Introduction
The Germ Theory Doesn’t Explain Why Some People Get Sick, and Some Don’t.
Unlike the germ theory, the terrain theory explains why some people get sick while others, when exposed to the same pathogens, do not. – Dr. Ray Andrew, MD
See Also: Beyond Germ Theory. Examining Deeper Causes for Illness
History
History of the Germ Theory
Louis Pasteur (1822–1895)… and Antoine Béchamp (1816–1908), [were] two nineteenth-century researchers and scientific contemporaries, compatriots and fellow members of the French Academy of Science, but key differences in their views on biology and disease pathology led to a prolonged rivalry both within and outside of the Academy. Béchamp was the more brilliant thinker, but Pasteur had political connections, including Emperor Napoleon III… Pasteur’s promotion of germ theory has remained “dear to pharmaceutical company executives’ hearts” up to the present day, having laid the groundwork for “synthetic drugs, chemotherapy, radiation, surgical removal of body parts and vaccines” to become the “medicine[s] of choice.” The unshakeable belief that there is one microbe for every illness is so ingrained as the “controlling medical idea for the Western world” that competing ideas about disease causation still have difficulty gaining traction.6… History awarded renown to the reductionist Pasteur for being the “father of immunology”14 and popularizing the theory that disease involves “a simple interaction between specific microorganisms and a host.”15 In his singleminded focus on the germ side of the equation, Pasteur ignored the host and discounted the influence of environmental factors, thereby “conveniently dismissing social responsibility for disease.” Both at the time and thereafter, the public and most fellow scientists found germ theory easy to embrace, perceiving Pasteur’s model of life and health to be not only “superficially plausible” but also “financially exploitable.”3 In fact, most of the big-name pharmaceutical companies that we know today got their start in Pasteur’s era, often by merging with chemical firms, united in their goal of developing and selling synthetic products to “selectively kill or immobilize parasites, bacteria, and other invasive disease-causing microbes.” …
Béchamp espoused a more nuanced perspective on infectious and chronic illness—for which history branded him a heretic… Subsequent generations of open-minded researchers agreed with Béchamp’s pioneering observations about microparticles as the fundamental unit of biology, with the most recent research in this vein proposing a new genetic theory and a “universal life paradigm” involving spontaneous self-assembly of DNA. Béchamp’s various discoveries led him to conclude that our bodies are, in effect, “miniecosystems.” When an individual’s internal ecosystem becomes weakened—whether due to poor nutrition, toxicity or other factors—it changes the function of the microbes that are naturally present in the body, producing disease. In other words, microorganisms only become pathogenic after environmental factors cause the host’s cellular “terrain” to deteriorate… Realistically, we cannot expect researchers who receive direct or indirect funding from the pharmaceutical industry to suggest commonsense steps for supporting or strengthening the immune system. – Merinda Teller MPH, PhD, The Weston A Price Foundation
More on the Timeline of Pasteur & Bechamp’s Work
Three nineteenth century Frenchmen researched fermentation, microbes, and contagious disease: Louis Pasteur (1822-1895), Antoine Béchamp (1816-1908), Claude Bernard (1813-1878). Their work overlapped. Their conclusions sometimes agreed and other times disagreed with each other’s. Pasteur adopted the germ theory while Béchamp formulated the microzymian theory, which was quite at odds with the germ theory. Bernard’s work was aligned with Béchamp’s. Bernard described milieu intérieur, the interstitial fluids regarded as an internal environment in which the cells of the body are nourished and maintained in a state of equilibrium, which he and others also called terrain… Pasteur was hostile to Béchamp, whose work threatened Pasteur’s reputation and income. Pasteur effectively promoted his own work, while Béchamp’s modesty and devotion to his research kept himself out of the spotlight… Pasteur’s manuscript materials were deposited in 1964 with the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris by Pasteur’s grandson Louis-Pasteur Vallery-Radot (1886–1970), who was credited as Pasteur’s editor. Public access was restricted until VR’s death in 1971, there was no printed catalog until 1985. This collection is the largest in existence. It was collected by René and included the papers of Pasteur’s nephew and sometime personal assistant Adrien Loir… Before Béchamp’s death, Leverson translated his book The Blood and its Third Anatomical Element into English, Béchamp approved the translation; Leverson published it in Philadelphia in 1911 and in London in 1912. He persuaded a young writer, Ethel Douglas Hume, to compile, edit, and publish his notes from his conversations with Béchamp. In 1923 Hume published Bechamp Or Pasteur? A Lost Chapter In The History of Biology in England and Chicago. – Louis Pasteur Recants His Germ Theory
