Have health issues? Sit in your soil

In this thread I thought some folks might find my current PHD research interesting and since I have been giving ideas and methods of improving your soil, why not tell some about one of the wildest ways to make use of that improved soil.

Right now, (2018) is perhaps one of the busiest beginnings of very exciting research, it started a couple of years ago and now the first findings are being published and many MD's are rather shocked at what these findings are showing.
We microbiologists have long thought that bacteria and other organisms of our microscopic world were mostly bad guys for the human body, born from diseases running like rampaging elephants through humanity.
Doctors worked to find "cures" and that was when the field of microbiology actually got its start, finding the bad bug and then finding a way to kill it so the human wasn't sick anymore.
This was mostly because we don't know what these critters do, we know everyone has billions of them living on and inside us but we didn't have a clue what they did, or if they were necessary.
We did know that there were around 50 of these critters that created havoc when present in large numbers, infections, illness, even death were the results of these critters gaining ground with out anything to hold them in check.
So anti-biotics were found and used and still are, as a main line of defense against these bad bugs. Problem is, the bad bugs replicate so fast that within hours they have turned into resistant bugs, so we have to constantly find new antibiotics to use.
It is a loosing battle, we will never be able to win and by trying to do so, we have created super bugs that nothing we have or can make will stop them.

Enter the microbiologist again, as inquisitive mind looking to find out what these other tiny guys actually do, after all, every square centimeter of the human body is covered with a huge array of microorganisms, it is obvious that not all of them are killers or harbingers of sickness.
The more we looked at bacteria (first example) the more we found that there are three main body types; spherical, spiral shaped and rod shaped. Next it was discovered that there are thousands of species of these bacteria in each of the different shapes.
The next big discovery was that those that were pathogenic also had look-alike non-pathogenic species and we found out that there were far more non-pathogenic species than pathogenic, problem was and is, we can not tell them apart under the microscope, they look the same.
Enter genetics, and DNA testing, today we are using DNA profiling to identify which bacterium is which and what each one does, it is going to take years to complete the map of just one type of bacteria but we are already learning far more than we knew even five years ago.

We now know that there is one species of E coli that causes problems in humans, we also know that there are about 10,000 species of E coli that are helpful or harmless to humans, there are going to be many more species found as this research continues over the next years.

We also now know that if certain bacteria are missing, the body will act differently that when those bacteria are present.
One link is showing signs that Parkinson's disease (PD) is a result of a particular bacteria in the gut, running rampant.
Parkinson's description= "Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder which leads to progressive deterioration of motor function due to loss of dopamine-producing brain cells.
Primary symptoms include tremor, stiffness, slowness, impaired balance, and later on a shuffling gait."
Researchers have used mice with clean immune systems to show that these symptoms can be induced through infecting the mouse's gut with a particular bacteria.
They then removed this bacteria and the mice reverted to normal behaviors.

Currently work is being done on many diseases and conditions (Autism for example) and we are finding that most of these are related to gut bacteria overloads of particular species.
What this means is that it may not be long before we can cure these conditions and diseases by getting rid of the offending bacteria or just getting the gut back into equilibrium.
We also know that Diversity is key to the human body being able to fend off these health problems by controlling the species numbers and thus keeping them from causing an overload condition that instigates the manifestation of the disease or condition.

What does all this mean to us? Why did I put "Sit In Your Soil" in the title of this thread?

Diversity is the key to all of nature, every thing about our planet is dependent upon Diversity, this is especially true of the human body and health of that body.
We know that we have billion of microscopic creatures, bacteria, fungi, growing and living on our skin, at the bottom of our hair follicles, in our gut, in our noses and air passages, they even live and travel along our neurons and they live in our brain tissues.
While it might seem scary to think about, it is also a key to our health status.
The body with the highest numbers of different microorganisms remains healthy longer and gets over an illness faster than a body that has less diversity of organisms living in/on it.
So if we build our soil to be highly diverse, and then we go sit in that soil and use our bare hands to dig and plant and care for our garden plants, we are also collecting some of those soil microorganisms on and in our bodies.
In effect our efforts to build our soil can also increase our bodies ability to fight off the bad bugs and we might even prevent things like Parkinson's Disease or even ALS from gaining a foot hold.

