Understanding the Nature of the Glyphosate, Glutosinate and the Glutamic Acid problem, Part 1.

In the circles that are common for all of us to run around in, we frequently hear the word Glyphosate or better known as Roundup or in some cases other names. Then at the same time, associated with this topic, we hear all kinds of horror stories. There are a number of other chemicals that will usually surfaces that we hear people carping about. I have written a number of times about one of them,  Glyphosate and have clearly stated my bias against the use of it. We actually have some real good news on this topic this year. The news is that Glyphosate is in limited supply this year. Bayer, the company out of Germany, who is the major company involved in manufacturing the formulated chemical has announced that the manufacturer of a key ingredient has not been able to supply the key ingredient for the final formulated product, Roundup. So their ability to supply this product is severely limited. Officially, by many accounts, the supply available to framers have been cut by around 90% this year. Of course the price has increased beyond rational comprehension. However, one company, FBN, Farmers Business Network, has announced that they were able to secure a supply and are manufacturing Glyphosate for the domestic market. But in reality, it only makes a dent in the supply of this product for use this farming season. I really need to make mention that if you make reference to Monsanto when talking about this product you will be in the dark ages. Bayer, out of Germany, bought Monsanto a number of years ago. What happened was Monsanto was fully incorporated into Bayer. What I have told you in this paragraph is to set the stage for the rest of the story, which is not about Glyphosate but about another chemical. That chemical is Glufosinate. To confirm my bias here, I am also very much against the general use of Glufosinate. I say general use as there might be a legitimate use under very special circumstances as a one time use or even very occasional use, but not everyday use. Interestingly, guess where this FBN obtained the key ingredient? Drum roll please... China.

Glufosinate and Glyphosate are two herbicides that have similar uses and applications in agriculture. However, the main difference is that Glyphosate is a synthetic based formulation and Glufosinate is a formulation based on natural ingredients. You can in all honesty make the claim that Glufosinate is organic. as it meets the definition of being organic where as Glyphosate is not natural and made with synthetic products and therefore does not meet the criteria for being "Organic". Some people have even gone so far as the make the comparison to Glufosinate being the organic version of Glyphosate or even say that it is the other way around. But the reality is that the natural form, Glufosinate, is much more lethal and dangerous that the synthetic form, Glyphosate. Within this article you will become familiar with Glufosinate and how it affects your health and well being. We won't be looking specifically at Glyphosate outside of comparison and contrasting with Glufosinate.

I found this article, although it is 12 years old, I feel like this guy explains the difference and gives a good understanding, So I am doing a cut and paste from agfax.com Here is the article;

Do you know the difference between Glufosinate or Glyphosate?

AgFax.Com - Your Online Ag News Source
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March 3, 2010 - University of Illlinois Extension Weed Specialist Aaron Hager cautions farmers to know the differences between glufosinate and glyphosate.

When glyphosate-resistant soybean came on the market a few years ago, many believed it was unlikely that another herbicide or herbicide-resistant crop would be needed again, Hager said. However, over time, farmers saw more and more glyphosate-resistant weed species popping up but no new herbicide active ingredients coming into the marketplace to control them.

"Resistance evolves in weeds through repeated applications of the same type of herbicide," Hager said. "The once-perceived invincibility of glyphosate has been tempered by the realities imposed by the diversity of our Illinois cropping systems. New weed management practices are needed to manage the consequences of long-term weed control."

One new herbicide-resistant variety, glufosinate-resistant soybean, became commercially available in 2009. Glufosinate, another non-selective herbicide, is sold under the trade name Ignite.

And while glyphosate and glufosinate may sound alike and share certain similarities as they provide broad-spectrum weed control, lack soil-residual activity, and require herbicide-resistant crops for in-crop applications, they should not be used interchangeably.

"Significant differences exist between these two popular herbicides that require deeper understanding of how each one works," Hager said. "For example, in 2010 you would not want to spray glyphosate on glufosinate-resistant soybean, or glufosinate on glyphosate-resistant soybean."

Glufosinate inhibits a plant enzyme involved in the early steps of nitrogen assimilation. Its target site is completely different than glyphosate's. Because of this, glufosinate can control glyphosate-resistant weed populations such as waterhemp and marestail.

While their spectrum of control is comparable for several weed species, glufosinate tends to be more effective on annual broadleaf weeds than annual grasses, while glyphosate is more effective on grasses.

Glufosinate is a "contact" herbicide, in contrast to glyphosate being extensively translocated within the plant. Hager encourages farmers to utilize application parameters that provide for the best coverage of target weeds and consider environmental conditions that optimize glufosinate's performance.

For example, glufosinate performs better in bright sunshine and warm air temperatures. Due to its limited translocation, glufosinate should be applied when annual weeds are 6 inches tall or less.

"We can control large weeds with glyphosate," Hager said. "But we have to manage weeds with glufosinate. We need to think differently about how we apply it. Farmers may want to include soil-residual herbicides or spray glufosinate twice — early when the weeds are smaller because it needs contact with the whole plant and a second time due to waterhemp's late emergence."

(End of referencing of the article).

