Is Monsanto Behind The Gluten Intolerance Issue?
By James Donahue
Bread
has been a main staple for people all over the world for as long as humans have known how to grind grains into flour. So why
is it only in recent years that we have been hearing about the problem of gluten intolerance? Gluten is a protein composite
found in wheat, barley and rye.
Recently
there has been a growing demand for “gluten free” foods because a lot of people are suffering from a variety of
reactions to baked bread and other starch products made from wheat flour. These problems include chronic fatigue, anemia,
nausea, skin rashes, depression, neurological disorders and nutrient deficiencies.
Medical people have been scratching their heads over this growing problem. It is estimated that one in over 130
people now suffer from some form of gluten sensitivity. Theories range from damaged immune systems and damaged gut flora from
antibiotic use to feeding infants grains before they are able to properly digest them and diets deficient in vitamin A.
Author and nutritionist Kristen Michaelis recently stated in a personal
report that she believes a rise in damaged gut flora may be the cause of this relatively new food dilemma. She suggests that
the cause of this may be our over consumption of sugar, alcohol, antibiotics and environmental toxins like the introduction
of GMOs into our food supply in the last 15 years.
A published paper by Anthony Samsel and Stephanie Seneff in Toxicology, titled “Glyphosate, pathways to
modern diseases: Celiac sprue and gluten intolerance,” points to Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s
herbicide Roundup as “the most important causal factor in this epidemic.”
Samsel and Seneff wrote: “Glyphosate residues in wheat and other crops are likely increasing recently due
to the growing practice of crop desiccation just prior to harvest. We argue that the practice of ‘ripening’ sugar
cane with glyphosate may explain the recent surge in kidney failure among agricultural workers in Central America.”
The paper links exposure to glyphosate with celiac disease, which
in turn is linked in imbalances in gut bacteria. The authors say this herbicide is found to cause deficiencies in natural
amino acids, iron, cobalt, molybdenum, copper and other minerals, cause an increased risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
and cause infertility, miscarriages and birth defects.
Since it has only been in recent years that gluten intolerance has developed into a growing problem for people
that consume wheat starch products, we must agree with researchers who suggest it stems from an environmental factor. Sugar
and alcohol are not new to the diet of consumers. Thus the addition of Glyphosate from farm products is a strong suspect.
We agree that more research in this area is urgently needed. That
Monsanto, the producer of Roundup herbicide is a large and international corporation with the proven financial capability
of influencing political actions and court decisions, makes this corporation a difficult factor to deal with. Thus the road
to solving the gluten problem and other medical problems possibly linked to GMO food products appears to be a difficult one
to travel.
