In the grand tapestry of global cultures, a peculiar subset stands out – the Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) civilizations. Picture it: a world where avocado toast is a birthright, the pursuit of happiness is a daily jog to nowhere on the treadmill, and the illusion of choice reigns supreme, with 57 colorfully festooned boxes of processed food in every aisle of the megastore near you. Yet, amid this spectacle of convenience and progress, there’s an inexplicable twist – a tragic surge in chronic disease.
Why have autoimmune conditions, digestive problems, allergies, and fertility issues been steadily rising the past few decades? When I was a kid, there were no “peanut free” classrooms. No one knew what gluten was. I had never heard the term “autoimmune” until the 20-teens. Most of my grandparents and great grandparents smoked heavily and ate lots of crisco, yet they still had healthspans well into their 70’s and 80’s without any of that. How can all of these chronic health issues get so much more common, so quickly? The truth is that no one knows for sure. My top 2 theories for causes are:
- Chemical – Roundup/Plastics/Pharmaceuticals
- Chronic stress – Psychological/social/spiritual
This article will cover the chemical causes. Before we get into the weeds of the depressing part – the novel and unprecedented chemical brine we’re all swimming in every day – let’s ground ourselves in faith in the resilience of life. Every single time we humans stop ruining ecosystems, they show a remarkable ability to quickly recover. Every single time we go to war against a plant or a microbe, nature humbles us by evolving and adapting in unexpected ways. As Bob Marley sings, “…have no fear for atomic energy, none of them can stop the time”. Humans may go through some extra unnecessary suffering in the process, but, in the end, life will prevail.
Baddy #1: Roundup
Now for the baddies. Let’s start with “The Silver Bullet that Wasn’t”: Glyphosate (roundup). According to an NIH study, “the annual consumption of glyphosate has increased exponentially, from about 56 thousand tons in 1994 to more than 825 thousand tons in 2014.” It’s only continued to go up since then. It’s everywhere. It’s in rainwater, ground water, rivers, lakes, our blood, our urine, and our breast milk. You can’t avoid it, you can only limit your dosage. What does this chronic ubiquitous exposure do to us? Here are some health impacts associated with chronic glyphosate exposure:
- Carcinogenicity:
In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a part of the World Health Organization (WHO), classified glyphosate as a Group 2A substance, meaning it is probably carcinogenic to humans. - Endocrine Disruption:
Some studies suggest that glyphosate may have endocrine-disrupting effects, potentially interfering with the hormonal system. Endocrine disruption can lead to various health issues, including reproductive problems and developmental abnormalities. - Kidney and Liver Damage:
Animal studies have indicated that chronic exposure to glyphosate may be associated with kidney and liver damage. - Impact on the Microbiome:
Glyphosate has been found to affect the gut microbiome, the community of microorganisms in the digestive system. Disruptions in the microbiome have been linked to various health issues, including digestive problems and immune system dysfunction. - Reproductive and Developmental Effects:
Some studies suggest that glyphosate exposure may be associated with reproductive and developmental effects. Animal studies have shown adverse effects on fertility and fetal development. Human studies have also indicated potential associations with adverse pregnancy outcomes. - Neurological Effects:
Some studies have suggested a possible link between glyphosate exposure and neurotoxicity, which may have implications for neurological health.
What are the best ways to limit your exposure? First, stop using it. Do not spray it in your yard or your garden. Get your neighbors to stop poisoning everyone in their futile forever war against dandelions. Then, don’t buy foods that are high in it. 99%(ish) of all conventional (non organic) grains are sprayed with it right before harvest, so things like wheat and oats are particularly high in the residue. Buy these only in organic. Same for the “dirty dozen” produce items – buy them organic or not at all. Most importantly – learn more about permaculture! Can we just grow and forage some of our food without poisoning everything for cripes sake?
Finally, write a letter to your congresscritter and ask them nicely to ban it. Just kidding, save the paper and your time. DC is a corrupt cesspool, and the timeless torrent of tribalistic propaganda has made bi-partisan legislation nigh impossible. Thanks for letting me vent about that a bit, I feel better now. What you can actually do politically, is stop your local townships and governments from waging chemical warfare on invasive plants and dandelions with “cosmetic pesticides”.