Some of the people here know that my wife is battling cancer, I have slanted much of my research towards finding things to help win these battles and I have already had some successes that are recognized by the Oncologist.
One of the things I've done is to build our soil with as much diversity as I can, and I continue to increase this diversity on a daily basis, with species I can group into identifiable classes.
Wolf loves to sit in the soil while she works in her gardens, she always has, now she is finding that when she comes in because she is tired or the garden time is over for the day, she feels better the next day.
Her cell counts are going down overall and she is not so worn down by the Chemo drugs (poisons) that she can't recover within a week of the end of the treatment series.

I highly recommend building your soil and being in touch with it as much as you possibly can, it is good for you, both mentally and physically, you will feel better for doing.

Redhawk

This will be continued since one of my goals in life is to help people heal and be healthy through a long life.

I can already see the critics howling about toxoplasmosis (is that how that's spelled? the one caused by pathogens in cat feces) and tetanus and such.

But I like the idea. I garden bare-handed, though not if I have an open wound. What you say makes sense.

Is there a bacterial to fungal ratio that will be better for humans to sit in, or would they be mostly bacterial in nature?

-CK

Grace to you, Bryant, for the journey that you and Wolf are one.  Thank you for sharing a bit of an update on her health.  Hang in there.

An open wound and bacteria is not something we want Chris, I usually bandaid and glove a hand wound.
Since we don't know which bacteria are present (unless we do a DNA test of each and every bacteria we can isolate) it is always best to use caution.
The human body usually has fungi in the gut system but not much living on the skin (ears and nose might be exceptions), mites are very prevalent on our bodies and they mostly do help with getting rid of dead cells that could harbor infectious bacteria.
As far as a ratio goes, there is a study going on that is attempting to quantify all the organisms, it is thought that it will take about 20 years to complete, so I would do as we do for our soil, get all we can in there and let nature do the sorting for us.
The exceptions would be if we can positively identify "bad bugs" those we don't want we would naturally try to expunge before they can cause havoc.
Toxoplasmosis and tetanus are probably going to be found to be preventable, only time will tell just how many of the infections we will be able to curtail through bacterium therapies.
I am most excited about the ability to stop the ravages of things that we didn't used to see that have turned into near epidemics. Diabetes is one that deserves a lot of study on the microbe end.

Thanks Marco, we appreciate all the prayers and good wishes, they really do help a lot.

I will keep updating this thread as I get more data in.  

Redhawk

Absolutely fantastic.

So...why use soap?

hau Nathanael,

Soap is to get grime off the skin, grime can cause irritation which leads to abrasion which leads to lesions which are openings in the epidermis to the endodermis. Get the wrong bacteria into such an opening and you have infection.
It is possible for a skin infection to end up as Sepsis, an infection of the blood, this can end in death of the organism.
And that is why we should use soap, not particularly every day, but it is important to keep grime off the skin, (sweat ends with salt crystals on the skin which can work like sand paper, sweat is a form of grime).

Soap in the trad. sense is fat mixed with hot lye then  poured into a mold to solidify, this is not particularly good for either your skin or the environment, you want to read the label and pick something that isn't going to harm the environment.
(I have been prescribed dove bars by my dermatologist/skin cancer doctor, so that is what I now use when I shower to remove grime.)
There are several suitable, environment friendly skin cleaning products out there, bar type and liquid form, pick the one you like best (scented "soaps" are not as good for the environment as those without scent).



Redhawk

Can you direct us toward some of the publications you or your lab have been involved in? Where are you doing you PhD? I’ve been wanting to start digging into the literature on this stuff, and your work sounds fascinating!

Deep healing prayers to you and yours RedHawk.
I have been working on farms since I was 10...I'm now in my 40's. I have never worn heavy shoes or gloves unless I am dealing with manure either critter or human, even if my hands or feet have small injuries. Frequently I wear as few clothes as possible.  Deep south and all. This said, everyone in my family on both sides has some sort of chronic illness...except me (they are all "too clean."). I truly believe my constant contact with "dirt" has kept me healthy, even if my genetics are against me. The soil is where we come from and where we return, regardless of religious affiliations. How could contact with our source be bad for us?

hau Hope, Exactly!

Currently publications are not "public" as far as I know, that is all being handled by Kings college, Cambridge University.
They have control of all my information.   Cambridge rules require I remain incognito.
Just yesterday there was a PBS program aired with some of the current research as the subject matter (NOVA).


Redhawk

Thank-you for sharing this. I recently bought a used copy of "I Contain Multitudes" by Ed Yong. I do have a health practitioner background, but not in microbiology and wish I had this 'beginner' book far sooner. It is fascinating! I also purchased 'Virus' An illustrated guide to 101 incredible microbes by Marilyn J.Roossinck  and by Paul Stamets' "Mycelium Running", which is influencing me in creating better garden soil therefore happy microbes and nutrients for happy digestion.

