Toxic Plasmidosis?

I love cauliflower prepared in the Indian way with fennel seeds and root vegetable puree. Back in the 80’s when I first developed bowel problems, it was a regular part of my diet. Last week I ate had something similar at a vegan restaurant in my neighborhood.

In retrospect I’m not sure what I was thinking. I had taken risks all summer. These included a trip to Chicago, where biocide-free food was hard to find. They included meals out with family and indulgence in special treats. This time I went too far. By the time dessert arrived, my belly was bloated and my bowel was gurgling from stem to stern. Over the next hour I developed a pattern of symptoms that I knew well but had nearly forgotten—sore throat, runny nose, cough, bowel stasis, plugged ears, pain and irritability. Within a couple of days I had the telltale itching of a yeast infection, asthma, a pins and needles feeling in the legs, and discomfort when lying flat. Then came the itchy rash. I didn’t get the tremor, the severe leg pain, or the tendency to fall to one side—but I did feel as terrible as I felt for years before going on the Vega diet.

I said to my husband, “I feel like the whole thing is happening again right now. The clues are all in front of my nose. If only I could see what was going on!”

By Chandres

So I observed the experience closely and reflected on it. The bowel problem spread through my GI tract with astonishing speed, too fast for yeast overgrowth spread via peristalsis but not too fast for transmission of an F-plasmid moving from one bacterium to the next.

I had been thinking about plasmids in relation to Bt toxin and reasoning that the kind that spread antibiotic resistance could also spread genes for biocide production. If my meal of pureed seeds and root vegetables included F-plasmids with genes coding for biocides those biocides could kill my “good” bacteria, damage my mucous membranes, attack my immune system and allow “bad” organisms to bloom. Any additional biocides included in the meal could do this directly.

I thought back on the gourmet touches included in the meal. These included pureed seeds and whole flowers and may have included honey or bee pollen. All induce my symptoms of neurotoxicity, perhaps as they do in birds and bees. The meal presumably included soil bacteria and plant genes as well. I looked up fennel production and found that many pesticides are applied to crops, many of which are “natural” and all of which are presumed safe until proven otherwise.

Is the idea of a plasmid infestation of the microbiome fanciful? I don’t think so. Is it the explanation for my present health setback? I don’t know.

I can think of plenty of theories, any or all of which could be true. I could have succumbed to the chemicals used in my building or neighborhood, or have caught or reactivated an immune-system-thwarting infection, or eaten small amounts of biocides so often as to “tip the balance” in my gut in favor of yeast that cause leaky bowel. In any event, the aim of my theorizing is to get back on track for cure, so I am back back on the regimen that has worked for this problem in the past: the hypoallergenic, biocide-free Vega diet; probiotics; anti-yeast antibiotics; carbon air filters; the ongoing practice of sevenfold healing and cure; and continuing surveillance for clues.

Which brings me to another clue. I recently noticed that the press is still calling myalgic encephalomyelitis “yuppie flu.” In the world of hate speech, this term is mild. But it’s interesting, and possibly informative. Now that “hypothesis-generating” epidemiology studies have fallen by the wayside, the word on the street is sometimes the best source of clues. In this case, the fact that people are blaming the well of rather than the poor may mean that the risk of illness is related to money and education.

This fits with the theory of plasmid infestation. Those who have less money to spend on food may buy cheap meals that contain the kinds of biocides that act as obesogens and cause the poor to gain weight. Those who have more money to spend on foods may eat seeds and flowers that contain plasmids that produce neurotoxins. It also fits with my observation that my only unusual habit at the time I fell ill was following a vegetarian diet rich in spices, dairy and produce. That habit may have been a fateful one.

Spices have been a highly prized luxury since the time of the ancient Silk Road. Their value is reflected in an archeological finding from the Swedish royal ship Vasa, which sank in 1628 on the way out of Stockholm harbor. That finding was the wealth that a sailor kept in a vial and wore around his neck: a small cache of spices to which he, as a sailor, had special access. These spices are rich in genetic material that nature and nurture are altering with unprecedented speed. They are not, though, separate from the web of life on which all food crops and all animals depend. Profiting from spices and other gourmet foods may be costly indeed.

If you have a mysterious chronic illness that seems related to foods and would like to test this theory as a means to creating your personal cure, consult your doctor. If you don’t have a doctor, try consulting a doctor of integrative medicine such as Dr. Julian Kenyon of the Dove Clinic in London.