Tag: lifestyle
Antibiotics – What have they done for our health?
By Teri Clayton
Penicillin was discovered in 1929 and developed commercially following World War II. Interestingly Alexander Fleming – who discovered and named penicillin, warned in a New York Times interview in 1945 that improper use of penicillin would lead to the development of resistant bacteria. Fleming had noticed as early as 1929, that many bacteria were already resistant to penicillin, well before it was even developed commercially.
Since the mass adoption of antibiotics, we have contaminated the entire globe with huge quantities of these synthetic anti-biological compounds. According to physician and researcher Stuart Levy, these antibiotics are not easily biodegradable;
‘They can remain intact in the environment unless they are destroyed by high temperatures, or other physical damage such as ultraviolet light from the sun. As active antibiotics they continue to kill off susceptible bacteria with which they have contact’ (1).
Stuart Levy
The environmental contamination with antibiotics comes from all areas of civilisation – from factory waste, sewerage, intensive factory farming and household waste, as well as contamination through pet droppings, to mention but a few.
Levy explains that this environmental contamination has stimulated unparalleled evolutionary changes.
Evolutionary processes are always powerfully initiated when living organisms are put under survival pressure. Using antibiotics in such a widespread way, has put huge selective pressure on bacteria (and all life) throughout the globe.
The penicillin based antibiotics target and kill bacteria through interfering with their cell wall production. This selective killing of bacteria with a cell wall, inevitably favours the growth of an imbalanced number of bacteria that:
- do not have a cell wall, (such as mycoplasma bacteria)
- have evolved to become penicillin resistant
On top of this imbalance we need also to take into account the disruption in the delicate balance between bacteria, yeast, fungi and viruses that results from antibiotic use.
This is not good news for people, ecosystems, or the health of the planet overall.
An obvious area where the imbalancing effects of antibiotics are beginning to show is in human health. For example it is highly likely, (perhaps inevitable), that the widespread use of antibiotics, particularly in humans, livestock and dairy animals, has led to higher levels of Mycoplasma organisms such as Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis (MAP) and a rise in the infections caused by such organisms. MAP is now thought to be a causative agent in the development of Crohn’s disease and can be found even in pasteurised milk, (2). Mycobacterium pneumoniae is now a common pathogen leading to walking pneumonia, causing respiratory symptoms ranging from mild to severe,(3). One has to stop and ask if our overuse of antibiotics has led to an explosion in respiratory infections caused by mycoplasmas and if they may have played some secondary role in varying levels of disease severity during the recent pandemic.
Research suggests that bacteria that have a cell wall have retained the capacity to return to an earlier point in their evolution, where they did not produce a cell wall, as a back up plan for if their ability to produce a cell wall is compromised.
‘….. bacteria can live without a cell wall may have been retained by modern cells as a back-up process for use when cell wall synthesis is compromised’ (4)
When we begin to step back and take a look at the bigger picture of how our use of pharmaceuticals in health and agriculture has altered the course of evolution – it gets even more worrying. We are now beginning to recognise that the seemingly unrelated use of glyphosate may accelerate the development of antibiotic resistance in some disease causing pathogens such as certain strains of E.coli, Salmonella sp and others (5).
‘Some glyphosate-resistant E. coli and Pseudomonas strains contain a gene coding for an ABC transporter that enhances the efflux of glyphosate from the cell. Such resistance mechanisms may have led to the cross-resistance against antibiotics observed for E. coli, Salmonella sp. and other environmental bacteria.’ (5)
It is clear that mass antibiotic use cannot help but have an effect on ecosystem health and the way microbes evolve. What is not so clear is how this story progresses, if we continue to follow the reductionist approach of targeting symptoms of disease, instead of addressing root causes.
With such a careless attitude to the use of antibiotics, weedkillers and other anti-biological chemicals in our environment, shared by the majority of civilised society – we urgently need to re-educate one another if we are to stop causing further damage. As we reach the end of the road for chemical warfare, it appears we are now transitioning into an even more devastating approach of genetic alteration of microbes and technological augmentation of natural systems. This would deal a devastating blow for human health, taking us even further from addressing the root cause – imbalance – of all modern disease.
The solution has always been and will always be – facilitating greater balance and as prompt a return as possible to homeostasis. This can only result from as much diversity of organisms as possible, evolving together to achieve an overall state of balance. This is why the planet needs regeneration so urgently. The regeneration of the planet necessarily involves the regeneration of human health and this is utterly reliant on the health of the environments in which us humans live.
Ultimately we will discover that human health is rooted in the health of the soil beneath our feet and until we all play our part in its restoration, we will suffer the painful consequences of the imbalances we keep creating.
References;
- Stuart Levy, The Antibiotic Paradox (NY:Plenum Press, 1992), 94
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4894645/
- https://www.cdc.gov/pneumonia/atypical/mycoplasma/index.html
- https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.07.13.20120428v1.full
- https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2021.763917/full
Responsible Foraging
By Fieke van Halder
At Primal Meats we support ancestral diets because we believe our modern westernised diets and lifestyle have led to the rise in chronic, metabolic diseases.
