The world is finally realizing the dangers of glyphosate in our food system. Costco is planning to ban glyphosate from their stores, and Bayer is facing a plethora of lawsuits for the cancer-causing herbicide.

The world is also beginning to understand the problems with our food system and we’re starting to seriously look for alternatives to factory farmed meat.

We love the idea of meat-alternatives in an effort to adopt a more ecologically friendly and human approach to feeding the population. We have to find alternatives to factory farming. And the meat-alternative that’s all the rage today is the Impossible Burger. Burger King is rolling out the Impossible Whopper nationwide this year. White Castle, Hard Rock Cafe, Red Robin, Cheesecake Factory, and hundreds of other restaurants already have the Impossible Burger on their menu.

Related: Foods Most Likely to Contain Glyphosate

Unfortunately, the Impossible burger is not a healthy or environmentally conscious alternative to beef. Mom’s Across America reports that the Health Research Institute Laboratories found levels of glyphosate in the Impossible burger to be alarmingly high.

The total result (glyphosate and its break down AMPA) was 11.3 ppb. Moms Across America also tested the Beyond Meat Burger and the results were 1 ppb. These are levels eleven times higher than levels within the Beyond Meat Burger.

We are shocked to find that the Impossible Burger can have up to 11X higher levels of glyphosate residues than the Beyond Meat Burger according to these samples tested. This new product is being marketed as a solution for “healthy” eating, when in fact 11 ppb of glyphosate herbicide consumption can be highly dangerous. Only 0.1 ppb of glyphosate has been shown to alter the gene function of over 4000 genes in the livers, kidneys and cause severe organ damage in rats.**** I am gravely concerned that consumers are being misled to believe the Impossible Burger is healthy.”

Zen Honeycutt, Executive Director of Moms Across America

Related: How to Avoid GMOs – And Everything Else You Should Know About Genetic Engineering

Soy and wheat crops that are often heavily sprayed with glyphosate. The CEO of Impossible Foods recently announced that the soy patties will be made using GMO soy. Previously the Impossible Burger was being made with a textured wheat protein, but in order to meet demand, they switched to a non-GM soy protein concentrate, and are now switching to genetically engineered soy. The CEO & Founder of Impossible Foods, Pat Brown, said that GM soy is “the safest and most environmentally responsible option that would allow us to scale our production and meet demand.”

One the switch is made to GM soy the glyphosate levels in the Impossible Burger are likely to rise. Genetically-modified soy is a “Roundup Ready” product.

Common Drea,s broke down the CEOs clams in an excellent article titled, 6 Reasons Impossible Burger’s CEO Is Wrong About GMO Soy.

As most already know, in what may go down as the worst acquisition in the history of business, Bayer bought Monsanto last year for $63 billion. While Monsanto has become Bayer’s biggest mistake, you’ve got to hand it to Monsanto for knowing when to sell. Since the buyout, Bayer has been embroiled in litigation, with plaintiffs winning lawsuits showing that glyphosate likely caused their cancer.

Mom’s Across America reported that on January 18:

Elizabeth Desiree of Washington state posted on Facebook that she just got a call from an employee at Costco and he told her that Costco would no longer be selling Roundup. She had written him a letter and he was calling her back. I was excited but reserved my excitement. There is so much fake news these days. I called the headquarters, and after two days of messages and calls, I did finally confirm with three people that Costco was not ordering Roundup or any glyphosate-based herbicides for the incoming spring shipments. They would not be selling it in any stores, all across America. This is HUGE! How fantastic! One employee mentioned that they had looked into organic alternatives first and were happy with the results. More than one employee mentioned the lawsuit (Johnson V Monsanto) for part of the reasoning. They said they just felt like it was the right thing to do.

Mom’s Across America

Related: Foods Most Likely to Contain Glyphosate

Costco has not released a statement. But the company has been a progressive leader in many respects. They have been known for taking better care of their employees and their environmental initiatives. In 2014 Huffington Post article, Costco was ranked second to Google on employee satisfaction. And they are one of the largest sellers in the country of organic foods, and they support farmers that are transitioning to organic growing practices.

