Decomplexicating Equine Nutrition Part 09 of 12 – GMO, Pesticides and Fertilizers ( Moved to community.thehorsesadvocate.com )
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I have seen 2 documentaries about this. One said roundup ready makes the pests’ stomach explode. The other was the plight of Roundup ready seed that was grown in India and causing a myriad of disease and deaths in cattle as well as the farm workers that consumed their corn. As soon as they removed them the diseases subsided. India has outlawed Monsanto products finally. Also, please don’t rely on big pharma based studies claiming no harm from anything. Remember when 4 out of 5 doctors recommended Pall Mall cigarettes? And when Aspartame was safe? There were many papers that were fraudulent and had false information. Look who funds the studies.
I really enjoy your articles, but please look into this a little deeper. 😊
I am acutely aware of marketing and how they have deceived us over the decades. Smithsonian‘ s “The Real Mad Men of Advertising” goes into this from the 1950’s and The Howdy Doody Show. I am not a spokesman for big pharma. I am skeptical of most research and was trained at Cornell for 2 years how to read research papers correctly. I also look to see who is behind documentary films as they are usually expensive to produce and distribute. As the Wall Stree Journal reported 2 or so years ago, the number of retractions in medical journals is at a all time high with tenure being the most common reason for fudging data. If you want to look at where research papers are currently, Google “The Parachute Study.” Most importantly, I think.
I understand your focus on glyphosate. It is made by 7 different companies and Monsanto has been purchased by Bayer providing pallets of Round Up available in Home Depot.
However I want to focus on the real issue here and that is carbohydrate dependency, mitochondrial exhaustion and the subsequent chronic protein deficiency. Whether someone chooses to use soybean meal or use only organically grown forage and feed is not as important to me in the short run as removing the inflammatory ingredients and restoring the missing amino acids. The diseases and lamenesses prevalent today are real for many people while no one is seeing the untoward effects of glyphosate in their horses. Purchasing organic forage and feed and having pure pastures is not available to most horse owners today. If a horse owner has access to this then I’m sure they would choose it if affordable.
I eat organically when the option is available but life on the road is not usually accessible to it. If there is a market with organic food I then look for non-inflammatory oils, no lectin based foods, and grain free foods which cuts out over 90% of the food at Whole Foods even in their eatery.
All we can do is the best we can do with what is available. We need to help people become aware of the downside of glyphosate but scaring them into not removing the grains or supplementing the lost amino acids will never get their horses back. What is the point of being glyphosate free when their suspensories are breaking down, the hind fetlocks drop, they have kissing spine, they have laminitis or a myriad of hoof diseases, immune dysfunctions, neurological dysfunctions and colic all stemming from gut inflammation and protein loss? This is the position of this blog. To be clear, glyphosate is likely altering our gut microbiome as well as the soil microbiome. But I also believe in hormesis where the bacteria become tolerant to this former antibiotic as most bacteria do. Antibiotic resistance is the primary concern of the CDC here in America. Could this also be happening to glyphosate even when it remains an effective broadleaf herbicide? The full story has yet to be told but for now, horses removing inflammatory grains and grain byproducts and adding soybean meal are seeing tremendous positive results.
I truly appreciate your comments here as there are many with the same thoughts. I hope this gives an alternative view acceptable to everyone.
I absolutely believe in the no grain diet and love your blogs. All of my horses are on this diet and are doing wonderful! I am an equine body worker and I see the effects of a grain diet daily. I have your blog info on my home screen of my phone because I give it to all of my clients. They report very good results from performance horses to backyard pets.
I am happy your response has a more “the jury is still out on glyphosate and gmos”. I agree we can only do the best we can for taking care of our horses (and us). I know my hay grower uses gmo seeds but honestly my horses are doing so much better grain free even with the gmo hay I don’t worry about it.
Thank you for your blogs! And responses!
And my sincere thanks to you for sharing so much of this with your clients. I am grateful beyond words.
Monsanto has now lost multiple law suits that were filed due to RoundUp (glyphosate) causing cancer. They have been fined billions and there are thousands more law suits pending trial for the same. You need to read more and watch videos by Institute for Responsible Technology. RoundUp is NOT harmless to people or animals. Even WHO acknowledge it as a probable carcinogen years ago. In regards to the gut biome, glyphosate was first patented as an antibiotic, and as you know, antibiotics destroy the gut biome, so there’s the answer to that question. I have enjoyed learning much from your blogs, but this one really fell flat and disappointed me greatly. Time to update your knowledge about RoundUp and let people know how dangerous this really is to us and our animals. We feed our horses only organic grass pellets and have them on pasture the majority of every day, only bringing them in for daily care or work and their grass pellet meal. The pastures are not sprayed with fertilizer or pesticides or herbicides. They are both in excellent health. The other barn mates that feed grains and keep them all day in their stalls do not fair nearly as well as our girls. You give a lot of good advice and information, but not this time. Do a little more research please.
Thanks Melissa for bringing up these points. The case about glyphosate did bring a verdict for billions of dollars but the case is being appealed. The cancer is being found in the inappropriate application of the chemical and not in the ingestion of it. This is why the verdict is being challenged.
As far as I know, there are about 7 makers of glyphosate in the world. While the case against Monsanto was being litigated, the giant company Bayer bought Monsanto. If they thought it was a problem the sale would never have occurred.
Also as far as I know, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recently lifted its ban on glyphosate and now recognizes it as being safe when used as directed. I do need a citation for this but my source is credible.
I acknowledge that glyphosate was developed as an antibiotic. The most damage then would be seen in the microbiota of the soils of the plants where it is applied. The half life is about 120 days and for this reason I wonder if glyphosate is active in our food. Of more interest is the question that if glyphosate is so destructive then in a world where it is found everywhere (including organic products) then why do we see little if any disease directly attributable to it? Could our cells and our gut microbiota through hormesis be adapting to it?
There are so many factors causing the myriad diseases affecting humans and horses and it is possible that glyphosate is one of them. However from my perspective there are other factors more influential that we can have more control over. For example; continuous feeding of sugar throughout the year in the form of starch in grains and forage, feeding of lectins in grains and grain byproducts, the overuse of non-essential medications (sedation use to replace horsemanship), the chronic protein deficiency in horses and the abundant misinformation about feeding horses.
The purpose of this blog was to counter the rhetoric about glyphosate. In my mind it may be bad though there is little day to day evidence that our gut microbiome can’t handle it. But for those not able to keep their horses on chemical free pastures or without access to organic hay (the majority of the horses today), the larger concern is feeding grain and grain byproducts every day of the year. What this is doing to humans, horses and all pets is astounding. By reducing the use of grains the amount of glyphosate will also be reduced PLUS the horses will become healthier and happier. Isn’t this what we all want?
I have been telling horse people about the feed they are giving their horses. Some listen, but most do not. They think the feed companies would not do that. I tell them the feed companies are just trying to make a dollar, no matter what the cost. Thank you for helping us keep our horses healthy and happy.
You are very welcome and thank you for trying. I find that the best question to ask anyone doubting is this: “How is what you are doing working for you?” If the answer is good, then don’t worry and talk about the weather. But most will admit to behavior problems, digestive problems, lameness or hoof problems or a feed room full of supplements, a complex feeding schedule and no money left over to fix the barn roof.
Thank you for being the horse’s advocate.
Thank you for giving us some good information.
My pleasure!!!