Discordance Hypothesis | Lost Wanderer

Posts Tagged ‘Discordance Hypothesis’

We Need Our Symbiotes

Monday, December 14th, 2009

My next post will be on avoiding food poisoning, but before I post on that issue I need to point out that there obviously exists a balance between living in disease causing filth and being obsessively hygienic. A lot of research suggests that we need various probiotics in order to be healthy, and that a large number of health problems occur because we have cleaned up our environment so thoroughly that we don’t have the necessary symbiotes in our bodies any more.

The hygiene hypothesis seems to be gradually being refined into what has been called the Old Friends Hypothesis. The shift is from one of believing that we benefit from infections with various organisms in general sort of way, to saying that bad organisms are bad for us, and good organisms (symbiotes) are good for us. So, obviously we should try to avoid the bad ones and seek out the good ones. Here are two previous blog posts of mine that touch on this issue The Umami Hypothesis – Lost Wanderer and Apitherapy & Biotherapy – Lost Wanderer.

Here is a general survey of some of this material by Gut Buddies: ‘Friendly’ bacteria: side-lined healers - Gut Buddies (Some of the friendly bacteria (and products) referred to by Gut Buddies in this post are: segmented filamentous bacterium, Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium animalis, Bifidobacterium infantis 35624, Puritan’s Pride, Lactobacillus reuteri, B. infantis 35624, Lactobacillus F19, L. acidophilus NCFB 1748 and B. lactis Bb12, Advanced Oral Hygiene with S. salivarius and B. coagulans, PerioBalance with Lactobacillus reuteri Prodentis, Halofuginone, and Bacillus polyfermenticus).

Helminths (hookworms and whipworms, etc.) have been apparently very effective in helping with numerous allergic and autoimmune conditions, including allergies, asthma, autism, Crohn’s Disease, Eczema, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Multiple Sclerosis, Psoriasis, Sjögren’s Syndrome, and Ulcerative Colitis. (AutoimmuneTherapies) (Hookworms are our Little Friends - Lost Wanderer)

Similar immune-modifying symbiote-based therapies might help with many other diseases and conditions:

Alzheimer’s (Alzheimer’s Inflammation May Trigger Alzheimer’s Disease via Autoimmune & biotherapy news 2009/7/9 – Gut Buddies) (See also: Alzheimer’s – Lost Wanderer)

Aortic dissection (Inflammation Critical in Aortic Dissection, Researchers Find via The worm’s next success? – Gut Buddies)

Autism (Autism May Be Linked to Mom’s Autoimmune Disease (type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and celiac disease) via Autoimmune & biotherapy news 2009/7/9 – Gut Buddies) (See also: The Vitamin D Theory of Autism – Lost Wanderer)

Dental Issues (Probiotic lozenges promote oral health - Gut Buddies (GUM PerioBalance (Lactobacillus reuteri Prodentis) and Advanced Oral Hygiene lozenges (S. salivarius and B. coagulans)

Depression (Is Dirt the New Prozac? by Josie Glausiusz (concerning the common soil bacterium, Mycobacterium vaccae)

Diabetes (Diabetes- Lost Wanderer)

Diarrhea (Kefir benefits the sickest young children on antibiotics - Gut Buddies)

Flatulence Odor (You Can be a God/Goddess – Lost Wanderer (Odafree/Whiff withYucca Shidgera from desert Yucca, Fructo-oligosacharides from Jerusalem artichokes, and Copper Chlorophyllin from alfalfa. Local inventor clearing the air on pill that helps you breathe)

Gastric reflux (Reflux Esophagitis Due to Immune Reaction, Not Acute Acid Burn via The worm’s next success? – Gut Buddies)

Migraine Headaches (Migraine Headaches - Lost Wanderer)

Narcolepsy (Narcolepsy Is An Autoimmune Disorder, Stanford Researcher Says via Autoimmune & biotherapy news 2009/7/9 – Gut Buddies)

Obesity (Study Confirms: Your Hidden Food Allergies Are Making You Fat via Give microbes to mum for less-allergic young - Gut Buddies)

(Probiotics may reduce belly fat in women (Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium) via Obesity As An Immune Disorder – Matt Metzgar)

