Germs May Confer Significant Health Benefits, Research Suggests

Fears surrounding exposure to harmful microbes are omnipresent, which is why it may come as a surprise to find research showing infection with certain ‘germs’ may confer significant health benefits.

We live in a day and age where germ theory has undergone a sort of apotheosis, assuming an almost Godlike power to affect and permeate every area of our lives with the fear of infection.

Not only are external institutions increasingly attaining the authority to force us to inject ourselves and children with preparations purported to defend us against germs, but even our inner thoughts are often infected uncontrollably with fears about exposure to them. Even the CDC has declared itself impotent against so-called “nightmare” bacteria, adding to the sense of powerlessness so many feel about their health destinies.

What makes this situation all the more surreal is the relatively recent discovery of the microbiome, namely, the 100 trillion viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites, which outnumber our own cells 10-1, and which proves that we are more “germ” than “human,” and in many respects, would not be alive without them: e.g. about 8% of our genome is retroviral in origin, 90% of our immune system depends on bacteria in our gut. How, then, can these microorganisms be as deadly as we are told, while at the same time be responsible for making possible our life itself?

The cognitive dissonance generated by these diverging, if not diametrically opposed paradigms — “microbes as deadly” versus “microbes as essential to life” — is enough to drive the non-fluoridated mind a bit crazy. But so much is riding on belief in one narrative over another. If germs are not as deadly as we are told, how would we justify the 60+ vaccines in the childhood vaccination schedule, and the 250+ in the developmental pipeline? Clearly, there are biopolitical and economic motivations pushing the germ-centric ideology forward, even in the face of an accumulating body of contrary evidence.

One such recent academic challenge to the germ theory can be found in a study published this year in Atherosclerosis titled, “Association of measles and mumps with cardiovascular disease: The Japan Collaborative Cohort (JACC) study,” which found that exposure to common infections during childhood could decrease risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD).

The study was based on,

“43,689 men and 60,147 women aged 40–79 years at baseline (1988–1990) completed a lifestyle questionnaire, including their history of measles and mumps, and were followed until 2009. Histories of infections were categorized as having no infection (reference), measles only, mumps only, or both infections. Hazard ratios (HR) for mortality from CVD across histories of infections were calculated.”

The study found that a history of measles and mumps infection, especially in case of those with both infections, were associated with lower risks of mortality from atherosclerotic CVD.

The detailed results were reported as follows:

“Men with measles only had multivariable HR (95% confidence interval) of 0.92 (0.85–0.99) for total CVD, those with mumps only had 0.52 (0.28–0.94) for total stroke and 0.21 (0.05–0.86) for hemorrhagic stroke, and those with both infections had 0.80 (0.71–0.90) for total CVD, 0.71 (0.53–0.93) for myocardial infarction, and 0.83 (0.69–0.98) for total stroke. Women with both infections had 0.83 (0.74–0.92) for total CVD and 0.84 (0.71–0.99) for total stroke. We also compared subjects with measles only or mumps only (reference) and those with both infections. Men with both infections had 0.88 (0.78–0.99) for total CVD. Women with both infections had 0.85 (0.76–0.94) for total CVD, 0.79 (0.67–0.93) for total stroke, 0.78 (0.62–0.98) for ischemic stroke and 0.78 (0.62–0.98) for hemorrhagic stroke.”

[Need help interpreting the results above? For examples, “.21” represents a 79% reduction in disease risk, and “.71” represents a 29% reduction in disease risk.]

This is not the only evidence available to show the value of infection with measles. For instance, we have indexed over twenty studies showing the potential immunological value of measles infection for over a dozen different conditions. You can view them on our page, “Health Benefits of Measles Infection.” I reported in more detail on this research in an article titled, “The Underreported Health Benefits of Measles Infection.”

Should we be so surprised that our immune system, which co-evolved with microbes for millions of years, is now dependent in some degree on interaction with them? In a previous article titled, “Why Vaccines Are Not Paleo,” wherein we explored this concept in greater depth:

“Our collective consciousness around infectious disease has been programmed with the alluringly reductionist perspective that vaccination has helped to save us from major deadly diseases, irrespective of the radical changes in sanitation and hygiene that marked the early to mid twentieth century. This line of rhetoric, of course, also ignores the fact that the ~3.4 billion year long struggle of the living cell to perfect itself into our present day organism required the development of a sophisticated immune system – one that successfully interfaced with a virtually infinite number of infectious challenges along the way, and kept us alive and well before the nanosecond old (in biological time) shift into modern medical interventions began only 100 years ago.”

