Gut and Physiology Syndrome: Natural Treatment for Allergies, Autoimmune Illness, Arthritis, Gut Problems, Fatigue, Hormonal Problems, Neurological Disease and More

Gut and Physiology Syndrome

Natural treatment for

Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride

MD, MMedSci (neurology), MMedSci (nutrition)

© Natasha Campbell-McBride, 2020

Gut and Physiology Syndrome

ISBN: 978–0–9548520–7–8

Medinform Publishing

The right of Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Patent and Designs Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission of the author.

Gut and Psychology Syndrome™, Gut and Physiology Syndrome™ and GAPS™ are international trademarks of Dr Natasha Campbell-McBride and their use is strictly prohibited without prior permission from Dr Natasha Campbell-McBride.

Typeset by Cambrian Typesetters, Camberley, Surrey

Printed by CPI Books in the United Kingdom

Printed by Sheridan in the United States of America

To GAPS people all over the world, who have the courage to take control of their health and go on a journey of personal growth and transformation through overcoming a chronic illness.

Reviews

Dr Natasha Campbell-McBride has written a very important book!

Not only she has demonstrated the vital role of microbiome in all chronic disease, but has given us a practical healing protocol on how to deal with the problem. Her views on autoimmune disease are deep and based in clinical experience.

This book should be read by every person with a chronic degenerative disease, and by every medical professional, who works with these patients.

I warmly recommend it !

Professor Yehuda Shoenfeld, MD Zabludowicz Center for Autoimmune Diseases Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Israel

Dr. Natasha has done it again! Gut and Physiology Syndrome takes an indepth look at the underlying causes of today’s health crisis—environmental and dietary poisons—and then provides a comprehensive plan for detoxification and nourishment to achieve the good health and clear mind, that is the birth right of every adult and every child. Especially appreciated are suggestions for reviving our natural instincts for knowing what to eat for our own particular metabolism. Gut and Physiology Syndrome is an important contribution to our collective search for good health.

Sally Fallon Morell, President The Weston A. Price Foundation

I recently had the opportunity to review Natasha Campbell-McBride’s new book Gut And Physiology Syndrome. Natasha has been a valued colleague and friend of mine for many years. In fact, there are few other medical people who have had such a positive influence on my thinking and my practice of medicine as Natasha. Natasha is a creative thinker and a deep seeker for the truth wherever it may lie. Natasha revolutionized the world of medicine with her original GAPS concepts and books. She showed us in clear and practical terms, that microbes are not our enemies and that learning to work with our internal microbiome is one of the keys to not only our own health, but the health and survival of our planet.

The beauty of Natasha’s work is that, unlike most, she takes this new understanding of our crucial relationship with the microbial world and put it into a doable, effective, action plan. Natasha’s GAPS Diet has been a cornerstone of my medical work for the greater part of a decade.

With her new book, Natasha expands on her vision of the role of our microbiome in our entire physiology. She continues to break new ground as she gently pushes us into a new more honest, realistic and ecological understanding of life. This work is a tremendous contribution towards remediating our current medical situation: one, in which our current medicine is largely another source of sickness and disease, to one, where we can begin to heal the tremendous suffering we are experiencing all around us. Please buy this book, think about what is being said and, if possible, put these ideas into action. Our world depends on it!

Dr Thomas Cowan, MD

This book is a gem! A wealth of information about the central role of the gut microbiome in maintaining the health of all the organs of our body. A central theme is that infectious disease only happens when our tissues are unhealthy, due to nutritional deficiencies and toxic chemical exposures, and infection is part of a repair mechanism to restore health. For example, fungi release nanoparticles that can absorb toxic metals and facilitate their removal from the body. This book will change your perspective on health and disease and teach you how to heal your body naturally.

Dr Stephanie Seneff, PhD

This book is a tour de force! A revelation! With chronic illness affecting over half the US population, with a new generation of children sicker and dying younger than their parents’ generation – if this continues we are facing the deterioration of our civilization and humanity. Dr Campbell-McBride reveals the damage is mostly self-inflicted!

Dr Campbell-McBride does more than show us the causes of illnesses, she gives us practical ways of reversing (and preventing) the deterioration of health and offering us hope for true healing. This book should be required reading in every medical school.

Established ways are slow to adapt and change. Therefore, it is up to the individual healthcare practitioner, the parent with a chronically ill child, or adult (seeking to reverse conditions they were told were incurable), the health-conscious consumer (wishing to optimize and preserve their well-being and that of their family) to read this book. Lives are at stake.

Tedd Koren, DC, Developer of Koren Specific Technique, and author of Cancer is Natural, So is the Cure and Childhood Vaccination: Questions All Parents Should Ask.

Well, Dr Natasha has done it again! This book abounds rational information and wisdom. Her explanation of the body’s physiology is brilliant, yet easy to comprehend.

Gut and Psychology Syndrome was a revelation to the world of autism and mental illness. Gut and Physiology Syndrome restores hope to all people suffering from chronic diseases and unexplained symptoms. I can’t thank her enough!

Beatrice Levinson, Traditional Naturopath, Certified GAPS Practitioner

Contents

Introduction

Good health begins in the soil inside us!

What does gut flora do for us?

Immune system

Hormones

The liver and the lungs

Toxins and parasites

Bones and teeth

Problems down below

GAPS behaviour

Food addictions

Food. What GAPS people should eat and what should be avoided

Treatment

GAPS Nutritional Protocol

GAPS DIET

1. GAPS Introduction Diet

2. The Full GAPS Diet

Dairy Introduction Structure

3. No-Plant GAPS Diet

4. Ketogenic Diet

5. The More-Plant GAPS Diet

6. GAPS Liquid Fasting

7. Coming off the GAPS Diet

GAPS mealtime ritual

What we shall eat and why, with some recipes

Vegetarianism

One man’s meat is another man’s poison!

Nutritional supplements for GAPS people

1. Probiotics

2. Fats: the Good and the Bad

3. Cod Liver Oil

4. Digestive Enzymes

5. Vitamin and Mineral Supplementation

Detoxification for People with Gut and Physiology Syndrome

Bowel management

Healing

Mind over matter

A few last notes

A-Z: GAPS conditions in alphabetic order

Recommended reading

References

Introduction

Modern medicine has divided the human body into different systems and compartments. We have a cardio-vascular system, a nervous system, a digestive system, a respiratory system, a muscular-skeletal system and many more. To treat problems in those systems we have cardiologists, neurologists, psychiatrists, gastroenterologists and other specialists. The reason for this division is that medical science has accumulated a huge amount of information which is impossible for one person to know in its entirety. A specialist can learn in depth about one aspect of human physiology.

