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Biowarfare in US –
Are We Losing the Battle
by Jeff Leach / 2006
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In a recent edition of the Washington Post, Rob Stein reported the
emergence of yet another resistant bacteria created by overuse of
antibiotics in this country. The latest nasty culprit is Clostridium
difficile – C Diff to the rest of us – which causes cramps, horrific
diarrhea, and in some cases, death.
In just a little over 50 years of antibiotic
use, humans have artificially stimulated the frightening mutation and
evolution of otherwise benign microbes. Unequalled in recorded biological
history, this rapid evolution is occurring right before our eyes.
In our “pill for every ill”
society, our greatest weapon against many of these super mutant pathogens
remains our own resident population of friendly bacteria that occupy the
entire length of the gastrointestinal system. From mouth to anus, and
nearly the size of a professional tennis court in total surface area, the
human gut represents our greatest exposure to the external environment –
providing endless “hiding” places for invading pathogens.
Numbering in the trillions, our indigenous
colonies of friendly microbes are the first and last line of defense
against invading pathogens and have served us well throughout our long
evolutionary march to mammalian dominance. A dominant, healthy and
well-fed population of friendly bacteria in our gut – mainly in our colon
– makes it difficult for invading pathogens to compete for necessary
nutrients for survival. Numbers count in this
biological warfare. However, our natural defenders require food to
live and to maintain a dominant position in this critical ecosystem. That
food is dietary fiber.
A person living in America today is
likely to consume less dietary fiber than any previous generation in human
history. Depending on gender, age, and activity
level, our government recommends we only eat 25 to 38 grams a day – give
or take – with the average American consuming only a
fraction of that.
Current US guidelines for fiber intake are, from an evolutionary
perspective, low fiber recommendations. Our not-so-distant ancestors
consumed a diverse range of plants that provided 75, 100, and up to 150
grams of fiber a day – sometimes more.
Our diminishing
dietary intake of fiber is literally starving our friendly evolutionary
hitchhikers, inhibiting their ability to defend us against invading
pathogens. This means more people get sick than should, which in turn
provides for a greater number of opportunities for misuse and overuse of
antibiotics for what are often run-of-the-mill infections. As a
consequence, the rapid evolution of drug resistant strains is being
artificially promoted and becoming frighteningly difficult to contain.
The role of
dietary fiber in the cycle and emergence of drug resistant pathogens has
received almost no attention. Actually,
none. Any national policy that seeks to minimize our society’s exposure to
infectious disease through more controlled and appropriate use of
antibiotics would be well served by an appreciation of the underlying
evolutionary-determined dietary intake of fiber and its role in the human
immune system. Continuing to ignore basic evolutionary biological
principles in future prevention strategies of this “shadow epidemic” will
cripple the future US healthcare system and will result in the unnecessary
death of many good people.
Our low dietary
intake of fiber is in discordance with our evolutionary past and providing
opportunities for everyday pathogens and an increasing number of drug
resistant super bugs to establish a niche in our vast intestinal system.
This is disrupting millions of years of evolution that resulted in a
harmonious and symbiotic relationship between us and our permanent base of
beneficial microbes.
Through
this “evolutionary stable strategy,” our indigenous microbes have made it
their evolutionary job to keep out invaders. Importantly, they have come
to rely on a steady supply of fermentable substrates (fiber) coming down
the ‘pipe’ on a daily basis for growth and maintenance. With the average
American consuming nearly 40% of daily calories from added sugars and
fats, and another 30 to 40% from highly processed nutrient and fiber-poor
grains, we have reached an “evolutionary tipping point” that is tinkering
in not-so-good-ways with the very beneficial organisms that have
allowed us to come
so far.
We cannot simply
go from a species that evolved on a diet dependant on nutrient-rich
fibrous plants, to one that eats almost no fiber. Our current low intake
of dietary fiber is a socio-economic phenomenon that represents nothing
more than the efforts of special interest that represent industries that
have a monetary stake in seeing the “number of servings” for their “food
groups” maintained or increased with the aid of policy makers in our
nations nutritional guidelines.
Unless we
fix unbalanced agricultural subsidies that favor over production of select
commodities and reign in
the food industry that promotes over consumption of highly-processed foods
laced with nutrient and fiber-poor sugars and added fats – and honestly
address the gaps in nutrition education among consumers – our current
fiber intake will remain at dangerously low levels.
As we are slowly seeing with
industrialization and its byproducts, tinkering with delicate balances in
nature has consequences.
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