I have IgG immunodeficiency disorder.  Thanks Mom and Dad for sharing some wonky genetics!  Currently I use human replacement IgG, so thank-you so much BLOOD Donors, you help save my life!  So yes, I am in awe of people who research, finding information bit by bit that helps make our lives better.

May you and wife have many more blessings in this life.

And yes, wash your hands and cover your mouth with your elbow when your cough, even when you don't have a cold.  Us Immunity people ( with immunity disorder and cancer) need all the help we can get!  

There have been extensive studies on the benefits of being in the woods, especially those that have pine trees, and they say that soil bacteria produce some airborn phytochemicals that are really good for our health, for the immune system in particular. So, working with soil on a regular basis is really good for you! But still, remember your precautions, soil harbors a lot of pretty nasty bugs along with the good guys, and you don't want them inside your body. So, to simply increase the diversity of your body's beneficial flora, work with soil regularly, touch it with your bare skin, but then wash it off when you're done. Don't let it get into your mouth or other mucous membranes, and don't let it get into deep cuts. The flora that's already present on your skin will keep the bad bugs out.


A word about soap. I make my own cosmetic products, and I've been studying a lot about skin health and the role of cosmetics for many years, but plain soap is really bad for your skin. Soap has an alkaline pH, whereas your skin has acidic pH, so when you use soap, it strips away the skin barrier, leaving it more vulnerable to infection and irritation. It's best to use plain water to clean yourself, but if you must, use an alternative to soap, a natural pH-balanced shower gel or shampoo. Especially if your skin is prone to problems and inflammation, it's very important to keep all kinds of soap away from it, whatever natural or organic soap you can find on farmer's markets and whatnot, all soap is bad for the skin, no matter what it's made of, as long as it's called soap. It's really easy to check the pH of your cleansing solution, just put a drop on a pH strip. Your skin has a pH of around 5, and it can handle a bit more on the acidic side, but anything above 7 will strip the barrier off.

Bryant

You ideas remind me of my mother who called garden dirt: "Clean Dirt"

I wish your wife the best.

In the part of the world where my family is from, it was common for farmers to take down their trousers and sit bare bottom in the soil.  Really riggle around to get the bottom as much into the soil as possible.  The story goes they could learn a lot about the soil this way, but I'm not sure what they could learn except temperature.  This tradition fell away with the invention of chemical agriculture.

As for me, I always feel healthier if I have a bit of dirt under my fingernails.  

My 90 year old grand mother is still going strong with a razor sharp mind. A few health niggles but she grew up in hard times and a lack of fiber caused her current gut issues. Other than that she's fit as a fiddle. She doesn't even wear glasses.  She has 7 children...the last 6 of them all have cronic health conditions.
My grandmother is not a clean lady. She had 7 children to bring up on her own as a widow in a slum in the city. She has never been fussed on being clean and allthou she should have been at least a little cleaner with children in the house I feel it has helped give her some sort of health benefit.
Her oldest child is similar to her in level of dirt tolerated. And that child is also fit as a fiddle in his 60s.              
The last 6 children are very clean. Probably as a reaction to being brought up in such a dirty environment. I would call them clean freaks but they say its just normal.    My mother is one of the clean freaks. Interestingly not many strong chemicals are used, it is mainly steam cleaning mops and hot water and bleach but that's it.
Nothing scientific about this. Just something I've been watching for 23 years.

Bryant RedHawk wrote:Currently publications are not "public" as far as I know, that is all being handled by Kings college, Cambridge University.
They have control of all my information.   Cambridge rules require I remain incognito.


Redhawk

Huh? Are you not publishing in scientific journals? How are you building your CV as a scientist? I know the British PhD system is a bit different than the US, but surely UK scientists still publish?
  If you can’t give me references to your own work, can you name some of the papers you are basing your work off of? I assume you have a citations list of soil microbiology articles - can you share those?

r ranson wrote:In the part of the world where my family is from, it was common for farmers to take down their trousers and sit bare bottom in the soil.  Really riggle around to get the bottom as much into the soil as possible.  The story goes they could learn a lot about the soil this way, but I'm not sure what they could learn except temperature.  This tradition fell away with the invention of chemical agriculture.

As for me, I always feel healthier if I have a bit of dirt under my fingernails.  

I love that tid bit, the farmers could tell soil texture, moisture content, temperature, and if they sat there for at least a minute they would know if there were some of the larger mites (butt got a bite).