However, from the beginning it became clear that there is a problem with specialisation. The human body is one entity; it functions as a whole. Every system, every organ, every cell communicates, affecting each other and working together. Unfortunately, specialists in different disciplines often do not communicate with each other, avoid affecting each other and do not work together. Cardiology may focus on the heart function without considering what is going on in the rest of the body. Gastroenterology often thinks that the digestive system has no relation to other organs and systems, while psychiatry usually behaves as if the brain functions completely separately from the body. Is it a surprise then that some diseases have long been pronounced ‘incurable’?

Many medics are uncomfortable with this situation and are trying to work in a more holistic way.

The more I worked with children and adults with learning disabilities and mental illness in my clinic, the more I realised that what caused their mental problems was also causing a plethora of their physical problems. What kind of physical problems? Painful and stiff joints, hay fever and asthma, allergies and food intolerances, bed-wetting and cystitis, painful muscles and bones, lack of energy and debilitating fatigue, headaches, chronically blocked and runny nose, various skin rashes and eczema, hair loss and alopecia, poor muscle density and strength, bad breath and mouth ulcers, body odour, poor blood sugar control, hormonal abnormalities, neurological symptoms, diarrhoea, constipation, abdominal pain and bloating, and many other physical symptoms.

The body works as a whole: whatever affects the brain and causes mental symptoms is at the same time affecting other organs in the body, which in turn respond with their own uncomfortable symptoms. My first book Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS). Natural treatment for autism, ADD/ADHD, dyspraxia, dyslexia, depression, schizophrenia and more focussed on the brain function of the person. So, it was logical to call the physical part of the problem Gut and Physiology Syndrome, which also abbreviates to GAPS in the English language.

What is GAPS?

All diseases begin in the gut! This is what Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, concluded more than two thousand years ago. And the more we learn with our modern scientific tools the more we realise just how correct he was. Indeed, every chronic disease begins in the gut. GAPS, which stands for Gut and Psychology Syndrome and Gut and Physiology Syndrome, establishes a connection between the state of a person’s digestive system and the health of the rest of the body.

Our digestive system holds the roots of our health; GAPS conditions stem from the unhealthy gut.

The list of GAPS conditions is long; I divided them into two groups:

Gut and Psychology Syndrome

Gut and Physiology Syndrome

Gut and Psychology Syndrome or GAPS includes learning disabilities and mental disorders, such as autism, ADHD/ADD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, addictions, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, epilepsy, eating disorders and many other conditions which affect the function of the brain. Many of these conditions have no established diagnostic labels and present themselves as a mixture of various symptoms: mood alterations, memory and cognitive problems, behavioural and social problems, panic attacks, anxiety, involuntary movements, various tics and fits, sensory problems, etc. When the brain is in trouble it can produce any mixture of symptoms. You may find it useful to read my first book, which covers Gut and Psychology Syndrome, even if your individual health problem is not listed on its cover.

Gut and Physiology Syndrome or GAPS includes various chronic physical conditions which stem from an unhealthy gut, such as all autoimmune conditions (celiac disease, rheumatoid arthritis, type one diabetes, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, systemic lupus erythematosus, osteoarthritis, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, autoimmune skin problems, etc.), asthma, eczema, various allergies, food allergy and intolerance, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, myalgic encephalomyelitis, multiple chemical sensitivity, arthritis, menstrual problems, endocrine disorders (thyroid, adrenal and other), neurological diseases and all chronic digestive disorders (such as irritable bowel syndrome, gastritis, colitis, oesophagitis, etc). Many conditions do not fit into any diagnostic box and can present as a mixture of symptoms: digestive problems, fatigue, muscular weakness, cramps and abnormal muscle tone, pains and aches in joints and muscles, skin problems, hormonal abnormalities, etc.

In every person the symptoms from both GAP Syndromes overlap: people with mental problems suffer physical symptoms (painful joints and muscles, fatigue, skin problems, allergies, asthma, hormonal problems, autoimmunity), while people with physical conditions have mental symptoms (such as depression, ‘brain fog’, inability to concentrate, mood swings, sleep abnormalities, memory problems, anxiety, panic attacks, tremors, tics, fits, etc.). When the digestive system is unwell, so instead of being a source of nourishment it becomes a major source of toxicity in the body, nothing in the body can function well. Any organ, any system, any cell can show symptoms of distress – usually many of them respond with some symptoms. As a result, GAPS patients are often the most difficult (if not impossible) for mainstream medicine to fathom and to help.

Indeed, you may have been told by your medical practitioner that your disease is ‘incurable’, and that all you can do for the rest of your life is ‘manage the symptoms’ with various medications, while your body progressively deteriorates. This is happening with an ever-increasing number of adults and children in our modern world. More than that: diseases are becoming ‘younger’ – disorders which used to be found largely in adults are now found in children, and children succumb to them at a younger and younger age.

Here is an approximate list of symptoms and conditions which may belong to the Gut and Physiology Syndrome.

Addictions

Alcoholism

Allergy, various forms

Alopecia

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease)

Anaemia

Arthritis, various forms

Atopic conditions

Autoimmunity

Asthma

Back pain, chronic

Bed-wetting

Blood sugar instability

Celiac disease

Chronic fatigue syndrome

Colitis

Constipation, chronic

Crohn’s disease

Cyclical vomiting syndrome

Cystitis

Diabetes, type one and type two

Diarrhoea, chronic

Digestive illness

Ear infections, chronic

Eczema

Failure to thrive

Fatigue

Fibromyalgia

Food allergy and food intolerance

FPIES (Food Protein Induced Enterocolitis Syndrome) and its variations

Fussy eating

Gastritis

Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)

Glue ear (chronic otitis media with effusion)

Gluten sensitivity

Hay fever

Hair loss

Headaches

Hormonal problems

IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome)

Immune system insufficiency

Infertility

Lupus

Lyme disease

Malabsorption and malnourishment

ME (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis)