Germ theory has, in certain respects, taken on the characteristics of an infection itself. Not a physical one, but an ideological one, i.e. a meme. Ironically, these memes not only have a life of their own, and replicate like the very infectious entities they conceptualize, but they have physiological effects that can adversely affect immunity. A nebulous fear of “germs” (lethal, invisible, omnipresent), for instance, can contribute to a flight-or-fight/sympathetic dominant state and therefore can result in immune dysregulation, up-regulating cortisol and down-regulating the very cell-mediated immunity needed to prevent opportunistic infections. Even more ironic is the fact that the very attenuated germs the vaccine industry created to inject into our bodies and “educate” our immunity are often deadlier than the wild-type viruses or bacteria they are meant to replace as safer versions.

As our scientific understanding of the microbe-dependent nature of our health continues to expand, and germ theory and its derivative agenda of vaccinology continues to confront evidence that contradicts its basic tenets, we finally can see a way past the increasingly dismal view projected by health authorities like the CDC and the WHO that germs will be the end of us all; that is, unless we employ “live saving” vaccines and drugs, or support global germ eradication campaigns that are not only not working, and by principle never will, but may actually be harming more than they are helping.

Ultimately, when we come to embrace the “germ” not so much as other but self, the endless war against microbes will give way to a type of peace and compassion between self, body, and the natural world that will be essential for true healing to take place. For an in-depth, high gravitas discussion of how the virome — i.e. the collective of viruses that, together, contribute to our total self (microbiome + our human cells), also known as the holobiont — is undermining classical, “us versus them” germ theory, watch this amazing NIH lecture by Herbert W. Virgin, MD, PhD:

© January 21, 2017 GreenMedInfo LLC. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of GreenMedInfo LLC. Want to learn more from GreenMedInfo? Sign up for the newsletter here http://www.greenmedinfo.com/greenmed/newsletter.

The post Germs May Confer Significant Health Benefits, Research Suggests appeared first on The Sleuth Journal.

“Killer Germs” Obliterated By Medicinal Smoke (Smudging), Study Reveals

The ritualistic use of plant smoke stretches back to the prehistorical era and is still used, the world over, as a way of ‘cleansing’ the spirit. Now modern scientific research reveals that the practice may actually have life-saving implications by purifying the air of harmful bacteria. 

The burning of herbs and plant resins for medicinal and spiritual purposes – so-called ‘smudging’ – is an ancient practice among indigenous people around the world; one increasingly adopted by Westerners. Smudging is a technology believed to unlock the ‘spirits’ of various plant allies to restore balance and ease to the individual or group.  Some liken it to taking a ‘spiritual shower,’ enabling you to wash away emotional and spiritual negativity that accumulates in your body and the spaces you live.

That said, skeptics believe attributing health benefits to the burning of sage and incense reflects ‘magical thinking.’ The practice has even been accused of being a New Age form of cultural imperialism where ‘plastic’ or ‘white’ shamans mimic and co-opt the traditions of indigenous people their predecessors essentially conquered.

Burning white sage

Given the polarized view on this increasingly common practice, as well as the well known role that the burning of incense plays in even Western religious traditions, such as Catholicism, we decided to explore the published literature on the topic of smudging’s scientifically validated medical benefits, to see what we could find.

First, we uncovered a 2006 review published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology titled “Medicinal smokes,” that looked at single and multi-ingredient herbal and non-herbal remedies administered as smoke from 50 countries across 5 continents. The researchers found, with surprising overlap worldwide, medicinal smoke is mostly used to address the following specific organ systems: “pulmonary (23.5%), neurological (21.8%) and dermatological (8.1%).” They also found that “ambient smoke,” which is the type of passively inhaled smoke generated by smudging/incense, is traditionally believed to be an effective “air purifier.” The review argued that modern medicine should investigate medicinal smoke as a drug delivery system, owing to the following advantages: “The advantages of smoke-based remedies are rapid delivery to the brain, more efficient absorption by the body and lower costs of production.”

