🎙️ 74: Is Glyphosate in Food Really a Harmful & Hidden Risk?

Before you take another bite

of that “healthy” food today…

there’s something worth understanding.

Not anything to scare you

but something most people were never taught to look for.

There’s a chemical that’s often sprayed on crops…

not months before harvest—

but sometimes just days before the crops are cut.

And its nowhere on the label.

Which means…

if no one’s ever told you about it,

you wouldn’t even know to ask.

And chances are—

you’ve already eaten it this week.

🎧 OPENING STORY + HOOK

Before we jump in today,

I want to come back to something from the last episode.

I invited you to try going without artificial sweeteners

for about a week—

just to notice what changed.

And if you did that…

I’d genuinely love to hear what you experienced.

You can send me a quick note at penny@becomingnatural.com

because those real-life shifts—big or small—matter. And id love to hear how your body responded!

—-

74: Is Glyphosate in Food Really a Harmful & Hidden Risk?

One morning recently I made a bowl of oatmeal

just trying to do eat something simple.

Just oats, a little fruit, some cinnamon.

And I remember thinking,

“This is a good choice, Penny! Kudos!

This is one of those things I’m doing right.”

And if you’re a mom,

you probably know that feeling.

You’re trying.

You’re paying attention.

You’re making better choices where you can…

and most of the time,

you just hope what you’re doing is enough. Because lets all admit, we are stumbling thru figuring out what is healthy, what is not, what used to be considered healthy and now is not….nutrition is such a hot mess these days. You know…meat has gone to the top of the food pyramid…sort of. The new food pyramid is something great we can address in the near future.

So… my oatmeal moment wasn’t a big moment.

Just a normal morning feeling content.

But I read something as I was eating—

that bowl of oatmeal, still in my hands—

that said foods like oats…

foods we reach for because they feel simple and nourishing…

can sometimes be sprayed with a chemical

right before they’re harvested.

Not early in the growing process.

Not months before where there is time for it to at least dilute itself.

Right before harvest.

And I remember just standing there for a second,

looking at that bowl, thinking—

“Wait…

how would I even know that?”

Because it’s not on the label.

No one’s explaining it to you in the grocery store. No sign on the package that says “Hey, guess what? This was sprayed with poison just before we harvested it”

It was one of those times

where something just clicked

like realizing there’s more to the story

than we’ve been told.

And I remember laughing a little, thinking,

“I LOVE oatmeal…

why is the ‘heart healthy’ Mr. Quaker betraying me?”

Of course, this became the beginning of digging into something

I had heard about many times before…

but never fully understood.

Glyphosate.

🎧 INTRO

And that’s what we’re going to talk about today.

In a way that helps you understand what’s actually happening—

so you can move forward without confusion.

Because one of the most surprising things about glyphosate

is that it isn’t just used to kill weeds.

In many cases,

it’s sprayed right before harvest—

on the very foods we’re trying to eat to be healthy.

And once you understand that…

it’s hard to unsee.

But this isn’t about reacting to everything you hear.

It’s about learning enough

to make thoughtful rational decisions as you’re whipping thru the grocery store.

🎧 WHAT IS GLYPHOSATE

So let’s start simple.

Glyphosate is an herbicide—

which means it’s designed to kill plants.

But the way it works

is actually very specific.

It blocks something called the shikimate (SHIH-kuh-mate) pathway.

You can think of that pathway

like a plant’s internal production line—

the system it uses

to create the very essential building blocks it needs to grow.

Those building blocks are amino acids—

which plants use to make proteins, enzymes…

everything they need to stay alive.

So when glyphosate blocks that pathway,

it doesn’t immediately poison the plant.

It gradually shuts down

the plant’s ability to function. Makes me think of the Song “kiling me softly”

And over time…

it simply can’t sustain itself. The plant shuts down.

This pathway has been studied extensively

in plant biology and microbiology—

and it’s the exact mechanism

glyphosate was designed to interrupt. It’s actually genius for the purpose of killing weeds if you don’t want them in your crops.

But the kicker is that For a long time,

the assumption was that glyphosate was safe for humans—

because we don’t have that SHIH-kuh-mate pathway.

And technically… that’s true.

Human cells don’t use the shikimate pathway.

But here’s where the picture becomes more complete.

The bacteria living inside your gut… do.

And those bacteria aren’t just passive.

They play a role in:

digestion, immune regulation, inflammation, and nutrient processing. We know all about gut bacteria here don’t we fans?

And this is where the conversation shifts—

from “Is it toxic?”

to something more nuanced:

“What does repeated, low-level exposure

do to the systems that support our health?”

Some research—especially microbiome and animal studies—suggests glyphosate may:

shift the balance of our gut bacteria,

reduce the beneficial strains of bacteria,

and influence inflammatory signaling.

And over time,

those small shifts can add up and begin to really matter—

because your gut is deeply connected

to how your body responds, repairs, and regulates itself.