Menstrual problems

Migraine

Milk allergy

Mould sensitivity / allergy

Multiple chemical sensitivity

Multiple sclerosis

Neurological illness

Neuropathy, various forms

Nephropathy

Oesophagitis

Osteoarthritis

Osteoporosis

PANDAS (Paediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcus)

Parasites

PCOS (Polycystic Ovaries Syndrome)

PMS (Peri-Menstrual Syndrome)

Psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis

Reflux

Restless Leg Syndrome

Rosacea

Rheumatoid arthritis

Sinusitis, chronic

Thyroid problems

Ulcerative colitis

Urinary problems

Vaginal thrush, other vaginal problems

This list is not complete; many other chronic health problems begin in the gut. No doctor can have an extensive clinical experience with all of these conditions. However, from the way these disorders develop and the way they respond to treatment, I have no doubt that, at their root, they are GAPS disorders. That is why I recommend implementing the GAPS Nutritional Protocol as baseline treatment for all of these conditions. This protocol has been designed to heal your gut, to make the very roots of your health robust and functioning as they should.

Every human being is unique and will have a unique response to the treatment. Some will recover fully just with the GAPS Nutritional Protocol. Some will require other health treatments added to the GAPS Programme, such as homeopathy, acupuncture, medicinal herbs, removing toxic metals, psychotherapy, bioresonance, light, sound, massage, physiotherapy, spiritual treatment, natural spa treatment, hypobaric oxygenation, sauna, detox programmes, etc. No matter what your individual situation is, GAPS Nutritional Protocol will lay a solid foundation for your full recovery; it will give the roots of your health the best chance to heal. Once you have built this solid foundation, you will find that all those other healing methods work much better for you, starting to make a real difference, because the root of the problem has been addressed. And the root of every chronic disease is to be found in the digestive system! This book will explain why.

In the next chapter we will be talking about what lives inside your digestive system and who takes care of it. We will be talking about gut flora. There is a growing epidemic of abnormalities in gut flora in modern humans and this epidemic is getting deeper with every generation. This epidemic is the basis for all chronic disease epidemics in the world. Make no mistake: the state of your gut flora is the cause of your disease, no matter how far from the gut your symptoms may be located! Whether you are suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, allergies, asthma, neuropathy or a skin disorder, the cause of your disease is in the gut. By the time you have finished reading this book you will have no doubt about it.

The human body is a wonderful creation: it has a full ability to heal and maintain itself programmed into it! You have to allow your body to use this divine programme. Healing begins from understanding what is going on in your body. Knowledge is the key: no matter how chronic and severe your health problem may be, you must know why you are developing it and where it came from. Without this knowledge fear takes hold, and fear can only destroy. This book will give you an understanding of where your chronic disease came from and how to find your way to good health.

Let us begin!

Good health begins in the soil inside us!

If you don’t like bacteria, you’re on the wrong planet.

Stewart Brand

Did you know that your body is populated by a myriad of microscopic creatures? Your skin, your mucous membranes, your heart, your lungs, your blood vessels, your abdominal cavity and all your other organs and tissues are teeming with life. The variety and diversity of microbes we all carry on and in ourselves are staggering; it is a world just as amazing and complex as life on Earth itself! The fact is: we are never alone! The human body is an ecosystem of life forms, inseparable from each other and dependent upon each other.

The majority of these microbes live inside our digestive systems. They are called gut flora and, more recently, gut microbiota or gut microbiome.¹ In this book we focus on the gut flora, because it is the headquarters of our body’s microbial flora. What happens in the gut flora has a profound effect on every other microbial community in the body (in the blood, on mucous membranes, inside organs and tissues). It is also the easiest part of our microbiome for us for influence. So, by working on our gut flora and keeping it healthy and well, we can keep the body’s microbiome healthy, so it behaves as a good friend to us rather than a powerful foe.

Our gut flora is a mixture of uncountable species of bacteria, fungi, viruses, protozoa, worms and all sorts of other creatures. Different life forms inside the human digestive system live together in harmony controlling each other, planting each other, harvesting each other, eating each other, assisting each other and competing with each other. Recent research has discovered that about 90% of all cells in the human body are in our gut flora!² So, our bodies make-up just 10% of us, a shell, a habitat for that mass of microbes living inside our digestive systems! This microbial community is an organ in its own right! The more we learn about this microbial world the more we realise what an important part of us it is. Our health very much depends on the health of our gut flora. No matter how far from the gut an organ in your body is, it is greatly affected by the gut flora’s composition, state and functions.³

We have all seen a picture of a plant with its roots in the soil. But if we look at the image of our gut wall under the microscope, we see a very similar picture. The absorptive surface of the human gut has tiny fingerlike protrusions, called villi. The surface of these villi is covered by thin, long, stringy hair called microvilli, which under the microscope look very much like the hair roots of a plant. Then we see that this hairy surface inside us is not clean and shiny at all, it is covered by a sticky ‘dirty-looking’ substance; the spaces between villi are full to the brim with it, so only the tips of the villi are visible. In different places this substance is brown or lighter coloured, and under the microscope it looks very much like soil in its structure. What is this substance? Let us examine it.

All microbes in this world build little homes for themselves. Most creatures on our planet build some sort of shelter for themselves, including us humans! The microbes in our gut do the same; they secrete various substances (polypeptides, gluelike adhesins, glycoproteins, proteoglycans and many more) to surround themselves with and create perfect cosy homes to live in. This sticky substance has a name – biofilm.⁴ As we have a myriad of different microbes in the gut, living together in a complex mixture, their biofilms are mixed together, creating that ‘dirty-looking’ sticky cover on the gut wall, filling up all the deep crevices and crypts between villi and other structures. This is our own soil and the ‘roots’ of our health are sitting in that soil.

Western science started researching gut flora only recently. However, we have been researching soils on our planet for much longer and know a little about them. In order for us to understand our gut flora, I think, it is a good idea to look at the structure of the soil under our feet.

