Turning your understanding of microbes on it's head by dipping a toe into the Terrain with me;
If we're more bacteria than human, why are we so obsessed with killing off our microbes?
When I was young my siblings and I shared a bedroom— all 5 of us. For a couple years my little brother would occasionally tell us bedtime stories about “when he was A Dad.” Most of these stories revolved around him and an anthropomorphic Germ character. In many of the stories my brother, back when he was A Dad would be defeating the Germ in one way or another.
They were adorable stories that we all loved hearing. I don’t remember any of the stories specifically, but I do remember that in the last few stories before he stopped telling them his relationship to the Germ started to change. By the end of the saga, my baby brother (he was probably like 3 or 4), The Dad and the Germ developed an unlikely friendship and decided to stop fighting each other and to just be friends. Don’t tell anyone, but I’ve cried over the purity of that ending several times while reminiscing over the years.
All I’m saying is, out of the mouths of babes…
Depending on who you ask or how you calculate it [are red blood cells considered human cells?] we are made up of 10x more bacterium than human cells. A 2016 study estimated that number is closer to 1:1 if we include red bloods cells in our count, but the same study also notes that “…the number of endosymbiotic bacteria that we harbor in the form of mitochondria probably outnumbers the body bacteria several fold.”
Either way, it is certain, we harbor A LOT of bacteria. 10 trillion bacteria, to be exact, accounting for an estimated 1-3% of body weight. That’s about 2-6 POUNDS of bacteria, living on and inside of us. The average brain only weighs about 3.3 lbs., potentially half the weight of the microbes in your body.
*Note: For simplicity and ease of reading I will use the word “microbe” to discuss this topic as it’s a broader term that refers to the microscopic life forms of bacteria, fungus, mold, protozoa, amoebas, even viruses, etc. I will use more specific names when applicable.
These microbes help with everything from extracting inaccessible nutrients from our food, to aiding in digestion through endogenous [internal] or exogenous [external] fermentation, to creating hormones in our guts, to being responsible for our personal smells [from our poop, to our B.O.], to assisting us in detox and so much more.
In many ways bacteria are the basis for all life, since so many forms of life depend on them for our existences. But what do we really know about these insanely cool beings? It depends on who you ask.
If you ask me, we know quite a bit. Trouble is, as with most information widely available today, much of what we are taught is… not very accurate. Things like, “there are good + bad bacteria” [hello, binary thinking patterns!] or “viruses cause disease,” or “overgrowths of certain species of bacteria are causing our symptoms” are little more than bad press.
Something about those stories always felt off to me, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned in over a decade of holistic research, it’s that my body knows the truth, often well before I have any ‘proof.’
So here’s my question: if your body really houses more than 10 trillion bacteria, how can it be that an ‘overgrowth’ caused your dysregulation?
I mean, really think about this— we already have 2-6 pounds of microbes inside of and on us; we are encouraged by every genre of health advice to eat fermented foods, to supplement with expensive probiotics + prebiotics that claim to harbor BILLIONS more bacteria; everything, and everyone we touch throughout our lives also shares their bacteria with us, especially in intimate relationships!
So, if ‘overgrowth’ is really the problem then wouldn’t we see more disease, more illness, more dysbiosis, and more weight gain when we add more bacteria to the mix… constantly? Wouldn’t that practice be doing more harm than good, adding more of the very thing causing the dis-ease?
But also, if ‘overgrowth’ is truly the issue, then how do we know when to cool it or stop with all the added homies? And at what point does our body say ENOUGH! NO MORE MICROBES, if up to 6 pounds is considered healthy? Is 7 pounds going to hurt us? or it is only when it gets up to 10 pounds? Also, if it’s really the overgrowth then why don’t we hear stories about ‘Man found with 10 lbs. of bacteria in his body, antibiotics saved his life.’?
What if, and hear me out here— it’s not an overgrowth of ‘bad bacteria’
?
