Debunking the Myth: "It's Not the Gluten, It's the Glyphosate"
There’s a popular claim making the rounds in health circles: “It’s not the gluten—it’s the glyphosate.” While it may sound insightful at first glance, this oversimplified statement is not only misleading—it’s potentially harmful.
Let’s unpack why blaming glyphosate alone doesn’t tell the full story and why gluten sensitivity is real, complex, and much more than a herbicide problem.
The Trip That Revealed the Truth About Gluten and My Skin
Like many health coaches, my relationship with food has been a journey of healing, learning, and sometimes—painful lessons.
Years ago, after spending over a year as a raw and high raw vegan, unintentionally avoiding gluten, I started to reintroduce gluten without giving it much thought or concern. At the time, my skin had finally cleared from a several year battle with cystic acne. Anthony and I were eating clean, whole foods, and having just completed nutrition school, we were excited to start offering healthy cooking classes from our home.
To prepare, we began experimenting with recipes—specifically, homemade breads using organic, whole wheat flour. We were eating mindfully, buying the highest quality ingredients, but still…
Over the course of several weeks, my skin started to worsen again. Slowly but ever so painfully, the cystic acne returned. I felt frustrated and confused. We weren’t eating junk. We were eating organic. We didn’t use chemicals in our house. I lived and ate as clean as possible, so what was happening?!?
In a last-ditch effort to get my skin under control before our trip to Mexico, I tried laser therapy. Unfortunately, it made no difference. We traveled for a couple of days—dropping off the dogs, catching flights, and during that time, I was eating out more than usual. Most of those meals included gluten. And that’s when it happened.
Within days, my face erupted—a huge cyst formed on my cheek, followed by another… and then my forehead exploded in what felt like hundreds of tiny, pus-filled pimples. I looked in the mirror, and it all finally clicked: “It’s the gluten.”
That was my breaking point—and also my breakthrough. It wasn’t the glyphosate. I had been eating organic wheat. My body simply couldn’t tolerate gluten. That was the last intentional day I consumed it.
It’s Not Just Glyphosate
Glyphosate is a widely used herbicide, often applied as a pre-harvest desiccant to dry out crops like wheat. It’s a valid concern in terms of general health, but it’s not the only issue when it comes to gluten sensitivity. Here's why that theory doesn’t hold up …
🔹 Organic wheat—grown without glyphosate—still causes issues for many.
🔹 European wheat, often better tolerated by Americans, is still treated with glyphosate in some countries.
🔹 Fermentation and wheat variety play a big role. Traditional European breads often use older, less-hybridized strains and undergo longer fermentation times, which can reduce gluten and make them easier to digest.
In short, gluten itself is problematic for many people, regardless of how it’s grown or processed.
The Zonulin Effect: Why It Matters in Gluten Sensitivity
Let’s talk about zonulin—a protein that plays a major role in regulating the tight junctions of your intestinal lining. These tight junctions are like the security guards of your gut, controlling what gets through and what stays out. When zonulin levels rise, those guards start slacking—allowing undigested food particles, toxins, and pathogens to pass into the bloodstream.
Gluten—specifically gliadin, a protein component of gluten—is a known trigger for zonulin release. What’s important to know is that this response happens in everyone, not just people with celiac disease. However, people with celiac, autoimmune conditions, or a compromised gut tend to have a more exaggerated or prolonged response.
While most research focuses on the intestinal barrier, zonulin may also influence other barriers in the body—like the blood-brain barrier or even the lungs. That said, the effects aren’t uniform. The intensity and outcome of zonulin’s actions vary from person to person and from tissue to tissue. This is where bio-individuality comes in again—some people’s bodies are more sensitive to these openings, leading to chronic inflammation and a cascade of immune activation. (Source)
The Gluten-Autoimmune Connection
When the immune system gets activated repeatedly—like when it detects gluten in the bloodstream—it can start attacking the body’s own tissues. This is one reason why we see such strong links between gluten and autoimmune disorders like …
🔹 Celiac disease
🔹 Hashimoto’s thyroiditis
🔹 Type 1 diabetes
These conditions often show up together. In fact, it’s not uncommon for someone with one autoimmune diagnosis to develop more over time. Continued consumption of gluten (and often dairy, which has a similar molecular structure) can fan the flames and initiate a cascade effect—turning a single autoimmune condition into multiple. (Source)
Hybridized Wheat and Modern Sensitivities
Another factor often overlooked is how much modern wheat has changed. The wheat we eat today is vastly different from what our ancestors consumed. Through hybridization, wheat varieties have been modified to increase yield, pest resistance, and gluten content. These changes make the proteins harder to digest and more reactive in the human body.
The Danger of Oversimplification
Saying “it’s not the gluten, it’s the glyphosate” is not just a harmless oversimplification—it’s a form of misinformation. It dismisses the real struggles of people navigating serious autoimmune conditions or gluten sensitivities.
It can also mislead someone into thinking it’s safe to continue eating gluten—as long as it’s organic—which can worsen health conditions in the long run.
Statements like these often come from a place of wanting to simplify a complex issue. But the truth is: it’s more nuanced, and making sweeping claims without understanding the full picture is, frankly, irresponsible.
It’s so important to recognize that when it comes to health, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. Bio-individuality means that each person’s body, genetics, history, and environment are unique. What works beautifully for one person may trigger symptoms in another. This is why saying “it’s not the gluten, it’s the glyphosate” as a blanket statement isn’t just misleading—it can actually gaslight people who know they react to gluten, even when it’s organic or sourced from Europe.
When someone has done the work to connect the dots in their health journey, their experience deserves to be honored—not dismissed because it doesn't fit a popular narrative. It can be harmful and disempowering to imply that their symptoms aren’t real or that they just don’t understand what’s “actually” going on. We can and should have open, nuanced conversations about toxins like glyphosate and still hold space for the fact that for many, gluten itself is a real and serious trigger.
I share my story not to convince you that gluten is bad for everyone—but to highlight how critical it is to listen to your body, trust your process, and avoid regurgitating health myths that may invalidate someone else’s truth.
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Have you experienced something similar with gluten or autoimmune symptoms? I’d love to hear your story in the comments below.