In the featured video, Jeffrey Smith interviews Dr. Alex Vasquez, M.D., Ph.D., author of about 100 papers and 15 scientific books, and Stephanie Seneff, Ph.D., a Senior Research Scientist at MIT and author of about 200 papers, about the impact of glyphosate — the active ingredient in Roundup — on your mitochondria.
As noted by Jeffrey, this is a very important topic, as mitochondrial dysfunction is an underlying foundational element of most diseases.
Why the Health of Your Mitochondria Matters
As explained by Vasquez, in addition to producing most of your body’s energy in the form of ATP, your mitochondria also participate in many other processes, such as cellular signaling.
According to Vasquez, the data is “impressively clear” that those with type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome and high blood pressure have dysfunctional mitochondria.
Your mitochondria also play an important role in inflammation, and control apoptosis (cell death). These two roles make your mitochondria a player in diseases such as cancer, for example, as damaged cells fail to receive the message to self-destruct, and therefore continue their malignant growth.
Vasquez — who is an expert on inflammation — divides inflammation into three different forms, which exist on a continuum and overlap each other:
1. Metabolic inflammation (conditions such as hypertension and diabetes)
2. Allergic inflammation
3. Autoimmune inflammation
Chronic, low-level inflammation, which tends to underlie most chronic health conditions, he describes as “metabolic disturbance with cellular injury.” While mitochondrial dysfunction is involved in virtually ALL disease, the following bears mentioning, as they’re among the most common:
Cancer Heart disease Seizure Disorders
Asthma and allergies Autoimmune diseases Obesity
Alzheimer’s Parkinson’s Depression
Chronic fatigue syndrome Fibromyalgia Autism
Type 2 diabetes Metabolic syndrome Hypertension
How Glyphosate Damages Your Mitochondria
So how does glyphosate affect your mitochondria? Seneff speaks to this issue, noting that manganese appears to be involved. Glyphosate chelates manganese (plus many other minerals), which makes the plants deficient. In turn the animals or humans who eat the plants do not get enough either.
It’s worth explaining the chelation process a bit further. As Smith notes, glyphosate binds very strongly to micro minerals, and doesn’t let them go.
So even if there’s manganese in the plant you eat, your body cannot access and use it, because the glyphosate molecule holds it trapped within itself. Likewise the plant is prevented from taking up the mineral, even if it’s in the soil.
Your mitochondria require manganese to break down superoxide dismutase (SOD) and turn it into hydrogen peroxide, which is far less toxic, and eventually water. This is a very important process, as it protects your mitochondria from oxidative damage. Without manganese, this protection is lost.