When a Nakota goes on a vision quest they are put into a circle of stones and lay naked facing father sky, this can be for as long as three days (72 hours) with only water to drink.
If a person is suffering from anger that will not quell, they will go into the wilderness alone and face their anger, clothes are left behind (perhaps a breechcloth would be worn as they go, but once at the spot it would be removed).
These ceremonies are done this way so the spirit and body are touching the earth mother to gain her wisdom and energy, thus we can gain our power.

people who follow the old ways do not get sick as often as those who choose to sit on the Res. in a house.

Thank you Bryant for all your hard work and for sharing with us.

I wish the best for you and your wife.

This makes me think about all the mineral springs baths that were so popular in the old days.  Isn't there a history of using clay as medicinal?  Clay masks and baths.

hau Lina, The grant I am working under has some very weird rules (I think they are weird, because it is kings college that authorizes and publishes).

I will put together a reference list for you and post it here for all.

Variation of Microbial Communities in Soil, Rhizosphere, and Rhizoplane in Response to Crop Species, Soil Type, and Crop Development
GABRIELE WIELAND,† REGINE NEUMANN, AND HORST BACKHAUS*
Federal Biological Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Institute for Plant Virology, Microbiology and Biosafety, 38104 Braunschweig, Germany

Role of Soil Bacteria
ANR-36 Date: 06/06/2016
James J. Hoorman, Assistant Professor and Extension Educator, Agriculture and Natural Resources

Gastroenterology Volume 154, Issue 6, Pages 1635–1646.e3
Bi-directionality of Brain–Gut Interactions in Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease
David J. Gracie, Elspeth A. Guthrie, P. John Hamlin, Alexander C. Ford

Microbiology Society Journals:

CRISPR-Cas gene-editing reveals RsmA and RsmC act through FlhDC to repress the SdhE flavinylation factor and control motility and prodigiosin production in Serratia
Hannah G. Hampton, Matthew B. McNeil, Thomas J. Paterson, Blair Ney, Neil R. Williamson, Richard A. Easingwood, Mihnea Bostina, George P. C. Salmond, Peter C. Fineran
June 2016, Microbiology 162: 1047-1058


Diversification of CRISPR within coexisting genotypes in a natural population of the bloom-forming cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa
Sotaro Kuno, Yoshihiko Sako, Takashi Yoshida May 2014, Microbiology 160: 903-916,  doi


Single-cell genomics reveals metabolic strategies for microbial growth and survival in an oligotrophic aquifer
Michael J. Wilkins, David W. Kennedy, Cindy J. Castelle, Erin K. Field, Ramunas Stepanauskas, James K. Fredrickson, Allan E. Konopka
February 2014, Microbiology 160: 362-372


Ralstonia solanacearum novel E3 ubiquitin ligase (NEL) effectors RipAW and RipAR suppress pattern-triggered immunity in plants
Masahito Nakano,  Kenji Oda, Takafumi Mukaihara

There are of course many more, but they are on a different memory stick, I'll try to post some of them at a later time.

So what has all of this talk about the human gut system and how bacteria do so much controlling of some of our body functions have to do with soil bacteria?

Since bacteria are literally everywhere, reading the papers that determined connections between certain gut bacteria and diseases (at least what we call diseases, they may in the future to be renamed conditions if the current research keeps finding out they are reversible).
As I read more and more, I got to thinking that many of these bacteria those researchers were talking about are found in the soil doing other jobs.
Could it be that they are actually the same species and strain or are there definite differences and thus non interchangeable became my big question.
I started out with some of the gut bacteria species and strains known to be controllers or helpers in our bodies.
The next step was to find out if I could identify these particular bacteria in soil samples, which meant DNA testing was going to be a key factor for positive ID.

What is being found is that those gut bacteria species are also found in soil samples, where they work alongside mycorrhizae, now we have to wait to determine if they are identical or if the soil bacteria are a different strain.
Some might wonder if the soil bacteria can migrate from our exterior to the gut, the answer is yes IF.
Yes any bacteria you have on your exterior can migrate to the gut, all you have to do is put your hand in your mouth and swallow anytime after that event occurs.

Germaphobes tend to go overboard on cleanliness, thinking it keeps them safe from illness.
They practice extreme hand washing (which a surgeon or cook should do), and they tend to scrub all their exterior bacteria and mites of if that is possible.
Unfortunately these cleanliness activities actually make them more likely to get sick, because they have removed a great deal of the naturally occurring protective bacteria coating.

