Chris was 26 years old when he signed up for Quantify, after years of struggling with progressively worsening shortness of breath, and not getting anywhere with conventional medicine.
A pulmonologist had diagnosed him with asthma soon after his symptoms started, but he didn’t have anything to offer, other than an inhaler, which was only slightly effective at helping Chris to breathe better.
An avid runner since his teens, Chris was understandably shocked by his diagnosis, and wondered how much time he had until he would have to hang up his running shoes.
What’s more, his doctor had insisted that he would have the condition for the rest of his life, which made the diagnosis even scarier.
Desperate for answers, Chris started exploring natural approaches to improving his lung function and overall health, but when the diets and supplements he tried didn’t result in any changes, he realized he needed a more data-driven approach.
In his first appointment at Quantify, Chris’s health coach recommended a toxic chemicals test and glyphosate test, to evaluate his exposure to common toxic chemicals, including phthalates, organophosphates, and glyphosate, the most widely used herbicide and primary chemical in Roundup.
Test results
His first time testing for chemicals, while his toxic chemicals test showed no abnormalities, his glyphosate test showed significant exposure, indicating glyphosate toxicity, which can cause asthma, fatigue, brain fog, and other chronic symptoms.
Not just a lucky guess, his health coach had suspected that his respiratory symptoms were caused by chemical exposure after learning that Chris worked in an office surrounded by agricultural fields, and that his shortness of breath started a year after he got the job.
A water-soluble chemical, glyphosate easily spreads beyond the fields that are sprayed with it, often ending up in the drinking water of nearby communities, so despite being in an office, and not actually in the fields themselves, Chris was still being exposed.
Recovery
While Chris knew that it was important to buy organic food whenever possible to minimize his exposure to herbicides and pesticides, he unfortunately hadn’t considered the possibility that his proximity to large-scale, monocrop fields was a significant source of exposure to the toxic chemicals he had long tried to avoid.
Armed with test results that unequivocally showed his exposure to glyphosate, Chris soon negotiated with his manager that he would work from home most days, to minimize his exposure to the toxic chemical, and only come in to the office occasionally for in-person meetings.
To further support his recovery, Chris’s health coach recommended that he eliminate processed foods, sugar, grains, and dairy from his diet, drink at least 64 ounces of water per day, take certain supplements, such as activated charcoal, milk thistle, and NAC, and use a sauna at least once per week.
Following his health plan closely, Chris started breathing better within a few months.
Within a year, his asthma had completely resolved, he reported feeling like he had gotten his life back, and a follow-up glyphosate test showed no detectable exposure, validating the work he had done to detoxify the chemical that had unknowingly compromised his health.