A complex mixture of different life forms lives in healthy soil: fungi, bacteria, viruses, protozoa, nematodes, arthropods, worms, insects. Larger creatures, such as moles, voles, mice and other animals visit frequently to feed on the microbes, worms and insects, contributing to the overall fertility of the soil. All these life forms, great and small, form one ecosystem, diverse and balanced, where every creature plays an important part.⁵ The same picture can be seen in the human gut. A healthy gut flora has a large diversity of different life forms: bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa, flukes, worms and all sorts of other creatures living together in harmony in their own soil, which they create for themselves. Your gut wall is imbedded in this ‘soil’, coated and protected by it, fed and nourished by it, rooted in it with its many protrusions, villi and microvilli. The bigger the diversity of different life forms in your gut flora – the healthier you are!

Let us have a look at the life forms in our gut, based on what we have studied so far. I am sure there are many other creatures there which we have not yet discovered. And those that we have discovered, we have not yet researched to any great degree.

Fungi

The most active place in the soil is an area around plant roots, because the roots secrete sugars.⁶ A myriad of microbes lives in this area feeding on these secretions, none so important as fungi, called mycorrhiza.⁷ These fungi create an extension of the root system of the plant; they attach themselves to the roots and grow a fine network of long filaments with many branches, spreading to a large area around the root. Through mycorrhiza all plants growing in an area are connected to each other underground: two trees may be many metres away from each other, but they are connected through this fungal network, sharing information, nutrition and water. Grasses and bushes between these trees participate in this network through the mycorrhiza on their roots. In fact, researchers now talk about the whole planet being wrapped in a fungal ‘blanket’ of fine filaments – a network probably much more sophisticated than our World Wide Web.⁸ Just as the arteries and capillaries in our bodies bring nutrients to our cells, this fungal network brings nutrients to the plant roots. Thanks to mycorrhiza, the root system of the plant becomes many times bigger and more efficient at feeding the plant. Apart from feeding it, mycorrhizal network protects the plant from toxic metals and other poisons which may exist in the soil.⁹ In the human body the blood transports hormones, neurotransmitters, enzymes and many other information-carrying substances. Mycorrhiza does the same underground: it carries information from one plant to the next. The flow of information, nutrients, water and more can go any way, back and forth through the mycorrhizal network. This network is dynamic: new filaments grow all the time and connect to the whole network, while other filaments disappear. This fungal network provides soil with a fine structure, a road system of a sort, and a myriad of small creatures (bacteria, viruses, archaea, protozoa and other) live on this structure. Just as we – humans – build our homes along streets, lanes and roads that deliver goods back and forth for us, the microbes build their ‘homes’ along the mycorrhizal ‘road system’.

Recent research into human gut flora has discovered some 60-70 species of different fungi living in the gut of healthy people.¹⁰ No doubt future research will discover that their numbers are much greater than that. The fact that these fungi thrive in the gut of a healthy person means that they are there for a purpose. Do they create mycorrhiza inside us to participate in digestion and absorption of food? There is no doubt about it! These fungi provide our microbial community with a structure; their network of thin filaments makes a ‘road network’ in the gut flora. Along this network smaller creatures can build their homes (their ‘houses, villages and towns’) and thrive. Nutrients, information and water are delivered to their ‘homes’ via this ‘road network’ and wastes are taken away. These long filaments would transport nutrients and water through the gut flora and to our gut wall for us to absorb. So, our ability to benefit from the food, we eat, would depend greatly on the fungal population inside our gut flora!

Let us look further. The absorptive surface of the human gut has fingerlike protrusions (called villi), which are covered by thin long stringy hair (called microvilli). When we look at microvilli under the microscope, we see that they are covered by a thick ‘forest’ of long thin filaments with many branches. It is called glycocalyx.¹¹ What is it made from? From molecules similar to that fine network of fungal filaments in the soil (the mycorrhiza) – glycoproteins, proteoglycans and others. Glycocalyx is present not only in the gut wall but on all our mucous membranes, inside our blood vessels and in other places in the body.¹¹ Is glycocalyx in our bodies an equivalent of mycorrhiza in the soil? Is it of fungal origin? Hopefully future research will find that out.

When it comes to fungi, so far we have largely focused on a ubiquitous yeast, called candida, which lives in the human body. Hundreds of candida species have been discovered so far. In a healthy person candida produces no symptoms, but in a person with compromised gut flora it can overgrow and become a dangerous parasite. Candida is a normal part of our human microbiome, and in a balanced gut flora with a large diversity of microbes it is beneficial for us.¹² From clinical experience we already know that candida protects us from mercury and other toxic metals,¹³ just as mycorrhiza in the soil protects plants from mercury and other toxic metals. This fungus absorbs and retrains mercury, thus protecting us. For example, from clinical experience, we know that people who have amalgam fillings in their teeth can never get rid of candida overgrowth in their gut, because the body uses it to protect itself from mercury and other toxic substances leaching from the amalgams.¹⁴ I am sure that future research will discover other beneficial functions of candida in the body. We may also discover that, what we thought was candida, is actually a large community of many other species of fungi, fulfilling complex services for us.

When we try to attack candida with antifungal drugs, we attack many other species of fungi in the body, which are likely to be beneficial for us. I have patients in my clinic who have developed severe illness after a course of an antifungal drug. Experienced health practitioners will tell you how difficult it is to ‘eliminate’ candida from the body; in fact, it is impossible. When we attack candida, it releases mercury and other toxins back into the system, making us very ill. As soon as we stop attacking candida, it re-grows quite quickly. The only way to deal with candida is to restore diversity in the gut flora, so other microbes take the fungi under control. It is also necessary to remove the toxins which these fungi are protecting us from. As long as these toxins remain in the system, the fungi will grow because they are Nature’s universal decomposers. If there is anything dead or damaged that needs to be broken down and re-cycled fungi will be there, active and thriving, and the human body is no exception! When the body is polluted, damaged and full of decaying material, we will have an overgrowth of fungi inside, causing unpleasant symptoms.