Considering the amount of food Costco sells, this should amount to a considerable loss in revenue for the makers of RoundUp, not to mention other stores that will likely follow suit.

Two weeks ago a California jury awards two plaintiffs $2.055 billion dollars in damages. The jury awarded $2 billion in punitive damages and $55 million in compensatory damages. This is Bayer’s third loss in court from lawsuits over glyphosate. The first judgment was reported in August of 2018, where judges awarded $289 million in damages (later reduced to $78 million). The second happened in March of this year, where a San Francisco jury found in favor of plaintiff Edwin Hardeman to the tune of $80 million in damages.

Related: How To Heal Your Gut 

The damages award will probably be reduced thanks to U.S. Supreme Court rulings that limit the punitive to compensatory damages ratio at 9:1.

Bayer is now looking forward to more than 13,400 pending U.S. lawsuits seeking damages from glyphosate use, and that number is likely to keep rising for some time.

In a new study, volunteers had their food consumption monitored for a month. When they ate “ultra-processed food,” they consumed 500 more calories a day compared to when they ate unprocessed foods.

Ultra-processed foods have become the staple of our modern diet in the U.S. These foods make up 57.9% of food consumed in the United States. Ultra-processed foods are made with cheap industrial ingredients. They’re high in fat (typically trans fats), refined sugars, and refined salt. They are typically made with wheat, genetically modified corn, and genetically modified soy, and the foods almost test high in glyphosates. Organic foods can also be ultra-processed. The US National Institutes of Health believes ultra-processed foods affect hunger hormones in the body, leading people to eat more than they otherwise would.

Related: How To Heal Your Gut 

The study was conducted by researchers at the National Institutes of Health. It’s said to be the first randomized, controlled study to show eating ultra-processed foods causes people to eat more and gain weight.

There are debates about what should define an “ultra-processed food” but lead researcher Dr Kevin Hall said is quoted as saying [it’s like] “…pornography – it’s hard to define but you know it when you see it”. BBC listed what they consider to be ultra-processed foods:

• Mass-produced packaged breads and buns
• Sweet or savoury packaged snacks including crisps
• Chocolate bars and sweets
• Sodas and sweetened drinks
• Meatballs, poultry and fish nuggets
• Instant noodles and soups
• Frozen or shelf-life ready meals
• Foods made mostly or entirely from sugar, oils and fats

Related: Stop Eating Like That and Start Eating Like This – Your Guide to Homeostasis Through Diet

The study had twenty people live in a laboratory for a month. For two weeks half of the team consumed ultra-processed meals and the other half were given unprocessed meals. The diets were switched for last two weeks of the study. The participants ate as much food as they wanted. Researchers monitored what they ate.

Participants on the ultra-processed diet averaged 508 calories more per day and gained an average of 2 pounds over the two-week period. People on the unprocessed diet lost about 2 pounds on average throughout the two-week period.

In February of 2018 French researchers suggested a link between highly processed foods and cancer. A research team at the Universite Sorbonne Paris Cite took food surveys to find out what foods people were consuming. The participants were followed for an average of five years.

The results showed that for a 10% increase in ultra-processed food consumption cancer diagnosis increased by 12%.

Poured-in-place (PIP) rubber surfacing is the most popular playground surface in city parks and school playgrounds. At first glance, recycled rubber from shredded tires seems like a greener, safer choice.

But more kids are suffering from concussions. The CDC studied national data from 2001 to 2013 for playground injuries. More than 200,000 kids go to the emergency room for playground-related injuries every year. The rates of traumatic brain injuries have increased since the implementation of rubber mulch in playgrounds.

The increase in brain injuries could be due to increased awareness of the potential seriousness of concussions and the need for treatment. It’s also possible that more children are playing in playgrounds, and therefore we are seeing an increase in injuries. But some experts think that the rubber surface provides a false sense of security and that kids are more likely to take greater risks leading to more injuries.