There are certain professions that need to follow more extreme protocols for sanitary reasons, MD's and all Food Preparers obviously need to take the measures to not pass any pathogenic microorganisms to others.
People who have allergies (sneezing) need to know how to keep from sending out "germs" in aerosols, sneezing into a cloth or into your elbow keeps you from spreading possible pathogens through the air or by shaking hands.
People who already know they have an infectious condition (cold, etc.) should also use caution so as to not spread their misery upon others.

If we have promoted a healthy coating of microbes we have less likely hood of catching any pass along illness, but we still need to use some caution so that our protective layer isn't all we depend on.

My current work, which should be published in about a year, is on bacteria/ fungi interactions caused by exudates. I am a soil microbiologist after all.
I am also working with a fellow (a position not a personal reference) on furthering the work already done on gut bacteria and the relationship of with the development of colo-rectal cancer.
This second work is passion driven and the one that I hope we can prove to be usable in humans, I just don't know how long that process takes (from proof to use).

Currently I plan to finish my soil work, then go deeper into the interrelationship of soil to human body through foods.

Redhawk

This is great stuff Redhawk,
It fits in well with the grounding work of Dr. Stephen Sinatra and many naturopathic and Native American traditions. Many doctors are publishing papers on microbiology, particularly in the soil as it gets into our gut and the diversity of both the soil and the human gut and how it relates to both the health our our environment and of our bodies.
I am very interested in the book when it comes out.
Thanks,
John S
PDX OR

Bryant RedHawk wrote:hau Nathanael,

Soap is to get grime off the skin, grime can cause irritation which leads to abrasion which leads to lesions which are openings in the epidermis to the endodermis. Get the wrong bacteria into such an opening and you have infection.
It is possible for a skin infection to end up as Sepsis, an infection of the blood, this can end in death of the organism.
And that is why we should use soap, not particularly every day, but it is important to keep grime off the skin, (sweat ends with salt crystals on the skin which can work like sand paper, sweat is a form of grime).

Soap in the trad. sense is fat mixed with hot lye then  poured into a mold to solidify, this is not particularly good for either your skin or the environment, you want to read the label and pick something that isn't going to harm the environment.
(I have been prescribed dove bars by my dermatologist/skin cancer doctor, so that is what I now use when I shower to remove grime.)
There are several suitable, environment friendly skin cleaning products out there, bar type and liquid form, pick the one you like best (scented "soaps" are not as good for the environment as those without scent)
Redhawk

This was a quandary for me; how to remove grime without doing harm to my skin, respiratory system, the microbiome of my body septic system and clothes. Then through Econuts I learned about soap berries. I did not stop with washing clothes but made extracts to fill my hand wash and bath dispensers.  It makes a bitter wetting agent that is not specifically anti bacterial except that it washes them away. It seems to favor acetic acid producing bacteria from what I smell.  Does it work? Yes if I thoroughly wet my hands with the extract then rinse the soil washes right off. In contrast with most hand cleansers it lathers up and removes any oily or loose grime but fine particles remain in the crevices. The soap berry extract remains in the dried clothing making them softer and favoring benaficial bacteria.

Hau Hans, I too like the soap nuts for cleaning, to me they are one of the things Nature Provides us and so must not be bad for our skin or other items.

The clean issue is rather interesting when you go back in history to find out how it was discoveries of what was making people sick that lead to waves of cleanliness.
In China and Japan (long before the Roman Baths appeared) cleaning the skin and clothes was and is a daily thing, this is because of loosing face through smelling offensive is a real thing there.
They do a bath in a two step process, wash and rinse (not in a tub since that would create dirty water) then they soak in what the west looks at as a hot tub.

Hau Kola John Saltveit, I will let you know personally when the book is done. (Wolf says it keeps growing, so it may have to be two volumes)

One of the most recent therapies, found to be effective in correcting IBS and Crone's is repopulation of the gut via "poop pills" which came out of the practice in China (for at least 2 thousand years now) of prescribing "poop soup" as a remedy for Bowel problems.
There are two methods of which only one has been shown in trials to actually work, that is the "whole" poop pill, which has not been filtered or reduced to a singular modality.
While this therapy certainly has a "gross out factor" of at least 5, it needs to be noted that the pills do not dissolve in your mouth or esophagus but rather once they are through the stomach, putting the fresh bacteria load where it should be, the small intestine.
Some have thought that by "purifying" the bacteria, they could derive the benefit with less of the Gross out factor, however, trials have proven this idea doesn't work.
The therapy consists of 30 frozen capsules that are taken all at one dosage (not all at once, but at the same sitting), with effects showing up within three days and progressing to full recovery after a 2 week period.
There is one company that makes these capsules and  most states have at least three doctors that have used the therapy with good results, in the IBS world, this is fairly miraculous for such a dramatic change to occur so fast and  be long lasting.

