Summer Almanac '07 ~ Fungus vs. Bacteria - Battle for the Host

As we move along in our evolution with accelerating speed, it's often necessary to simply stop and re-evaluate where we are and how we got here. For the purpose of medical sociology it's important to look at our progress against the backdrop of cultures and societies that survived and thrived in spite of plagues and pestilence. There were those that understood hygiene, who had a natural and instinctive understanding of the etymology of disease. An example of this is my maternal grandmother, a Polish immigrant with no formal education to speak of. At the turn of the century before modern microbiology had fully influenced public health trends, this woman carried within her generations of wisdom regarding diet, hygiene and sanitation. She had an innate understanding of the human body, the insidious nature of pathogens, and an understanding of how to maintain that balance. For example, traditional ceremonial dinners were always rich in fermented foods and soups that tasted more like tonics…dishes we children would silently agonize over, wondering how they had made their way onto the holiday table.

We are in an age where humans are being attacked by stronger pathogens, where microbes and mycotoxins are mutating, and also where food and water supplies are dramatically changing and challenged regardless of ones economic standing or where they live. The race is on to find stronger antibiotics to defend the weakened human immune system.

To better understand what might be happening one needs to go back to biology 101, retrace the fading footprints of modern science. Antibiotics were first produced from fungi (penicillin strains) or fermentation first found on grains, then a stronger strain was discovered growing on cantaloupe. The non-toxic to human strain of Penicillin was found to inhibit growth of gram-positive bacteria by blocking cell wall synthesis, disabling the bacteria in its path by inhibiting cellular function, reproduction, causing eventual death through lysis.

Penicillin, a beneficial species of the genus Aspergillus was a truly miraculous discovery. Or was it so miraculous? Naturally fermented foods have been a staple of indigenous cultures for thousands of years. Naturally fermented foods were essential for survival not just because it was a way of presevering food through the introduction of the non-toxic strain of Aspergillus flavus, which kept the food free from contamination by bacteria and toxic species of the genus Aspergillus. Fermenting foods have several advantages beyond preserving them for future use and keeping them edible for humans - the microbes or enzymatic action increased digestibility - protein values are increased through the release of amino acids, as well, microbial agents synthesize vitamins. Traditional diets high in naturally fermented foods played a key role in the health and survival of indigenous populations in several ways:

1) By maintaining a constant intake of naturally occurring antibiotic-like microbes which created an environment in the human body that was not conducive to pathogens and myco-toxic fungus.

2) By facilitating better assimilation of proteins and vitamins naturally supporting better health and immunity.

3) Through dependence on naturally fermented foods as staples of the diet, traditional cultures where less likely to ingest high quantities of foods contaminated by myco-toxic fungi which challenge a weakened immune system.

Obviously many factors come into play, but I believe the most important aspect of this theory is the absence of fermented foods in modern-day diets, which give the human body a constant supply of 'antibiotic like' protection, in lue of a natural decrease in the intake of foods contaminated by myco-toxic fungi (synthetically preserved grains and nuts). I.e., if the daily dietary intake consisted of a greater quantity of naturally fermented foods and healthful microbes, then there would naturally be a decrease in the dietary intake of foods preserved chemically with the minimum allowance of mycotoxins.

How does this theory work with the current theory that we have developed multi-drug resistant bacteria? Or does it?

Lysis is used often in microbiology and phytochemistry when referring to the action an antibiotic has on a bacteria or pathogen. The term Lysine is used to describe the amino acids that facilitate protein absorption. Lysin is one of the molecular components of the family of fungi that disable mycobacterium (tuberculosis is classified as a mycobacterium) and bacteria through lysis blocking passage of nutrients and cellular activity through the cell wall of bacteria. The strains of fungus that are used on the fermentation of food products for preservation, and as antibiotics, are not the same strains that are also myco-toxic; fungus that release toxins that are carcinogenic to humans. Toxins that bio-accumulate in cellular tissue, and, which cannot be destroyed by heating or drying. These two strains do not co-exist with one another or with non-toxic bacteria. The most common mycotoxin is afltoxin from one of the strains of Aspergillus flavus. Afltoxin frequently contaminates grains and nuts, especially peanuts. Afltoxin is believed to be responsible for high rates of liver cancer where contaminated food is consumed (Asia and Africa). In the U.S. permissible levels of aflatoxin is 15 to 20 parts per billion. However, many scientists believe this is too high, as aflatoxins have been shown to be carcinogenic in even acceptable limits. Aflatoxins cannot be destroyed through cooking or preserving once present in food supplies.

As globalization increases, societies become more industrialized, bringing an increase in fast foods, and foods preserved with synthetic preservatives instead of life sustaining microbial agents found in fermented foods.

In conclusion, my question is: Are we missing the mark by focusing on antibiotic resistant pathogens and increasing the strength of antibiotics? Are we also missing the mark when we focus on the broad use of antibiotics as the only culprit to drug resistant bacteria? In tracing the etymology of drug resistant strains we can look to the past 50 years since the development of penicillin and stronger antibiotics, but there are other, many other possibilities as to why antibiotics are no longer working. Dietary changes since the industrial revolution are a major factor. Through globalization and imperial colonialism, traditional diets have been dramatically altered, as struggling third world countries are challenged by poverty, ethnic genocide, civil wars, and westernization of ethnic diets, and wealthier countries turn ever more to fast foods and wholesale sterilization methods. There are many factors that contribute to a weakened immune system, environmental pollutants, stress, poor diet, etc. Add to this the very specific relationships that have existed since the beginning of time between fungi and bacteria; two territorial organisms that have never co-existed. Now, they seem to be doing so in the body of modern man.

With an increase in toxins in the human body as a result of the saturation by the many mycotoxins in our food supply and environment, the human immune system is dramatically weakened, there are less healthful microbes claiming territory, and the pathogens that do find their way into the host have learned to adapt to the constant release of toxic microbes.

©jayne ollin/all rights reserved/2003/2005/2007

Sources:

Levetin, E. McMahon, K. (2003). Plants and human society. McGraw-Hill Higher Education

Mader, S. (2006). Inquiry into life. Tenth Ed. McGraw Hill.