The Sierra Club, Beyond Pesticides, and several other good non-profit groups have nationwide networks to tap into for networking, persuasive facts and research compiled, and even grant money to support local movements. Connect with some of them and start with your local park, school, township, or mayor. That level of government is actually still democratic and responsive to the people, unlike DC. Somehow still skeptical of the depth and breadth of the swamp? Here’s a Princeton study, showing “Public Opinion has near zero impact on US Law”. Oh well, start where we are, and do what we can! On to the next one…
Baddy #2: Plastics
You’re a smart reader. You might have realized now that “Baddy” wasn’t a typo, and you might be wondering why I chose this subheading. For a bit of comedic relief, check out this funny skit, sharing the lesson that it’s always important to remember that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Now on to the next baddy…
This one has really gone parabolic – a planetary health catastrophe on a scale that few saw coming. Where to even begin? We’re swimming in plastic, just like the glyphosate. You may have heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a huge, gyrating, continent sized mass of plastic. The same microplastics in the air and the ground water and the soil, even in remote artic regions. It’s everywhere, and there’s simply no way to bring your consumption down to zero. Truthfully, we have no idea what this is doing to humans or wildlife on this grand of a scale, but here’s a brief summary of the most proven human health impacts of ingesting plastic:
- Toxicity: Microplastics and nanoplastics can absorb and concentrate toxic chemicals from the environment, leading to potential toxicity when ingested by humans.
- Inflammation: These particles can cause inflammation in the digestive tract, potentially leading to conditions like inflammatory bowel disease.
- Immune System Effects: There is evidence suggesting that microplastics and nanoplastics can impact the immune system, potentially increasing susceptibility to infections and diseases.
- Gut Microbiome Disruption: Ingestion of these particles may disrupt the balance of gut microbiota, which is essential for overall health and immune function.
- Cellular Damage: Microplastics and nanoplastics can cause cellular damage and oxidative stress, which may contribute to the development of various diseases, including cancer.
- Hormonal Disruption: Some studies indicate that these particles could disrupt hormonal balance in the body, leading to reproductive and developmental issues.
- Bioaccumulation: Microplastics and nanoplastics can accumulate in tissues and organs over time, potentially causing long-term health effects.
If you’d like more information on the damage plastic can do to us, check out Dr. Shanna Swan. She is one of the leading researchers in the US on this issue, and she concludes that plastic exposure is doing massive damage to our hormones, endocrine systems, and fertility. Additionally, a recent study found bottled water contains 100x the nanoplastics previously thought to be there. These are even smaller than microplastics and cross the blood brain barrier, creating a whole new set of potential health maladies. And where are we seeing the biggest growth of new plastic use? Organic agriculture.
Why is organic food more likely to contain plastic? In the short term, plastic “mulches” have much of the same good effects or natural organic mulches. They help retain moisture, warm and stabilize soil temperature, prevent weed and grass competition, and allow less compaction from walking or machinery by giving good visual markers for plant rows. Plastic greenhouses are more than 10x cheaper than glass or more permanent structures. Also, state agriculture agencies give away grant money for these for small farms, making them an artificially cheap way to extend the growing season. In the long term though, they’re probably killing soil, wildlife, and humans alike. We know plants take up phthalates and other plasticizers and pass them on to us.
Should we just throw up our hands and season our food directly with plastics? Nay! There are a few simple steps anyone can take to reduce plastic consumption. I would estimate it can be reduced by 10x-100x compared to a standard American diet. First, obviously don’t drink bottled water. It’s just sitting there brewing in the plastic for who knows how long before you get to it. Other liquids or fats bottled in plastic absorb more of the packaging than solid foods. Think milk, olive oil, peanut butter, kombucha, etc. If it’s liquid, acid, or fat – avoid plastic packages. Water is the most common source of microplastic ingestion, so get a good filter and try to only drink filtered well water if possible. Another really common one is tea bags. They’re almost all plastic and leach loads of it into that hot water. Always go with loose leaf tea. There are dozens of types of herbal tea that are incredibly easy to grow here and have loads of health benefits. We teach how to easily grow, forage, and process them in our Permaculture Design Course every summer.
We’re not done there, though. You also want to avoid fast food and takeout packaging. Anything with a waxy looking waterproofing type look to it is almost certainly going to be infused with PFAS. These are “forever chemicals” that we know cause cancer and hormone disruption. Along those same lines, same deal paper cups for takeout coffee. They look like paper, but they’re lined with plastic and/or PFAS. Heated liquid plus plasticizers and PFAS is about the worst thing you could do if your goal is limiting your damage from these chemicals. Stick with a re-usable thermos or a mug, and as a bonus you’ll put less trash in a landfill. The last everyday item to be aware of is clothing. Your skin is porous and it absorbs things that come in contact with it. Go with natural fibers over synthetics that are proven to pollute with microplastics. As if all of that weren’t enough, there are certain foods you probably should not buy even in “organic” form.