Last month, we started promoting foraging as part of our ancestral lifestyle, since eating nutrient-dense meat and consuming seasonal wild foraged foods are part of the foundation of ancestral health.
However, since the start of our ‘foraging’ campaign, we have also received concerns about the countryside being stripped by foragers and the damage this does to our natural habitat. We feel the need to address this further..
‘The expansion of commercial harvesting in many parts of the world has led to widespread concern about overharvesting and possible damage to (fungal) resources.’ (1)
Science Direct
Foraging Concerns
‘Like most environmental issues with food production, the problems start to arise when done on a large/industrial scale.’ (2)
By stripping too much from land or sea we are not only taking valuable food from animals, plants and fungi, but we are also leaving gaps for invasive species to invade and destroying nature’s delicate biome.
In doing so we are at risk of creating monocultural landscapes (exactly like industrial agriculture), which is what we are striving to get away from.
There is no point in pointing fingers, so like all things we do, we have to tackle this issue in a holistic sense, take responsibility and think of a holistic solution.
Most foragers we know are switched-on people with a deep love and understanding of nature. And like many of you, we aim to live regeneratively, eat nutrient-dense foods, with the seasons. But looking at the facts, we know food grown in industrial agriculture is just not providing us with what we need.
“Compared to 1940, a carrot today contains 75% less magnesium.”
“1985 – 2002: Broccoli contains 80% less calcium, 62% less folic acid and 60% less magnesium.”
It has been proven that wild foods contain more nutrients, antioxidants and healing properties than foods coming from commercial agriculture. Research (6) indicates that wild fruits and vegetables are nutritionally rich and high in phytochemicals, especially antioxidants and therefore can possibly play a significant and positive role in delivering a healthy and balanced diet. Mostly because they have never been treated with herbicides or pesticides (nor has the soil) and are allowed to fully ripen before being harvested, wild foods keep their natural powers and stay nutrient-dense.
So how do we provide ourselves with these nutrient dense foods with minimal disturbance to our sacred natural spaces? Or even better, how do we eat nutrient dense food with a positive effect on our planet? We don’t want to focus on just eating sustainably, we want to eat regeneratively and create a culture of people who think holistically about their food and lifestyle choices.
Foraging Solutions
We encourage foraging for wild foods because we feel in a holistic sense that the value of getting into nature, in tune with the seasons and rooted in the local landscape will help to regenerate a culture of people who love, value and protect their natural habitat.
Plants that are edible, are edible because they want to be eaten. Either it’s a way to pollinate, or disperse seeds. Or a way to be pruned to encourage new growth, either of itself or by allowing light through to saplings below. (2)
In some cases just like coppicing a woodland, harvesting can have a positive effect. As Yun Hider (Mountain food) points out: “sea beet is often overcrowded, by removing a certain amount of leaves, we are actually encouraging growth”. (3)
In regenerative agriculture we try to mimic nature in grazing the land the way the deer, European bison or wild ponies for instance would have done many years before. The land is distrubed, grazed and fertilised for a short time before the land is resting for a long period to encourage growth, photosynthesis and soil health. If we would apply these principles to foraging, what would that look like?
Studies show foraging can actually encourage plant/fungi growth if done correctly (4); ‘The results reveal that, contrary to expectations, long-term and systematic harvesting reduces neither the future yields of fruit bodies nor the species richness of wild forest fungi, irrespective of whether the harvesting technique was picking or cutting.’
When we approach foraging the way we approach regenerative agriculture, and let the land rest in between picking we can encourage plant growth and enjoy foraging without negatively impacting our natural spaces. If you rely on a specific piece of land to provide you with wild garlic every year, it would be wise to treat this spot with the respect it deserves so it can provide you for years to come.
The study continues; ‘Forest floor trampling does, however, reduce fruit body numbers, but our data show no evidence that trampling damaged the soil mycelia in the studied time period.’ (4) So tread carefully, only take what you need for tonight’s dinner, and allow time to let nature recover in between harvests.
The UK has plenty of foraging experts who can help and guide you towards a responsible foraging approach. If you are keen on mushroom foraging in particular, we would suggest asking the help of an expert. Mushroom foraging is dangerous and can result in long term health issues or even worse. Find a nature loving foraging expert near you and educate yourself on safely selecting the most tasty edible mushrooms. Please see below some personal recommendations for foraging courses throughout the UK.
Conclusion
We feel, foraging can be (and mostly is) done with respect for nature. It has the potential to increase our mental and physical health and if done correctly it can even positively impact nature’s ecosystems as well. Ask for help, do your research and get out there.
References;
- Mushroom picking does not impair future harvests – results of a long-term study in Switzerland – ScienceDirect
- Is Foraging harmful for the environment? – Bangers & Balls (bangersandballs.co)
- Foraging without damaging | Food | The Guardian
- Mushroom picking does not impair future harvests – results of a long-term study in Switzerland – ScienceDirect
- Foraging, Sustainability and The Media – Galloway Wild Foods
- The role of wild fruits and vegetables in delivering a balanced and healthy diet – PubMed (nih.gov)
Foraging courses;