(NaturalNews) The human body is essentially a "germ" factory, but this is not necessarily a bad thing. A new study published as a series of reports in the journals
Nature and
Public Library of Science (PLoS) debunks the widely believed germ theory, or the belief that all germs are "bad," by showing that the average, healthy human body harbors more than 10,000 species of microbes that together maintain microbial balance and promote vibrant health.
Funded by the U.S.
National Institutes of Health (NIH), the study included a collaboration of 200 scientists from 80 different research institutions, all of whom worked together for five years to gain a better understanding of how microbes affect the human body. And what they discovered is not only fascinating but also revolutionary, at least as far as mainstream medicine is concerned.
In essence, this cohort of field experts uncovered something that many of them had never before considered, mainly that not all bacteria is detrimental. Many types of bacteria are absolutely necessary for the body to thwart inflammation and other disease causing factors, for instance, without which there would be no natural defense against harmful bacteria.
To come to this conclusion, the team first collected tissue samples from 242 healthy adults in the U.S., including from their mouths, noses, and different areas of their skin. They then separated the bacterial DNA from the human DNA in each of the samples in order to analyze the various types of living organisms that were present.
The researchers learned that as much as three percent of a person's total
body mass is composed of various microbes, which for the average adult translates into several pounds of microbiome, the name given to the "trillions of individual germs" that live within the body. And this collective microbiome basically ups the total number of
human genes from about 22,000 to roughly eight million.
What this means is that the entire human genome
depends on this plethora of unique microbes in order to perform vital bodily functions such as digesting food and processing nutrients; resisting disease and building immunity; and maintaining a healthy flora balance in the intestinal system. Without this bacteria, in other words, the
human body would not be able to function properly or maintain any semblance of proper immunity.
"This is a whole new way of looking at human biology and human disease, and it's awe-inspiring," said Dr. Phillip Tarr of
Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., one of the lead researchers for the study. "These
bacteria are not passengers. They are metabolically active. As a community, we now have to reckon with them like we have to reckon with the ecosystem in a forest or a body of water."
Antibiotic drugs, chemicals, vaccines, and other modern interventions destroy human microbiome
Unfortunately, many in modern society still cling to the antiquated and disproven notion that disease is primarily caused by germs. Also known as
germ theory, this belief assumes that practically all bacteria are harmful, and that if a sanitary, bacteria-free environment can be maintained, humans will not "contract" illness.
It is this flawed germ theory that is responsible for the creation of modern interventions such as antibiotic drugs, chemical pesticides and herbicides, vaccines, and antibacterial soaps, all of which obstruct the human body's natural microbiome in various ways. Hand sanitizing gels and wipes are another byproduct of germ theory, which kill the bacteria that naturally lives on human skin and protect it against disease by maintaining a proper acidic pH.
As we have been saying here at
NaturalNews for years now, all germs are
not evil, and the human body is
not a sterile environment that develops disease because it becomes contaminated with germs. And this new study simply proves this point by demonstrating that germs play a vital role in preventing disease.
Think of it as a war between two countries -- the human body's microbiome against pathogenic invaders. Without a robust microbiome that is rich in beneficial bacteria, the human body is unable to resist the continual onslaught of harmful pathogens that fight against it from both inside and outside the body. And the key to winning the war is to maintain a proper microbial balance, which includes eating plenty of probiotic foods; avoiding antibiotic drugs and toxic chemicals; and getting plenty of rest, clean water, and natural sunlight.
Sources for this article include:http://hosted.ap.orghttp://www.naturalnews.com/031254_Germ_Theory_hoax.htmlhttp://www.naturalnews.com/022332.html
Have comments on this article? Post them here:
people have commented on this article.
Email this article to a friend
Now Available from 