Fungal overgrowth is an unbalanced situation. We, human beings, are good at creating unbalanced situations in Nature, including in our own bodies. As soon as we find a microbe, we want to kill it, whether it is in the soil, in the water, in the air or inside us. Research has shown that the best and most efficient policy against candida overgrowth is having a healthy population of beneficial bacteria in the body, Lactobacilli in particular.¹⁵ They eat fungi, controlling their growth and proliferation.¹⁶ Antibiotics destroy these beneficial bacteria in the gut leaving candida uncontrolled.¹⁷ That is why most cases of fungal overgrowth in humans happen after courses of antibiotics. When you kill some part of the balanced microbial community in the gut flora, it becomes unbalanced and disease always follows. Did you know that approximately three-quarters of all antibiotics produced in the Western world are fed to poultry, cows and pigs in our industrial agriculture?¹⁸ These antibiotics remain in the eggs, milk and meat we get from these animals.¹⁹ Add to that the fact that most pesticides, fungicides, herbicides and other agricultural chemicals, used extensively in the production of plants for humans, are antibiotics in their nature.²⁰ Every time we eat bread, vegetables, fruit or any other commercially produced plants we consume antibiotics.²¹ In the West, people have been eating these contaminated foods for several decades now, damaging their gut flora and promoting fungal overgrowth in their bodies.

Let us come back to the soil where plants grow. The microbes in the soil produce gluelike substances, which give the soil its crumbly texture and ability to hold water. For example, mycorrhiza produces a ‘glue’ called glomalin.²² Candida also produces a ‘glue’ (agglutinin-like adhesins, fibrinogen, fibronectin and other), which creates complexes with bacteria, viruses and other microbes in the gut, and their gluelike secretions and biofilms!²³ These complexes absorb large amounts of water, keeping the gut wall moist, well-lubricated and protected. The same happens in the soil: gluelike microbial products are important reasons why healthy soils absorb and hold large amounts of water. Modern agriculture uses chemicals and practices which destroy these gluelike substances in the soil, and the microbes which produce them. As a result, the soil cannot hold water, so arable lands become prone to drought, while every rain runs off these fields, creating floods in villages and towns downstream. The same situation happens in the gut when we destroy our gut flora with antibiotics and other chemicals: the gut wall loses its protection, lubrication and moisture.

It may turn out that fungi are some of the most important inhabitants of a healthy human gut! They provide the very basis and structure for our gut flora; we need to cultivate them and take care of them.

Bacteria

Bacteria are the most researched part of our gut flora; thousands of species have been discovered and the list is growing. According to current research, they comprise some 60% of the dry mass of the stool (human faeces), that is why they are considered to be the most numerous inhabitants of the human gut.²⁴

Most research into gut flora is done by studying human stools. However, our gut flora does not live in the stool; it lives on the wall of the gut. What we have in the stool is spent microbes and other dead matter that is being discarded by the body. The fact that bacteria finish up in the stool in large numbers does not necessarily mean that they are the most numerous and most important members of our gut flora. All it means is that the body discards them in large numbers for some reason. In order to see the real gut flora, we need to study biopsy samples of the gut wall.²⁵ Millions of routine biopsies are carried out by mainstream gastroenterologists all over the world, but these samples are hardly ever sent for microbiological examination. Hopefully, mainstream practices will change in the future, but at the moment it is stool that is being tested. So, the research we have so far is not very reliable. But that is what we have, so let us have a look at it.

The bacterial composition of your stool very much depends on what kind of meal has come out of you. If it included some animal foods (meat, fish, eggs and dairy) then your stool is likely to be dominated by bacteroides.²⁶ But if it largely contained plant matter then your stool will be dominated by prevotella species.²⁷ None of these bacteria are ‘good’ or ‘bad’ necessarily, but it shows that food has a powerful effect on the composition of microbial flora. This confirms our knowledge that to heal the gut in people with abnormal gut flora we need to change the person’s diet.

Recent research in bacteria has discovered that they have ‘flexible’ genetics.²⁸ Their genes are free-floating, enabling them to discard some genes into their environment and pick up other genes: there is some sort of ‘free gene market’ for these microbes. Based on this discovery researchers now propose that there are no isolated species of bacteria in Nature, but a continuum where genetics are constantly exchanged and changed.²⁹ One species of bacterium can become another by choosing genetics based on their environment and needs. This process is active inside our bodies: in our gut, on our mucous membranes and in every other tissue and organ. The gene exchange can happen not only between bacteria, but between microbes and our own cells.³⁰

Different parts of the human digestive system have been found to have different bacteria living there.

The mouth and oesophagus are richly populated by microbes. Some 600–800 different species of bacteria have been identified in the oral cavity alone.³¹ Different structures in the mouth have different flora on them (the teeth, the gums, the tongue, mucosa of the cheeks, tonsils, etc). When this flora is balanced and there is appropriate diversity of microbes, those areas stay healthy. It is very interesting that all the groups of bacteria, present in the human stool, are also present in our saliva! It appears that ancient traditional cultures around the world knew something about this. Apparently, in rural China there was a tradition for the grandparents to put some of their saliva into the mouth of a new-born baby in the family.

The stomach produces hydrochloric acid, which creates a very hostile environment for microbes. As a result, the human stomach is considered to be the least populated area of our digestive system (0–10³ colonies per millilitre of stomach content).³² However, some microbes like living in an acidic environment and are found in the stomach: yeasts (including candida), helicobacter pylori, some streptococci, staphylococci and lactobacilli.³³ No doubt this list is incomplete. Pathologists (who do postmortem examinations) sometimes find worms in the stomachs of people, plus we have not yet studied viruses, archaea and other microbes, many of which live happily in very acidic environments in nature. These are normal inhabitants of a healthy stomach, they live in the top layers of the mucosa of the stomach lining, and in every person their number is individual. All of these microbes are capable of causing disease, but as long as the stomach’s mucosa is healthy and produces normal amounts of acid they do us no harm and, very likely, do a lot of good services for us too.³⁴

The trouble is, in our modern world, people take painkillers, anti-inflammatory drugs and antibiotics regularly, which damage the protective mucous layers of the stomach.³⁴ This allows resident bacteria and yeasts to get deeper into the wall of the stomach and impair acid production.³⁵ Once the stomach acidity becomes low, all sorts of other microbes come in and settle on the walls of the stomach, and our resident microbes overgrow and become a problem. The person develops indigestion, heartburn, belching, reflux and other symptoms. People take antacid drugs for heart-burn and indigestion, which reduce stomach acid production even further, making the whole situation worse long term. If this situation continues, more severe problems can develop, such as stomach ulcers and cancer.³⁶ Helicobacter pylori is considered to be responsible for ulcers and cancer in the stomach. However, the majority of people, who have this microbe living in their stomachs, are perfectly healthy, because healthy stomach mucosa does not allow microbes to get deep into the stomach wall and cause trouble. The stomach mucosa has to be damaged first by drugs or something else in order for H. pylori to become a problem.

