The Difference between Internal and External Fermentation

All living organisms on the lower rungs of evolution eat materials and expel wastes - byproducts. Mankind lives within an animated organism. One of which is bound to the laws of karma - action and reaction - whereas, if you eat, your body will have to digest and eliminate. 

But what is your body? Who is doing the digesting? How can food affect the organism? and what can their byproducts cause?

You are a bacterial entity. 

A few of your organelles inside your cells have been identified as bacteria, who gathered favorably together to form tribal life of mutual and beneficial trade amongst each other. Their symbiotic relationship happened to elicit an evolutionary benefit, one that ended up with the erection of city walls - a membrane - from which the governor of the city, i.e. cellular consciousness, can direct traffic and respond to environmental stimulus for the benefit of coordinated multicellular expressions.

A bacterial ecosystem.

Not only are you made up of trillions of these tribal bacterial cells, but you are covered by 10 times more single cell microbes, who live side by side with the cells. These microbes, ranging up to 1000 different species, create amazing benefits for the cells of your lungs, your gut, your skin and your hair. When they are in good shape, your epithelial cells (the surface cells) are enjoying great mucus lubrication and availability of adequately digested nutrients.

The Missing Link

From epigenetic research we now know that substance and food causes buttons to be pushed on the cell membrane, which in turn stimulate gene behavioral changes. The nucleus was once thought to be the brain, but it is now viewed as the gonads of the cell, as you can remove it from the cell and the cell remains alive. The brain is actually the membrane - mem-brain - which received stimulus from either the inside or outside of the cell, and then transmits a cascade pathway that switches genes on and off.

The genes, which hold the keys to protein and enzyme synthesis, dictate what information is available for transcription. It is like a computer code of zeros and ones; zero is off and one is on - just like a switch. The genes that are off do not express themselves chemically and biologically, as well as behaviorally. Genes that are turned on are expressed, and it's evinced by the behavior of the cell. The nucleus is likened to a computer hardware, that holds a library of data, and the membrane as a keyboard that accesses the database. 

Stimulation of microbial populations. 

Bacteria have DNA as well, just like the bacterial organelle inside the cells - the Mitochondria. These bacteria also have membranes, which means that they are just as much bound to this law of stimulation and expression (sounding like the law of Karma). 

It is well known that certain types of substances can cause an organism to advance towards it to consume it, or express the contrary and stay away from the substance, as well as take steps to protect itself from the nature of that substance. 

Some substances can cause an acid environment, like the crystalline form of sugar (pure glucose), which is the most acid forming substance consumed today (grains and starches come next). When a living organism, which operates in a slightly alkaline environment, is exposed to a drastic change in the environment, as much as a toxic shift in the acid direction, the organism's membrane delivers a cascading message to turn off the "growth and healing mode" in favor of the "protection mode", also known as "The inflammatory response".

Free roaming bacterial populations are the first to come in contact with ingested substances. They have the capacity to create digesting enzymes, since they desire the utilization of raw materials, and they expel byproducts.

Internal Fermentation

When free roaming bacteria digest a substance, it requires the utilization of complementary nutrients like water and minerals, in order to effectively break apart the atomic bonds between macro-nutrients (starches, fats and proteins). 

Since nature stores single sugars as long chains of sugars, aka starches, when the need arises to utilize the sugars for energy purposes, which is bounded in an unavailable form as a starch, the bacteria and cells release digestive enzymes that quicken the breakdown of the bonds. In the process, gases are released as the sugars become available as a single molecule. 

We know that the gut will not allow starches into the bloodstream, only simple sugars, so this step is always necessary for sugar to become available.

Not only does the environment in the intestines become highly acidic from the sugars, but the released gases causes pressure and symptoms of bloating. Stress on cells, whether from the acidic factor or gases, switches many cellular and bacterial growth modes into protection mode. This slows down digestion, absorption, and last but not least... the effectiveness of elimination (detoxification). 

The Difference between
Aerobic and Anaerobic
Respiration

Respiration is the active transportation and transmutation of chemicals within a living unit. Such that energy, a desired byproduct, is created, and with it the organism is able to produce movement.

An animal cell, such as the human's cell, thrives in the presence of Oxygen. The process of cellular respiration, that utilizes Oxygen in a cascade of energy production mechanisms, is called Aerobic Respiration.

In the absence of Oxygen, cells switch to a less efficient mode of respiration called "Anaerobic Respiration". It is less efficient, since the quantity of energy units - ATP - that is created, is drastically reduced (from 36 ATPs to 2 ATPs).