For most of us, a supplement of good quality probiotics can keep our gut bacteria pumped up enough for better health.

There are some conditions that are being found where bacterial counter actions don't do what was expected, most of these conditions have other factors interacting to effectively counter the bacteria influenced, desired change in the condition.
Where it might be thought that such conditions might stymie the research, it has instead helped with funding for further research, a great boon to those scientist that are working on finding the solutions.
Recently I counted at least 30 studies going on in the field of bacteria interactions within the human body, both for internal and external conditions, in the next few years we should see a lot of forward progress in infection treatments that don't involve antibiotics.

Redhawk

My husband has Crohn's and would love to get a fecal matter transplant (poop pills). Sadly, every doctor we've talked to won't do it unless someone has had C-diff twice. For a while, his Crohn's was so bad that he was tempted to give himself C-diff just to be able to get a fecal matter transplant. Doctors know they work, but can't/won't prescribe them. It's immensely frustrating!

Hua Kola Nicole,

Try these hospitals; UCLA medical school, UCD medical school, You might have better luck at the teaching facilities over others.  
Look also for clinical trials as a way to get him a fecal transplant. (the orals seem to work better than the "enema" styles that use the Coloscope to introduce new fecal material.

Redhawk

If you grow your own fruits and vegetables, use a soft bristle brush instead of water to wash those vegetables you will eat raw.
After doing a lot of looking at the skins of these items on my own farm, it is more beneficial to our bodies to leave as many of the naturally occurring microbes intact, this way they get into the gastro system and boost not only your gut bacteria but also your immune system.
This operates in much the same way as eating local honey and bee pollen will mitigate allergies in those who suffer with allergies.

If your foods come from a farmer's market you can ask the vendor about what was applied to his produce and make the decision of whether or not to wash those items.
If the foods come from a grocery store, you definitely want to wash them, apples should be scrubbed since they have a wax coating applied before shipping, so do oranges, pears and plums, while that wax might be harmless, some of the waxes contain things you wouldn't knowingly put in your body.
If you have pets, keep them out of the garden beds and it is a good idea to know what space they have designated as their bathroom, anything from near those areas should be washed well, no sense taking any chances of parasites or pathogenic bacteria migrating to your foods.

Since so many people I deal with have shown me repeatedly that there is nothing common about common sense, When you aren't certain, err on the side of precaution, wash that food stuff before you eat it or cook it. Some pathogens can survive 210 degrees for over 45 minutes.

Redhawk

For good gardens, those that grow very healthy, disease resistance enhancement, insect deterring and nutrient dense, foods we want a soil that is open in structure with a bacteria to fungi ratio of 50:50 (letting the plants make ratio adjustments through their exudates) and we want around 7 % humus.
This humus figure is one of the prime points of contention among soil scientists, some think that humus content should be no higher than 5% some think 2% and on and on, huge arguments have arisen when the subject of humus comes up.
My own research indicates that if we can get the organic material that form humus to the 7% level, there will be a stabilization at several different depths in the soil.
At the surface we will end up in the 3-5 % range, at 8 inches depth that will drop about a percent and at the 1 foot depth there will be another drop of about a percent, and it trickles down from that point.

Then there is the humic acid issue, many have argued that humic acid doesn't even exist.
Unfortunately that is because humic acid is only created with in the plant, the phloem and xylem are where nutrients and water are transported to the leaves, the only place you can locate humic acids are within these structures.
In soil, the only place these structures exist is in the mulch layer, those plant parts we use to hold moisture in the soil and keep rain water from blasting soil particles loose from the soil structure.
The problem for most soil scientist is that they expect to find humic acids in the soil and it just isn't there, In soil humic acid is fleeting, it breaks down rapidly and turns into other compounds.
So soil science has determined it doesn't exist, but they are just looking in the wrong place, this is because humic acid is formed as the plant brings in nutrients, minerals and water, mixing these creates new compounds as they travel up the plant and that is why you can't really find humic acid in the soil humus.