Highlights
The germ theory believes that the function, shape, and color of microorganisms are constant and every disease is associated with specific microorganisms. It believes that we should protect ourselves against germs and tend to support vaccinations as a way of protection. It pays little attention to the health of our cells and the strength of our immune system, instead, the theory focuses on the idea that disease from germs can strike at anybody. The main emphasis of the germ theory of health is the killing of germs… The terrain theory of health was introduced by Claude Bernard and Antoine Bechamp… It takes a more holistic look at disease examining the host instead of the invader... The terrain theory of health tends to be vaccine hesitant and puts less emphasis on killing germs through constant sanitation and use of antibiotics. Instead, the terrain theory looks at germs as an important asset to building healthy homeostasis in the body. The idea that an unhealthy bodily environment is more likely to attract and be a good host for disease explains why, for example, the exact same flu virus in the same flu season may affect certain people more than others. The terrain theory of health believes in the importance of creating a healthy body through detoxification, nutrition, and lifestyle. – Dr. David Jockers
Ignoring Wellness Care That Prevents & Lessens Severity of Illness
Conspicuously absent from all the public pronouncements are recommendations on how to strengthen the immune system so it can protect you from the current pandemic, the next one, and the one after that. – Dr. Ray Andrew, MD
Natural Immunity Ignored by “Public Health” Authorities
A recent study from the CDC shows the power of natural immunity during the Delta wave. – Jan 26, 2022
Our Bodies are Designed to Build Immunity Through Exposure to Various Microorganisms
“For an immune system to work properly, it needs to be confronted by an infection in the first year of life. Without that confrontation with an infection, the system is left unprimed and will not work properly.”… Our bodies are designed to build immunity through exposure to various microorganisms… Nearly 80% of the immune system is found in our gut, and we need healthy bacteria to support immunity. Unfortunately, “modern” medicine seems to have forgotten the power of natural immunity, and our children are paying for it. When it comes to weakened immune systems, there are many culprits. A massive toxic load from agricultural chemicals, radiation, and pollution create chronic inflammation and leave our immune systems under constant assault. The massive number of infant vaccines we administer put the immune system in a protective mode instead of allowing it to introduce the bacteria required for healthy gut flora. And a fear of germs has left many young children isolated in a Lysol prison, safe from germs, dirt, other children, or anything else their parents are worried about. Professor Greaves can see the irony; as we make advances in hygiene and medicine, we reduce critical exposure to bacteria that can cause bigger problems. – Is Your Home Too Clean? How Germs Prevent Childhood Cancer
Playing in the Dirt
Dr. Elizabeth Mumper MD, author of numerous peer-reviewed articles on allergy, immunology and behavioral and developmental pediatrics, explained how children can easily stay healthy the old-fashioned way: good food, exercise, enough sleep, a rich social life and playing outside in the dirt. – Children’s Health Defense, Oct 26, 2021
Promoting Anxious Beliefs Leads to Stress & Weakening the Immune System