Helicobacter pylori is now considered to be a normal inhabitant of the human digestive system; babies are supposed to acquire it fairly soon after birth. Research shows that in countries with traditional ways of life the majority of small children have this microbe in their stomachs, while in Western countries only about 5% of children have it.³⁷ The absence of this microbe in the gut of children and adults is linked to high rates of asthma, allergies and obesity.³⁸ Our appetite and food consumption are controlled by hormones produced in the stomach and duodenum: ghrelin, leptin and other. Helicobacter pylori appears to be involved in the normal production of these hormones.³⁹ In the absence of H.pylori, the production of these hormones becomes unbalanced, leading to poor appetite control, abnormal metabolism and weight gain. Remember that our industrial agriculture deliberately feeds antibiotics to poultry and livestock to fatten them up more quickly, because antibiotics damage their gut flora and normal appetite regulation, and encourage growth of particular microbes associated with obesity. So, if your doctor has found H.pylori in your stomach, don’t rush to take antibiotics to eliminate it. This microbe should only be attacked in cases of stomach ulcers, stomach cancer or another serious stomach problem, and only as part of a holistic protocol, which includes appropriate diet.

Many people with low stomach acid production and an overgrowth of microbes in the stomach suffer from belching and bloating, because yeasts, archaea and other microbes in their stomachs produce too much gas. Your stomach is positioned underneath your heart (separated by the diaphragm). When the stomach fills with gas, it can push the heart up into an unnatural position, which can cause a heart problem: heart racing, abnormal rhythm and palpitations. This usually happens when you are driving or sitting in a way that doesn’t give your abdomen much room to expand. Releasing the gas though belching can stop the heart symptoms. But, long term, we have to address the stomach problem in order to help the heart.

The small intestine has more bacteria living in it than the stomach, and the further from the stomach we get, the richer that flora becomes. In the duodenum (the highest part of the small intestine) very few microbes are found (0–10⁵ colonies per millilitre of intestinal content) and the species are very similar to the stomach population (yeasts, streptococci, staphylococci and lactobacilli). In the ileum (the last third of the small intestine) the flora is the richest (10³–10⁶ colonies per millilitre of content), and the lowest end becomes very similar to the flora of the bowel, dominated by Bacteroides, Clostridia and coliforms.⁴⁰ The numbers of bacteria in the small intestine very much depend on the level of stomach acid production, particularly in the first two-thirds of the intestines. If the stomach produces normal amounts of acid, then the small intestine is sparsely populated. But, if the person has low acidity in the stomach, then the small intestine will have a much bigger population of microbes in it. People who have an overgrowth of microbes in their small intestine may be diagnosed with IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) or SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth). Studying the gut flora of the small intestine is quite difficult, which is why we don’t have much knowledge in this area yet. And what is largely being researched is only the content of the intestine, not the samples of the intestinal wall (where our real gut flora lives). There is no doubt that intestinal permeability (or ‘leaky gut’) is caused by abnormal microbial flora on the wall of the small intestine.⁴¹ The bulk of food absorption happens in this part of our digestive system. So, when it is damaged and not working well, we cannot digest and absorb food properly, and as a result develop multiple nutritional deficiencies.

The bowel (colon or large intestine) has the richest population of microbes living in it; this is where the bulk of our gut flora resides.⁴² An ever-growing number of different species of bacteria is being identified in human stools; the more we study this mixture of microbes the more we realise just how complex it is and how little we know about it. The predominant groups of bacteria in the stool of healthy people are Bacteroides, Fusobacteria, Bifidobacteria, Eubacteria, Peptostreptococci and Clostridia.⁴³ Researchers are concerned that we are not able to culture or identify large numbers of species, which gives us a very incomplete picture.

Our human bowel can be seen as an equivalent of the rumen of herbivorous animals. Herbivorous animals (grazing animals which eat only grass and other plants) have a very special digestive system with several stomachs full of microbes, called rumen.⁴⁴ It is not the cows (sheep, deer, horses, goats or other ruminants) that digest the grass and other plants, they eat, but their microbial flora in the rumen. Some 70% of all carbohydrates (sugars) in the grass are converted by the rumen microbes into saturated fat (short-chain fatty acids); these sugars absorb in that form.⁴⁵ The same thing happens in our bowel: complex carbohydrates, which did not get digested higher up, are converted into short-chain fatty acids and absorbed. They play many useful roles in the body. The difference between humans and herbivorous animals is that their rumen is at the beginning of their digestive systems, while our ‘rumen’ – the bowel – is at the end. Humans and herbivorous animals have very different digestive systems, which handle food differently.

A large part of the research into bacteria in the stool has focussed on so-called prebiotics – carbohydrates which feed bacteria. Prebiotics, starch and fibre are considered to be good food for bacteria in the gut, and we have many supplements on the market with these substances: FOS (fructooligosaccharides), inulin and others. The problem is that prebiotics, starch and fibre feed equally the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’ microbes in the gut. If your gut is largely populated by the beneficial microbes, they will feast on the starch, fibre and prebiotics, grow larger colonies and make you healthier as a result. But, if your gut is dominated by pathogenic microbes, then they will feed on these carbohydrates and grow bigger and stronger, and make you very sick as a result.⁴⁶ GAPS people have pathogens dominating their gut flora, so prebiotics, starch and fibre are not good for them: they cause bloating, flatulence, abdominal pain and abnormal stools. These patients have to work on changing their gut flora first, removing pathogens and reestablishing beneficial microbes, before they can try foods containing those complex carbohydrates.

Archaea

Archaea are generally similar in size and shape to bacteria, but are considered to be a different group of microbes. They are some of the most ancient and most numerous microbes on the planet, and they are able to use all sorts of things as food and for producing energy: sugars, metals, gases, ammonia and even sunlight. Methanobrevibacter smithii – an archaea found in the human gut – is thought to complete the process of fermentation in the bowel.⁴⁷ Archaea produce gases, methane in particular. So, people with excessive gas production and symptoms of bloating, belching and flatulence are likely to have an overgrowth of this group of microbes. Archaea are very efficient at extracting energy and calories out of food. For example, a study in anorexic patients has discovered an overgrowth of archaea in their digestive systems.⁴⁸ Anorexic patients eat very little, so their gut flora grows archaea to extract as much energy and calories as possible from food, so the person can survive on their meagre ration. We know very little about this group of microbes, but it is a fact that they are very numerous in healthy soil and in the healthy gut flora of animals and humans.⁴⁹ I am sure that future research will discover that they fulfil many beneficial functions for us.

