An Interview with Dr Zach Bush

Dr Zach Bush returns in a discussion with Patrick Holden who is President of the Food Sustainable Trust (UK). Patrick broadcasts a podcast each week and recently his guest was Dr Zach Bush. As a medical doctor Bush is concerned about the effect of chemicals on the gut and the following interview follows along those lines:

”In this week’s podcast, Patrick Holden speaks to Dr Zach Bush – the internationally renowned, multi-disciplinary physician, founder of Farmers’ Footprint. Together, they discuss the intricate intersections between the microbiome, nutrition and chronic diseases, highlighting the devastating impact of chemical herbicides and pesticides on both soil and human health.

Zach begins by outlining the context of his research, to illustrate how he first came to untangle some of these complex correlations. He explains that the early stages of his medical career in the 1990s coincided with an unprecedented rise in chronic diseases across the US. At the same time Zach witnessed a major breakthrough in genetics which challenged the old scientific orthodoxy which considered the human cell as the epicentre of our health and immunity. The new knowledge suggested that, instead, we should be focusing on the microbiome, the communities of bacteria, viruses and fungi that populate our cells. Furthermore, the study of epigenetics reveals that the microbiome is highly susceptible to its external environment, which would in turn suggest that factors such as nutrition and agriculture have a major impact on human health. Here is the interview

This steers the conversation towards what Zach regards as one of the most serious threats to the health of the microbiome: chemical agriculture. As he argues, the herbicides and pesticides that are now ubiquitous across our food and ecosystems are also interfering with the bacteria within our gut. He believes that a rise in the use of toxic chemicals in our farming systems can be directly linked to the prevalence of chronic diseases, such as cancer, in the US and further afield.

Patrick and Zach then discuss what they see as the urgent need for a radical shift away from chemical agriculture, towards regenerative farming practices – for the health of the soil, water and people, all of which are intimately linked. They agreed that, given the chance, our ecosystems would recover surprisingly quickly, but that the challenge lay with shifting long-standing human perspectives, making communication, education, and spreading awareness around these issues more important than ever.“

The above summarises the interview which can be listened to by clicking the button below.