The world is currently gripped in fear of the scary coronavirus. Let’s first get one fact clear: If you have ever had a cold or flu in your life, odds are that it was the result of a coronavirus infection. Yes, coronaviruses cause colds. But, we are being programmed with the belief that this particular cold virus is “deadly.” … Yes, there have been corona-related deaths… What is misleading is the fear that everyone who carries this virus may die… This is simply untrue! The health of almost all the victims of this coronavirus was already compromised before they were infected… Healthy people get cold and flu symptoms, while those already sick and near death’s door may experience the “Grim Reaper” when infected by the virus… As presented in The Biology of Belief, stress is responsible for up to 90% of illness, including heart disease, cancer and diabetes. When an individual is in stress, the release of stress hormones (e.g., cortisol) shuts down the immune system to conserve the body’s energy for running away from the perceived stressor, that proverbial “saber-toothed tiger.” Stress hormones are so effective at compromising the immune system, that physicians therapeutically provide recipients of organ transplants with stress hormones to prevent their immune system from rejecting the foreign implant…The media (perhaps in conjunction with the pharmaceutical industry) is compromising people’s health using the fear card! This is the result of negative thinking (the nocebo effect) which is the complete opposite of the placebo effect manifest through positive thinking! If you make efforts to stay healthy, with good nutrition, exercise, taking vitamins and supplements, and more importantly, avoiding stress (e.g., the “fear” of the virus), even if you do get infected with the virus, you will likely only end up with a cold and/or slight fever. If you are someone with a compromised immune system, it is supportive to surround yourself with loving family and friends, nature, and positive thoughts as well as any other nutrition and vitamins that you may already be taking for your health and wellbeing. Following your intuition about what is best for you is key! The point here is that no matter who you are and what your state of health, you will only benefit from steering clear of the fear and supporting yourself in whatever way feels best to you. Please remember the truth of quantum physics, the most valid of all sciences on the planet: Consciousness is creating your life experiences! Are you being conscious of disease … or of health? Wishing you all Health, Happiness and Harmony. – Bruce H. Lipton Ph.D. Mar 10, 2020
Spreading Serenity
Good morning, everyone. How are you? A bit anxious, perhaps? I can feel it in the air myself… Take a deep breath (through your nose, with your diaphragm) and calm your nerves. This, in turn, will calm everyone else’s nerves. We’re still animals who can sense anxiety in others. Break the chain of anxiety. Spread serenity. – Mark Sisson, Email March 15, 2020
As Always, Virus Exposure Grants Immunity
The virus itself particularly the variant called Omicron is a type of vaccine, creates both B cell and T cell immunity and it’s done a better job of getting out to the world population than we have with vaccines… in African countries, 80% positive. Chance of severe disease, dramatically reduced because of that infection exposure. – Bill Gates, video
Natural Immunity Is, Of Course, Superior to Vaccine-Induced Immunity
According to Dr. Steven Pelech, a professor of immunology from the University of British Columbia, Canada, “This concept that the vaccine-induced immunity is superior in any way to natural immunity is sheer nonsense. Anyone who says this should consult a first-year immunology textbook…We now know that these Covid vaccines that use the RNA or that use the adenovirus for delivery, the immunity does not last. Even with double booster shots in Israel we see that 90% of the people that are in hospital in Israel are double-vaccinated.” – 130 Research Studies Affirming The Power of Natural Covid Immunity, Nov 23, 2021
A Narrow Window of Considerations Made Vaccines Appear “Normal” When in Fact a More Appropriate Context Offers the Bigger Picture
What lies outside the debate about vaccine safety? Effective natural and alternative treatments for Covid. Superiority of natural immunity to vaccine-induced immunity. The “terrain” of infection: why some people experience serious illness and death, and others do not. The positive role viruses, even pathogenic ones, play in health and evolution. The decline of virulence over time. The sociological implications of handing body sovereignty over to government authorities. Basically, vaccines are a way to keep society-as-we-know it functioning as usual. The idea is, “Everybody get the jab and we can go back to normal.” It is much like psychiatric medications. Taking for granted a society that makes vast numbers of people miserable, maybe we need those drugs to keep them happy, or at least functioning. They can get back to normal — the life defined by society’s norms. Yet that life is what may have made them miserable to begin with. Similarly, what we have known as normal includes the conditions that result in needing (arguably, anyway) the jab in the first place. Normal has been a society where autoimmunity, addiction, diabetes, obesity6 and other chronic conditions are at epidemic levels. This epidemic is actually quite new. In the 1950s, the prevalence of diabetes in the United States was one-tenth what it is today. Obesity was one-third. Autoimmune diseases were medical rarities. As most Covid deaths are in people with diabetes and other chronic conditions, the whole context of vaccine policy includes conditions that are historically aberrant. Normal has been the disempowerment of people to maintain their own health themselves and in community, making them dependent instead on experts to do things to them. The “patient” is passive, patiently enduring what the expert doctor does to her. – Charles Eisenstein
