Question
As glyphosate is lipid soluble, are GMO foods contributing to obesity?
Given that glyphosate is lipid soluble - and knowing it's really only ingested by humans through GM foods - how much of an impact would you say it has on the obesity epidemic? It is a known fact that PCB's (Monsanto) are highly toxic and found in measurable amounts in the fatty tissues of most people today. My concern is the effect of these toxins on the body when the fat that contains glyphosate is being metabolized. It SHOULD make you feel terrible and your body will launch a response that will slow, if not stop, weight loss in an attempt to avoid damage to organ tissue. Most of my fellow Americans are overweight enough as it is. If they're inundating their already ample supply of fat with toxins (what convenience food doesn't contain GM corn or soy these days?), do they stand a chance to metabolize that fat through exercise without harming vital organs?
Submitted by: SaveMyFood
Answer
Expert response from Dan Goldstein
Former Senior Science Fellow and Lead, Medical Sciences and Outreach, Monsanto Company
Friday, 20/12/2013 15:16
It is a common misunderstanding that pesticides, in general, accumulate in body fat. While this phenomenon may occur with some older compounds and a very few compounds currently in use, pesticides that bioaccumulate to any significant degree have been removed from use or are highly restricted to specialized applications needs that limit environmental exposures. Glyphosate is structurally related to the amino acid (protein component) glycine and is readily soluble in water, as demonstrated by the fact that you can buy water-based formulations containing as much as 62% glyphosate salts in agricultural formulations. If ingested, glyphosate is excreted rapidly, does not accumulate in body fat or tissues, and does not undergo metabolism in humans. Rather, it is excreted unchanged in the urine (EU Review Report of the active substance glyphosate, 2002, at: http://ec.europa.eu/food/plant/protection/evaluation/existactive/list1_glyphosate_en.pdf).
The question you have posed is based upon an assumption that is not relevant for glyphosate.
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