(Early differences in fecal microbiota composition in children may predict overweight (Staphylococcus aureus) via Obesity As An Immune Disorder II – Matt Metzgar)

(Childhood: Food Allergies May Be Linked to Obesity by Nicholas Bakalar and The Effect of The ALCAT Test Diet Therapy for Food Sensitivity in Patient’s With Obesity via Obesity As An Immune Disorder III – Matt Metzgar)

(Obesity – extending the hygiene hypothesis via Microflora - Matt Metzgar)

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (Link Discovered Between Antibodies To Strep Throat Bacteria And Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (and Tourette syndrome) In Mice (Group A beta-hemolytic streptoccoccus (GABHS)) via The worm’s next success? – Gut Buddies)

Schizophrenia (Schizophrenia - Lost Wanderer) (Immune System Activated in Schizophrenia via The worm’s next success? – Gut Buddies)

Vaginosis (Bacterial vaginosis treatments: Probiotics can increase effectiveness of some antibiotic therapies via Autoimmune & biotherapy news 2009/7/9 - Gut Buddies)

Recently, Matt Metzgar has been posting a lot on the topics of probiotics (1) and prebiotics. Matt began by pointing out the site Paleobiotics, which discusses how the ancient diet influenced people’s gut flora. The diets of hunter gatherers would have had a lot of indigestible fibers in them, which were instead consumed by our gut bacteria. Since we no long eat this sort of diet we harbor somewhat different colonies of bacteria, to the likely detriment of our health. Matt points out that in one study (Can vegetables help you resist infection?) that men who took prebiotics massively increased their good gut bacteria, but the group only taking a probiotic didn’t benefit very much. (See also: Eat Bugs. Not Too Much. Mainly With Plants via Prebiotics versus Probiotics - Matt Metzgar)

Conditions that Matt talks about that might be influenced by the types of bacteria we harbor include:

Allergies (The role of Probiotics in allergic diseases, Maternal breast-milk and intestinal bifidobacteria guide the compositional development of the Bifidobacterium microbiota in infants at risk of allergic disease, (bifidobacteria) Babies, Bacteria and Breast Milk: Genome Sequence Reveals Evolutionary Alliance (Bifidobacterium longum supsp. infantis) via Balancing Bacteria - Matt Metzgar and Babies and Bacteria – Matt Metzgar)

Anxiety, in patients with chronic fatigue (A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study of a probiotic in emotional symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome (Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria) via Probiotics and Mood – Matt Metzgar)

Chronic diarrhea (Don’t poo-poo technique: Fecal transplant can cure superbug, doctors say via Transplanting Good Bacteria - Matt Metzgar)

Cold and flu symptoms in children (Probiotic effects on cold and influenza-like symptom incidence and duration in children, (Lactobacillus acidophilus or L acidophilus NCFM in combination with Bifidobacterium animalis) and HOWARU (Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli) via Probiotics for Children – Matt Metzgar)

Dental Issues (EvoraPlus via Probiotics and Oral Health - Matt Metzgar)

(The effects of manuka honey on plaque and gingivitis: a pilot study, Streptococcus mutans in saliva of normal subjects and neck and head irradiated cancer subjects after consumption of honey via Honey and Oral Health - Matt Metzgar)

(Peelu, Comparative effect of chewing sticks and toothbrushing on plaque removal and gingival health, Subgingival plaque microbiota in Saudi Arabians after use of miswak chewing stick and toothbrush, Chewing sticks versus toothbrushes via Chewing on Fiber II - Matt Metzgar)

(Toothbrushing with vegetable oil: a clinical and laboratorial analysis via Brushing with Vegetables - Matt Metzgar)

(Dietary fiber intake and dental health status in urban-marginal, and rural communities in central Mexico and A longitudinal study of the relationship between diet intake and dental caries and periodontal disease in elderly Japanese subjects via Chewing on Fiber - Matt Metzgar)

Hypertension (The Improvement of Hypertension by Probiotics: Effects on Cholesterol, Diabetes, Renin, and Phytoestrogens via Hypertension and Probiotics – Matt Metzgar)

