What Glyphosate Is Doing to Your Gut
In today's episode, Haylie Pomroy breaks down one of the most talked about and most misunderstood chemicals in our food supply: glyphosate. She walks through why it was approved for use on food crops in the first place, and why the logic that made it seem safe is the exact reason it poses such a serious risk to human health.
She covers how microbiome damage from glyphosate exposure triggers leaky gut syndrome, drives chronic inflammation, disrupts butyrate production, activates fat cell expansion through LPS signaling, and directly suppresses the neurotransmitter precursors tryptophan, tyrosine, and phenylalanine, meaning it is not just a gut issue. It is a serotonin issue. A dopamine issue. A brain function issue.
Tune in to Fast Metabolism Matters to learn how glyphosate disrupts the gut microbiome.
If your body feels like it's running on empty, overburdened, or just not responding the way it used to, Haylie's latest book, Toxic Overload, tells you exactly what to do. Download your free digital copy today and start understanding what your body is trying to tell you.
Free Download: Get Your Copy of Toxic Overload 👉 https://hayliepomroy.com/pages/toxic-overload
You don't have to figure this out alone. Inside Haylie's private membership community, you get personalized guidance and support, member discounts on supplements and shakes, and the ability to ask questions directly to podcast guests like Dr. Systrom. Join free for 30 days and take the next step on your health journey.
Join the Fast Metabolism Membership — First 30 Days Free 👉 https://hayliepomroy.com/pages/fast-metabolism-membership
Haylie Pomroy, Founder and CEO of The Haylie Pomroy Group, is a leading health strategist specializing in metabolism, weight loss, and integrative wellness. With over 25 years of experience, she has worked with top medical institutions and high-profile clients, developing targeted programs and supplements rooted in the "Food is Medicine" philosophy. Inspired by her own autoimmune journey, she combines expertise in nutrition, biochemistry, and patient advocacy to help others reclaim their health. She is a New York Times bestselling author of The Fast Metabolism Diet.
Learn more about Haylie Pomroy's approach to wellness through her website: https://hayliepomroy.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hayliepomroy
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hayliepomroy
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@hayliepomroy/videos
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hayliepomroy/
----------------------------------------
EDITED TRANSCRIPT
I'm your host, Haylie Pomroy. I'm a #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Fast Metabolism Diet and many other books. I am a student at the Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine now. I was the assistant director, but I'm finishing my PhD in neuroimmunology. I'm also a fierce advocate for those looking for a little bit of help and a whole lot of hope.
Today, I want to talk about and cover a subject that has been all over the media lately, and I think something that we wanted to speak to as an institute and give you some ideas, creative ways, and new facts maybe for you about how to make a positive impact in your health. Today, I'm going to tackle the subject of glyphosates. They are everywhere. They're prevalent. You hear the word Roundup with weed killer when we hear about them, but there's some things about glyphosate that maybe are controversial, and then there are facts based on their science or the individuals that got the chemical patented that I think we should bring up and make a positive impact in your health.
One thing that a lot of people don't realize is that glyphosate was originally patented as an antibiotic, not as a weed killer. The chemical is now sprayed on millions of acres of farmland, but it was first designed to kill bacteria. One of the ways that it became deemed as okay for human consumption or as an agrochemical that was allowed to be used on foods for human consumption or growing for human consumption was that it works on a particular metabolic pathway called the shikimate pathway. And the human body does not possess this metabolic pathway, but bacteria, molds, and funguses, some other pathogens do.
It was actually patented first in 1959, and that patent was used in order to treat bacteria in the environment. The mechanism of action was deemed as having nothing to do with the human body. The problem, though, and what we've all been talking about a lot in autoimmunity, in neuroimmunity, in ME/CFS, in chronic fatigue, in long COVID, is the body's gut microbiome.
I will tell you that many of the bacteria that are in our body's biological immune system are bacteria that exist on our body, both on our skin, in our oral cavity, in our nose, through our entire gut, do have this particular metabolic pathway. Glyphosates might not hurt the human body, but we do know that they are designed to target the human gut microbiome, and that's where we run into problems.