An overgrowth of ‘bad bacteria,’ or even the existence of ‘bad bacteria’ are dependent on this one
vastly outdated theory
that bacteria are monomorphic, meaning they are the same shape their whole lives, and therefore have the same narrow functions their whole lives. If this were true, we would’ve been responsible for finding, identifying and cultivating very specific strains of bacteria to consume in order to stay alive, and we would’ve had to be doing this for CENTURIES. For thousands of generations before we had the technology.
Even now that we are able to isolate strains of microbes, we know that there are probably millions or even billions we haven’t identified. Given that 20,000 bacteria were found in 1 quart of seawater in one survey, this is a world nearly as mysterious as the ocean itself. The Human Microbiome Project research team [HMP] “now calculate that more than 10,000 microbial species occupy the human ecosystem.” (1) And I would say it’s likely even more than that.
Furthermore, “Researchers were surprised to discover that the distribution of microbial metabolic activities matters more than the species of microbes providing them. In the healthy gut, for example, there will always be a population of bacteria needed to help digest fats, but it may not always be the same bacterial species carrying out this job.” This makes a lot of sense in light of what I am about to share.
In the 1900’s a researcher named Pierre Jacques Antoine Béchamp studied microbes in live tissue samples, and found that bacteria are pleomorphic, meaning they are able to change shape, and with that change in shape, they are also able to change function, or properties. They’re literally shape-shifters!!
He also found that bacterium change to suit the needs of its host, or in less anthropomorphizing language, bacteria change their properties based on shifts in the feeding environment they are exposed to. They shapeshift based on their environment. Just because they go in as a lactobacillus, doesn’t mean they’ll stay that way… This points to the idea that a healthy body produces healthy microbial colonization, just as a toxic system or body encourages the growth of microbes we have been taught are ‘pathogenic.’
Did you know that there are bacteria that can eat plastic and nuclear waste? This is one of the main reasons that the sight of Chernobyl is doing so well right now [relatively to it’s recent devastation], and nature is already re-entering the site. Plastic eating bacteria are also a welcomed advance in today’s world overburdened with plastic waste. So if bacteria can shapeshift to be capable of eating nuclear waste, imagine what that means for the terrain of our bodies!
Research done by Beauchamp, Riffe, and many others consistently showed that bacteria that are already in the body [endogenous] morph depending on the levels of toxicity within the body.
One experiment showed that a virus that created cancer in lab animals could be turned into E. coli, and then into a fungus! Virus —> Bacteria —> Fungus
Hmmm, aren’t those 3 distinct entities? Not according to this research, repeated by many scientists in the 1900’s. Another experiment done around the same time placed many different kinds of bacteria into the same container, with one tissue type. Within 4 days, all of the bacteria had turned into one strain.
Through this experiment and various others these scientists found that the type of tissue largely determined the type of bacteria that would proliferate. This makes logical sense when we understand bacteria are shapeshifters, and when we are familiar with their almost magical powers
to to consume and transform various substances, often into something less toxic. In the body this is seen when bacteria and viruses feed on dead tissue, heavy metals or other toxins, an experience that similar to a parasite ‘cleanse’ often results in uncomfortable feelings, reactions, or symptoms in the body. But what if that’s not a bad thing? What if, just like a fever, it’s there to protect us when our toxic load gets too heavy? The implications this research has on our bodies is that of a symbiotic terrain. (7)
If we are mostly made up of bacteria, killing them off simply doesn’t make sense.
However these symptoms of toxicity, when found in clusters are what industrialized medicine has labelled “disease”— literally, a state of “dis-ease.” Industrialized medicine tells us that these symptoms need to be covered up, “fixed” or “cured” by medication, surgery, or radiation, and other various means of medical intervention. That in order to heal we need to kill magical often invisible invaders so that we can return to a state of health. But this is not a good strategy! How would humans have survived so many thousands of generations if that were the true path to health + longevity? I have a suspicion that our bodies would’ve found a better way by now.
This experiment above tells us that the bacteria // viruses // fungi that we blame diseases on already exist within us at any given time, posing no threat to us. Despite solid evidence backing up this truth, it goes against the teachings in the mainstream that are based on the faulty assumptions of “germ theory.” Which is a theory
that states that these infectious microbes are all around us [exogenous], they are monomorphic [only one shape per strain, therefore, one function] and when we are exposed to them, we may fall ill as they overtake our systems, and that most diseases are caused by one corresponding microbe. It’s a nice enough theory, simple, to be sure. Unfortunately, this theory has no solid backing in science whatsoever. *Which is NOT what you will be taught in school.
