together. Please feel free to reach out to me anytime. I am here for you the best way I can be so you are not alone.
You are a nécessité
Much love and gratitude,
Certified Holistic Health Coach
Certified in Gut Health
Author of The Thriving Child, Shut Up and Cook!
Certified in Plant-Based Nutrition Certification T.Colin Campbell for Nutrition Studies
• This information is only intended to bring awareness. Use and apply with caution. Always consult with your healthcare practitioner with questions and concerns before making specific health changes.
Erica Reid, Founder of nécessité