(1) In addition to the conditions mentioned in this post, probiotics might also help with such things as lactose intolerance, colon cancer, cholesterol, improving immune function and preventing infections, improving mineral absorption, preventing harmful bacterial growth under stress, and managing urogenital health. (Probiotic – Wikipedia)

Tags: Advanced Oral Hygiene, Allergies, Alternative Therapies, Alzheimer's, Anxiety, Aortic Dissection, Apitherapy, Asthma, Autism, Autoimmune Diseases, B. Coagulans, Bifidobacterium Animalis, Bifidobacterium Bb12, Bifidobacterium Infantis 35624, Bifidobacterium Longum Infantis, Biotherapy, Celiac Disease, Chewing Stick, Cholesterol, Colds, Colon Cancer, Copper Chlorophyllin, Crohn's, Dental, Dental Health, Depression, Diabetes, Diarrhea, Diet, Discordance Hypothesis, Eczema, EvoraPlus, Flatulence, Flue, Food Poisoning, Fructo-oligosacharides, Gastric Reflux, Gingivitis, Group A Beta-Hemolytic Streptococcus (GABHS), Gut Buddies, Helminths, Honey, Hookworms, Hygiene, Hygiene Hypothesis, Hypertension, IBS, Inflammation, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Kefir, L. Acidophilus, L. Acidophilus NCFB 1748, Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Lactobacillus F19, Lactobacillus Reuteri, Lactobacillus Reuteri Prodentis, Lactose Intolerance, Matt Metzgar, Migraine Headaches, Migraines, Mismatch Theory, Miswak Chewing Stick, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Mycobacterium Vaccae, Narcolepsy, Natural Living, Necator Americanus, Obesity, Obsessive Compulsive, Odafree, Old Friends Hypothesis, Paleobiotics, Peelu, PerioBalance, Plaque, Prebiotics, Pregnancy, Primitivism, Probiotics, Psoriasis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, S. Salivarius, Schizophrenia, Segmented Filamentous Bacterium, Sjogren's, Staphylococcus Aureus, Streptococcus Mutans, UC, Ulcerative Colitis, Umami Hypothesis, Vaginosis, Whiff, Yucca Shidgera
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Back Disc Degeneration and Sitting

Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

Matt Metzgar has an interesting post concerning the relationship between back disc degeneration, and sitting versus squatting. Earlier I posted about how saddle seats are better than conventional chairs, and how humans were originally designed to squat. Matt posts figure 2 from a study that looked at disc degeneration in primitive versus modern civilizations, Comparative Radiological Study of the Spines of a Primitive Population with North Americans and Northern Europeans, and (apparently if you know how to read the figure properly, which I can’t, because I can’t download the article) it’s clear that there is virtually no disc degeneration in primitive populations. The authors think that this is because they engage in squatting instead of sitting.

In responding to Matt’s post, Dr. Phillip Snell suggested that an educated guess could be made about the reason for this connection. Sitting creates both high compressive forces and imbalanced muscle development. The latter prevents proper squatting, and the act of lifting a weight from an improper squat increases the likelihood of back disc injury. Esther Gokhale responded with her opinion that it’s our “inner corset” that is actually making the difference, and fortunately we can learn to learn to use this properly.

Tags: Back Problems, Discordance Hypothesis, Mismatch Theory, Squatting
Posted in Health | 1 Comment »

Sleeping Like a Hunter-Gatherer

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

I have previously blogged about sleep related topics. Here is a question I sent to one of the leading experts on the bedding used by hunter-gatherers. (I think it was Carol Worthman):

As far as I can tell from online sources, ancient hunter gatherers slept on thin woven blankets, sticks, skins, leaves, and/or straw (or some combination of them). Also, as far as I
have been able to determine, there is no good guidance at present from the medical community regarding the best sleeping mattresses and health. Do you, or anyone else you could refer me to, have a
guess as to which of the modern mattress arrangements would be a close approximation to the rough average our ancestors (and their lower backs) evolved with?