I'm going to be an advocate for organics here, but first, let me tell you a little more and why. We do know that glyphosates can impact the ability to digest food. Our ability to break down proteins into amino acid. Our ability to stay out of an inflammatory state. They also disrupt hormone balance, blood sugar regulation, the fat-burning mechanisms in the body, and I'm going to talk to you about how that happens metabolically. They dysregulate our inflammation control. So we talk a lot in neuroimmunology about inflammation being a good thing. It's a first line of defense in the immune system, but when we can't regulate it, and inflammation becomes a chronic issue, that's where we have the manifestation of disease. The other thing that we know that this first patented and approved through the FDA, now an agrochemical, was an antibiotic. We do know that it also can disrupt mood-boosting neurotransmitters, one by causing destruction in the gut microbiome, but the other by disrupting neurotransmitter metabolism, so we're going to talk a little bit about that.
A couple of things that I talk to my clients about when we're working through nutrition is when we have gut microbiome damage, it kills the good bacteria. It creates an environment or makes us susceptible for bad bacteria, mycotoxin, and fungal candida overgrowth. We have the destruction of the good gut bugs, we have the proliferation of the bad bugs, but it also causes what we have coined the term leaky gut syndrome, which means the lining of the gut has more permeability, so things can get through. I always say think of a screen, you're maybe out in the woods, and there's screens on your windows, and someone cuts the screen open, and the mosquitoes can get in, they're not supposed to, and wreak havoc. That's what leaky gut syndrome is like. The gut itself becomes more permeable, larger particles make it through, bacteria, toxins, and it creates an inflammatory cascade in the blood. Toxins, undigested food particles, they can leak into the bloodstream and this triggers the immune system and sets off inflammation. And you can have things like joint pain, brain fog, and even can create an autoimmune flare.
The other thing that happens is when we're in a chronic pro-inflammatory state, it causes advanced aging, it stimulates the hunger hormones, it can promote fat cell proliferation, it can trigger insulin resistance, and it can create even weight gain. When you're consuming foods that are high in glyphosates, and we're going to talk about where those come from, but these are some of the things that we want to think about. The destruction of the gut microbiome, the proliferation of bad bacteria, leaky gut syndrome, and the pro-inflammatory mechanism that is insulin resistance, weight gain, and the stimulation of hunger hormones.
Let's talk about the gut microbiome and how our body creates the inflammatory cascade that promotes weight gain. Let's hit there first. We do know that glyphosates reduce what they call butyrate production in the gut. This is a short-chain fatty acid that actually boosts the metabolism. We look at butyrate with ME/CFS as pro-inflammatory to the autonomic nervous system, a pro-neuroinflammatory reduction of level. We also look at this in Gulf War Illness (GWI), and there are some great studies on a lower butyrate creating a significant inflammatory cascade when a person has toxic or environmental toxin exposures. The mechanism of glyphosate consumption reducing butyrate production in our body puts us in this inflammatory cascade.
The other thing is glyphosate, with how it works on that particular metabolic pathway, is it increases what we call lipopolysaccharides (LPSs). These are a bacterial toxin that actually triggers the adipocytes, or the fat cells, to expand and absorb triglyceride, or fat, into it. It's a growth or a swelling of the fat in our body. We also, again, with the consumption of glyphosate, the destruction of diversity in the microbiome, is definitely linked to a host of metabolic diseases and obesity. With our clients, we're always looking at unexplained weight gain, digestive issues, chronic inflammation, fatigue, exhaustion, brain fog, and we do an assessment of their nutritional consumption and look at areas that glyphosates can be really, really high. Definitely, people that find that they have strong cravings, especially in the afternoon, people that feel like there's what we call emotional eating. And I hate that we use that term because what it is, or stress eating, what it is is certain neurotransmitters get triggered under stress, under even sadness, even anxiety, and when those neurotransmitters get triggered and the gut microbiome is out of balance, remember those fat cells by the LPSs get triggered to swell, and when they swell, your body needs to consume something that will help you store fat. It's this crazy kind of vicious cycle.