(click image to enlarge)

Smudging, of course, as a ‘spiritual’ ritual, is not aimed at ‘killing germs,’ or becoming a ‘new drug delivery system.’ But because modern biomedicine only acknowledges what is empirically verifiable – which does not include ‘the soul’ or ‘negative vibes’ – the practice will only attain a modicum of credibility from the perspective of the dominant, scientism-contaminated worldview, if it can be demonstrated that it actually performs a useful function, such as destroying disease-causing germs.

Thanks to a remarkable 2007 study titled, “Medicinal smoke reduces airborne bacteria,” published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology, we now know that smudging may be one of the most powerful antiseptic technologies ever discovered.

(click image to enlarge)

The researchers reported their amazing findings:

We have observed that 1 hour treatment of medicinal smoke emanated by burning wood and a mixture of odoriferous and medicinal herbs (havan sámagri=material used in oblation to fire all over India), on aerial bacterial population caused over 94% reduction of bacterial counts by 60 min and the ability of the smoke to purify or disinfect the air and to make the environment cleaner was maintained up to 24 hour in the closed room. Absence of pathogenic bacteria Corynebacterium urealyticum, Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens, Enterobacter aerogenes (Klebsiella mobilis), Kocuria rosea, Pseudomonas syringae pv. persicae, Staphylococcus lentus, and Xanthomonas campestris pv. tardicrescens in the open room even after 30 days is indicative of the bactericidal potential of the medicinal smoke treatment. We have demonstrated that using medicinal smoke it is possible to completely eliminate diverse plant and human pathogenic bacteria of the air within confined space.” [email info@greenmedinfo.com to request the full PDF of this study]

Did you catch that?

Not only did the burning of medicinal herbs clear aerial bacterial populations by 94% within one hour, but a full day later, the closed room was still effectively decontaminated. Even more amazing, a full month later, seven other pathogenic bacteria in the open room were still non-detectable.

When one considers that modern urban air has been found to contain at least 1800 diverse bacterial types[1] – including families with pathogenic members – this finding could have profound implications for combating a increasingly deadly array of antibiotic-resistant bacteria against which even the CDC itself has acknowledged its impotence.  Consider also that a recent microbiome of NYC’s subway system found close to 1700 different microbes, including those responsible for Anthrax (Bacillus anthracis)  and Bubonic Plague (yersinia pestis).[2]

Also, considering that conventional methods of air and surface sterilization and odor neutralization use chemical cocktails (e.g. Lysol) that are much less effective than advertised (one study found them up to 10 times less effective than believed), smudging or the use of natural incense products might constitute a far safer and more effective approach.

Given this discovery of medicinal smoke’s potent cleansing properties on aerosol microbes, we might look at Smudging’s traditional use as a cleanser of ‘evil spirits’ or ‘negative energy’ as less like a primitive projection and more like a metaphor for its very real antiseptic properties. This does not, of course, take away from its ‘cleansing’ effects upon the body’s subtler energy systems; nor does it take away from the the effects the medicinal smokes and its various small-molecule aromatic compounds have upon the olfactory system, which are largely responsible for the clinically proven health benefits of aromatherapy-based interventions.

---

References

[1] Brodie, E.L., DeSantis, T.Z., Moberg Parker, J.P., Zubietta, I.X., Piceno, Y.M., Andersen, G.L., 2006. Urban aerosols harbor diverse and dynamic bacterial. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104, 299–304.

[2] Ebrahim Afshinnekoo et al,  Geospatial Resolution of Human and Bacterial Diversity with City-Scale Metagenomics, published online Cell Systems, Feb. 2015

© July 20, 2017 GreenMedInfo LLC. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of GreenMedInfo LLC. Want to learn more from GreenMedInfo? Sign up for the newsletter here http://www.greenmedinfo.com/greenmed/newsletter.

“Germs” Help The Body Produce Vitamin C: Breakthrough Discovery

Groundbreaking new research indicates that humans are capable of synthesizing vitamin C via their highly complex and capable microbiome.

We live in a time and age where decades old assumptions about the human body are being overturned on a surprisingly regular basis. For instance, bodily cells were recently found to communicate inheritable information to sex cells (e.g. sperm) capable of being passed down to the next generation, effectively challenging the exclusivity of Darwinian forms of inheritance in favor of including the long denied Larmarckian view. Last year, edible plant material was found to ‘talk’ to the cells in our body via nanoparticles known as exosomes that regulate the expression of our DNA, as well as other important physiological pathways. This month, we reported on research showing that mammalian cells are capable of extracting energy directly through the sun with the help of the ‘plant blood’ molecule chlorophyll. Even more amazing may be Gerald Pollack’s notion that water’s hypothesized fourth phase acts like a battery within the body, providing a continuous source of sunlight-driven energy that requires no intermediary to convert directly to biochemical energy through the charge separation it affects in water.