Answer:
“You ask an interesting and unusual question. My expertise extends just to what “traditional” peoples slept on, not to current bedding options. Definitely, today’s mattress that is
kept for years, filled pillows, and lots of (frequently washed) bedclothes were not the pattern in human paleohistory. Nomadic foraging peoples did/do not have permanent homes and
beds; rather, they usually sleep on the ground, with skins and/or leaves/boughs for some padding depending on how hard the substrate was/is. I would say that, on the whole, a firm,
only slightly yielding substrate was very common, whether on the ground or a mat/low platform. Pillows, as I noted in the paper, apparently were virtually non-existent, except the ones
in wood and, later, clay. All that said, I should also say that many traditional peoples suffer considerably with joint/muscle pain with aging. Did the sleeping substrates help prevent back problems to which humans are prone, or did daily activity and chronic load-bearing take care of that? As usual, as many questions as answers.”

Tags: Back Problems, Bedding, Discordance Hypothesis, Mismatch Theory, Natural Living, Sleep
Posted in Health | 1 Comment »

Our Hyper-visual World

Monday, August 24th, 2009

The Exuberant Animal author Frank Forencich argues that we live in a hyper-visual world in which our other senses are deprived, especially touch. When young children don’t have physical contact with caretakers they wither and die. Although the effects for adults are less severe, by wearing clothes and shoes, and being inside in a comfortable plastic world all day, our health suffers. We simply don’t feel the sand, brush, and stones anymore. He argues that touch maintains a sense of direct contact with the physical world around us, and positive and negative tactile sensations stimulate movement, and are health promoting. His advice is that we should engage in tactile intensive activities, such as backpacking, gardening, and home remodeling. He also thinks that experiencing the smells and tastes of nature improve our health.

We certainly don’t use our other senses to the extent we’re capable. I previously blogged about safe-cracking, and here’s an example of a man who has developed a remarkable sense of touch for opening safes. (How to Crack a Safe: World Safecracking Champion Takes Down Bank Vault in 5 Minutes 19 Seconds (video))

Blind people can use echolocation to navigate. This is when people use sound as sonar to interpret the nature and distance of objects around them. Ben Underwood was a blind 14 year old who could use echolocation to play basketball, run, and skateboard. Dr. Lawrence Scadden could use it to ride a bicycle in traffic.

Besides sound and touch, it turns out that people can follow sent trails across a field like a dog. (Unleash your inner bloodhound – start sniffing)

Tags: Discordance Hypothesis, Echolocation, Exuberant Animal, Hyper-visual, Mismatch Theory, Natural Living, Rewilding, Safe-cracking, Touch
Posted in Health, Psychology | No Comments »

The Paleolithic Diet

Monday, August 10th, 2009

Here is a site which summarizes why the Paleolithic Diet is so incredibly healthy. I have snipped from the article the (no doubt incomplete) list of the cornucopia of diseases it protects against.

“What is the Paleolithic diet?

…obesity, coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidemia (elevated serum triacylglycerols; small dense low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; and reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol)….myopia, acne, gout, polycystic ovary syndrome, epithelial cell cancers (breast, colon, prostrate), male vertex balding, skin tags, and acanthosis nigricans…osteoporosis, age related muscle wasting, calcium kidney stones, hypertension, exercise induced asthma, as well as the progression of age and disease related chronic renal insufficiency….hypertension, stroke, kidney stones, osteoporosis, gastrointestinal tract cancers, asthma, exercise induced asthma, insomnia, airsickness, high altitude sickness and Meniere’s syndrome….constipation, bowel cancer, appendicitis, haemorrhoids, deep vein thrombosis, varicose veins, diverticulitis, hiatial hernia and gastroesophageal reflux.”

Tags: Allergies, Asthma, Autoimmune Diseases, Cancer, Diet, Discordance Hypothesis, Heart Disease, Hunter Gatherer, Mismatch Theory, Natural Living, Paleolithic Diet
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Myopia, Reading, Diet, Brain Size, and IQ

Friday, July 31st, 2009

One commonly accepted theory about what causes myopia is that the near point focus involved in reading in genetically susceptible individuals causes them to become nearsighted. From what I have read this is almost certainly part of the explanation.