Taking a look at the illustration; in the absence of oxygen, energy is only created at the stage of Glycolysis. If Oxygen is present, the by product of glycolysis (Pyruvic acid) will enter the Mitochondria. In the absence of Oxygen, the by-products of glycolysis are recycled and fermentation results.

The process of Anaerobic Respiration, in the absence of Oxygen, is also known as Fermentation. The by product of Anaerobic Respiration is Carbon Dioxide, a gas, and Lactic Acid (if it builds up after an exercise, it give the sensation of sore muscles).

External Fermentation.

Traditionally all foods man ate were raw or processed by fermentation. The processing seen in the western lifestyle has neglected the wisdom of our ancestors, which took careful measures in processing grains, legumes and vegetables into forms of food considered "pre-digested by bacteria", also known as Fermented Food.

Man's neglect of this wisdom was caused by the invention of a technological preservation device - the Refrigerator. Prior to these Fridges, man would let his food dry out or let sit and ferment in a brine, so food would be available to him during the winter times, when the earth is too cold and conditions wouldn't allow food to grow in large amounts.

It is a factor, that digestion is only accomplished by microbial consumption of raw materials. Their byproducts - the building blocks of the raw materials. Like the egg yolk, which has no proteins, but rather has the building blocks of proteins - Amino Acids - is so freely bioavailable for absorption by the absorption cells in the digestive tract, that no extra digestive energy is required for processing it.

Imagine how wonderful it is to relieve the digestive tract from such high energy demands. The leading cause for delayed healing and recovery from injury and illnesses is exactly that, hardly no recovery time. Rest is imperative for healing, and when you allow the gut to rest, instead of consuming 60% of the energy in the body for digestion, it can utilize less and the organism directs the growth and repair to brain cells, lungs cells, and every other cell in the body that is screaming with pain signals of attention.

External fermentation, like fermenting a Cabbage to make Sauerkraut, is a delicacy that not only delivers bacterial populations, but also frees the vitamin C from the tough to digest plant cell, and makes many of the plant structure available as building blocks. When that hits the small intestines... walla! fast absorbing nutrients to nourish the residential microbial and cellular populations. 

When the first line of cells are happy with the environment created by the fermented foods, the growth mode remains on and thus the gates are wide open for deeper layers of tissues and organs to receive a refreshing flood of nutrients. 

Conclusions,

External fermentation complements the organism, by pre-digesting raw materials and making many large materials available in their building block form. This also releases gases, but at least not inside a confined space like the intestines and colon, thus preventing the buildup of gaseous pressures within the bloodstream, that can otherwise lead to gases being locked up inside cells (see The Blood Gas Theory).

Traditionally, we used bacteria and yeasts to digest gluten in the production of sourdough bread. This breaks down the gluten protein, bit by bit, into available free-form amino acids. It is only our conventional methods practiced today that skip the wisdom of proper fermentation, and many people suffer from illnesses due to gluten toxicity. Proper leavening of bread from a whole grain neutralizes the toxins and makes the B vitamins in the bran available for utilization by other organisms.

Digestion is a process leading to elimination. Raw materials are blocks to be mined, like a gold mine, which extracts the prize and eliminates the wastes. Taking steps to locate a gold mine results in less wastes and better yield from the energy utilization in the process of extraction. As goes with food choices, as you can certainly benefit from reducing gaseous wastes and toxins by employing physiologically complementing organisms, who can accomplish for you an initial processing to your food, that would otherwise be called to the intestines during internal digestion, in order to mitigate the heaviness of the meal.

There's food for thought...

Blessings,

Joel D. Jacobson

Teacher at Evolved Ministry online Self Mastery University 

Sugar Disease: Atherosclerosis

Scientific literature describes with great detail an involvement of B12, B9 and Vitamin D deficiencies, as well as, an impact of sugar consumption on our body's healing mechanism.

All these deficiencies are prevalent on a diet deprived of animal protein & fat, also known as a vegan diet. B12, B9 and vitamin D are found in adequate amounts in a human being's evolutionary diet of an omnivore origin. Due to probiotic bacteria's abilities to synthesis B12 and B9, as well as, synthesis of vitamin D on the skin following exposure to UVB light, a meatless diet is debatable. Yet, there are other factors in meat, that make it necessary for DNA repair and other healing processes.

The goal of this article is to describe what is known, via presentation of references to clinical studies as well as references to sources of literature, that can expand the investigators confidence in the knowledge presented.

Links in the body of the article will send you to Wikipedia articles, or other sources.
Study references can be found throughout the article, and the list is found at the end of the article.