But I want to talk about the big heavy hitters because I want you to open your pantry and be empowered by all of this data. Number one, we're looking at non-organic bread, cereals, especially oats have the highest level of concentration. You want to go organic, organic, organic in these as much as possible. They are even finding some traces of glyphosates in organic products, but you're going to lower your possibility and reduce your exposure by going organic in these. Beans and legumes, think of things that grow in the soil, non-organic. Potatoes are another one, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, any of the potatoes, any of the root vegetables, really critically important.
And one of the things that I like to teach our community about is that if you have a fruit that's growing above the soil and it gets exposed to a weed killer or an agrochemical, one cycle of that gets exposed, and you're consuming that. But remember, the soil has been exposed for many cycles. Let's say they treat the property 4 to 6 times a year, and they harvest two times a year, your fruit or vegetable or food that you're consuming will be absorbing that every time there's a topical exposure, but also absorbing it 24-7 from a root exposure.
That brings me to my next make sure are organic. Sunflower seeds, soy, those crops are often raised in agricultural soil that is deemed too toxic to grow other crops in. I'm going to say that again.
Especially sunflower, often times we will put sunflower on a crop, my first degree is in agriculture and soil sciences as you guys know, we'll put sunflower or hemp on soil that has become too saturated, so the levels are too high even for a non-organic growing environment, because the fiber in those absorbs so much toxins that they can clean up the soil faster than another agricultural substance. Those become highly saturated in glyphosates. The other one that a lot of people don't think about is there's soy and corn in most packaged foods, or even when we call them healthy snacks, we'll turn it around, and it will have corn and soy in it. And remember, at very low levels, the glyphosate testing in those is extremely high.
What can you do to protect yourself? Obviously, avoid glyphosate foods, eat organic as much as possible, but diversity in your food consumption, and that's why, whether it's the Fast Metabolism or the Burn or FoodRx or any of the programs that I put together for our community, we are constantly doing food rotation. You can take probiotics, you can consume prebiotics, you can have fermented foods, which really help the ecosystem, but what we have to do to create a diversity is we have to stimulate a diversity of enzymes and secretions in the bodies. If you're doing chicken and broccoli every day and think that that's a healthy diet, you're really eliminating the ability to re-inoculate and re-engage and re-populate your gut microbiome. You need to rotate your diversity in proteins, so whether you're doing chicken, beef, lamb, pork, organic, we need diversity. And we also need to make sure that even in our snacks, so if you're doing apple, orange, grapefruit, watermelon, that those are changing throughout the day. You're not doing apple, apple, apple, apple. It's that diversity that's going to get the diversity back in the gut microbiome. We also do give probiotics. You want to make sure that your probiotic has a prebiotic, so something that helps actually keep it alive so that it can re-inoculate in your gut. And then we do what we call support liver detoxification, kidney detoxification, lymphatic detoxification, and we do liver-based, food-centric cleanses.
There are a couple of things that we look at as red flags when people come in with a symptom profile that we right away want to assess, and there are labs both in stool and in blood that you can look at now for not just glyphosate, but other agrochemicals, other food-consumed chemical levels, as well as plastics in both blood and stool tests. But if people are what we call more tired than they should be, so when someone says I didn't sleep for a couple of nights and I'm tired, and we say, yeah, let's get a couple of nights of sleep and see how that feels. But when people say, I'm sleeping pretty well, I shouldn't be exhausted, but I feel exhausted, again, because of the reduction in butyrate, because of the reduction in the LPSs, fatigue and brain fog are big triggers for us to want to look at those levels. And we've got to help the body, first we identify, then we remove the source, then we remove what's stored in the body, then we heal the damage that it has caused. That's kind of the protocol that we take.
Again, when we stress organics to our clients, and if you can grow it yourself, that's even better, because even in organic products, they don't use synthetic chemicals, but they do use natural-based chemicals, copper-based fungicides, which can cause a zinc deficiency in our patients, which is critically important with a person that has long COVID or any viral reactivation. But I think that eliminating that exposure, detoxing what's stored in the body, healing what's out of balance, and then understanding why the body feels so terrible. In an organic situation, you're not going to get the agrochemicals, but you can get natural-based fungicides, pesticides, and insecticides that can disrupt your nutrient value. That's why we always look at a patient's nutrient profile.