Over the years since farming first came into being (around 8-10 thousand years ago) things didn't really change method wise, except for the amount of soil contact the farmer has.
Interestingly farmers tended to be far healthier before the invention of the tractor, this was because they worked the land in close proximity, if dust came up from the soil bed, they were coated with it, they inhaled it (if they used cloth to cover their mouths and noses they still breathed in the microorganisms).
This exposed the farmer to all the microbiology needed for their bodies to fortify the immune system.
These farmers then ate the foods they grew, since there were no artificial fertilizers to be used, the foods were more nutrient dense, even though they did plow the land, they didn't pulverize the soil, they usually turned it once, just deep enough to be able to get their seeds into the soil, so most of the soil microbiota was intact.

Once tractors came along, the soil was turned more times and to deeper depths, exposing the deeper, previously undisturbed microbiota to the killing rays from the sun (UVA, B and C) thus creating dirt.
These practices led to the necessity of chemical fertilizers, then came along herbicides to get rid of those pioneer plants that were attempting to replenish the microbiota that was now missing and of course the farmer then needed insecticides.
Thus the companies that made these artificial products turned into corporations and these began having chemists and biologists look at all soil as if it were dirt so they would come up with good reasoning for using the artificial products.
Just like antibiotics, the "bad" plants and bugs developed resistance to the first chemicals so new ones had to be developed and this trend continues today, making billions of dollars per year for the now giant corporations.
Is it any wonder that the foods you buy in the grocery stores are bereft of nutrient density and those who eat these nutrient poor products are getting more and more illnesses, diseases and conditions.

By growing your own foods and building your soil to high health levels you are going back in time, you breathe in the health giving bacteria and other microorganisms, they get on your skin, in your pores, inside your body, where they can perform the immune system fortification as they were designed to do.
It's important to know that bacteria were the first life, the first living organisms to develop on earth 4.5 billion years ago.
From these first life forms, all other life forms have risen, carrying those who came first on and inside them as they developed into ever higher life forms, all the while, the bacteria have been with those new life forms, performing many functions not the least of which is building the immune systems of those they live on and in.
When you understand just how interconnected all life is, how important having the right bacteria, fungi, mites and all the other microbiome organisms living where they need to be, it becomes amazing that most people seem to feel the need to eliminate them from their skin and interior parts.
This is because humans react from a fear base, the fear of death is, for the most part, all encompassing in humans, it drives us to eliminate any "threat" real or imagined.
Once you become able to dismiss this fear, you allow yourself to be able to do the natural things our ancestors did with out thinking, which were the things that gave them the stamina and ability to fight off illnesses and diseases while all around them were dying.

When we sit in the soil of our gardens and get our hands dirty, we will wipe our brow as we sweat and that places those organisms in the soil upon our skin, and hair. When we breathe as we work in the soil, we breathe in those same organisms.
Once they are upon and in our bodies, they go to work building our immune system stronger, they help our neurons work more efficiently, they allow our killer cells to recognize those pathogens that are trying to gain a foot hold and make us sick, and our killer cells are then able to destroy those bad guys.
The more research that is done, the more we learn that there is a detriment to extreme cleanliness, and the result of disinfecting our lives is that we get sick and if we can't fight off the sickness, we can and do die.

Redhawk

I started a discussion about this subject which became interesting. A female said that anytime she has to take antibiotics she gets a yeast infection 3 weeks later. She said if you had one, you would understand why she fights so hard to not take antibiotics. Because of this history she would eat yogurt, etc to try to prevent the infection,  it never helped.

I likened it to pesticides in the garden. The ladybugs get killed with the grasshoppers. So an antibiotic is killing everything, good and bad. The end result being the yeast infection as things are out of balance.

I dont know if i'm right. Its just a speculation. If i am right, i pretty much summed up how modern medicine works. Kill it all.

hau Wayne.  

The problem with antibiotics is that bacteria that survive the first dose are those that are already resistant to that antibiotic, within one hour of taking that first dose you now have resistant bacteria growing so even though you finish the prescription, it isn't going to do any good because the bacteria are all resistant to the antibiotic you were taking. This is how super bugs are born and it is the reason the lady get yeast infections, which are horribly itchy and there is a burning sensation at the same time, nasty stuff to go through.
Yogurt does not have the right bacteria in it so no amount you consume would do any good for fighting infection.
She could find a broad spectrum probiotic that would help some but usually a good herbalist will do the most good in such a situation.