Sugar Disease: Atherosclerosis

Hardening of the arteries is accomplished by a few contributing factors.
These factors include;

• B12 Deficiency, 
• B9 Deficiency, 
• Vitamin D Deficiency, 
• High Sugar/Carb diet

The Homocysteine Connection

B12** and B9*** are essential in converting Homocysteine into a stable compound[1]*.
Homocysteine irritates the blood vessels walls, causing injury to the cell membrane[2].
Cell membrane injury accompanies an inflammatory response.
This response sends signals to brain.
The brain, in turn, tells Liver to create cholesterol and ship it to injured site.
The molecular machine that ships cholesterol from Liver to injured site is LDL.

On a high sugar diet, glucose is toxic.
It has been observed to accelerate oxidation of LDL particles[3].

Insulin innate role

Insulin defends the whole system by accomplishing a few tasks;

• Shutdown of Liver's mechanism of converting amino acids into glucose[4][5][6][7],
• Shuttling all glucose present in the bloodstream into cells[7],
• Shuttling remaining glucose into fat cells (glucose converted into fatty acids for storage)[7].

The Liver is capable of creating glucose (for energy) by converting amino acids into glucose[8].
Clearly, the mechanism of shutting down glucose production in the liver by insulin is an innate mechanism in place for taking care of existing high glucose levels from the diet.

Glucose toxicity has been linked to pancreas beta-cell degradation[9][10].
Clearly, sugar is harming insulin creating cells, leading to development of Diabetes type 1.
Type 1 Diabetics MUST inject insulin when they eat sugar, otherwise heavy damage occurs.

When cells can't accept anymore glucose, insulin shuttles them into fat cells, where they are converted into fatty acids. Also, Insulin reduces the breakdown of fats into fatty acids, thus preventing the usage of stored energy for energy usage.
Consequently, fat cells become fatter, because of sugar.

LDL particles and their cholesterol are oxidized due to the unstable nature of the bloodstream; promoted by Homocysteine levels and sugar levels.

Note: LDL particles have an armor; antioxidants like CoQ10 and Vitamin E[11][12]. Both are fat soluble, so they require fat to embed themselves in the LDL outer layer.

Macrophage Connection

As a defense mechanism accompanying the inflammatory response, white blood cells are sent to the area of inflammation in order to deal with any potential microbial/viral/fungal threat, neutralize it and clean the area up.

Monocytes, that come to the area, turn into Macrophages[13][14].
Macrophages are like garbage trucks, they can grab the oxidized cholesterol and collect it.

The mechanism of transporting cholesterol back to the liver, for recycling, is accomplished by HDL.
This particle has developed a mechanism with Macrophages called "Reverse Cholesterol Transport".
This mechanism describes a transfer from macrophages to HDL particles[15].
Essentially, this is how the Macrophages get rid of the accumulating cholesterol they grab and store.

Impairment of this mechanism causes Macrophages to self-destruct (Apoptosis),
and the accumulated cholesterol hardens and forms Foam cells.

Vitamin D Connection

Macrophages require Vitamin D to function properly.
This includes cholesterol metabolism[16] by preventing cholesterol uptake by macrophages[17].

Vitamin D's role has to do with relieving stress on the Macrophage. When stress increases the macrophage changes expression and overeats oxidized cholesterol LDL's, which leads to foam cell formation[18]. Supplementation with vitamin D2 (1,25(OH)(2)D) has clinically been observed to improve suppression of foam cell formation by increasing cholesterol efflux from stressed Macrophages.

Vitamin D has an important role in managing the cholesterol uptake and egress in Macrophages.
This vitamin suppresses foam cell formation, thus suppressing plaque formation in the arteries.

Cause and Effect Chart

Deficiency in B9 and B12 >>> Increase in Homocysteine

Homocysteine >>> Inflammatory response

Inflammation >>> Cholesterol transport to site

High sugar in diet >>> Cholesterol oxidation

Deficiency in Vitmain D >>> Impaired Immune cell clean up of cholesterol

Macrophages accumulate cholesterol >>> Formation of Foam cells

Notes:

*Some studies imply that B6 is necessary to reduce homocysteine. However, one study[19] has found not such effect. B6 contribution can be associated with the cells requirements of that vitamin in order to synthesis Coenzyme Q10[20]. CoQ10 can protect against homocysteine-induced toxicity.
**B12 deficiency can be a result of imbalance in the microbial population in the gastrointestinal tract. Pathogenic bacteria destroy specialized cells, that produce Intrinsic Factor - an enzyme that carries B12 across the gut lining into the bloodstream[21][22]. Probiotic supplementation resolves this issue[23].
***Infection by Helicobactor Pylori not only inhibits B12 absorption but also B9[24]. This also found an increase in Homocysteine.