I want to go back to the shikimate pathway just for a second, because I really want to reiterate that if you were consuming something that had a potent antibiotic in it all day, every day, and you were to bring that to your physician's attention, they would be very alerted and alarmed, and that is what glyphosate is. There is a lot of controversy, and I'm not going to jump into that topic yet, about does it cause CLL? Does it cause cancers? Does it cause brain damage? It depends on what you look at, and there are lawsuits and debates about that all day long. But what we do know is that in order for it to get patented, in order for it to get approved, it did work on this particular metabolic pathway, again, which is the shikimate pathway. In the shikimate pathway, again, we don't have it, but we, collectively, meaning our microbiome, have it. That's how they got away with it being safe for consumption. But I want to talk about essential amino acids that are disrupted when the shikimate pathway is disrupted.
Plants, fungi, and bacteria, they use this pathway to actually create amino acids. Remember, when you consume protein, that's the macronutrient, we break it down into a micronutrient, an amino acid, and this particular metabolic pathway, the shikimate pathway, the amino acids that we know for sure are affected. Our tryptophan, which is the precursor to serotonin. Serotonin and dopamine, those feel good, when we talk about depression and anxiety. Tyrosine, which is a precursor to dopamine, so we've got serotonin suppression, dopamine suppression, and phenylalanine. And being able to extract phenylalanine, dopamine, so phenylalanine, we look a lot at brain function, so cognitive, left brain, right brain integration. We know, if we just look at the metabolic pathway, that glyphosates, with their own science, are patented to be used by the FDA, because it disrupts the shikimate pathway, then we know for sure that it disrupts tryptophan, tyrosine, and phenylalanine metabolism. We know for sure that it's going to have an impact on our serotonin, our dopamine, and our cognitive brain function.
I sometimes feel like if we embrace the manufacturer's own science, and we say, okay, how are we going to support the body, then there's no more need for debate. We're going to look at this with our clients, we want you to look at this, we're going to look at going organic, we're going to look at doing diversity of food, and we're going to look at promoting active detoxification through the liver, so that we can stop eating what's poisoning us, we can extract what's been deposited within us, and we can heal the damage that's happened.
In today's episode, Haylie Pomroy breaks down one of the most talked about and most misunderstood chemicals in our food supply: glyphosate. She walks through why it was approved for use on food crops in the first place, and why the logic that made it seem safe is the exact reason it poses such a serious risk to human health.
She covers how microbiome damage from glyphosate exposure triggers leaky gut syndrome, drives chronic inflammation, disrupts butyrate production, activates fat cell expansion through LPS signaling, and directly suppresses the neurotransmitter precursors tryptophan, tyrosine, and phenylalanine, meaning it is not just a gut issue. It is a serotonin issue. A dopamine issue. A brain function issue.
Tune in to Fast Metabolism Matters to learn how glyphosate disrupts the gut microbiome.
If your body feels like it's running on empty, overburdened, or just not responding the way it used to, Haylie's latest book, Toxic Overload, tells you exactly what to do. Download your free digital copy today and start understanding what your body is trying to tell you.
Free Download: Get Your Copy of Toxic Overload 👉 https://hayliepomroy.com/pages/toxic-overload
You don't have to figure this out alone. Inside Haylie's private membership community, you get personalized guidance and support, member discounts on supplements and shakes, and the ability to ask questions directly to podcast guests like Dr. Systrom. Join free for 30 days and take the next step on your health journey.
Join the Fast Metabolism Membership — First 30 Days Free 👉 https://hayliepomroy.com/pages/fast-metabolism-membership
Haylie Pomroy, Founder and CEO of The Haylie Pomroy Group, is a leading health strategist specializing in metabolism, weight loss, and integrative wellness. With over 25 years of experience, she has worked with top medical institutions and high-profile clients, developing targeted programs and supplements rooted in the "Food is Medicine" philosophy. Inspired by her own autoimmune journey, she combines expertise in nutrition, biochemistry, and patient advocacy to help others reclaim their health. She is a New York Times bestselling author of The Fast Metabolism Diet.
