How Roundup Broke Our Health
- Elizabeth Priest
- Nov 23, 2025
- 9 min read
The Link Between Glyphosate and Human Health
Introduced by Monsanto in 1974, the glyphosate-based product Roundup was initially marketed as a convenient, 'safe' weed killer for both farms and suburban lawns. By 1996, Monsanto furthered its influence with the introduction of Roundup Ready seeds—genetically modified crops designed to withstand direct glyphosate spraying. This innovation allowed for the saturation of entire fields with herbicides while preserving the crop.
Today, glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide in human history, posing an urgent threat to our health and environment. Each year, more than 250 million pounds of glyphosate is sprayed on American crops such as corn, soybeans, rice, oats, and beans.
Because of the massive amount of use of Glphoysate it also appears in a wide range of products from cereal, hummus, and oats to children's snacks like crakers, cookies, wheat products, beans, lentils, soy foods, wine, beer, and even cotton tampons, which come into direct contact with some of the most absorbent tissue in the human body.
Even when people think they are enjoying a "healthy" snack, like hummus, or choosing oat milk for their lattes, they are likely consuming a hefty dose of
glyphosate too.
Glyphosate is also classified as an organophosphate herbicide—a chemical family closely related to the compounds used in Agent Orange, another Monsanto product.. While not identical, they share mechanisms of toxicity that disrupt biology at a foundational level. Glyphosate is not just a weed killer; it is also considered an antibiotic, one of the most potent antibiotics out there, and it is a potent interrupter of the biological processes that support life.
And glyphosate is not acting alone.
While glyphosate dominates the conversation, atrazine (a potent endocrine disruptor), 2,4-D, and paraquat (linked to Parkinson's and severe oxidative stress) amplify the problem and add to the body's toxin burden.
But glyphosate stands apart for several reasons:
Its massive global scale of use
Its persistence in soil and water
Its biological effects on microbes and mitochondria
Its ability to damage multiple human systems simultaneously
It has a long-lasting ecological impact on soil, wildlife, waterways, and future generations
Although all these chemicals are approved for use and considered "safe", these products contribute to the overall toxic load in our bodies, increase our susceptibility to neurotoxic diseases and conditions like cancer, and create an unprecedented environmental health crisis— but glyphosate is its centerpiece.
And this crisis is especially visible here in the heartland of America, where I live in Kansas. Industrial agriculture dominates the landscape, and with it comes some of the highest herbicide exposure levels in the world. This isn't a problem happening "somewhere else." It's right here in our soil, our water, our food, and ultimately, our bodies.
Nutrition Begins in the Soil
As a nutritionist, I firmly believe nutrition is foundational to health—but proper nutrition begins long before food reaches a plate. It begins with how the food is grown, how the soil is treated, and what the biochemical environment surrounding the seeds, plants, and animals we rely on for nourishment is like. We cannot separate human nutrition from agricultural practices.
Our food today often lacks the nutrient density and biological vitality it once carried, because the soil itself is depleted. Herbicides like glyphosate don't just kill weeds; they devastate the soil microbiome, reduce mineral availability, and disrupt the natural cycles that create nourishing food.
If the soil is depleted and doused in toxins, our food is depleted and full of toxins..
And if our food is nutrient-poor and full of toxins, we become sick, nutrient-depleted, and full of toxins.
From Earth to Our Plates: Glyphosate's Ubiquitous Reach
The excessive use of glyphosate has reached such a level that very little on Earth remains untouched. Its high water solubility allows it to easily contaminate groundwater, rivers, ponds, and even rainwater. In some areas, glyphosate is even sprayed directly into lakes and waterways, under the false belief that it won't affect marine life.
Glyphosate is used as a pre-harvest desiccant to dry crops quickly and evenly. When glyphosate contaminates water and soil, it ends up in our food system and then in our bodies. Some of the foods with the highest levels of Glyphosate residue include:
oats
wheat
barley
chickpeas
lentils
dry beans
Soybeans
(Legumes are especially vulnerable because they absorb glyphosate from the soil and accumulate it when sprayed directly before harvest.)
Other foods where residues frequently show up:
almonds
apples
peas
grapes
rice
sunflower seeds
Glyphosate is now in our water and food systems - it's an environmental concern and it's a concern to our health. The contamination doesn't stop at the farm. It travels straight from our fields… into our food… and ultimately into our bodies.
And here's the part most people don't realize: many of the foods our children eat are already overloaded with artificial dyes, preservatives, emulsifiers, and ultra-processed additives—and on top of all of that, they are now also carrying residues of glyphosate and other herbicides and pesticides. This chemical burden stacks layer upon layer on growing, vulnerable bodies.
