The use of Monsanto’s Round-up herbicide has increased substantially over the last 40 years. Many researchers are starting to believe that increased use of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Round-up, correlates to the rise in many modern diseases.
According to Dr. Stephanie Seneff, a senior research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), glyphosate appears to be strongly correlated with the rise in Celiac disease, and, more generally, gluten intolerance.
“[G]ut dysbiosis, brought on by exposure to glyphosate, plays a crucial role in the development of celiac disease. Many CYP enzymes are impaired in association with celiac disease, and we show that glyphosate’s known suppression of CYP enzyme activity in plants and animals plausibly explains this effect in humans.” ~ Glyphosate, pathways to modern diseases II: Celiac sprue and gluten intolerance by Dr. Anthony Samsel and Dr. Stephanie Seneff
Rise in Glyphosate Use in the United States
According to the report published in Environmental Sciences Europe, titled “Trends in glyphosate herbicide use in the United States and globally” by Charles M. Benbrook, there has been a dramatic increase in the amount of glyphosate sprayed on crops since the mid-1990’s. The report states:
Since 1974 in the U.S., over 1.6 billion kilograms of glyphosate active ingredient have been applied, or 19 % of estimated global use of glyphosate (8.6 billion kilograms). Globally, glyphosate use has risen almost 15-fold since so-called “Roundup Ready,” genetically engineered glyphosate-tolerant crops were introduced in 1996.
Two-thirds of the total volume of glyphosate applied in the U.S. from 1974 to 2014 has been sprayed in just the last 10 years. The corresponding share globally is 72 %.
In 2014, farmers sprayed enough glyphosate to apply ~1.0 kg/ha (0.8 pound/acre) on every hectare of U.S.-cultivated cropland and nearly 0.53 kg/ha (0.47 pounds/acre) on all cropland worldwide.
Use of Glyphosate on Non-GMO Wheat Crop
Glyphosate, via the product Roundup, is known to be commonly sprayed on GMO corn, GMO soybean and GMO cotton crops. But what many people may not realize that glyphosate herbicide is also commonly used on non-GMO wheat crop. The practice is so common, that wheat has become the third most common crop to be sprayed with glyphosate.