Terrain vs. Germ Theory: The #1 Reason Why People Become Sick

If we put 100 people into a room, why do 70 of them get sick, while 30 don’t?

It is because of the body’s dirty terrain or environment that:

• Determines the person’s overall status of health / sickness

• Causes a chronic weak immunity

• May be exacerbated by a person’s genetic inability to properly detox

But let’s go back to the beginnings:

Louis Pasteur is considered to be the father of the Germ theory, a theory that was originally developed during the mid 1800s. It basically states that the exposure to contagious bugs and viruses from the outside creates havoc and pathogenic reactions in our body that make us sick, because our innate immune system is not strong enough to combat those invaders.

Modern research and science has a different viewpoint on this. Antoine Bechamp, father of the Terrain theory postulates that diseased tissue attracts germs rather than being caused by it. Every human is made up of billions of bacteria and trillions of viruses in the form of a human microbiome and virome. In fact human cells are up to 100-fold outnumbered by viruses. Bacteria are responsible to break down diseased tissue, and play an important role in clearing out waste inside our bodies. Bacteria are known as great decomposers, as for example after a body part dies or after a post-op infection, they attempt to breakdown the toxin load. We can think of bacteria as firefighters at a fire. They are not the cause of gangrene, but more so the effects of it.

"You don’t catch disease. You build it."

What causes bacteria and viruses to be harmful?

It’s a dirty terrain. A dirty terrain not only allows harmful organisms to overgrow, but as well to alter their morphology, biological functions or reproductive modes in response to environmental conditions. Toxins damage tissue, which in turn creates a pathogenic change in microorganisms in response to toxicity. This is called pleomorphism. Instead of thinking of catching any bug from outside, recent science assumes that disease comes and forms from within.

Just as mosquito is attracted to the pond scum, not the pond - the same goes for harmful organisms which are attracted to diseased, toxic tissue - not a healthy body terrain.

So, it’s not that bacteria and viruses are per se bad, rather it is their overgrowth that brings the body out of homeostasis. With that understanding, it is essential to address the underlying conditions that makes people more susceptible to serious disease progression - instead of chasing symptoms. It means truly getting to the root cause - the why behind the symptoms - by finding the pathogens that underlie and fuel their pathologies and cause inflammation.

H. Pylori is one good example that proof the validity of the terrain theory

Helicobacter pylori is a bacteria that can cause an infection in the stomach or duodenum and is the most common cause of peptic ulcer disease. Research suggests that half of the world is infected with the bacteria. Most people count all H.pylori strains as bad, but some strains seem to be more harmless than others.

In fact, an H. pylori infection can protect against Salmonella typhi-induced experimental colitis. Subsequent studies further demonstrated that H. pylori DNA decreases pro-inflammatory cytokine production by dendritic cells and attenuates dextran sodium sulfate-induced colitis in mice. H. pylori DNA, which has been found in the colon and stool of infected patients, has been shown to have immunoregulatory properties.

On the other hand, clinical studies clearly demonstrate that eradication of H. pylori infection significantly reduces the incidence of peptic ulcer disease and its complications. This supports the recommendation by the NIH that H. pylori is harmful to a small subset of patients and should be appropriately treated. However, because of immune tolerance conferred by H. pylori infection, its elimination from the body in asymptomatic patients is not considered to be a good idea.

The determining factor whether H. Pylori is beneficial or harmful, highly depends on its form. Every human has H. pylori, but only when there is a toxic environmental shift, H. pylori will pleomorph into what we believe is a pathogenic form. Instead of eliminating all H. Pylori in the body, we need to eliminate the poison, that triggered the bacteria to change forms.

Common modern environmental toxicities that are causing a dirty terrain:

• Steroids

• Antidepressants

• Breast implants

• Root canals

• Herbicides / pesticides

• Processed food

• Unfiltered water

• Heavy metals

• Chronic or overuse of Antibiotics

• Chronic mold exposure

• Endocrine disrupters (e.g. in skincare, makeup, etc)

• Plastics

• Trauma

• Overuse of Alcohol

• Smoking cigarettes

• EMFs

• Nutrient deficiencies (most commonly caused by toxicity)

• Mental stress (divorce, loss of a loved one, etc.)

The modern, increasingly toxic world is causing a burden on the human body. As soon as the body is not able to keep up with the detox process, drainage pathways become stagnant. Environmental toxins lead to mitochondrial damage. Mitochondria are the powerhouse of our body and responsible for energy production in every single cell, besides the red blood cells. Once the body’s toxins bucket is overflowing, it attracts and allows more and more pathogens to manifest. This is typically when we see symptoms to manifest and the health seems “all of a sudden” to drastically spiral downwards. Pathogens are opportunistic and don’t miss the chance to take over, whenever the body and/or its’ immune system is vulnerable. The goal is to improve the biological terrain, as well as the immune system to create a strong resilient body, that is able to keep stealth infections at bay.

Remember, it is the environment that causes your genes to be expressed differently.

“Genetics loads the gun, but environment pulls the trigger."

How do we get the body back into homeostasis?

1. Always ensuring proper drainage

2. Supporting the immune system

3. Reduce the infectious load

4. Remove toxicities that allow the pathogens to be present.

5. Be mindful about your daily toxic exposure: the air you breathe, what you put on your fork, as well as what you put on your skin.