Intracellular Defense System Overview

Your physical body is made of trillions of cells. Every cell is specialized to function in a certain way in order to fulfill a grandeur role. Each cell has a minimum requirement in order to keep the free radicals created by cell respiration at bay by the Subatomic Defense System. Essential nutrients, like selenium, zinc, copper, amino acid Methionine and more provide a functional mechanism of defense down to the subatomic and molecular plain of existence. Once adequate nutrition has been supplied, repair occurs due to the cells return to a normalized state. Keeping oxidative stress at bay promotes cell prosperity and system wide recovery. 

Our Immune System is our Intracellular Defense System.

Promoting balance to the Subatomic Defense System strengthens all types of cells, including immune cells. Fortification of the Subatomic plain and adherence to a nutritional supply of essential nutrients that are the building blocks for membrane health and protein synthesis, results in a super immune cell. Immune cells, like the pack-man type (macrophage), have antioxidants in their cellular environment, like Vitamin E. A supply of vitamin C has been found to replenish vitamin E, by converting it's oxidized state back to a "reduced" state (which makes them function as an antioxidant once more).

The environment inside your body has a police force that acts also as the garbage disposal service. Macrophages don't just eat up and disassemble bacteria and viruses but make sure the blood stream, their highway, is clean and only 'recognized' biological machines (like red blood cells) are present. However, a weakened immune cell has a weakness to foreign entities, and in this game of survival it is not so much as the quantity of police force but the quality. Just like a police officer in a crowd of violent zombies would be better prepared to engage if he has an armor to protect him. What good can a police officer be if he is harmed and weakened when he has tens of thousands more foreign invaders to engage and haul away.

Certain foods we consume that are not part of our evolutionary diets (i.e. paleolithic diet) stimulate secretion of a regulatory protein called Zonulin, which makes the tight junctions between cells in your gut and blood-brain barrier loosen up and form a gap or "hole". This is called a Leaky Gut and it allows foreign substances to skip the filtration system needed in your gut in order to regulate the intake of nutrients as well as to prevent heavy metals, pathogenic bacteria, viruses and undigested food from crossing over. Cereal grains have been found to stimulate this protein, as well as Milk.

Approximately 85% of your immune system is found in your gut. It is very important to quit consuming those type of foods and fortify your immune system via fortification of your Subatomic Defense System. Your immune system will interact with undigested proteins, tag it, and scavenge for it. If that type of protein sequence, which isn't too harmful, resembles a sequence found anywhere else in your body, then your immune system will falsely attack it. This is called an Autoimmune Disease, and both Gliadin (from Gluten) and Casein (from Milk) have been correlated to produce such reactions. Like incomplete digestion of Casein A1, which produces Beta-Casomorphin-7, has been found to cause Type 1 Diabetes. Babies that are weaned off milk return to consume what develops later on as Childhood Diabetes.

Your immune system is smart. It has to be in order to keep up with the demands and pressure of "modern" lifestyles. However, it falls short if you keep feeding it a diet deficient in essential nutrients. Dark green leafy vegetables, soaked nuts and seed, are both excellent sources of nutrients that fortify your INNATE Subatomic Defense System. Many other vegetables have their own antioxidants that replenish your storage's and most definitely heal your gut. Don't forget that Organic is the better choice, as there is 40% more antioxidants found in Organic and more essential nutrients (that are usually not replenished in the conventional agricultural methods).

Your immune system is your inner body protector and it relays on a strong and health structure to its cells. Your outer body protectors, your Extracellular Defense System (i.e. Probiotic Bacteria), help your immune system in your gut by secreting Lactic Acid. This creates an environment suitable for immune cells. Consuming refined sugar feeds pathogenic bacteria, while eating Inulin containing vegetables feeds probiotic bacteria. Inulin is found in the majority of white vegetables, like garlic, onions, mushrooms, white cauliflower, leeks etc, but also in ginger and bananas.

I hope you came out of this article fully understanding how all Defense Systems complement each other, but more importantly how your cellular defenses relay on your innate antioxidant system. Eating healthy is choosing Organic, Evolutionary, Seasonal and Fresh to better supply an adequate exposure of your whole body to the right stress relieving chemicals. These are found in the plant kingdom, our truly detoxifying companions.