Viruses

Did you know that the food industry uses viruses for killing bacteria on ready-to-eat meat products, cheese and many other foods?⁵⁰ And that our hospitals use viruses for cleaning catheters and other medical equipment?⁵¹ These viruses are called bacteriophages (bacteria-eaters). They were first discovered in 1896 by a British microbiologist E. H. Hankin in the Ganges and Yamuna rivers in India. Bacteriophages in these rivers provided protection from cholera, dysentery and other infections by eating microbes which cause them. These viruses invade bacteria and destroy them. When they are introduced into the human body, they don’t touch our cells but find their specific bacteria and kill them. Bacteriophages were developed as medicine in the former Soviet Union for dealing with antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections.⁵² But we don’t have to introduce them into our bodies! Recent research is discovering that our gut wall is covered by them!⁵³ The biggest populations of bacteriophages are found in the gut of healthy animals (including humans) and in healthy soil. Sea-water is rich in these viruses (about 9×10⁸ per ml of sea-water) and so are all other natural unpolluted waters of rivers, lakes and oceans. Undoubtedly, this is one of the reasons why swimming in natural waters has been prized for centuries as a healing procedure. Wherever there are bacteria, we find viruses – bacteriophages – and our gut flora is rich in both. All other mucous membranes and many other tissues in the body are rich in viruses, which probably protect us not only from bacteria, but from fungi, archaea and other microbes.

So, the human body is full of viruses! Among them there are many that can cause disease; yet they are normal inhabitants of the human body. For example, the herpes family of viruses can live in the skin, mucous membranes, immune cells and the nervous system.⁵⁴ There are some 130 species of herpes virus discovered so far and at least eight of them were found in humans. These include herpes viruses 1, 2, 6 and 7, varicellazoster virus, EBV (Epstein-Barr virus), cytomegalovirus and Kaposi-associated herpesvirus. Animal research shows that resident herpes viruses protect their host from bacterial infections and help our immune system to deal with cancer cells and pathogenic viruses.⁵⁵ They live in our organs silently without causing any problems until we compromise our immune system and the internal environment of the body. Then they can become active and cause a transient disease: shingles, cold sores, chicken pox, infectious mononucleosis and other. These illnesses are necessary for the body to be cleansed and the immune system rebalanced. Having done their jobs, these viruses go back to their little ‘homes’ and become dormant again.

Another well-known resident virus in the human body is papilloma virus, which lives in the skin and all our mucous membranes, including the gut. There are some 170 species of this virus found so far and they normally do us no harm. I am sure that future research will show that they are beneficial for us in some way. But, when the microbial balance in the body is damaged by antibiotics and other man-made chemicals, these viruses can participate in active disease (warts and cancers on the skin and mucous membranes in the mouth, throat, lungs, digestive system and genital organs). There is no need to fear this virus and vaccinate against it! It is a normal and an essential inhabitant of the human body.⁵⁶ Instead, we need to protect our mucous membranes with a healthy diverse community of microbes – our body flora. This flora will protect you not only from viruses, but from anything else that can damage your mucous membranes and skin.⁵⁷

Another virus called norovirus is common in humans. Every winter many people in the northern hemisphere get this ‘tummy bug’, leading to a few days of vomiting and diarrhoea. Animal experiments have shown that norovirus can restore normal gut flora, which has been damaged by antibiotics.⁵⁷ Not only gut flora is restored, but the immune function and normal physical state of the gut wall as well. Norovirus infection only lasts a few days, causing transient vomiting and diarrhoea; not a big price to pay for restoring your gut flora! Vomiting and diarrhoea are major cleansing functions of the digestive system. They are not pleasant, but they flush toxins, parasites and other disease-causing things out of your gut, leaving it cleaner and healthier as a result.

From clinical experience we know that some of the most severe cases of gut dysbiosis happen after a long course of antiviral drugs. We do not yet know what damage these drugs do to our resident viral population, let alone how to correct that damage. Healthy soils on our planet are teeming with viruses, but our industrial agriculture is destroying them together with all other life forms. We, humans, are doing the same to our resident viruses when we use antiviral drugs.

Protozoa

Protozoa are one-cell organisms with animal-like behaviour. In the soil protozoa eat bacteria and fungi, releasing their nutrients to feed the roots of the plants.⁵⁸ They are important members of the microbial community of the rumen in herbivorous animals, where they help to break down plant matter and release nutrients from it. I am sure that something similar happens in the human gut. Amoeba, giardia, cryptosporidium and other protozoa, commonly found in the human stool, can cause diarrhoea, abdominal pain and other digestive symptoms. Yet the majority of people who test positive for these microbes are perfectly healthy. When the gut flora is well-balanced, protozoa live there in small numbers and are controlled by other members of the community. But, if the balance has been upset, just like with any other microbe, they can get out of control and cause problems.

Worms

Let us start with earth-worms. These modest creatures are irreplaceable for the health of the soil. They swallow organic matter and other particles in the soil and digest them. What comes out of the other end is the best compost in existence, called worm castings, rich in humus and readymade pre-digested nutrients for plants.⁵⁹ Moving through the soil earthworms create channels for air and water, making the soil softer, richer and healthier, supporting microbial life and re-cycling organic matter. The more earth-worms a patch of soil contains, the more fertile and productive it is.⁶⁰

Let us now have a look at the worms inside our digestive systems. Make no mistake – we all have them! From tiny threadworms to several-feet-long tapeworms, they are a part of normal human gut flora, an essential part. In the last ten years the interest and research into intestinal worms has intensified. Two varieties are receiving particular attention: porcine whipworm (Trichuris suis) and hookworm (Necator americanus). Taking live eggs of these worms as medicine (helminth therapy) has been demonstrated to re-balance the immune system and reduce inflammation, allergies and autoimmunity.⁶¹ A number of published clinical trials have shown that deliberate introduction of worms into the digestive system can alleviate symptoms of Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, asthma, hay fever, multiple sclerosis, type one diabetes and other chronic diseases.⁶² Do these worms play the same role for us as earth-worms for the planet? Do they aerate and enrich the ‘soil’ inside our digestive systems? I have no doubt that they do all that and more.