And if glyphosate is this pervasive in our food and water, the next logical question becomes:
What is it doing inside our bodies?
Let's break that down—so you can understand its impact, test your exposure, and take action to protect your health.
What Glyphosate Does to Soil, It Does to Your Body
Both soil and the human body rely on diverse, living microbial ecosystems.
When we drench soil in glyphosate:
Beneficial microbes die
Fungal-to-bacterial ratios become distorted
Soil loses its structure and fertility
Crops grow in depleted, microbiologically impoverished dirt
As a result, much of today's food—organic and conventional—is grown in soil that has been chronically weakened. This means the food product is nutrient-depleted.
Inside the human gut, glyphosate causes a similar collapse
Glyphosate does more than disrupt the microbial diversity in our soils- Just like the soil, our gut microbiome collapses under repeated glyphosate exposure. Glyphosate is a potent antibiotic, and so it disrupts the gut microbiome with precision:
Reduces beneficial bacteria
Favors pathogenic microbes (with reduced beneficial bacteria, it makes it really easy for pathogenic bacteria to overgrow)
Destroys the microvilli in the small intestine, damages the intestinal barrier, and creates "leaky gut"
Interferes with detoxification
Impairs mitochondrial function
inflammation rises
The immune system becomes dysregulated
Mitochondria evolved from bacteria. So when bacterial systems are disrupted and even killed off, our mitochondria suffer too.
A 2013 study on the effects of glyphosate on pathogenic and beneficial members of the gut microbiota found that highly pathogenic bacteria (Salmonella, Clostridium perfringens, Clostridium botulinum) are resistant to glyphosate, while most beneficial bacteria (enterococcus spp., bacillus spp., bifidobacterium spp, lactobacillus spp.) were found to be highly susceptible.
But the story goes deeper.
How Glyphosate Disrupts Life at the Cellular Level
One of the most damaging — and least understood — effects of glyphosate is its impact on the shikimate pathway. Plants, bacteria, and fungi use this enzyme pathway to create essential amino acids such as alanine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan. These amino acids are the foundational building blocks for protein synthesis, which is vital for cellular repair. Humans do not have this pathway, but the microbes inside us do. When glyphosate enters the system, it acts as an "eraser," essentially eliminating these amino acids. Without these amino acids, proteins cannot be made, and cells cannot maintain their protein structure, which they need constantly for repair, so the outcome is cell death. Mitochondria rely on these amino acids to generate ATP (cellular energy); when aromatic amino acids are depleted, mitochondrial energy production collapses. Glyphosate is a toxin that disrupts life at the level of amino acids and proteins.
The disruption from glyphosate exposure reaches deep into the mitochondria, the tiny bacteria-derived powerhouses inside every cell. What we know is that glyphosate is a powerful antibiotic; it kills bacteria in the soil and in plants, and we then ingest foods with glyphosate residue and antibiotics, which kill bacteria in our gut microbiomes and mitochondria. When we take an antibiotic, it does its job with precision and wipes out the collective, synergistic workforce of bacteria and mitochondria- essentials for human cell health.
Otto Warburg identified over 100 years ago that before cancer develops, mitochondrial metabolism breaks down. We know cancer thrives in a low-energy state, and glyphosate contributes directly to this low-energy state by damaging mitochondria and creating the perfect environment for immune dysregulation, chronic disease, and even cancer to emerge.
Guys, our overall health largely depends on having healthy mitochondria, healthy cells, a healthy gut, and a robust, diverse gut microbiome. Glyphosate doesn't just affect weeds — it disrupts the basic biochemical machinery of life.
Glyphosate Depletes Minerals
As a metal chelator, glyphosate binds minerals and renders them bio-unavailable. When glyphosate binds to minerals in the soil, crops cannot absorb them. The minerals become bio-unavailable, stripping food of key nutrients. This causes mineral-depleted soil and nutrient-depleted crops.
Once inside us, glyphosate continues its mineral-binding behavior. It chelates minerals in the bloodstream, blocks their absorption in the gut, disrupts enzymes that rely on minerals as cofactors, reduces mitochondrial function (mitochondria are mineral-hungry), and impairs detox pathways that depend on minerals. Essentially, glyphosate starves our cells of the minerals that make life possible. Minerals such as magnesium, manganese, zinc, selenium, iron, and sulfur are essential for hormone health, thyroid function, fertility, adrenal regulation, immune balance, and detoxification.
