A recorded conversation between Wendie Trubow and Dr. Heather Sandison about environmental toxicants and cognitive health, with an emphasis on glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup). They describe glyphosate's widespread presence (food, lawns, sidewalks), its biochemical similarity to glycine with potential neurotoxic consequences, clinical observations of high glyphosate levels in patients with severe neurodegenerative disease, and practical steps to reduce exposure and support elimination (improved bowel movements, liver support, avoiding contaminated water and sprayed lawns, ventilation, shoes-off policies). They also mention other contaminants (parabens, PCBs, organophosphates) and express concern about water contamination and plastics.
Chapters
Talk to me about the environmental toxicants that you see associated with dementia, Alzheimer's, recognizing that, you know, you have another commitment. And this is. This is a huge topic. I mean, we wrote a book on it. This is massive, right?
Massive topic. So what I love about toxins is it's totally doable to get rid of them, really doable to identify them. And then once they're gone, you can kind of check that box, right? This isn't like there's some forever kind of maintenance. Like we want you sweating, having a bowel movement every day, maybe a little bit of binders, some liver support that you could probably get through food, like artichoke and beets and good, you know, dandelion greens. But when we identify that there's high mercury or high glyphosate or high levels of mold toxicity, I'm like, okay, cool, we have a project. Let's do that. Let's get rid of it and then let's see where you land. Because this mercury, especially highly neurotoxic glyphosate, is called Roundup, is glyphosate. And the active ingredient in Roundup is glyphosate. And it's in our non organic foods, but it's also sprayed on sidewalks and golf courses. Yeah, we can be exposed to it in a lot of different ways, even if we're eating an organic diet. But glyphosate sounds like glycine, and that's because biochemically they're very similar. And so glycine is very active, the central nervous system, and it can help to calm the system. And it's very conserved, so it's used all over the central nervous system. And when we substitute glyphosate for glycine, things can go awry very quickly. The highest glyphosate levels I have seen in patients when I measure them are in people with active als, with Lou Gehrig's, or very detrimental and torturous neurodegenerative disease or autism or severe dementia. I have seen anecdotally in my clinical practice that those high, high levels of glyphosate are associated with severe disease processes.
I love glyphosate. This is one of the things I talk on. And as I prepared my presentation for these things I talk on, I almost had to stop periodically because it's so horrifying. But one of the coolest things about glyphosate is it's actually water soluble. So mercury is not water soluble. It's stored in your fat Your bones or organs. But glyphosate is also stored. But because it's so highly water soluble, if you stop filling the pump and improve your liver's ability to mobilize it, it'll come out of you pretty easily. That's the nice thing. As long as you stop your exposure, which is the hardest part for people, because that's the food. Unless you live on a golf course. You know, my dad bought a house on a golf course, and I was like, oh, okay, you have a house on the seventh hole. All right, I'm not going to say anything because you already bought the house.
Just like, take your shoes off at the door. Don't track that stuff inside.
Yes, yes, definitely. And don't spray your own lawn. And, you know, if you have a landscaper, don't let your landscaper spray your lawn. That's what I think a lot of people aren't thinking about is what is your landscape or spraying to make your yard look so perfect.
Right, right, right. And what's happening in the HOA that you may or may not have control over? Yes, yes. So how, I think, take your shoes off at the door, don't track that stuff inside. Open doors and windows, because the solution to pollution is dilution. Right? Like, just get that pressure flowing through. That's a cranium. Bless the soul. And, you know, just do your best, right? Like, we can't. What we don't want to do is paralyze people with fear. We want to. We want everyone to feel empowered that they can make good decisions to reduce that toxic burden. If you're not having a bowel movement every day, talk to a good functional medicine doctor and figure it out. Because that is how, when we're hanging on to things, when we can't let that shit go, that starts to accumulate and starts to cause cellular dysfunction. And all of us have toxins in the system. Every cell eats and poops, right? Like, we have to be able to get rid of the normal metabolic waste. But if we're not, and if we're not and we're exposed to additional toxins from the environment, then these just start to accumulate and accumulate and accumulate and ca. More and more dysfunction. And sometimes just getting rid of those, just reducing that burden is enough to help cognitive function, certainly. And so we talked about glyphosate, which again, comes from food. Parabens, PCBs. There's a lot of things that are in the water. So I am of the opinion certainly in Southern California, where I live, we just are Kind of at the end of the river and there's military bases and upstream there's a lot of a big ag that has pesticides and herbicides and organophosphates and all of that are getting dumped into the rivers. And so that ends up in the groundwater, it ends up in the city water. And I just don't think that there is a filter that works well enough to get that out. And so what I have decided for Marama, at the residential care facility that I, I started for seniors and at my clinic where my patients drink the water, where my staff drink the water, where I drink the water, we get spring water delivered in glass. So making sure that, you know, this is kind of one of those depressing things, I'm like, I hope that my, my child has access to good, clean water when she grows up. We have access now. It's not always inexpensive, but there is. I like the Mountain Valley spring water. It comes from Arkansas. It's bottled at the source, so it comes from above where those contaminants downstream can get into it. So instead of filtering, you're going to the source above where the contamination happens. And I do think for my, for myself and my patients, I do think that that is the best option these days.
Yeah, I mean, it's so poignant because I'm from Massachusetts, you and I are on the opposite coasts. And I'm so happy that we have this relationship where we can play even, even with, across the time zones in the distance. But in 1989, Heather, a Massachusetts study estimated that one in every six deaths was from water or air pollution. So it's pervasive. So that anything. So I think what I want to say to the listeners is if you're in a place where you can't necessarily get the water bottled, delivered, you do want to filter. Always make a better choice. Right. And if you have to make one choice today, it is eliminated. Don't use, stay away from water that comes in a plastic bottle because the plastics get into the water. They're endocrine disruptors. Endocrine disruption not only impacts brain health, but hormone health, risk of cancer, risk of autoimmune disease. I mean, it's pervasive. So eliminate those single use plastic water bottles because it's not good for you and it harms the environment. And whatever harms the environment ultimately will circle back to us. So we are really in a circle of this.