Redhawk

I forgot to mention that yeast is classified as fungi not bacteria, the way yeast works (including those that create those nasty yeast infections) is to feed on bacteria and that is what fungi do.
In beer, wine and all other alcohol making, the yeast is accompanied by bacteria, the bacteria break the sugars down so the yeast can get to the small molecules by eating the bacteria, the alcohol is a by product along with the release of CO2 and a few other compounds that are pretty nasty (acetones and keytones).

Very interesting. May your wife be healed amongst all those else suffering with cancer.

The research you and other microbiologist are doing right now is so important! Us ecologist can yell our brains out about diversity and the importance of every element in an ecosystem, but until it hits home, germ theory's everything should be sterilized wins in every situation.

Thank you and good luck!

Bryant, how would you create a small garden bed quickly? My son wants to grow corn, and none of my beds are quite big enough/empty enough for it. Usually, when I make beds/growing areas, I put a layer of paper sacks and cover with mulch. The sacks desintigrate within a few months, but it proves enough barrier combined with the mulch to reduce the weeds/grass to a reasonable amount that I can weed.

But, I figure I have only a week or two to get this bed made to get the corn in in time, and only a few hand tools and some compost and duck bedding. Is there a way to transform grass to garden quickly and have a large amount of micro-organisms?

Thanks!

hau Kola Nicole,  In this case I would put down the paper sacks over a spreading of compost and duck bedding, then I would cut X's to plant the corn seeds through the sacks, lay on mulch leaving the seed holes uncovered so the seeds can come up through the paper X then you could mulch closer to the new corn plants.

This will give some good microbes the chance to establish under the sacks and hold moisture in place. I would not bother trying to dig the area, just where you want to plant the seeds.
Water the first few times with  water then make a tea and use that, (to really boost the microbes use tea once a month and maybe one or two waterings with mushroom slurry.

Redhawk

I think I'll do just that! Thank you so much!!!

You are most welcome Kola.

This is amazing research I can't wait for the medical system to move away from treating symptoms and actually treat the causes.

circa 400 BC
"Let thy food be thy medicine"

2018 AD
"Let thy naked gardening be thy medicine"

Nathanael Szobody wrote:Absolutely fantastic.

So...why use soap?

I have only used soap after going to the toilet or for stubborn grease for about 7 years.
I don't use shampoo or anything else apart from mineral deodorant on my skin either (because I work in an office).

And guess what... I don't smell or look dirty.

Okay, this may seem a little gross, but, BUT it worked for me. Medical disclaimer...I did this for me, just ask your doctor about it.

Yeast infection.... not nice. I read about fecal implants many years ago and was suffering from a yeast infection at the time. Thought, hmm what about douching with warm water and a couple of lactobacillus capsules dissolved in water?  I was also reading about women who used yogurt, but thought EWWWE!
The pH in the vagina is out of whack. This is why yeast can grow. Ick.  Yeah, not a fav time in my life.

Alex Pine wrote:

I have only used soap after going to the toilet or for stubborn grease for about 7 years.
I don't use shampoo or anything else apart from mineral deodorant on my skin either (because I work in an office).

And guess what... I don't smell or look dirty.

I tried going without shampoo for awhile, just scrub with hot water. But eventually it would get greasy--which may be perfectly healthy, but not a very nice look for other people.

I think this has to be a trial and discovery sort of thing at the individual level.
Oil glands work differently for everyone and oil will hold on to grime, which is what needs to be removed.
I wash my hair around once a week, if I don't my scalp starts itching, this is the signal that it's time to clean my hair.
I do think that those who wash their hair every day, might not be doing their scalp, follicles or scalp any favors.

I have a theory of those things co adapted and those things isolated adapted. Sterility and vaccination is good to fight against isolated adapted things (things that adapt in isolation and then get spread, such as the black plague). Where as things that co adapted like colds, basically try to get your body to its healthiest natural state and it will naturally win.  That natural state always relies on tons of other microbes doing their job in their natural state. Unfortunately, the world is on such a state that balancing between the two and getting to a natural state is so difficult and perhaps impossible. And each person is a little different. So I can about never bath and smell and look clean (except the dirt). My husband on the other hand gets oily and smelly if left unbathed for 2 days, without sweaty manual labor.  So I'm pooless, and he uses some harsh shampoo. It took me a while to just be like- "that's genetic diversity for yah," and stop buying him gentle hippie soaps.  His ideal microbiome is probably totally different than mine, but here we are living together and producing kids that are some concoction of those, while the planet's microbe diversity plummets.  We can only hope by being as unsterile as is safe our kids will get immunity.  Which, is more knowledge and better than our parents could give us in the age of sterility and living better through chemicals.