A Matter of Balance

I want to speculate a little more than I normally would, mainly because I haven’t finished researching this topic yet. I have been thinking about wheat, of course, and that has led to some interesting questions.

What if our food is trying to kill us? I don’t mean that our poor choices of fatty snacks are plugging our arteries. We already know that. I mean, what if our food is actively and purposefully attempting to knock us off? What if we are in a war and are under attack and don’t even know it? What if there is an intelligence out there in the garden that “hates” us enough to wish us dead? Far fetched? Perhaps. But let’s think about this a little more before we turn our backs on that seemingly innocent radish. And keep your eye on that green bean – he may not really be your friend.

For just a moment, put yourself in the position of a plant.  Your goal in life is to make more of your kind. That poses a problem in that you are essentially defenseless as well as anchored to one spot. You can’t run away. And if it comes to blows, that rabbit will claim the championship very quickly.

Your only option is to use your intelligence.  Now, before we sneer let’s keep in mind that we are trying to outwit a bunny rabbit.  And “intelligence” has several definitions, some of them quite broad.

So you stand there in the sunlight pondering your problem and it occurs to you that you really don’t need to eliminate the bunny and, in fact, he is actually useful at times. You just need to manipulate him so that he doesn’t wipe out your offspring – your seeds. You link together some stray molecules lying about the place and store it in the seed.  You are happy to offer up a leaf now and then in order to assure yourself a supply of bunnies. But that new version of your seeds is going to make a sick rabbit. If he doesn’t get the message, he may become a former rabbit.

This strategy is very effective and common in the plant world.  Seeds often are laden with poisonous proteins called “lectins”.  They can be deadly.

Much of our diet come from seeds. We have managed over time to minimize the amounts of lectins involved, but they remain. And a genome is a fickle beast that occasionally produces surprises.  Lectins are toxins. Some are neurotoxins. Some affect the enteric (GI) nervous system with chronic constipation as a possible outcome.

Constipation is, of course, common in Parkinson’s Disease. So is inflammation of the GI tract. Inflammation increases the permeability of the gut. Constipation increases the opportunities for a given molecule to find its way through the intestinal wall into areas closely watched by the immune system.

Lectins are complex proteins.  Partly digested, they yield a multitude of smaller proteins. Some of those are similar to those of our own tissues. Our immune system rightly sees them as invaders, but then mistakes our own to be so as well.  A classic autoimmune reaction produces tissue damage and inflammation. And, iin a final step, inflammation anywhere in the body can fan the flames in the brain.

Maybe our food is killing us.