If we think about it, the presence of worms in our digestive systems is inevitable. The larvae of hookworms live in the soil. They burrow through the skin of your feet into the lymphatic system, travel to the digestive system, mature and lay eggs, which are then excreted in faeces and returned into the soil. For millennia we, human beings, walked barefoot. So, we all had hookworms for most of our existence on this planet.⁶³ Other worms are acquired the same way, or by drinking water from streams, rivers and lakes and eating food contaminated with soil. For most of our existence on this planet that is exactly what we, humans, did! Humans have always had worms and there is no need to fear them. As long as there is diversity in the gut flora, where no particular species can get out of control, these worms cause us no trouble; in fact, they bring us many benefits.

Industrial agriculture destroys worm populations in the soil. Most arable fields in the Western world have no worms left at all. The same is happening in the gut flora of humans: chemicals in our food and pharmaceutical drugs destroys many life forms in our gut, including worms. As a result, people suffer from digestive problems, allergies, autoimmunity and other chronic illnesses. On the other hand, overgrowth of various worms in the body can also cause disease. Like all other creatures inside us, worms have to be in balance and in harmony with the rest of the microbial community of the body.

The life cycle of common worms indicates that there can be no microbe-free tissues or organs inside us. Common worms lay eggs in the gut. The larva that hatches from those eggs, burrows through the gut lining and travels through the body to complete different stages in its development. Some larvae mature in the lungs and liver, some in the brain and eyes, some in the heart and spleen – no organ can be free of them. These creatures have their own gut flora and many microbes living on their surface, which they carry and seed throughout your body.⁶⁴ And that is only one way for various microbes to populate your body; there are other ways. Bacteria are often infected with viruses, protozoa are infected with bacteria, archaea and viruses and they seed these infections wherever they are in our bodies. Indeed, recent research is finding resident microbes living in our blood vessels, our brain, lungs, heart and other organs. So, the human body is not ‘clean’ inside! It is a diverse eco-system full of all sorts of life forms living together in every organ and tissue, not only in the gut, skin or a mucous membrane. This is a fascinating area of study where we may discover the real causes of many illnesses and the real sources of good health!

The subject of the human microbiome becomes even more interesting when we look at another aspect of microbes – a natural phenomenon, called pleomorphism.

Pleomorphism

Pleomorphism is the amazing ability of microbes to change shape and form to the point of looking and behaving like something completely different. As mentioned above, bacteria have been found to exchange their genetics between one another, other microbes and even our human cells.⁶⁵ Depending on the environment, food supply and the stage in their life cycle, microbes can become unrecognisable. In many cases microbiology has been studying different forms of one creature, thinking that they were entirely different microbes. A good example of this is L-forms of bacteria, which are attracting a lot of interest in microbiology today.⁶⁶ These bacteria lack a substance called peptidoglycan and, as a result, have no rigid cell wall. They are difficult to study and can look like chlamydia, mycoplasma, nano-microbes, fungal spores, cists, fungus, viruses, archaea, parasites or anything else. They can multiply by all sorts of unusual methods and can take many different shapes, forms and sizes. In the blood, they can attach themselves to blood cells and even live inside them while still being perfectly active.⁶⁷ They are found in the blood of healthy and sick people and are ‘stealth’ microbes. They can stay inactive for long periods of time inside our cells waiting for the right disease-causing environment in the body, when they can change and take part in the disease process. They are involved in all chronic degenerative conditions in humans and animals, so it is important for us to know about them.

Cell-wall deficient (L- forms) bacteria were first described in 1935 at the Lister Institute. In a healthy situation they do not trigger any immune response and do not appear to cause any harm. But, when the environment in the body changes, they can proliferate, grow out of proportion, change shape and size and become pathogenic.⁶⁶ They are thought to be involved in chronic and relapsing infections, autoimmunity, autism, chronic inflammation and cancer.⁶⁸ For example, they have been found in tumours and the blood of cancer patients, where they transform from single cell creatures to complex structures that look like fungal mycelia.⁶⁹ They can live very comfortably inside white blood cells (the very cells that are supposed to be killing microbes!) and even multiply there.

Cell-wall-deficient microbes can pass from mother to foetus.⁷⁰ We get them during our foetal development and our immune system does not react to them. They are resistant to antibiotics; in fact, a course of antibiotics stimulates their growth.⁷¹ Antibiotics don’t allow bacteria to form a proper cell membrane, and it was believed for a long time that this kills the bacteria. Now we know that many of them don’t die; they just adapt to life without a tough cell membrane as L- forms and can become even more dangerous, creating chronic non-specific symptoms in the body. It is believed by researchers that ubiquitous use of antibiotics in the modern world is responsible for the existence of a large variety of cell-wall-deficient microbes in modern humans and animals.⁶⁶,⁷² They are impossible to destroy by established antibacterial methods (antibiotics, chlorination and other chemicals, pasteurisation, boiling and other). As a result, they are found in foods and water, pharmaceutical medicines and vaccines, as well as in all the body fluids of animals and humans.⁶⁶,⁷² There are many chronic illnesses which show the presence of large numbers of these cellwall-deficient microbes (including Lyme disease, autoimmune disease, mental illnesses and cancer). A good example is PANDAS (Paediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections): some researchers are now convinced that this disease is caused by a cell-wall-deficient form of streptococcus created by penicillin-type antibiotics.⁷³ Cell-wall-deficient microbes often hide inside our cells and are very difficult for the body to deal with; that is why they are perfectly designed to participate in chronic degenerative diseases.⁶⁷,⁶⁸,⁷⁰

A number of L-forms of fungi (cell-wall-deficient or without cell walls at all) have been recently found in the blood of autistic children and their mothers: Aspergillus fumigatus, Candida parapsilosis, Cryptococcus albidus and Rhodotorula mucilaginosa.⁷⁰ It was demonstrated that these fungi are very active and capable of pleomorphing (changing) into invasive forms and that they