But there is still more to this story. Non-literate populations have roughly 1% nearsightedness, compared with developed countries in Europe and the United States, with rates of about 30%, and rates as high as 80% in developed Asian countries. Normally when a country begins to industrialize, and the kids are put in school and therefore reading all day, the levels go up to the developed countries’ rates. This is what happened to Eskimos. However, one South Pacific Island, Vanuatu, in the 1980s had children in school all day long, and yet their rate of myopia was still only 1.3%. What explains the difference is that their traditional diet hadn’t changed. What appears to be happening is that glycemic spikes, which occur when people eat high index glycemic foods, lead to chronic hyperinsulinaemia. This condition affects the hormones in the eye as it develops, which causes it to become myopic. So at the end of the day you need three things to become myopic: the gene(s) that make you susceptible, near point focus work, and a high glycemic diet.

You might conclude from all this that it’s a bad thing to have the gene(s) which make you susceptible to myopia, but there’s another side to that part of the story. It turns out that those children who become very nearsighted at a young age have about 7-8 points higher IQs. Apparently it isn’t a case of smarter children reading more and becoming nearsighted as a result. The eyes of these children are slightly larger at birth, and people with higher IQs have slightly larger brains when you control for such things as body size. The back of the eye is considered part of the brain, and it seems that whatever the gene(s) are doing is affecting both the eyes and the brains of the people who have them. Myopic children also have different values, language abilities, and sports participation patterns than non-myopics. So there’s a tradeoff. The genes that make you susceptible to myopia also make you smarter.

If there’s a lesson to be learned from all this it’s that people were designed to eat a low glycemic, ideally Paleolithic Diet, and when we don’t we create problems for ourselves.

Tags: Diet, Discordance Hypothesis, Glycemic Index, Intelligence, IQ, Mismatch Theory, Paleolithic Diet
Posted in Health, Psychology | No Comments »

Lifting Depression by Kelly Lambert

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

Based on her neuroscience research, Kelly Lambert argues that there is a circuit in the brain that generates feel good chemicals when a person uses their hands and bare feet to engage in vigorous physical movement when striving for some tangible reward. These feel good chemicals create a feeling of power and resilience, and the absence of them might help explain the rising rates of depression in our modern over-mechanized world.

Tags: Alternative Therapies, Depression, Discordance Hypothesis, Mental Health, Mismatch Theory, Natural Living
Posted in Psychology | No Comments »

Move Natural Exercise

Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

The MovNat group teaches that humans were meant to be strong, healthy, happy, and free. Today we live in a “human zoo” which has made us overweight, weak, sick, and depressed. In short, we suffer from a “nature deficit disorder.” Drawing on La Methode Naturalle they seek to get back to the way humans originally got their exercise, with activities in natural settings involving walking, running, jumping, balancing, moving on all fours, climbing, lifting, carrying, throwing, catching, swimming, and defending. The benchmark for fitness is that people should be athletically capable of handling practical real world situations (bottom of the page). An example of such a situation might arise if your house were on fire. The idea is that if you had to you could climb a tree, crawl in a window, put someone over your shoulder in a fireman’s carry, and then climb back down to the ground.

Tags: Barefoot, Discordance Hypothesis, Exercise, Happiness, Mismatch Theory, Rewilding
Posted in Health, Training | No Comments »

Adapted cold shower as a potential treatment for depression

Sunday, July 26th, 2009

Here is a study from Pubmed which found that a 2-3 minute cold shower of 20 degrees C (preceded by a 5 minute adaptation to reduce shock) performed once or twice daily, over several weeks to months was effective at relieving depression. It also had an analgesic effect, and didn’t have noticeable side effects or create addiction. The study was small, statistically insignificant, and needs to be replicated. They speculate that several mechanisms might be involved, such as activation of the sympathetic nervous system, the release of noradrenaline, and the level of peripheral nervous system signals to the brain. The idea is that our ancestors would have been subject to these sorts of environmental stressors, and the lack of them in the modern world might help explain some cases of improper brain functioning.

Tags: Alternative Therapies, Depression, Discordance Hypothesis, Hunter Gatherer, Mismatch Theory, Natural Living, Primitivism, Rewilding
Posted in Psychology | No Comments »

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