Learn more about Haylie Pomroy's approach to wellness through her website: https://hayliepomroy.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hayliepomroy
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hayliepomroy
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@hayliepomroy/videos
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hayliepomroy/
----------------------------------------
EDITED TRANSCRIPT
I'm your host, Haylie Pomroy. I'm a #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Fast Metabolism Diet and many other books. I am a student at the Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine now. I was the assistant director, but I'm finishing my PhD in neuroimmunology. I'm also a fierce advocate for those looking for a little bit of help and a whole lot of hope.
Today, I want to talk about and cover a subject that has been all over the media lately, and I think something that we wanted to speak to as an institute and give you some ideas, creative ways, and new facts maybe for you about how to make a positive impact in your health. Today, I'm going to tackle the subject of glyphosates. They are everywhere. They're prevalent. You hear the word Roundup with weed killer when we hear about them, but there's some things about glyphosate that maybe are controversial, and then there are facts based on their science or the individuals that got the chemical patented that I think we should bring up and make a positive impact in your health.
One thing that a lot of people don't realize is that glyphosate was originally patented as an antibiotic, not as a weed killer. The chemical is now sprayed on millions of acres of farmland, but it was first designed to kill bacteria. One of the ways that it became deemed as okay for human consumption or as an agrochemical that was allowed to be used on foods for human consumption or growing for human consumption was that it works on a particular metabolic pathway called the shikimate pathway. And the human body does not possess this metabolic pathway, but bacteria, molds, and funguses, some other pathogens do.
It was actually patented first in 1959, and that patent was used in order to treat bacteria in the environment. The mechanism of action was deemed as having nothing to do with the human body. The problem, though, and what we've all been talking about a lot in autoimmunity, in neuroimmunity, in ME/CFS, in chronic fatigue, in long COVID, is the body's gut microbiome.
I will tell you that many of the bacteria that are in our body's biological immune system are bacteria that exist on our body, both on our skin, in our oral cavity, in our nose, through our entire gut, do have this particular metabolic pathway. Glyphosates might not hurt the human body, but we do know that they are designed to target the human gut microbiome, and that's where we run into problems.
I'm going to be an advocate for organics here, but first, let me tell you a little more and why. We do know that glyphosates can impact the ability to digest food. Our ability to break down proteins into amino acid. Our ability to stay out of an inflammatory state. They also disrupt hormone balance, blood sugar regulation, the fat-burning mechanisms in the body, and I'm going to talk to you about how that happens metabolically. They dysregulate our inflammation control. So we talk a lot in neuroimmunology about inflammation being a good thing. It's a first line of defense in the immune system, but when we can't regulate it, and inflammation becomes a chronic issue, that's where we have the manifestation of disease. The other thing that we know that this first patented and approved through the FDA, now an agrochemical, was an antibiotic. We do know that it also can disrupt mood-boosting neurotransmitters, one by causing destruction in the gut microbiome, but the other by disrupting neurotransmitter metabolism, so we're going to talk a little bit about that.
A couple of things that I talk to my clients about when we're working through nutrition is when we have gut microbiome damage, it kills the good bacteria. It creates an environment or makes us susceptible for bad bacteria, mycotoxin, and fungal candida overgrowth. We have the destruction of the good gut bugs, we have the proliferation of the bad bugs, but it also causes what we have coined the term leaky gut syndrome, which means the lining of the gut has more permeability, so things can get through. I always say think of a screen, you're maybe out in the woods, and there's screens on your windows, and someone cuts the screen open, and the mosquitoes can get in, they're not supposed to, and wreak havoc. That's what leaky gut syndrome is like. The gut itself becomes more permeable, larger particles make it through, bacteria, toxins, and it creates an inflammatory cascade in the blood. Toxins, undigested food particles, they can leak into the bloodstream and this triggers the immune system and sets off inflammation. And you can have things like joint pain, brain fog, and even can create an autoimmune flare.
The other thing that happens is when we're in a chronic pro-inflammatory state, it causes advanced aging, it stimulates the hunger hormones, it can promote fat cell proliferation, it can trigger insulin resistance, and it can create even weight gain. When you're consuming foods that are high in glyphosates, and we're going to talk about where those come from, but these are some of the things that we want to think about. The destruction of the gut microbiome, the proliferation of bad bacteria, leaky gut syndrome, and the pro-inflammatory mechanism that is insulin resistance, weight gain, and the stimulation of hunger hormones.