These are only small sampling of new, scientifically confirmed discoveries that fly in the face of conventional scientific wisdom, opening up possibilities in nutrition and medicine that may contribute to radically safer and more effective therapeutic interventions in the near future.

‘Germs’ Makes Us Supra-Human?

Recently, I had a rather stimulating email exchange with my colleague Stephanie Seneff, PhD, who pointed out a study she had found wherein it was discovered that the human microbiome is capable of producing vitamin C. This is a remarkable possibility, as the human body is not believed capable of producing this essential vitamin, long since our hominid ancestors lost the genetic ability to do so about 60 million years ago.  The microbiome, however, is part of the new definition of the human body as a meta-organism, consisting of trillions of other microbial organisms and viruses without which we would never have survived. Also known as the hologenome theory of evolution, the idea is that the object of natural selection is not the individual organism, but the holobiont, i.e. the individual organism plus its associated microbial communities which include a mind numbingly complex web of bacteria, viruses, protozoa, helminths and fungi. In fact, if one looks at the genetic contribution of the human genome versus the total set of genes represented by the other organisms that make up the holobiont our genes only account for about 1%.

Not only is this a real ego challenge to anthropocentric and germophobic thinkers, but it reveals just how many capabilities we may borrow from these tiny co-inhabitants. For instance, recent research shows that our body draws from over 90 different bacterial strains in our gut to digest the gluten proteins in wheat that our own genome does not readily enable us to break down with any efficiency. Another cool example of how ‘germs’ help us to compensate for our genetic defects is the discovery that a certain Lactobacillus strain of food importance is capable of producing the active methylated form of folate — 5-methylenetetrahydrofolate — that those with MTHFR mutations are notoriously poor at producing in optimal quantities. We can assume, therefore, that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are not the final story on nutritional deficiencies or aberrations, but that our microbial friends may fill in gaps or voids epigenetically that our genes are not capable satisfying.

In this sense, the microbial portion of the holobiont significantly extends our genetic and/or epigenetic capabilities, making it possible to survive the ever-shifting ecological, environmental, nutritional niches that we have traversed in our seemingly infinitely long march (biological time stretching back millions of years) to our present-day incarnation. Whereas the primary nucleotide sequences in our DNA may require tens, hundreds and even millions of years to be significantly and/or functionally altered, microbial DNA contributions may shift in years, months, weeks, minutes and perhaps even in real-time in a matter of seconds. Can you see why Nature has compelled us into collaborating and even incorporating ‘germs’ into our body (note: the mitochondria in our body, according to the endosymbiotic view, were once proteobacteria outside of us!).

How We Produce Vitamin C

And so, it was within the context of this new understanding of the human body and it’s physiological capabilities that Seneff and I explored the possibility of vitamin C producing bacteria in our gut.

(click image to enlarge)

The paper where this idea first emerged was published in Current Opinion on Biotechnology titled, “Bacteria as vitamin suppliers to their host: a gut microbiota perspective.” The remarkable paper focused on the role of food-related lactic acid bacteria (as found in cultured foods such as yogurt) as well as human gut commensal such as bifidobacteria and their ability to produce the vitamins we are not able to produce ourselves. The highlight, of course, was the discovery that bacterial isolates from human gut samples were capable of producing a wide range of vitamins, including vitamin C (ascorbate):

Notably, vitamin metabolism pathways were shown to be highly represented in all enterotypes, while two enterotypes were particularly  enriched in genes that specify the biosynthetic enzymes for biotin, riboflavin, pantothenate, ascorbate, thiamine and folate production. These phylogenetic and functional differences among enterotypes thus reflect different combinations of microbial trophic chains with a probable impact on synergistic interrelations with the human host.” [emphasis added]

Unfortunately, the paper did not discuss the methodological details as to how exactly they uncovered this fact. And so, in an effort to validate this study I did an extensive database search until I discovered a concrete example of a bacterial strain known to inhabit the human body that is capable of producing ascorbate: Corynebacterium glucuronolyticum (ATCC 51867), which contains an L-ascorbate biosynthesis pathway depicted below.