OK, now that I have described some of this to you, I hope you get a little bit of a picture of this stuff. But to move into a better understanding of this stuff and the effects on human and plant life, we will go a brief over view then in a separate discussion we can go into more specific detail. Again, to confirm my bias, I am totally against the use of these herbicides that we are discussing in this discussion. I am also against the use of many others, but I will say that there might be a place and a time to use some of these, and for specific reasons. However, the use or rather misuse of these chemicals and the various formulations of them is where I have to draw the line with them. Also, keep in mind that I have spend my entire life involved in production agriculture in one type or the other. I have personally used all of these chemicals being discussed either while in the employ of an employer or on my own personal agriculture endeavors. So I speak to you as one that has been there, done it and not one of those who have read something, then find themselves just quoting some one that is quoting someone, and anyway, you get the picture. Over time I have come to understand the errors of my ways and am doing what I can to educate others and present solutions.

When you take a serious look at these 2 specific herbicides, IE: Chemical Formulations, we see some very interesting data. Anyone dealing with anything to do with Natural Health, or non laboratory based food production, for lack of a better description, have heard a lot about Glyphosate or more commonalty known as Roundup. However, it is in many types of herbicides and many times under various names. So I try to use the more generic name of Glyphosate. Of all of the herbicidal chemical formulations being discussed, Glyphosate is about the least dangerous of them all. However, it doesn't make this herbicide any less lethal or dangerous. The one thing that chaps my hide is the lack of widespread understanding of these chemicals and the "Possible" ill effects that are associated with "Bad" health and especially those who are presenting solutions to address "ill" health in animals (Humans included) and plants. As anyone that knows me, knows that I am an Albert Einstein junkie. One of my favorite quotes from him is this:" Understanding the nature of the problem is half way to it's solution". So this discussion is properly entitled; "Understanding the Nature of the Glyphosate and Glutosinate problem".

Overall, most herbicides are about the most dangerous to both animal and plant life forms of all of the "...Cides". With Insectides, we tend to see most, but not all of the ill effects manifesting within the brain. The ill effects to the rest of the body is secondary and is usually generated because of the harm to the brain. When it comes to Pesticides, that becomes a bit more problematic. Depending on which formulation the pesticide being considered might be, it can lean toward the brain or the body. Of course both, the body and the brain, will likely be affected one way or the other and with a wide range of manifesting issues. Then we have the Herbicides. Pretty much all of these, at least the commonly used ones, will interfere with the whole Photosynthetic deal. It also interferes and has a bad affect with the whole Nitrogen functioning systems within the animal and plant life forms. One area of conern is the resulting effects is everything to do with the whole Glutamic Acid deal. Of course Glutamic Acid is used by all living things dealing with the Biosynthesis of Proteins and as an excitatory of the neurotransmitter system. So just those two jobs alone takes in a lot of the functioning of life systems in plants and animals. It also keeps the Ammonia from leaving the plant's system or even the same in people, leading to cell death.

The human body can synthesize Glutamic Acid, but only to a limited degree, when all things are operating normal. Under this "all things operating normally" condition, there is enough being produced for it's own use.  But when under stress, dealing with various illnesses and exposure to toxins, it really has a hard time keeping up and usually doesn't keep up with needs.  So when the condition of not enough Glutamic Acid is being produced, a person can eat from a long list of foods to obtain and maintain a sustainable Glutamic Acid level. Some of the excellent sources are meat, milk products, fish, eggs, etc. Then we see gluten in wheat for example as being a good source of Glutamic Acid, with upwards of 35% of the Gluten actually being Glutamic Acid. About 95% of that acid as sourced from wheat gluten being absorbed in the intestines. Interestingly, many of these foods are so called comfort foods. Maybe the body is sensing the need for supplementary support for Glutamic Acid and is driving the body to seek it in the only known sources that it has access to. Food for thought, just thinking out loud here. More detail in the next discussion on this aspect.

When we consider this Glutamic Acid thing  we see a shortage of the stuff, then we notice an association of ill health effects  we start to wonder about some real serious issues going on when looking at possible sources of the issues. This shortage is usually caused by these herbicides because of the residual effects of the body. One of the largest issue are the effect that they have on the Hormones. They cause untold ill effects on these Hormones and of course hormones are largely governed and administered by the Hippocampus in the brain. However, the hormones are actually made in various parts of the body, outside of the brain, such as within the Thyroid. The bottom line here is that these herbicides totally mess with the whole Gutamic Acid process and anything related to the whole Glutamine Synthetase process. What it does is severability damages or Irreversabily inhibits Glutamine Synthetase process. This is an important aspect of Nitrogen Metabolism which is highly involved in Energy and it's relationship to the B vitamins, specifically B-12.

But getting back to the Glutamine Synthetase which is involved with the catalyzing of the condensation of Glutamate and Ammonia to form Glutamine. The first step in this messing with the Glutamate/Glutamine deal is that the Glutosinate binds on the Glutmate site, then that leads to a buildup of Ammonia in the Thylakold Lumen of the individual cells which leads to an uncoupling of Photophosphorylation part of the cell functioning. Basically the Ammonia buildup in the cell causes the Photosynthesis process to fail and the cell dies. I have mentioned this stuff earlier, but I wanted to repeat it for clarification. This buildup can be detected as early as 1 hour after the application of Glufosinate to the plant. Then we wonder why we are sick. I will explain this deal in more detail in the next discussion and show a better flow chart of the process.

I am going to leave this at this point. In the next discussion I want to talk about these various chemicals and very clearly explain how you are being exposed to some of these chemicals and present some solutions. Just as a teaser, you are basically being exposed, at lower ppm than in was found in Vietnam, on a daily basis. Translation of the lower ppm deal; What it implies is that instead of killing you in the near term IE; fast, it means that you will just be sicker for longer and still die in the end. Then you wonder why you are sick. Go figure! The names have been changed to protect the guilty. lol. Thank you for your time and interest.

End of Discussion. KK
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