Pesticides & Herbicides - The Poisons Lurking in Your Food


Originally, pesticides were designed to kill or repel pests, bacteria, mold, fungus, animals, weeds, or any harmful organism. It sounds like a fair idea in principle, but what happens to the plants doused in these chemicals? Furthermore, what happens to the bodies of the people consuming these plants? The government regulates the amount of pesticides allowed in food, but nevertheless, research shows we're ingesting far more than we believe, and the side effects are adding up.

Pesticidal residues in our food consumption have been linked to:

  • ADHD or ADD in children
  • nervous system damage
  • digestive pain
  • vomiting
  • constipation or diarrhea
  • suppressed or weakened immune systems
  • reduced white blood cell count
  • increased risk of cancers, especially breast cancer
  • infertility or sterility
  • glandular issues
  • birth defects
  • brain damage
  • bronchitis, asthma, farmer's lung, or other respiratory issues
  • organ shutdown

With all these side effects stacked against them, how are pesticides still deemed "safe"?

The answer is simple: it boils down to the testing. Whereas the obvious solution seems to be to test the entire chemical package and its biological effects, most often only the active ingredient of each pesticide is tested. The additives, adjutants and solvents, for example, have their own toxic side effects and are entirely excluded.

The synergistic qualities of these chemicals are hushed-up and forgotten. The products are branded safe and sold to farms all across the country to be sprayed on all but organic crops.

Besides the testing, however, there is also the claim that pesticides break down after time. While this is true, the fact of the matter is that these chemicals are actually more dangerous once they begin to decompose. As we can see by the residues left in our foods and the serious consequences of consumption, the breakdown of pesticides promises safety, but delivers quite the opposite.

Herbicides share much the same story.

Glyphosate, the main ingredient in Monsanto's Round-Up product, has been linked to side effects including but not limited to:

  • allergies
  • chonic gastrointestinal diseases (Crohn's disease, Celiac disease, IBS, colitis, chronic diarrhea...)
  • cancer
  • ALS
  • Parkinson's disease
  • Alzheimer's disease
  • autism
  • obesity
  • multiple sclerosis
  • depression
  • heart disease
  • severe nutritional deficiencies
  • and more.

Despite Monsanto's insistence that Round-Up is as safe to humans as over the counter pain killers like aspirin (which alone has an impressive list of side effects), glyphosate is believed to worsen already existing diseases. It actively targets and destroys beneficial gut flora, necessary for immune health, organ metabolism, nutrient absorption, carbohydrate utilization, and allergy prevention, to name a few.

Continued usage and consumption of glyphosate causes pathogenic overgrowth and toxicity in the intestines, which will then  affect the rest of the body, too.

Glyphosate has also been shown to remain in foods and in human bodies after consumption, despite Monsanto's insistence of the chemical's biodegradability. An independent study in Iowa of both farming and non-farming families found glyphosate in the urine of 80% of children tested, and in Europe, forty-four percent of people on average from a range of nearly twenty countries tested positive for glyphosate residues. Countries such as Germany,  Great Britain, and the Netherlands tested positive from sixty-three to seventy-percent of their population. In Malta, ninety-percent of people tested were found with glyphosate residues in their bodies.

It's no wonder several countries in Europe - eighteen countries, to be exact - have banned pesticide usage in their crops. Several countries, such as the Netherlands and France, are also planning to remove glyphosate from their crops beginning in 2016. In fact, Monsanto's poster child, Round-Up, is already being removed from shelves in France, no longer available for purchase. Brazil is moving in a similar direction.

How can you rid your system of glyphosate residues?

There are several detoxes and cleanses to help the body clear out any heavy metals or toxic residues in the body.

  1. Don Lawson's General Body Cleanse. This cleanse is a deep-clean, effective yet safe way to clear metals, toxins and poisons out of your body. Consisting of three NeoLife products taken on a strict regime for a month, this cleanse will flush your system and energize your body, all in a short 30-day span. This cleanse is traditionally done once annually.
  2. Heavy Metal Detox. A Nature's Sunshine product, this cleanse is a combination of several traditional herbs, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals to pull heavy metals out without any extra hassle.
  3. Liver Cleanse. An organ with over five hundred sixty functions, the liver aids cleansing and detoxification in the body. There are two cleanses for the liver by Nature's Sunshine, and both are excellent. The Liver Cleanse Formula is gentle, nourishing and supportive of the liver. This program is safe and effective, and usually lasts three months, or three bottles. The Tiao He Cleanse is a stronger and typically faster. Designed as a fifteen-day cleanse, most users find they need to take more than one box.

How can you avoid or limit your consumption of pesticides and herbicides in future?

The simple answer is to eat organic whole foods. That's truly the only way to ensure you're getting clean, green food without exposure to toxic chemicals.

However, if you can't afford to eat wholly organic, as the majority of American's can't, most health professionals recommend thoroughly washing foods and sticking to the "dirty dozen and clean fifteen" list - twelve foods that are toxic if not organic, and fifteen foods that are fine to eat commercially-grown.


For more information on cleanses, pesticides, or any other health issue, contact us by phone at (423) 899-8422 or by email at naturesfinestnutrition (at) Visit us on our website or Facebook! We're always happy to help!



Friend of the Earth. "Human Contamination of Glyphosate." June 2013.

"" Accessed 25 April, 2015.

Dr. Joseph Mercola, M.D. "Monsanto's Round-Up Herbicide May Be Most Important Factor in Development of Autism and Other Chronic Diseases." Published 09 June, 2013.

"" Accessed 25 April, 2015.

Dr. Joseph Mercola, M.D. "The Myth of Safe Pesticides." Published 28 December, 2014.

"" Accessed 25 April, 2015.

Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist. "The Dutch Ban Round-Up, France & Brazil to Follow". No date.

"" Accessed 25 April, 2015.

Anonymous. "8 Possible Side Effects of Pesticides". No date.

"". Accessed 25 April, 2015.

Lisa Weber. "The Side Effects of Pesticides in Food". 13 January, 2014.

"". Accessed 25 April, 2015.