(click image to enlarge)

Interestingly, most Corynebacterium species are considered benign, but C. glucouronolyticum has been been linked to human urogential infections, and C. diphtheria is associated with opportunistic diphtheria infections. Emerson once said that a weed is an herb whose virtues have yet to be discovered. So too may be the case with ‘germs.’ A nuisance, perhaps, may grow into greater numbers when the body is suffering from a deficiency of one of its primarily biosynthetic pathways and associated biomolecule, be it a vitamin, anti-tumor agent, or antibiotic. It is possible that C. glucuronolyticum grows into ‘infectitious’ proportions when the body is starved in vitamin C, and that when the body is replete with vitamin C the normally benign strain does not contribute to urogenital infection.

Of course this discovery does not prove that the gut flora are capable of producing physiological relevant quantities of vitamin C via this strain alone. But it does prove that it is possible for the human body to produce vitamin C — further exemplifying how little we know about the human body, and again, how vitally important the ‘germs’ may be in helping us to compensate for our genetic impairments. I’ve always struggled with the idea that our ancestors were somehow able to survive 60 million years completely dependent on dietary sources of vitamin C, when an extreme deficiency (an inevitability given the famine-fast fluctuations of hunter-gatherer modes of subsistence) could result in severe debilitation or even death. That our body may contain a means to produce vitamin C — perhaps small but still life-saving amounts — makes intuitive sense, given the intelligence shot through the infinite complexity of Nature. And so, perhaps we are now only beginning to understand how much more energetic and biomolecular independence we have than conventional science has claimed we have.

© GreenMedInfo LLC. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of GreenMedInfo LLC. Want to learn more from GreenMedInfo? Sign up for the newsletter here http://www.greenmedinfo.com/greenmed/newsletter.

“Germs” Help The Body Produce Vitamin C: Breakthrough Discovery

Groundbreaking new research indicates that humans are capable of synthesizing vitamin C via their highly complex and capable microbiome.

We live in a time and age where decades old assumptions about the human body are being overturned on a surprisingly regular basis. For instance, bodily cells were recently found to communicate inheritable information to sex cells (e.g. sperm) capable of being passed down to the next generation, effectively challenging the exclusivity of Darwinian forms of inheritance in favor of including the long denied Larmarckian view. Last year, edible plant material was found to ‘talk’ to the cells in our body via nanoparticles known as exosomes that regulate the expression of our DNA, as well as other important physiological pathways. This month, we reported on research showing that mammalian cells are capable of extracting energy directly through the sun with the help of the ‘plant blood’ molecule chlorophyll. Even more amazing may be Gerald Pollack’s notion that water’s hypothesized fourth phase acts like a battery within the body, providing a continuous source of sunlight-driven energy that requires no intermediary to convert directly to biochemical energy through the charge separation it affects in water.

These are only small sampling of new, scientifically confirmed discoveries that fly in the face of conventional scientific wisdom, opening up possibilities in nutrition and medicine that may contribute to radically safer and more effective therapeutic interventions in the near future.

‘Germs’ Makes Us Supra-Human?

Recently, I had a rather stimulating email exchange with my colleague Stephanie Seneff, PhD, who pointed out a study she had found wherein it was discovered that the human microbiome is capable of producing vitamin C. This is a remarkable possibility, as the human body is not believed capable of producing this essential vitamin, long since our hominid ancestors lost the genetic ability to do so about 60 million years ago.  The microbiome, however, is part of the new definition of the human body as a meta-organism, consisting of trillions of other microbial organisms and viruses without which we would never have survived. Also known as the hologenome theory of evolution, the idea is that the object of natural selection is not the individual organism, but the holobiont, i.e. the individual organism plus its associated microbial communities which include a mind numbingly complex web of bacteria, viruses, protozoa, helminths and fungi. In fact, if one looks at the genetic contribution of the human genome versus the total set of genes represented by the other organisms that make up the holobiont our genes only account for about 1%.

