Reviewed by Jenni Tree FSHom, FRSA, MA, UK Homeopath and Editor.
I have to admit that I am a fan of Kate Birch and her books because she delves right into the heart of a problem and then clearly sets out ways to deal with it.
This book came about because of Kate’s own experience in freeing her body of glyphosate toxicity. Weakened by extreme physical, mental and emotional stress over a few years, she succumbed to sudden onset hyperthyroidism with its common symptoms of extreme weight loss, rapid heart rate and exhaustion, which was later compounded by whooping cough. This lasted three months and left her too weak and depleted to fend for herself. The hyperthyroid continued unabated. She spent a year reflecting on the reasons for such a sudden decline in her health, after 25 years of homeopathy and healthy eating. Continuing to work with homeopathy, the sickness of her psyche and body resolved, all except the hyperthyroidism, and finally she succumbed to the conventional medication, Methimazole.
Over ten years Kate managed to reduce the Methimazole to a minimum, but when she stopped using it, the symptoms all returned. She was not converting T4 to T3 and the glycine and heme (Fe+)-dependent enzymes and receptor sites in the thyroid were not functioning, although over time her TSH levels had normalised. Finally, listening to a lecture in which it was explained that glyphosate toxicity disrupts T4 to T3 conversion, it dawned on Kate that prior to her illness she had moved a ten-ton truckload of farm soil, which presumably was loaded with glyphosate. And it was Glyphosate in potency that finally allowed her to stop taking the thyroid medication without adverse effects.
“Glyphosate’s main target is the single-celled bacteria (also mitochondrial function): the foundational living unit of all living systems. The idea that we can use glyphosate to kill our perceived pests (bacteria and single-celled organisms) without fully understanding the ramifications on the eco-system and our biological system, is misguided thinking. We are not separate from nature, and we are not here to manipulate it to our contrivances.……. We are what we eat, and our food is contaminated.”
The book contains exhaustive chapters on Glyphosate and DNA and RNA basics; Glyphosate and its effect on sugar and fat metabolism; Glyphosate, neurotransmitters and hormones; the clinical conditions of glyphosate toxicity, and then a summary of the absorption routes and complications of glyphosate. Although I don’t understand much of the chemistry, I read with increasing horrified comprehension of the depth in which glyphosate compromises the human biome through its suppression of the immune system, and how anti-biotics in turn aid the work of the glyphosate. “Humans have lived on this planet for thousands of years prior to the introduction of genetically modified organisms, glyphosate or vaccines. …………. Pathogens have evolved over time in relationship with humans. They have acted as checks and balances in the human population.” We know this from Malthusian theory. Glyphosate upsets these delicate balances in its attempt to kill off bacteria symbiotic to proper nutrition in plants. These ‘corrupted’ foods in turn upset the bacterial flora of our human bodies, and of every other living thing in the food chain. Yet we eat these foods. “Somehow, glyphosate, and the food manufacturing industry, have modified our ability to appropriately discern what is good for us.”
There follow chapters on homeopathic remedies to repair glyphosate damage, with detox protocols and their necessary nutritional support, cleanses and fasts, and tables of foods and substances to avoid. To repair glyphosate damage is complex, and requires complex prescriptions, which Kate explains clearly. This is not CEASE-work, and neither is it classical in the Kentian ‘take and wait’ approach. There are over 50 pages of information on homeopathic remedies, covering all bases – cell salts, nosodes, sarcodes, endocrine rxs; a whole gamut of monera; as well as organ treatments and supports, and of course the polychrests we know well.
There are cases, some of which are heart-breaking. In every case homeopathy helps, but in cases where the maintaining cause is the continuing presence of glyphosate, there is less hope of cure. Glyphosate damages the DNA and it takes years of work by multiple practitioners to reverse this damage.
Glyphosate-Free covers a vast amount of information and looks at an increasingly complex use of homeopathic remedies and potencies to match the toxins in our complex environments. It is not an easy read – but it is interesting, and the result of Kate Birch’s tireless search for understanding and solutions. It is a clinical essay on functional nutrition and the clearing of glyphosate toxicity, and needs a place on every homeopath’s bookshelf, because this is our future.