So this becomes less about a single target…

and more about how interconnected systems respond over time.

🎧 HISTORY

Glyphosate was introduced in 1974 under the name Roundup.

At the time, it was considered a major advancement.

Farmers had been managing weeds

through labor-intensive methods—

tilling, multiple herbicides, physical removal.

Glyphosate simplified that.

Funny thing, In high school I worked at a tennis shop and I remember many times trudging out in the 100 degree heat to spray the weeds growing up thru the cracks around the fence line with Round Up to keep the courts tidy. It definitely worked!

But its use expanded dramatically in the 1990s

with the introduction of genetically modified crops

designed to survive glyphosate spraying.

These were called Roundup Ready crops.

That sounds a little technical at first.

But what it actually means is pretty simple.

These are crops that were designed to survive being sprayed with glyphosate.

Normally, a chemical like glyphosate would kill plants.

That’s the point.

But with these crops,

the plant stays alive…

and everything else around it doesn’t.

Which allows farmers to spray entire fields at once—

without damaging the crop itself.

And from a farming perspective,

that made things faster, more efficient, and more predictable. But it also led to a significant increase

in glyphosate use worldwide.

So how does this actually work?

If glyphosate kills plants…

how does it kill weeds,

but not the crop?

The answer is—

the crop was changed.

You can safely say they are genetically modified crops—meaning they’ve been designed to tolerate glyphosate

Scientists gave certain crops

this slightly modified version

of the system glyphosate normally blocks.

So when glyphosate is sprayed,

it still shuts down the weeds—

because nothing about them has changed.

But the crop itself

has a version that glyphosate can’t fully shut off.

Scientists modified the enzyme that glyphosate normally blocks.

So when glyphosate is sprayed,

the crop itself

now has a version of that system

that glyphosate can’t fully bind to.

So the pathway keeps working.

The plant keeps making what it needs to survive.

And it continues to grow…

while everything around it doesn’t.

And that’s what made it possible

to spray entire fields at once—

not because the chemical became more precise…

but because the crop

was designed to tolerate it.

But it also changed something bigger.

Because when crops can tolerate the spray,

it allows for more widespread use.

Not necessarily in one place—

but across many fields, many seasons, over time.

And that’s where this starts to connect back to us.

Because these crops show up in everyday foods—

directly,

and indirectly through things like animal feed and processed ingredients.

So this becomes less about one specific food…

and more about small, repeated exposure

across a lot of the things we eat.

Not something to panic about—

but something to understand

so you can make more intentional choices when you can.

🎧 PRE-HARVEST SPRAYING

The part that catches most people off guard is the pre-harvest spraying.

So Think of a crop like this:

1. Planting

2. Early growth (small plants + weeds competing)

3. Mid-growth (crop establishes)

4. Late growth (maturing)

5. Harvest

Early on, when crops are just getting established,

weeds are competing for the same resources.

So glyphosate was designed to be used to clear those out—

giving the crop space to grow.

Once crops were developed to tolerate glyphosate,

it allowed farmers to spray even later during the growing season—

something that wasn’t possible before.

NOW, Glyphosate isn’t just used during pre-harvest or growth.

In some crops, glyphosate is used right before harvest—(a few as a couple days to 2 weeks before harvest) in a process called desiccation.

Which simply means drying something out.

Instead of waiting for crops to dry naturally—

which depends on weather—

glyphosate helps them dry evenly and faster.

This makes harvesting more efficient.

But timing matters.

Because when glyphosate is applied close to harvest—

there’s less time for it to break down.

Which increases the likelihood

that small residues remain on the final product.

This is especially common in:

wheat, oats, barley, and legumes.

Foods that show up in everyday meals.

From a farming perspective,

each of these uses serves a purpose—

efficiency, timing, consistency.

But from a consumer perspective,

the question shifts.

It becomes less about why it’s used…

and more about when and how often exposure is happening.

🎧 RESEARCH + BODY EFFECTS

In 2015,

the World Health Organization’s cancer research division

classified glyphosate as

“probably carcinogenic to humans.”

That classification was based largely on studies

linking higher exposure—especially in agricultural settings—

to non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

At the same time,

agencies like the EPA maintain

that glyphosate is safe when used as directed.

So what we’re left with

is not a unanimous conclusion…

but a divided interpretation.

I realize there is a lot of depth we haven’t achieved here, but if something even has a chance of causing cancer, what chance is low enough for you to want to eat it? And I am not just referring to glyphosates. EVERYTHING we injest!

You might wonder—

if this is such a widely discussed chemical…

is it banned anywhere?

And the answer is…

not in a simple, all-or-nothing way.

Glyphosate is still approved in many countries,

including here in the United States of course.

But in other parts of the world—

especially in Europe—

there are more restrictions,

and in some places, efforts to reduce or phase it out.