Reporting by Date
- Mar 1, 2024 — Policy Review: The Nature of the Events of the Covid Era; “The use of the word “novel” by the government officials and agencies which promoted the pandemic narrative conveyed the misleading notion that there was no adequate immune recognition” — PANDA link
- Dec 10, 2023 — John Gets Sick — Dr. John Campbell 12-min video
- Nov 27, 2023 — Study: Natural Immunity More Effective Protection Than Vaccine — Covid Call to Humanity link
- Nov 21, 2023 — Risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and hospitalization in individuals with natural, vaccine-induced and hybrid immunity: a retrospective population-based cohort study from Estonia “Individuals with vaccine-induced immunity were at higher risk than those with natural immunity for infection” — Anneli Uuskula et al, Scientific Reports link
- Sep 2, 2023 — Are We Too Afraid of Germs? Immunologist Dr. Steven Templeton on Healthy Infections, the Appearance of Safety, and Shutdown Culture — American Thought Leaders, Epoch TV — 1 hr video
- Feb 10, 2023 – Fauci, CDC & FDA Conspired To Lie About Natural Immunity – Jimmy Dore 19-min video
- Jul 27, 2022 – Is Your Home Too Clean? How Germs Prevent Childhood Cancer – Ty & Charlene Bollinger, The Truth About Cancer link
- Jul 20, 2022 — Pfizer’s Covid-19 mRNA Product is 13-Times Less Effective at Preventing Infection With SARS-CoV-2 than Naturally Acquired Immunity! — Dr. Briam W. Bridle, COVID Chronicles link
- Jul 18, 2022 — The Silent Killers — Dr. Kevin Stillwagon link
- Jul 8, 2022 — Study Confirms Natural Immunity Offers Superior Protection Against Reinfection, Severe Disease Compared To Covid Vaccines — Covid Call to Humanity link
- Jul 8, 2022 — NEJM Study Shows Vaccines Offers No Significant Advantage Compared To Natural Immunity — Covid Call to Humanity link
- Jun 22, 2022 — Natural immunity offers greater Covid protection than vaccines, study finds — Jordan Gartner, NBC link
- Jun 9, 2022 — Protection and Waning of Natural and Hybrid Immunity to SARS-CoV-2 — Yair Goldberg, PhD, et al, NEJM link
- Apr 18, 2022 — New Study: Natural Immunity from Prior Covid Infection Among Unvaccinated Individuals Lasted for at least 650 Days — Shell Lorenzo, Covid Call to Humanity link
- Apr 5, 2022 — CDC Director Acknowledges Infection-Induced Immunity aka Natural Immunity — Shell Lorenzo, Covid Call To Humanity link
- Mar 9, 2022 — Study: Natural immunity still robust and persistent after one and a half year of recovery from Covid infection — Covid Call to Humanity link
- Feb 20, 2022 – Mr. Bill Gates is Sad – Dr. John Campbell video
- Feb 14, 2022 — Pfizer Scientists Say Natural Immunity is Better — Sage Edwards, Organic Lifestyle link
- Feb 11, 2022 – Natural Covid Immunity Discovered in Unvaccinated Adults Up To 20 Months After Infection – Arjun Walia, The Pulse link
- Jan 26, 2022 — CDC Finally Acknowledges The Power of Natural Immunity — Joe Martinto, The Pulse 10 min video
- Dec 11, 2021 — New Study Shows Natural Immunity More Protective Over Time Than Covid Vaccination — Covid Call to Humanity link
- Nov 23, 2021 — 130 Research Studies Affirming The Power of Natural Covid Immunity — Arjun Walia, The Pulse link
- Oct 26, 2021 — Pediatrician ‘Ostracized’ for Suggesting We May Not Be Able to Vaccinate Ourselves Out of Pandemic — Children’s Health Defense link
- Oct 15, 2021 – Beyond Industrial Medicine: Yes, We Can Return Medicine to the People – Charles Eisenstein, Children’s Health Defense link
- Aug 13, 2021 — The Terrain Theory vs. The Germ Theory — Ray Andrew MD link
- Mar 10, 2020 — Do Not Fear the Bogeyman — Bruce H Lipton PHD, Washington Post article reprinted by WantToKnow.info link
- Mar 3, 2020 — Why Everything You Learned About Viruses is Wrong — Sayer Ji, Waking Times link
- Oct 3, 2019 — Profound Implications of the Virome for Human Health and Autoimmunity — Ali Le Vere, GreenMedInfo link
- Jul 30, 2019 – Germ Theory Versus Terrain: The Wrong Side Won the Day – Merinda Teller, MPH, PhD, The Weston A Price Foundation link
- Mar 8, 2019 – How the Microbiome Undermines the Ego, Vaccine Policy, and Patriarchy – Sayer Ji, GreenMedInfo link
- No Date – Germ Theory vs Terrain Theory of Health & Disease – Dr. David Jockers link
