Dr. Stephanie Seneff is a senior research scientist at MIT’s computer science and artificial intelligence laboratory. She has a bachelor’s degree in biology with a minor in food and nutrition, a master’s degree, an engineer’s degree, and a PhD in electrical engineering and computer science, all from MIT. For most of her career at MIT, she was involved in the development of technology to support natural human-computer communication through spoken language. Since 2010, Dr. Seneff has shifted her research focus toward the effects of drugs, toxic chemicals, and diet on human health and disease. Her writing and research have focused specifically on the herbicide glyphosate and the mineral sulfur. And now she has a brand new book called Toxic Legacy: How the Weedkiller Glyphosate Is Destroying Our Health and the Environment.
Dr. Seneff is one of the top researchers and scientists on the planet. Early on in her research, she was trying to understand the dramatic rise in the number of autism cases. This led her to something that was “hiding in plain sight” – namely the weedkiller Glyphosate. Glyphosate is the most common herbicide on the planet. The United States uses about 19% of the total’s world supply with just 4% of the world’s population.
Dr. Seneff explains what makes Glyphosate so uniquely toxic and devastating for every living thing on the planet. She says there is an “astonishingly close correlation” between the rise of many diseases and the rise and usage of the herbicide Glyphosate.
Dr. Seneff explains that the gut microbiome gets hit hard by Glyphosate. In fact, this causes gut imbalances that show up in so many diseases – from Autism and Parkinson’s to Alzheimer’s and Rheumatoid Arthritis and many more. As the founding father of modern medicine Hippocrates once stated: all disease begins in the gut.
Interestingly, Glyphosate was originally patented as a chelating agent for mineral deposits on pipes. Later, it was patented as an herbicide and an oral antibiotic. Since it is an antibiotic, Dr. Seneff explains how it kills many beneficial microbes necessary for optimal health, such as Bifidobacteria.
Dr. Seneff says that history seems to be repeating itself. Back in the 1940’s, science said DDT was perfectly safe. And in the late 1950’s and 60’s, Thalidomide was deemed safe as a treatment for nausea in pregnant women. It took many years and deaths until so-called “science” was proven wrong. At this point, she’s suspicious of all chemicals and anything that’s not natural.
Beyond its impact on human populations, Glyphosate also has massive negative impact on the environment. She writes how we are in the middle of the 6th Mass Extinction. The population of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles have shrunk by 60% in just four decades. She talks about the looming crisis with bees, since they are critical for fertilizing plants to allow crops to grow. It’s the same with Monarch Butterflies, Tadpoles, Frogs and so many others. They are literally being wiped out. Glyphosate actually disrupts liver enzymes necessary to detox other chemicals, such as insecticides and other chemicals.
Dr. Seneff talks about how glyphosate is commonly found in many processed foods, particularly the ones that children eat. Beyond food, Glyphosate can also be found in the air and water. Dr. Seneff hypothesizes that one of the main ways it’s getting into the air is due to the Biofuel Industry as these fuels can be contaminated with Glyphosate. Since Glyphosate is so toxic to the immune system, it makes people weak and vulnerable to pathogens like viruses.
Dr. Seneff talks about trying to get the government regulators involved. However these regulators seem to have no interest in doing their job. It has become clear that this job needs to get done by “we the people” – and her book Toxic Legacy is a call to action!
According to Dr. Seneff, optimal health starts with food since it is an investment in your health. She offers some simple but very important steps: 1) Eat certified organic 2) Eat whole foods 3) Get outside in the sunlight 4) Eat organic high sulfur foods. Stephanie follows a Nourishing Traditions diet with lots of nutrient dense foods such as grass fed meats, eggs, seafood along with fermented foods like yogurt and sauerkraut as well as fresh herbs and vegetables. She encourages people to spend more time in the kitchen. Even though we are so busy, she says to “make food more a center of your lifestyle.”
You can learn more about Stephanie and her new book here: https://stephanieseneff.net/
Starting 7/27/2021, all of my listeners can get a 35% discount off of Stephanie’s book Toxic Legacy from our sponsor Chelsea Green Publishing. Just use the discount code POD35 (no space) at check out. Here’s the link: https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/toxic-legacy/
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