Not long ago, four American families took part in a very revealing experiment. The families were from Atlanta, Baltimore, Minneapolis and Oakland, and each included two or three children.
For the first five days, the families ate their regular diets, which consisted of non-organic foods. These are the types of food that the average American eats.
For the next six days, the families continued to eat their regular diets with only one, single exception: all of the foods they ate were certified organic.
Now, during this process the members of each family provided urine samples every day. The researchers used these samples to test for the presence of glyphosate and a variety of pesticides.
The results were absolutely stunning!
Reduce Your Body’s Toxic Burden
The biggest reveal was that glyphosate levels began dropping quickly once the families switched to an all-organic diet. And after six days, levels of glyphosate (and its metabolite aminomethyl phosphonic acid) dropped by more than 70%.
Now, you know my thoughts on glyphosate – the main ingredient in the weedkiller Roundup that is used liberally on food crops. It’s bad news all the way around. Sure, the EPA would have you believe there is a safe level of glyphosate that causes “no risks of concern to human health.” They pretty much said the same thing about DDT, asbestos, lead and PCBs. And we all know the horror stories that emerged from the use of these products!
So the idea that you can drastically reduce your glyphosate exposure simply by eating the organic version of all the foods you already eat is quite appealing. But the good news doesn’t stop there.
Not only were glyphosate levels reduced, but an earlier phase of the research found that levels of pesticides fell by somewhere around 60% and 90%. This includes several neurotoxic pesticide chemicals such as chlorpyrifos, clothianidin and malathion.
This shows what a huge difference eating organic can have on your body’s toxic burden!
Keeping Your Body Clear of Pesticides
If you’re serious about avoiding chemical-laden foods, your best bet is to stick with safe, all-natural foods that are certified organic. This includes naturally raised meat products such as grass-fed beef, pastured poultry and wild-caught fish.
You really want to watch out for foods that are processed. They’re the worst. More than 75% of processed foods contain crop ingredients that were grown using liberal amounts or Roundup.
Glyphosate is also a pre-harvest drying agent for certain food crops, like oats, wheat and barley. So your breakfast cereals and other grain-based products are likely to contain a lot of it.
As far as your fruits and veggies are concerned, at minimum I recommend sticking with guidelines produced by the Environmental Working Group (EWG).
Each year this group analyzes the amount of pesticide residue on the fruits and vegetables you buy at the supermarket. Then they release a report called “The Dirty Dozen™.” It’s a list of commercial produce that contain the highest levels of pesticide residue and should ALWAYS be purchased organic.
But there are some fruits and veggies EWG says is safe to buy commercially grown. They call them the “Clean Fifteen™” and they are least likely to contain pesticide residue. This means you can safely purchase non-organic versions as long as you wash them prior to eating.
SOURCES:
Fagan J, Bohlen L, Patton S, Klein K. Organic diet intervention significantly reduces urinary glyphosate levels in U.S. children and adults. Environ Res. 2020 Oct;189:109898.
Hyland C, Bradman A, Gerona R, Patton S, Zakharevich I, Gunier RB, Klein K. Organic diet intervention significantly reduces urinary pesticide levels in U.S. children and adults. Environ Res. 2019 Apr;171:568-575.