So instead of a clear line between “safe” and “not safe,”

what you see is a range of approaches.

Different countries looking at the same data…

and making slightly different decisions

based on how cautious they want to be.

And that’s part of what can make this feel confusing.

But it also tells us something important—

this isn’t a settled, black-and-white conversation.

Which is why understanding it for yourself

matters more than just following a headline.

So if you’re still with me here—

and maybe sorting through what this actually means

for your everyday life…

let’s bring this back down to something simple and practical.

Large population studies—like those from the CDC—

have detected glyphosate

in a significant percentage of people tested.

Not because people are doing anything wrong—

but because of how widely it’s used.

It’s been found in food, water, and environmental samples.

So this becomes less about one exposure—

and more about cumulative exposure over time.

Small amounts. From multiple sources. Repeated day after day.

And once you understand that pattern,

the question isn’t “Is it there?”

Its how much is inside of my and “What might it be doing over time?”

Researchers are exploring areas like:

the gut microbiome, oxidative stress, and hormone signaling.

🎧 HOPEFUL TURN

You’re not alone in listening to all of this thinking this feels like a lot. It would be really nice if everything that had potential harm for our bodies was not used in our food, but that seems like a lot to ask these days. We operate on efficiency and when it comes down to brass tacks, what is the financial bottom dollar.

But here’s what brings this back into perspective.

There was a study where families switched

to an organic diet for just six days—

and their glyphosate levels dropped significantly.

Six days.

Which tells us something important.

A large portion of exposure is coming from our food—

and the body is actively working to process and eliminate it. Our bodies are CAPABLE of eliminating it.

Your body isn’t passive.

We know we have built-in detoxification systems—

primarily in the liver and kidneys—

that are constantly working

to process and remove what doesn’t belong.

But as we are learning every week at Becoming Natural if we can eliminate any piece of the toxic load in our bodies

even slightly—

it creates space for those systems

to work more effectively and reduces the chance of our bodies reaching the point where it simply can’t detox all the toxins anymore, resulting in disease.

🎧 PRACTICAL STEPS

So what do we do with this information? Especially if we don’t grow our own crops OR even more practical, how do we KNOW if the food we are purchasing has had glyphosate applied and at what stage?

There isn’t a perfect answer. But you can be intentional with change.

Think in layers:

First layer—reduce exposure where it’s easiest

→ choosing organic when possible, especially grains.

Second layer—reduce accumulation

→ washing produce, rotating foods

Third layer—reduce environmental load

→ limiting herbicide use at home

Fourth Layer—reduce the amount of processed foods you eat

Not all at once.

Just one step at a time.

___

So you might be thinking—

okay… if organic grains can help reduce exposure…

how do I even know what’s truly organic?

Because the word “organic” gets used a lot. And in food supply it can be used loosely which makes “marketing” terms difficult to decipher from truly “organic” food.

But here’s what’s important to understand—

in the United States,

“organic” is actually a regulated term…

when it’s used in a specific way.

If you see the USDA Organic seal, (we’ve gone over this several times with castor oil, essential oils, CBD….that USDA CERTIFIED ORGANIC SEAL is a big sanity check.

that means the food has met a defined set of standards—

including restrictions on synthetic herbicides like glyphosate

and no genetically modified crops.

Now… that doesn’t always mean it’s perfect.

It doesn’t mean zero exposure in every situation.

But it does mean

you’re significantly reducing that exposure overall.

And that’s really what this comes back to—

not perfection…

but lowering the total load

in a way that’s realistic and sustainable.

🎧 FAITH + REFLECTION

There’s something about learning this

that shifts how you see everyday choices—

not in a heavy way,

but in a more intentional one.

From the very beginning of Scripture,

you see a relationship between people and the land—

a sense of stewardship and care.

And wisdom today

often looks like returning to that posture where we steward the land and our bodies well.

🎧 SIGNATURE INSIGHT

We don’t have to carry what we’re learning as something heavy—

but we are responsible for how we respond

once we can see more clearly.

Awareness doesn’t mean anxiety—

it means you’ve been given the chance

to choose more intentionally.

And once something comes into focus—

you don’t have to change everything overnight. Please don’t change overnight. Too many changes at once simply aren’t sustainable. Im cheering for our successes with small baby steps, one at a time, that ultimately become an engrained habit vs a drastic diet that you can’t sustain over time and you blow it. Go slow. Increase your knowledge and understanding and prioritize your changes that are important to you and your family.

You simply begin to move differently when you see things you haven’t seen or understood before.

🎧 CLOSING

If this helped you see things a little more clearly,

I’d encourage you to share it with someone you love.

Because these conversations don’t always spread through headlines accurately—

they spread through people.

You don’t have to do everything.

You just have to take the next step in front of you.

And that’s enough.

I’m so glad you were here today.

And I’ll meet you right back here next week!