Let's talk about the gut microbiome and how our body creates the inflammatory cascade that promotes weight gain. Let's hit there first. We do know that glyphosates reduce what they call butyrate production in the gut. This is a short-chain fatty acid that actually boosts the metabolism. We look at butyrate with ME/CFS as pro-inflammatory to the autonomic nervous system, a pro-neuroinflammatory reduction of level. We also look at this in Gulf War Illness (GWI), and there are some great studies on a lower butyrate creating a significant inflammatory cascade when a person has toxic or environmental toxin exposures. The mechanism of glyphosate consumption reducing butyrate production in our body puts us in this inflammatory cascade.
The other thing is glyphosate, with how it works on that particular metabolic pathway, is it increases what we call lipopolysaccharides (LPSs). These are a bacterial toxin that actually triggers the adipocytes, or the fat cells, to expand and absorb triglyceride, or fat, into it. It's a growth or a swelling of the fat in our body. We also, again, with the consumption of glyphosate, the destruction of diversity in the microbiome, is definitely linked to a host of metabolic diseases and obesity. With our clients, we're always looking at unexplained weight gain, digestive issues, chronic inflammation, fatigue, exhaustion, brain fog, and we do an assessment of their nutritional consumption and look at areas that glyphosates can be really, really high. Definitely, people that find that they have strong cravings, especially in the afternoon, people that feel like there's what we call emotional eating. And I hate that we use that term because what it is, or stress eating, what it is is certain neurotransmitters get triggered under stress, under even sadness, even anxiety, and when those neurotransmitters get triggered and the gut microbiome is out of balance, remember those fat cells by the LPSs get triggered to swell, and when they swell, your body needs to consume something that will help you store fat. It's this crazy kind of vicious cycle.
But I want to talk about the big heavy hitters because I want you to open your pantry and be empowered by all of this data. Number one, we're looking at non-organic bread, cereals, especially oats have the highest level of concentration. You want to go organic, organic, organic in these as much as possible. They are even finding some traces of glyphosates in organic products, but you're going to lower your possibility and reduce your exposure by going organic in these. Beans and legumes, think of things that grow in the soil, non-organic. Potatoes are another one, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, any of the potatoes, any of the root vegetables, really critically important.
And one of the things that I like to teach our community about is that if you have a fruit that's growing above the soil and it gets exposed to a weed killer or an agrochemical, one cycle of that gets exposed, and you're consuming that. But remember, the soil has been exposed for many cycles. Let's say they treat the property 4 to 6 times a year, and they harvest two times a year, your fruit or vegetable or food that you're consuming will be absorbing that every time there's a topical exposure, but also absorbing it 24-7 from a root exposure.
That brings me to my next make sure are organic. Sunflower seeds, soy, those crops are often raised in agricultural soil that is deemed too toxic to grow other crops in. I'm going to say that again.
Especially sunflower, often times we will put sunflower on a crop, my first degree is in agriculture and soil sciences as you guys know, we'll put sunflower or hemp on soil that has become too saturated, so the levels are too high even for a non-organic growing environment, because the fiber in those absorbs so much toxins that they can clean up the soil faster than another agricultural substance. Those become highly saturated in glyphosates. The other one that a lot of people don't think about is there's soy and corn in most packaged foods, or even when we call them healthy snacks, we'll turn it around, and it will have corn and soy in it. And remember, at very low levels, the glyphosate testing in those is extremely high.
What can you do to protect yourself? Obviously, avoid glyphosate foods, eat organic as much as possible, but diversity in your food consumption, and that's why, whether it's the Fast Metabolism or the Burn or FoodRx or any of the programs that I put together for our community, we are constantly doing food rotation. You can take probiotics, you can consume prebiotics, you can have fermented foods, which really help the ecosystem, but what we have to do to create a diversity is we have to stimulate a diversity of enzymes and secretions in the bodies. If you're doing chicken and broccoli every day and think that that's a healthy diet, you're really eliminating the ability to re-inoculate and re-engage and re-populate your gut microbiome. You need to rotate your diversity in proteins, so whether you're doing chicken, beef, lamb, pork, organic, we need diversity. And we also need to make sure that even in our snacks, so if you're doing apple, orange, grapefruit, watermelon, that those are changing throughout the day. You're not doing apple, apple, apple, apple. It's that diversity that's going to get the diversity back in the gut microbiome. We also do give probiotics. You want to make sure that your probiotic has a prebiotic, so something that helps actually keep it alive so that it can re-inoculate in your gut. And then we do what we call support liver detoxification, kidney detoxification, lymphatic detoxification, and we do liver-based, food-centric cleanses.
