I find yellow dandelions pretty. I’m not the biggest fan of when they grow out and become wispy white but they don’t bother me that much.
Glyphosate is widely used herbicide and is one of the main ingredients in the product Roundup. It has widespread use for weed control in traditional farming and residential lawn care. Numerous studies have been conducted on a possible cancer correlation with the International Agency for Research on Cancer calling glyphosate likely carcinogenic to humans.
Glyphosate can also have a major negative impact on gut health as well. Much like how glyphosate kills weeds, it has also been shown to kill beneficial gut bacteria. On the flip side, pathogenic bacteria such as salmonella appear to be resistant to glyphosate. What this leads to is dysbiosis of the bacteria in our gut. This imbalance can cause all sorts of gut disturbances which can ultimately lead to whole body health implications. Intestinal permeability tends to increase with dysbiosis. With increased permeability, harmful toxic compounds can leak into the blood stream and get to the brain causing neurological changes leading to decreases in memory and learning capability.
Another concern is the pro-inflammatory impact of glyphosate. This can lead to a series of disturbances that can negatively impact our immune system and overall health. Glyphosate exposure has even been linked to Celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity however more research is needed on this.
So what are the options? Embrace the pretty yellow dandelions like I have, choosing not to use glyphosate on my yard and in my garden. When buying your food make an effort to choose more options grown by organic farmers. For produce, utilize the Environmental Working Group’s “Clean Fifteen” and “Dirty Dozen” which provides guidance on conventionally grown produce that has higher pesticide residues. Visit https://www.ewg.org/ for more information.
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