Many experiments have been done to prove germ theory with unexpected and displeasing results. Such as one the military did on a group of troops in the 80’s, where they continuously exposed 80 healthy soldiers to the flu through various means, such as shooting infected sputum down their throats with syringes, locking them in close quarters with sick people, and covering their food in sputum. None of these soldiers caught the flu. This experiment was conducted again with “covid-19,” with the same results.
This experiment isn’t all that surprising to me, since I used to work in customer service, and before and after that I have worked with little children. The amount of people who still go out sick, and allow their kids to go anywhere sick is shocking to me, especially since germ theory is the dominant narrative in the world. However, in all that time I was frequently around very sick people, even taking care of them, there were many, many times where I didn’t get sick.
Furthermore, the way the world latched onto germ theory was no accident, nor is it an uncommon story in the history of medical science.
Take cholesterol for example, the naughty nutrient that is allegedly clogging your arteries. You know how they came up with that tall tale? Because in heart diseases where arteries are hardening cholesterol is present, more than it is in other tissues. This must mean that heart disease is caused by high cholesterol. Conveniently, cholesterol is only found in animal foods, so we need to get rid of animal foods. So much for correlation doesn’t equal causation, eh? (8)
This is also how they landed on low salt advocacy. When blood pressure was found to be high some people also had high amounts of sodium in their bodies. So salt must cause high blood pressure, right? (9)
Among so many other misconceptions in our world, this is the same line of “reasoning” that led us to germ theory.
When people fell ill, there would often be various bacteria, or viruses present and active in the body. Of course, viruses can only be detected when they are in active states, i.e. when they are feeding. Which we took to mean that they are absent from the body the rest of the time. (KISS method, I suppose; Keep It Simple Stupid) However, bacteria are always present, so that should’ve thrown a wrench into things, but they just decided there may be larger numbers of them during illness, and *new* *pathological* strains that were transmitted from others. *DUN DUN DUN*
Annoyingly to the germ theory, both of these microbes feed on toxins, often transforming them into a substance that is easier for your body to rid itself of through normal detox pathways. As they are feeding in this way, you may ‘test positive’ for an ‘active infection’ with them, or for antibodies “to them.” This is the basis for the idea that germs cause disease, and it’s absolute malarkey.
What would happen if we shifted our relationship to the Germ and rather than fearing it and trying to kill it we befriended it and tried to understand it?
Resources:
NIH Human Microbiome Project defines normal bacterial makeup of the body: https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-human-microbiome-project-defines-normal-bacterial-makeup-body
Revised Estimates for the Number of Human and Bacteria Cells in the Body: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4991899/
More than half your body is not human: https://www.bbc.com/news/health-43674270
SCIENTISTS DISCOVER GAME-CHANGING BACTERIUM THAT LITERALLY EATS NUCLEAR WASTE — HERE’S HOW IT COULD PROTECT US FROM TOXINS: https://www.thecooldown.com/green-tech/microbes-radioactive-waste-nuclear-energy/
Plastic-eating bacteria: Genetic engineering and environmental impact: https://www.livescience.com/plastic-eating-bacteria
Species Numbers in Bacteria: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3160642/
Bechamp or Pasteur: A lost chapter in the history of biology by Ethel Hume
The Big Fat Surprise: Why butter, meat and cheese belong in a healthy diet by Nina Teicholz
The Salt Fix: Why the experts got it all wrong— and how eating more might save your life by Dr. James DiNicolantonio
The Virus Misconception: https://truthseeker.se/wp-content/uploads/The-Virus-Misconception-Part-1-Measles-as-an-example-By-Dr-Stefan-Lanka.pdf
The Truth about Viruses by Dr. Sam Bailey
Why HIV has never been isolated by Dr. Stephan Lanka
Wow, great piece of writing. I love the little brother start that led to the conclusion.