There are a couple of things that we look at as red flags when people come in with a symptom profile that we right away want to assess, and there are labs both in stool and in blood that you can look at now for not just glyphosate, but other agrochemicals, other food-consumed chemical levels, as well as plastics in both blood and stool tests. But if people are what we call more tired than they should be, so when someone says I didn't sleep for a couple of nights and I'm tired, and we say, yeah, let's get a couple of nights of sleep and see how that feels. But when people say, I'm sleeping pretty well, I shouldn't be exhausted, but I feel exhausted, again, because of the reduction in butyrate, because of the reduction in the LPSs, fatigue and brain fog are big triggers for us to want to look at those levels. And we've got to help the body, first we identify, then we remove the source, then we remove what's stored in the body, then we heal the damage that it has caused. That's kind of the protocol that we take.
Again, when we stress organics to our clients, and if you can grow it yourself, that's even better, because even in organic products, they don't use synthetic chemicals, but they do use natural-based chemicals, copper-based fungicides, which can cause a zinc deficiency in our patients, which is critically important with a person that has long COVID or any viral reactivation. But I think that eliminating that exposure, detoxing what's stored in the body, healing what's out of balance, and then understanding why the body feels so terrible. In an organic situation, you're not going to get the agrochemicals, but you can get natural-based fungicides, pesticides, and insecticides that can disrupt your nutrient value. That's why we always look at a patient's nutrient profile.
I want to go back to the shikimate pathway just for a second, because I really want to reiterate that if you were consuming something that had a potent antibiotic in it all day, every day, and you were to bring that to your physician's attention, they would be very alerted and alarmed, and that is what glyphosate is. There is a lot of controversy, and I'm not going to jump into that topic yet, about does it cause CLL? Does it cause cancers? Does it cause brain damage? It depends on what you look at, and there are lawsuits and debates about that all day long. But what we do know is that in order for it to get patented, in order for it to get approved, it did work on this particular metabolic pathway, again, which is the shikimate pathway. In the shikimate pathway, again, we don't have it, but we, collectively, meaning our microbiome, have it. That's how they got away with it being safe for consumption. But I want to talk about essential amino acids that are disrupted when the shikimate pathway is disrupted.
Plants, fungi, and bacteria, they use this pathway to actually create amino acids. Remember, when you consume protein, that's the macronutrient, we break it down into a micronutrient, an amino acid, and this particular metabolic pathway, the shikimate pathway, the amino acids that we know for sure are affected. Our tryptophan, which is the precursor to serotonin. Serotonin and dopamine, those feel good, when we talk about depression and anxiety. Tyrosine, which is a precursor to dopamine, so we've got serotonin suppression, dopamine suppression, and phenylalanine. And being able to extract phenylalanine, dopamine, so phenylalanine, we look a lot at brain function, so cognitive, left brain, right brain integration. We know, if we just look at the metabolic pathway, that glyphosates, with their own science, are patented to be used by the FDA, because it disrupts the shikimate pathway, then we know for sure that it disrupts tryptophan, tyrosine, and phenylalanine metabolism. We know for sure that it's going to have an impact on our serotonin, our dopamine, and our cognitive brain function.
I sometimes feel like if we embrace the manufacturer's own science, and we say, okay, how are we going to support the body, then there's no more need for debate. We're going to look at this with our clients, we want you to look at this, we're going to look at going organic, we're going to look at doing diversity of food, and we're going to look at promoting active detoxification through the liver, so that we can stop eating what's poisoning us, we can extract what's been deposited within us, and we can heal the damage that's happened.