The researchers can’t explain why serious head injuries are increasing. ‘We can only make assumptions’ ” Bell said.

Dr. Jeneita Bell

There are also concerns of toxicity in the rubber mulch. Researchers tested lead levels for soil, sand, wood mulch, and rubber surfaces for 28 playgrounds. Their findings report that rubber playground surfaces averaged up to triple the lead levels of the other playground surfaces. The study team also found higher levels of lead in soil. They determined that from a toxicity standpoint sand may be the safest choice for playgrounds.

Recycled rubber may also contain other toxic substances, including but not limited to:

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) – a group of chemicals that are formed during the incomplete burning of coal, oil, gas, wood, garbage, or other organic substances)

Phthalates –  a group of chemicals used to make plastics more flexible, known to affect hormones

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) – may damage the liver, kidneys, central nervous system, and may cause cancer

Playgrounds use a variety of materials to protect children against injuries. However, we should always consider the full suite of health effects associated with materials that children come into contact with.”

Study author Nick Arisco of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston

Denver has approved the grassroots ordinance 301 to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms (aka psychedelic mushrooms).

It looked like the initiative would be a failed effort but it narrowly passed. It with 50.56% voting in favor of decriminalization.

Psilocybin mushrooms won’t be legal in Denver, but once the ordinance goes into effect the city will not be criminally prosecuting or arresting adults for possession, as long as they are 21 or more years old. The ballot also allows for growing the mushrooms for personal use. The initiative is expected to take effect sometime next year.

Recommended: How To Heal Your Gut 

What happened in Denver may be the start of a much larger movement, which seeks safe access to psilocybin for its purported medicinal value. Supporters point to research, suggesting psilocybin is not addictive and causes few ER visits compared to other illegal drugs. Ongoing medical research shows it could be a groundbreaking medicine for treatment-resistant depression and to help curb nicotine addiction.

NPR

Republican congressman Jeff Shipley, in Iowa, has proposed to legalize the medicinal use of psilocybin mushrooms, MDMA, and ibogaine. Oregon and California also have campaigns legalize psilocybin mushrooms for the 2020 elections.

Recommended: Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones

Psilocybin mushrooms classified under federal law as a Schedule 1 drug. NPR reports that DEA officials in Denver say they will still prosecute for psilocybin possession and trafficking.

The Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN) reports that a Freedom of Information Act disclosure from the FDA revealed the MMR vaccine was “licensed based on clinical trials which in total had less than 1,000 participants and far more adverse reactions than previously acknowledged.”

It’s alarming that an appeal was required to get this information, but it’s more alarming that every time ICAN prevails in obtaining a FOIA disclosure from the FDA, CDC or HHS, we learn about another serious shortcoming in their duties to assure Americans’ health and health care.”

Del Bigtree, ICAN founder

Del Bigtree is the Emmy-Award winning producer, and director of the documentary “Vaxxed: From Coverup to Catastrophe.”

Recommended: How To Heal Your Gut

The press release lists the following “key facts” learned from the clinical trial reports obtained from the FDA:

• There were eight clinical trials that in total had less than 1,000 individuals, out of which only 342 children received the MMR vaccine
• The safety review period only tracked ‘adverse events’ for 42 days after injection
• More than half or a significant percent of all participants in each of the eight trials developed gastrointestinal symptoms and upper respiratory infections
• All adverse events were generically described as ‘other viruses’ and not considered in safety profile of licensure
• The control group received other vaccines for either rubella or measles and rubella, and none of the controls received a placebo (an inert substance such as a saline injection)

Thanks to the laws in this country that for now at least permit access to various government records, we now know the MMR vaccine was licensed using an irresponsibly small and limited group of children.

But what’s even more alarming is learning about the serious adverse events that were known and acknowledged, yet ignored in order to license the MMR vaccine. This was after only tracking adverse events for 42 days after injection – imagine what they might have found had they tracked safety for three years against an appropriate control, like they do for drugs.”