Which ones? I would really like to see a “dirty dozen” type research to recommend which foods are most commonly contaminated. Alas, that doesn’t exist yet. Think about how likely the food is grown under plastic in the field or in a hydroponic system, and that’s your best intuitive guide. According to Bayer (which, fun fact, was started by the Nazis and bought up Monsanto), “plastic mulches are commonly used in the production of brassicas, cucumber, eggplant, melon, okra, pepper, tomato, and watermelon.” One of the first studies to examine plastic contamination in food found the highest levels in apples and carrots. It’s also been found in meat, and there is loads of it in the fake meat alternatives as well. Organic strawberries are also almost always grown under plastic mulch. With so many angles of contamination it can feel like it’s hard to eat anything!
So what are some foods that should be safer? Organic grains are typically grown on a scale and with equipment that isn’t conducive to plastic mulch. Organic quinoa, rice, oats, and corn should all have lower levels of pesticides and plastics. Nut trees theoretically have more of a “placental barrier” than fruits or veggies, so they might not pass on many of the absorbed plastics into their seeds. Grass fed, pasture raised livestock will ingest significantly less plastic than those raised on dubious feed mixes that often have surprisingly large percentages of plastic in them. And of course, we should all use permaculture methods without plastics and poisons to grow some of our own! Now for our third and final baddy, big pharma.
Baddy #3: Pharmaceuticals
Before I start here, let me appease all the pharma bros out there reading this by saying I really appreciate modern medicine. Just kidding! They’re all on yachts somewhere rigging up their next scheme to pilfer taxpayer money for obscene profits. For real though, antibiotics, anesthesia, and surgery are modern miracles, saving countless lives and alleviating untold suffering. Hats off to doctors and nurses as well. They are overwhelmed by a tsunami of information and loads of debt during their training. Then they are inundated with inane paperwork, under continual threat of litigation, dealing with the constant stress of being near illness and death every day, and they are overbooked with too many patients crammed into 15 minute slots all day.
On top of all of that, they’re only allowed to work with the tools they’ve been given. Typically, if insurance doesn’t cover it, it’s usually just not an option. For instance, there are several cheap, simple tests that should be prerequisites to prescribing any drug, that just aren’t easily covered by insurance or can open up potential litigation liabilities. If you pay a naturopathic doctor or a cash based clinic, they’re far more likely to get at or closer to the root of the issue by using a comprehensive blood panel, gut microbiome assessment, allergy testing, or a couple of useful DNA tests that many primary care providers are often unable or unwilling to do.
The bottom line is that we have a badly broken and corrupt system, and everyone knows it. Costs have risen exponentially, while results have faltered. The average lifespan of Americans has been dropping every year for the past several years, even as we spend 5x, 10x, 100x more than other countries on sick care. The average healthspan is worsening too, diminishing quality of life as well as years lived. The grift runs deep and has infiltrated every level of the system to extract maximum wealth at an ever-growing rate from as many people and as much tax money as possible.
Perhaps the most damaging part of it all though, is the drugs. Buckle up because this is about to get rough again. Let’s start with a chemical mentioned earlier in this article – PFAS. Depending on how you define them, they are present in a surprising percentage of the most commonly prescribed synthetic drugs on the market today.
“Authors of a 2022 study compiled a database of 340 fluoro-pharmaceuticals and found that the percentage of fluoro-pharmaceuticals among the total number of registered synthetics increased from 34% to 43% between 2015 and 2019. “
https://www.sepscience.com/pfas-in-pharmaceuticals-an-evolving-regulatory-landscape/
Again, these chemicals mess with hormones and cause cancer, and they do not biodegrade. They will pass through whoever eats them and into the ecosystem. To make matters worse, PFAS are not the only non-biodegradable chemical often found in drugs. Here’s how Harvard describes it:
“A study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1999 and 2000 found measurable amounts of one or more medications in 80% of the water samples drawn from a network of 139 streams in 30 states. The drugs identified included a witches’ brew of antibiotics, antidepressants, blood thinners, heart medications (ACE inhibitors, calcium-channel blockers, digoxin), hormones (estrogen, progesterone, testosterone), and painkillers. Scores of studies have been done since.”
https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/drugs-in-the-water
That “witches’ brew” ends up in fish and wildlife, and increasingly is concentrated in the sewage sludge of wastewater treatment plants. This sludge is then spread as fertilizer on farms, which then cycles it back into our food supply. That’s right, even if you’ve never taken a pill in your life, you’re still likely exposed to pharmaceuticals from city tap water, rivers and lakes, fish, and even from your food. To make matters worse, the total amount of synthetic drugs being consumed continues to compound exponentially each year.
