I was reading about pesticides and encountered Dr. Zach Bush. From this article:

Why Dr. Zach Bush Believes Herbicides Could End Life On Earth, Salon, 14 October 2019

I don’t know Dr. Bush and the title seemed extreme, but I pushed through and read it anyway. Some excerpts:

Some people might say “Well, I haven’t used Roundup, so maybe I’m untouched by it.” Is that true?

Unfortunately, it’s a water-soluble molecule. As it evaporates, we start breathing it in our air, which has a high-water content, and then it ends up in our clouds, and it rains down. [W]e’re at about almost four and a half billion pounds of glyphosate used in soils worldwide every year.

What do you know that this chemical does to the human body?

… this molecule is taken up into our food. So, it’s not something you can wash off. It’s actually in the flesh of the tomato, corn, soybean, whatever it hits. And so, it’s integrated in that water structure, and as it hits your gut microbiome [it] acts as an antibiotic to kill the microbial diversity in your intestines.

He says that the disruption of the gut microbiome contributes to gut permeability or “leaky gut.” This in turn activates the immune system which increases the incidence of allergies – food allergies as well as environmental allergies, such as to pollen – and creates a state of chronic inflammation.

How do we get rid of this chemical in our food system?

If we stopped spraying today, over the next 50 years, we could see the toxicity levels drop to levels that we could probably tolerate better.

He says that glyphosate is only one of the hundreds of chemicals present in our food supply: “we have completely chemicalized the human experience and the planet itself.”

The article was sloppily-written. It didn’t make sense in parts, for example: “The glyphosate antibiotic holds our whole gut and vascular lining together.” What does that even mean? How can someone with this kind of resume* make those nonsensical assertions? So I looked around more and found him speaking on this Rich Roll podcast:

I’m still watching this, but so far Dr. Zach Bush comes across as smart, knowledgeable, and credible. Humble too. I’ll post bits as I get through it. I’m glad I persisted. He definitely has something to say.

* Zach Bush, MD is a triple board certified physician specializing in Internal Medicine, Endocrinology and Metabolism, as well as in Hospice and Palliative care. The director of M Clinic in Virginia, Dr. Bush has published peer-reviewed articles and book chapters in the areas of infectious disease, endocrinology, and cancer.