Not only is this a real ego challenge to anthropocentric and germophobic thinkers, but it reveals just how many capabilities we may borrow from these tiny co-inhabitants. For instance, recent research shows that our body draws from over 90 different bacterial strains in our gut to digest the gluten proteins in wheat that our own genome does not readily enable us to break down with any efficiency. Another cool example of how ‘germs’ help us to compensate for our genetic defects is the discovery that a certain Lactobacillus strain of food importance is capable of producing the active methylated form of folate — 5-methylenetetrahydrofolate — that those with MTHFR mutations are notoriously poor at producing in optimal quantities. We can assume, therefore, that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are not the final story on nutritional deficiencies or aberrations, but that our microbial friends may fill in gaps or voids epigenetically that our genes are not capable satisfying.

In this sense, the microbial portion of the holobiont significantly extends our genetic and/or epigenetic capabilities, making it possible to survive the ever-shifting ecological, environmental, nutritional niches that we have traversed in our seemingly infinitely long march (biological time stretching back millions of years) to our present-day incarnation. Whereas the primary nucleotide sequences in our DNA may require tens, hundreds and even millions of years to be significantly and/or functionally altered, microbial DNA contributions may shift in years, months, weeks, minutes and perhaps even in real-time in a matter of seconds. Can you see why Nature has compelled us into collaborating and even incorporating ‘germs’ into our body (note: the mitochondria in our body, according to the endosymbiotic view, were once proteobacteria outside of us!).

How We Produce Vitamin C

And so, it was within the context of this new understanding of the human body and it’s physiological capabilities that Seneff and I explored the possibility of vitamin C producing bacteria in our gut.

(click image to enlarge)

The paper where this idea first emerged was published in Current Opinion on Biotechnology titled, “Bacteria as vitamin suppliers to their host: a gut microbiota perspective.” The remarkable paper focused on the role of food-related lactic acid bacteria (as found in cultured foods such as yogurt) as well as human gut commensal such as bifidobacteria and their ability to produce the vitamins we are not able to produce ourselves. The highlight, of course, was the discovery that bacterial isolates from human gut samples were capable of producing a wide range of vitamins, including vitamin C (ascorbate):

Notably, vitamin metabolism pathways were shown to be highly represented in all enterotypes, while two enterotypes were particularly  enriched in genes that specify the biosynthetic enzymes for biotin, riboflavin, pantothenate, ascorbate, thiamine and folate production. These phylogenetic and functional differences among enterotypes thus reflect different combinations of microbial trophic chains with a probable impact on synergistic interrelations with the human host.” [emphasis added]

Unfortunately, the paper did not discuss the methodological details as to how exactly they uncovered this fact. And so, in an effort to validate this study I did an extensive database search until I discovered a concrete example of a bacterial strain known to inhabit the human body that is capable of producing ascorbate: Corynebacterium glucuronolyticum (ATCC 51867), which contains an L-ascorbate biosynthesis pathway depicted below.

(click image to enlarge)

Interestingly, most Corynebacterium species are considered benign, but C. glucouronolyticum has been been linked to human urogential infections, and C. diphtheria is associated with opportunistic diphtheria infections. Emerson once said that a weed is an herb whose virtues have yet to be discovered. So too may be the case with ‘germs.’ A nuisance, perhaps, may grow into greater numbers when the body is suffering from a deficiency of one of its primarily biosynthetic pathways and associated biomolecule, be it a vitamin, anti-tumor agent, or antibiotic. It is possible that C. glucuronolyticum grows into ‘infectitious’ proportions when the body is starved in vitamin C, and that when the body is replete with vitamin C the normally benign strain does not contribute to urogenital infection.

Of course this discovery does not prove that the gut flora are capable of producing physiological relevant quantities of vitamin C via this strain alone. But it does prove that it is possible for the human body to produce vitamin C — further exemplifying how little we know about the human body, and again, how vitally important the ‘germs’ may be in helping us to compensate for our genetic impairments. I’ve always struggled with the idea that our ancestors were somehow able to survive 60 million years completely dependent on dietary sources of vitamin C, when an extreme deficiency (an inevitability given the famine-fast fluctuations of hunter-gatherer modes of subsistence) could result in severe debilitation or even death. That our body may contain a means to produce vitamin C — perhaps small but still life-saving amounts — makes intuitive sense, given the intelligence shot through the infinite complexity of Nature. And so, perhaps we are now only beginning to understand how much more energetic and biomolecular independence we have than conventional science has claimed we have.

© GreenMedInfo LLC. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of GreenMedInfo LLC. Want to learn more from GreenMedInfo? Sign up for the newsletter here http://www.greenmedinfo.com/greenmed/newsletter.