Del Bigtree

Recommended:

• How To Detoxify and Heal From Vaccinations – For Adults and Children
• Doctors Against Vaccines – Hear From Those Who Have Done the Research
• Scientists Against Vaccines – Hear From Those Who Have Done the Research
• The MMR Vaccine – A Comprehensive Overview of the Potential Dangers and Effectiveness

Bayer finally got some good news after two recent major defeats in court. With more than 11,000 lawsuits pending, Bayer stands to lose billions, but at least the EPA is in its corner.

The lawsuits claim that glyphosate causes cancer. In March a federal jury in San Francisco awarded $80 million to Edwin Hardeman, a plaintiff with cancer. In August of last year, Bayer was ordered to pay 289 million to Dewayne Johnson, though the award got cut down to 78.5 million. Regardless, the EPA…

…continues to find that there are no risks to public health when glyphosate is used in accordance with its current label and that glyphosate is not a carcinogen.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Environmental advocates denounced the decision, and so did the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s Agency.

Just weeks ago, the administration’s own officials at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry released a toxicology report for glyphosate, which confirms that exposure to the toxic herbicide is harmful to human health. ‘Health agencies and credible non-industry experts who’ve reviewed this question have all found a link between glyphosate and cancer,’ Sass says.”.

NRDC

Recommended: How To Heal Your Gut 

Right now Bayer is in the middle of the third glyphosate lawsuit. It’s a joint trial with Alva and Alberta Pilliod. Brent Wisner is representing the married couple from Livermore, California. They say that their 35 years of spraying Roundup on their residential properties gave them the disease.

The probability that both Alva and Alberta would get non-Hodgkin lymphoma is 1 in 20,000, Wisner told the 12-person jury in Oakland on Thursday. Their treating physician said it was so unlikely they would both develop the same cancer that an environmental factor like Roundup was the likely culprit.”

The Guardian

Alva was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2011. He has been in remission ever since, but he says the aggressive chemotherapy degraded his cognitive abilities. Alberta was diagnosed with the same cancer in 2015. She had a tumor in the middle of her brain. The chemotherapy left her with extensive brain damage and then she relapsed. She did more chemotherapy and is now said to be in remission.

In the lawsuit, Brent Wisner has made the explosive allegation that Monsanto used fake data to win over regulators.

The company planted one of its employees at a contract lab called Industrial Bio-Test Laboratories (IBT) in the 1970s to fake negative mouse carcinogenicity data for Roundup’s active ingredient glyphosate that were to be used to win regulatory approval for the weed killer in 1975; planned an attack to discredit the World Health Organization’s (WHO) cancer research agency, anticipating the agency would classify glyphosate as a probable human carcinogen in 2015; and exploited “deep connections” within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to classify glyphosate as non-carcinogenic.

The Guardian

Related: Gluten Intolerance, Wheat Allergies, and Celiac Disease – It’s More Complicated Than You Think

Glyphosate may increase the risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma by 41%, but it’s not just cancer we have to worry about. A recent study showed that individuals who were exposed to pesticides were more than twice as likely to have heart problems including heart disease. Another recent study showed that prenatal exposure to glyphosate increased odds of having a child with autism spectrum disorder with intellectual disabilities by 30%. It also has been shown to cause tumors and birth defects.

And glyphosate is hard to avoid. Corn is often drenched in glyphosate, so are oats and wheat and many other very common crops. It’s been found in beer, wine, and coffee. In another study, it was found in 93% of urine tested.

Related: Foods Most Likely to Contain Glyphosate

Bayer bought Monsanto for 66 billion dollars in 2016. Since then Bayer’s share prices have been cut in half.

Bayer firmly believes that the science supports the safety of glyphosate-based herbicides, which are some of the most thoroughly studied products of their kind, and is pleased that the regulators tasked with assessing this extensive body of science continue to reach favorable conclusions.”

Bayer