Loving your Guts

Germ theory hasn’t done anyone’s gut biomes any favours.  Continually washing our hands of any ‘nasties’ lurking under our fingernails or between the crevices of skin actually deprives us of strengthening our immune systems as does eating (some) raw foods including fish and red meat, raw milk, raw honey and most un-heat treated foods.  Those tasty enzymes in those foods are all delicious and essential fodder for the (around) 38 trillion bacteria living in our digestive system.

Do you remember those Dettol advertisements on television about our skin being 100 per cent ‘clean’ of ‘dangerous’ germs which were capable of killing us stone dead?  Think of all the cleaning products with ‘antibacterial’ ingredients guaranteed to keep us sterile and squeaky clean..many found under the kitchen sink and bathroom shelves.

In reality, the past 40 years of such production and promotions has rendered the Australian population one of the sickest on the planet with a plethora of chronic diseases. Millions of dollars are spent on ‘cures’ yet not a cent is devoted to finding out WHAT is making children and adults so, so unwell with ever-younger children developing chronic diseases usually reserved for the older generation.  Study the statistics on juvenile diabetes and arthritis.  Look into the  statistics on childhood neurodivergence and being on ‘the spectrum’.  Could there be patterns in these statistics?

There’s a huge chasm in Australian political  psychology and that is operating departments in silos. At the highest levels, there is still no connection between the departments of agriculture, (ill)health and the environment. There is no recognition of food in this collection of billion-dollar budget streams and this is possibly due to Big Food being a highly profitable sector with little, if any, oversight from regulators.

Many research studies from universities have researched the effects of glyphosate on populations of human-gut bacteria (remember that 38-odd-trillion community we are transporting ‘round..?) yet the use of glyphosate in Australia continues to increase even while the  countries in which it is manufacturers bans the domestic use of it.

What damage does glyphosate wreak on our guts?  

If you’ve ever had a course of antibiotics, you’ll recall your belly suffers; this is because the ‘medicine’ does not discriminate between which bacteria it attacks and, the gut bacteria is just one sector of collateral damage.  To counter this destruction of gut bacteria, take generous doses of natural and un-sweetened yoghurt containing prebiotics including lactobacillus, bifobacterium and streptococcus thermophilus. 

Consuming foods grown and doused with glyphosate is akin to the effects of antibiotics yet, no information is provided on the labelling as to the potential dangers.  To really love your guts you need to become a sleuth of long complicated words and collections of numbers to interpret the ‘information’ claiming it is ostensibly ‘safe’.

In 2010, glyphosate was patented as an antibiotic following decades of use as a herbicide, highlighting the compound’s impressive antimicrobial activity (US Patent No. 7771736 B2).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2020.110664

The effects of paraquat have been recorded for decades and described by the National Institute of Health –

Paraquat is a potent herbicide banned in over 60 countries due to severe toxicity, though it remains in use in some regions, including the U.S. and Australia. What changes does paraquat cause to gut biomes……?

• Severe Oxidative Stress: Paraquat generates highly reactive oxygen species (free radicals) that induce oxidative stress, lipid peroxidation, and tissue degradation in both the host and the gut microbiome.

• Altered Bacterial Diversity: Animal models demonstrate that paraquat exposure significantly suppresses key gut families like Lachnospiraceae and Ruminococcaceae while shifting the baseline microbial structure.

• Parkinson’s Disease Connection: Paraquat is highly researched for its link to neurodegeneration. Toxins entering the digestive system damage the intestinal barrier, triggering inflammation and the accumulation of alpha-synuclein proteins in the gut, which can migrate to the brain via the vagus nerve.

• Early-Life Risks: Postnatal exposure in animal trials altered adult gut communities and metabolism in a sex-specific manner, correlating with significant weight gain in males.

And now to another chemical family on the block.  Isocycloseram is a relatively new chemical registered for crop protection; its broader health impacts are currently the subject of legal and regulatory debates. Its record so far includes –

• Antimicrobial Activity: Large-scale screens published in Nature Microbiology show that agricultural insecticides can act as hidden antimicrobials, exerting unintended selective pressure on the human gut microbiota.

• Regulatory and Health Controversy: Public health groups filed lawsuits against the U.S. EPA regarding its approval, citing internal data linking high doses to organ harm and developmental risks. In countries like Australia, proposals to increase allowable residues on produce (like berries) have drawn sharp public concern regarding cumulative toxicity.

• Microbiome and Host Toxicity: Like similar chemical classes, its ingestion forces the gut microbiota to participate in detoxification, which can alter bacterial community structures and compromise the intestinal epithelium over time.

The 2026 National Organic Week ran from the 14th until 20th September, celebrating clean and proper food, the people who grow it with care and passion, the robustly healthy humans who don’t get colds, the ‘flu, arthritis or diabetes and other preventable life-style conditions.

• Celebrate local
• Buy local
• Share a meal
• Feast local
• Meet your local farmers
• Plant some spring vegetables
• Plant some berries!
• Visit the supermarket less often
• Eat less Ultra Processed Food
• Join your nearest SLOW tribe

https://organicinvestmentcooperative.com.au/slow/

** Credit to Vanessa from Organic Box for her exceptional coverage and advocacy across National Organic Week.  Daily posts on all the reasons why.  This years coverage of National Organic Week was one of the strongest yet.

A critical common denominator of such people is the health of their gut biomes and the deliberate choices made about which foods will enter their systems.  The most specific criterion is these foods are chemical -free.

The human body (in fact every living body) is a miracle yet, through gross ignorance, abuse is thrust into mouths three times each day with expectations of performance and happiness. If your guts aren’t happy then you cannot be happy either.

The Big Food sector cares nought for human health with focus on selling whatever will make the greatest profit so don’t rely on any food integrity in this space. Convenience comes at a great price and that is your Achille’s heel….the trade-off between ignorance and happy health.

In Australia, the organic sector operates with much of its own autonomy and without funding for R&D from levies collected by the Federal Government and limited recognition by State Governments.  The Government focuses on large scale export commodity markets of conventional agriculture while the organic sector is a high value premium product with limited support from the Department of Agriculture yet the Organic sector punches way above its weight for an industry valued at in excess of AU$2.6B.

The co-benefits of the Organic sector are healthier and more locally available food, fewer downstream externalities and no poisons in aquatic systems.  Other benefits include nutritionally dense foods, resulting in  healthier communities.  In addition, a minimum of 5% dedicated biodiversity land is under private management (currently in excess of 2.2M Ha), a greater area than any National Parks.

In reality, the importance of clean foods are not celebrated enough, except by those who live organically and enjoy rude, robust health, wild and happy guts.

You can find out more here – https://organicinvestmentcooperative.com.au/blog/

By pennie Scott
ORICoop Director