Recent research suggests that even low exposure to glyphosate can contribute to liver damage

Back in 2015, the American Liver Foundation estimated that at least one in four Americans was living with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), an illness that can affect even those who drink little or no alcohol. People in their 40s and 50s are most vulnerable, especially those who carry extra weight around their bellies.

But while maintaining a healthy weight and taking other reasonable precautions to optimize health, including eating a nutrient-dense diet and getting regular exercise, are important ways to prevent this disease, a recent study found that chronic exposure to even very low doses of Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide can also be linked to the development of NAFLD.

Animal trials prove conclusive link

The study, conducted by a research team from King’s College London and published in the journal Scientific Reports, concluded:

[C]hronic consumption of extremely low levels of a GBH formulation (Roundup), at admissible glyphosate-equivalent concentrations, are associated with marked alterations of the liver proteome and metabolome. These changes in molecular profile overlap substantially with biomarkers of NAFLD and its progression to NASH [Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis].

The research team reached this conclusion after exposing two groups of 10 Harlan Sprague-Dawley rats to exactly the same environmental conditions for a two-year period, with the control group receiving plain water each day, while the test group was given water supplemented with 1.1?×?10?8% of Roundup.

Natural Health 365 reported:

[The study] used cutting-edge analytical methods such as protein composition profile and small molecule metabolite biochemical profile.

These techniques showed biomarkers of NAFLD and its progression to steatohepatitis – a more advanced form of fatty liver disease – and confirmed liver dysfunction, as well as cell damage from oxidative stress. Roundup-treated female rats showed 3 times more anatomical signs of pathology than rats in the control group.

As noted by Natural Health 365, the dosage of Roundup used in the study was a whopping 437,000 times lower than the levels permitted in American tap water. This was the first study to look at the effects of exposure to such low doses of the herbicide; previous studies only looked at the effects of mega-doses.

The researchers called these results “very worrying” and led them to push for new guidelines regarding the safety of glyphosate-based herbicides.

What is NAFLD?

The liver, an organ which performs many important functions in the body, is normally comprised of approximately 5 to 10 percent fat. NAFLD is diagnosed when the amount of fat in the liver exceeds this number in patients who do not partake of excessive amounts of alcohol. Certain forms of the disease can cause liver inflammation and ultimately result in irreversible damage that can lead to cirrhosis and even liver failure.

While many NAFLD patients present a similar profile in terms of being overweight (particularly carrying excess weight around their bellies), being sedentary, eating a high-sugar, processed diet, and being diabetic, researchers have been baffled by the number of people who develop NAFLD despite not presenting with these risk factors. The latest study might finally have solved the problem.

U.S. foods swimming in Roundup

Close to 300 million pounds of Roundup are applied to U.S. crops each year, making it the most used agricultural chemical in the history of the world. This is seriously disturbing, because in addition to its clear links to NAFLD, multiple studies have linked it to the development of cancer, and in 2015 the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified it as “probably carcinogenic to humans (Group 2A).” (Related: Monsanto tried to hide evidence of glyphosate (RoundUp) causing Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma: COURT DOCUMENTS.)

Fortunately, Monsanto’s stranglehold on agriculture seems to be waning, and thousands of lawsuits have been filed against Bayer’s Monsanto division by people who claim that Roundup caused their non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Hopefully governmental authorities will sit up and recognize this dangerous product for what it is and ban its use entirely. Learn more at Glyphosate.news.

Sources include:

NaturalHealth365.com

Nature.com

Blogs.ScientificAmerican.com

IARC.fr ^[PDF]