Minerals are not optional. They are structural, electrical, and biochemical essentials your body cannot survive without.
A Functional Look at the Body's Response to Glyphosate Load
What I see every day in clinical practice.
I routinely test glyphosate levels in my clients, and it is astounding how many people show elevated levels—even those who eat "healthy" or avoid obvious sources of exposure. And, every person's result shows some level of glyphosate. Some are even off the chart, elevated. And sure, you might think this is good- I mean, at least they are excreting this from their body, right?
Well...
Here's the critical point: glyphosate is measured in the urine.
That means anyone with elevated glyphosate levels in their urine is actively excreting it through their detox pathways. Actively and chronically taxing the liver and kidneys to detoxify and eliminate this from the body.
While I'm always relieved to see that the body is at least eliminating it, the bigger, more sober truth is this: humans were never designed to have a synthetic herbicide moving through their tissues in the first place. If it's coming out, that means it was inside—interacting with the gut, the microbiome, the liver, the mitochondria, the endocrine system, and the immune system.
The presence of glyphosate in urine is not a sign of "normal" detoxification- it is a sign of environmental exposure so pervasive that our detox "organs", like our liver and our kidneys, are continuously forced to deal with something never meant for the human body, and our biology is not equipped to handle.
I also routinely check and monitor liver markers, kidney markers, zonulin, calprotectin, the gut microbiome, and mineral status, among others, especially when addressing downstream effects on the body from exposure to these toxins.
Humans Are Not "Roundup Ready.
There is a long list of documented health consequences linked to glyphosate exposure. Such as:
ADHD & neurodevelopmental changes
Autoimmune disease(s)
Autism spectrum disorders
Cancer (including non-Hodgkin lymphoma)
Chronic kidney disease
Endocrine disruption & hormonal imbalance
Epigenetic damage affecting future generations
Gut dysbiosis
Inflammation
Infertility and reproductive decline
Leaky gut syndrome
NAFLD (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease)
Neurodegeneration, including Parkinson's & Alzheimer's
Sperm death and reduced motility
The use of these toxins is destroying human health and impacting the future of the human race.
How to Build Resilience in a Glyphosate-Saturated World
You cannot escape glyphosate entirely — but you can dramatically reduce your burden.
Prioritize clean water (RO, distillation, or advanced filtration)
Eat organic and support local & regenerative farming.
Follow a Paleo-style diet that removes grains, potatoes, and legumes and emphasizes the quality of how food is raised and grown.
Choose grass-fed, pasture-raised animal proteins.
Avoid the Dirty Dozen, a list updated annually by the EWG.
Read food labels looking for: Non-GMO Project Verified, USDA Organic, Glyphosate residue-free, Regenerative Organic Certified.
Sweat regularly to support optimal drainage and detox pathways.
Use targeted binders to escort toxins out
Replenish minerals lost
Diversify your microbiome
What is the best method for washing produce to remove herbicides?
Well, even the best washing method cannot remove herbicides like glyphosate, atrazine, 2,4-D, and paraquat because these chemicals move through the plant's vascular system, binding to tissues — not just the surface.
At home, I use a two-step process: a baking soda soak to break down surface pesticides, followed by a quick ozone-water rinse to kill microbes and mold spores. This combination gives you the cleanest produce possible! But again, it does not remove glyphosate or other systemic herbicides. This is why organic and regenerative sourcing makes the biggest difference.
Final Thoughts:
Awareness Is Power
Glyphosate exposure is not just an agricultural issue—it's a human health and environmental health issue.
The solution is awareness, changing farming and nutrition practices, making informed choices, and rebuilding resilience—individually and collectively.
The human body is brilliant and capable of healing when given the right inputs.
Learn Your Total Body Burden
Understanding not only where you might be exposed to glyphosate and other herbicides and pesticides, but also the total body burden from these exposures, and having a roadmap to healing from these toxins is empowering.
If you want to know:
Whether (or better HOW) glyphosate or other herbicides and pesticides are impacting your endocrine system (hormones).
How these toxins may be affecting your gut, gut microbiome, liver, kidneys, mitochondria, nutrition status, fertility, or immune system
What your total toxic burden looks like
How to rebuild resilience and restore cellular health
And what personalized nutrition + functional medicine strategies can reverse the effects of these toxins
We can assess:
Environmental toxin load, including Glyphosate levels
Microbiome balance
Mineral depletion
Mitochondrial health
Hormonal impact
Inflammation markers
Personalized detox capacity
This is the first step toward rebuilding health from the foundation of the soil, to nutritionally dense food, to repairing the gut and microbiome, and cellular health!
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