Pharma today is similar to what Matt Taibbi famously wrote after the 2009 financial crisis: “The first thing you need to know about Goldman Sachs is that it’s everywhere. The world’s most powerful investment bank is a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money.” It’s not hard to verify this. Turn on any form of airwave or screen and you will see happy people at barbeques and picnics with lots of friends and family, who all got that way by popping pills! A full 75% of TV ads in 2020 were from big pharma. Pharma use has been compounding by an insane 60% every five years for several decades, and those profits and stock values aren’t going to grow themselves! The most recent estimate is that over 55% of US adults take some type of prescription drug, and over 30% of them are taking 3 or more at once. Don’t even get me started on the rate of kids being medicating now. It’s criminal.
If you stay tuned until the end of that happy commercial, and you’ll find a not-so-happy ending… loads of disclaimers about all the horrific and gruesome side effects that they say so fast that you can’t quite understand them. You really want to avoid getting hooked on these pills if you can. Once you start with one, you will likely end up taking more just to mitigate the side effects, creating a cascade of damage to your wallet, your health, and the health of our ecosystem. To get the gist, the most common side effects from the most popular drugs today are:
- Gastrointestinal Issues: Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal discomfort are common side effects reported with many medications, including antibiotics, pain relievers, and certain chronic disease medications.
- Dizziness and Drowsiness: Many prescription drugs, particularly those that affect the central nervous system such as antidepressants, antipsychotics, and sedatives, can cause dizziness and drowsiness as side effects.
- Allergic Reactions: Allergic reactions to medications can vary in severity but may include rash, itching, hives, swelling, and in severe cases, anaphylaxis.
- Headaches: Headaches are a commonly reported side effect of various medications, including blood pressure medications, birth control pills, and certain antidepressants.
- Fatigue: Many prescription drugs, particularly those that affect the central nervous system or have sedating properties, can cause fatigue or drowsiness as a side effect.
- Dry Mouth: Dry mouth is a common side effect of medications such as antihistamines, antidepressants, and certain antipsychotics.
- Weight Changes: Some medications, including certain antidepressants, antipsychotics, and corticosteroids, can cause weight gain or weight loss as side effects.
- Insomnia: Certain medications, particularly stimulants, antidepressants, and corticosteroids, can disrupt sleep patterns and lead to insomnia as a side effect.
- Muscle Weakness or Pain: Some medications, including statins used to lower cholesterol and certain antibiotics, can cause muscle weakness or pain as side effects.
- Changes in Sexual Function: Many medications, including antidepressants, antipsychotics, and certain blood pressure medications, can affect sexual function and libido as side effects.
If I were a betting man I would wager that 90% of non-generic pharmaceutical drugs have side effects that outweigh their benefits. Generic drugs are generally a safer bet to actually be a net benefit for several reasons. First, they have been around long enough to have better data than a new drug. When a company first releases a drug, they only have to share their interpretations of their own studies, not the fully transparent source data. And of course they would obviously never ever be biased, manipulated, or outright rigged… Pinky promise! Second, generics aren’t nearly as profitable to make and sell, so if they’re still getting used, it is usually with good reason.
Finally, if you want more reasons to avoid taking experimental synthetic pills with conspicuous additives and preservatives, there are a few books and podcasts I would recommend diving into. Keep in mind that this article just hits the tip of the iceberg about the corruption and risks involved. My favorite author for herbal medicine and a fair, honest, and poetic critique of modern medicine is Stephen Harrod Buhner. He has many great books, but my favorites are Herbal Antibiotics, Herbal Antivirals, and, The Lost Language of Plants. For a more mainstream summary, you can also check out a 2023 podcast and book from Harvard Professor John Abramson on how Big Pharma broke American healthcare. Permaculture design also has loads to offer here – herbalism, holistic health, social design, and natural remedies – each can enable greater freedom, health, and quality of life for all of us.
The compounding rise of the vampire squid of pharma correlates and coincides with the rise of chronic disease we have seen unfolding over the past several decades. Proving causation of something at this scale is probably a scientific impossibility. The best we can do is keep looking for data points suggesting patterns and trends like this and to try to stay as healthy as possible to avoid needing to even consider synthetic meds. That mostly means making good habits around things like eating well, sleeping enough, exercising regularly, getting outside, learning about herbalism and natural remedies, and keeping a tight social network. Let’s wrap this up with some empowerment. What can you do in the face of all of these obstacles?
I know this has been a lot. It is difficult to write it all without getting angry, upset, or tumbling into despair or nihilism. That is why we began by grounding ourselves in faith that life will prevail! That is why we are offering everything we can to spread knowledge, to build community, and empower healthy and happy lives in our Permaculture Design Course. If you’ve read this far this stuff is obviously important to you and you’re already on a good path towards building a better life for yourself and your family. If you’d like to take it to another level with a deeper dive – check out our course linked above! As always, please give us a share, subscribe for email updates, and like and share our social media pages on Facebook or Instagram. Stay tuned for Part 2!