Terrain Theorists Are Not Terrorists but Neither Are Germ Theorists

A lot of debate abounds over whether or not the SARS-Cov-2 virus exists – or viruses themselves exist – and can cause illness or whether it’s the health of our body, our terrain, and the cells that lead to someone becoming sick.

Writing in Country Squire Magazine, Roger Watson, shares a highly emotive piece denying terrain theory. There appears to be some confusion and conflict in his article, which Rachel Nicoll, PhD, seeks to redress in a response to his article.

In it she clearly sets out why both terrain theory and germ theory are both valid and balance each other. The health of our terrain (body) determines how sick we might become if we become infected with a germ, be it bacterial or viral, or even prevent us from becoming sick in the first place.

She sums it up nicely by saying, “…if our health depended exclusively upon germ theory, then we would all be sick all the time. In fact, it is highly unlikely that the human race would have survived past a few hundred years!”.

Note: The above is extracted from Alliance for Natural Health’s Natural News Roundup

Watson is a British Registered Nurse and Editor-in-Chief of Nurse Education in Practice.  His article is distastefully titled ‘Terrain Theory Terrorists’.  Terrain theorists, irrespective of whether you agree or disagree with them, are not terrorists. Germ theory and terrain theory are both theories.  Although some do, not everyone sits in one camp or the other and even fewer take it to extremes.  It is, after all, science and not warfare.

In science, the word “theory” refers to the way that scientists interpret observed phenomena and the results of experiments. Theories can be proven or rejected and theories are continually improved or modified as more information is gathered.  A part of this process is scientific debate which should be aimed at coming to the most appropriate conclusion. So, to label people who promote any scientific theory as “terrorists” is simply absurd.  And, it is an uncomfortable reminder that science is being used as a tool for propaganda.

But Watson’s shoddy remarks don’t stop with the article’s title.  According to Dr. Nicoll, Watson labelled terrain theory as nonsense and quoted Wikipedia’s opinion that terrain theory is an “obsolete variation” of “germ theory denialism.”

Roger Watson also makes some very sweeping, but unsubstantiated, statements such as ‘But the …. doctors who adhere to (terrain theory) do not use or prescribe antibiotics and, needless to say, they are anti-vaxxers’. Is there a survey of these doctors to find out to what extent they support terrain theory and whether or not they prescribe antibiotics or are anti-vaxxers? No, it seems not, or he would have provided a reference to it.

He believes that one is either a germ theory adherent or a germ theory denier through advocating terrain theory. Such polarisation is completely unnecessary and does not, in any case, reflect the real world where degrees of opinion exist.

Response to Roger Watson’s Article: Terrain Theory Terrorists, Rachel Nicoll, 21 September 2022

As a medical researcher, Dr. Nicoll wrote, “I would like to demonstrate that it is possible for terrain theory to coexist peacefully with germ theory.”

We have all seen comments from aggressive germ theory deniers on social media which seem to have got progressively worse over the months.  Dr. Nicoll admits that perhaps Watson has encountered such people and so has come out with guns blazing. “But I have no intention of employing any of these methods,” Dr. Nicoll wrote.

Nicoll agrees that germs – bacteria, viruses, parasites, etc – do exist “there is ample evidence for this” but argues that terrain theory is also important. “Unfortunately, possibly because of encounters with rabid germ theory deniers, it is clear that Roger Watson does not really understand terrain theory … Yet he appears to accept some of its tenets,” Dr. Nicoll wrote.

Germ theory states that a number of diseases are caused by microorganism/germ invasion of the body. This has now evolved into the ‘microbial theory of disease’ and is currently accepted as the medical model, for which prevention takes the form of avoidance and vaccination, while treatment involves pharmaceutical drugs.

Terrain theory [ ] is essentially what determines whether a germ infects us or it doesn’t and if it does, how badly we are affected. We have all seen in families how one person gets really sick with the flu, others are mildly affected and some seem to escape symptoms altogether. It’s all the same virus, so what determines this difference? The terrain, or health status, of the individual; a healthy body will assist in fighting off a germ, whereas a body which is already struggling with a health issue could have difficulty.

Terrain theory has honourable beginnings, originating with the scientists Claude Bernard and Antoine Béchamp, roughly contemporaries of Louis Pasteur, who originated germ theory in the 19th century. Science, as we know it today, was then in its infancy, so much of what all three scientists postulated has now been overtaken but nevertheless, germ theory has evolved down one route and terrain theory down another.

We can see that germ theory focuses exclusively on the germ, while terrain theory is about the susceptibility to illness or serious disease due to the state of the body. Whereas germ theory advocates avoidance and vaccination, as we saw above, terrain theory recommends getting your body as healthy as possible and boosting your immune system to better fight off the germs. So, we need to take account of both theories in public health, not just the one.

Response to Roger Watson’s Article: Terrain Theory Terrorists, Rachel Nicoll, 21 September 2022

The gut has long been known to contain a mixture of bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungi etc. The lead author of a 2004 study, Professor Jeremy Nicholson, wrote: “It is widely accepted that most major disease classes have significant environmental and genetic components and that the incidence of disease in a population or individual is a complex product of the conditional probabilities of certain gene components interacting with a diverse range of environmental triggers.”

What does he mean by “environmental triggers”?  That would be the terrain, the internal and external environment which affect the body, Dr. Nicoll wrote.

Similarly, others have reported that the gut microbiota composition is influenced by many factors, including nutrition, stress, pollutants, antibiotics and other drugs, collectively known as the exposome; again, this represents the terrain.

The gut contains vast quantities of bacteria, some beneficial, some neutral and some disease-causing. What determines the balance between them, thereby determining whether the body exhibits health or disease? A diet of real food, with plenty of fibre and vegetables and a healthy lifestyle with adequate exercise, are huge beneficial influences whereas malign influences include processed (as opposed to real) food, sugar (because it promotes disease-causing bacteria), smoking, the quantity of antibiotics taken (because they wipe out many of the beneficial bacteria) and environmental toxins.

The gut also contains many viruses.  A healthy immune system keeps stored viruses dormant, while a suppressed or deficient immune system allows them to flourish.

So, the terrain influences whether health or disease results from exposure to disease-causing germs; it is not solely the presence in the body of the disease-causing germs.

Response to Roger Watson’s Article: Terrain Theory Terrorists, Rachel Nicoll, 21 September 2022

The scientific discourse surrounding germ theory and terrain theory has been around longer than we have and, assuming another theory doesn’t appear to replace them, it’s likely to continue long after we’re gone. There are good and respected scientists debating from both sides and the debate should continue but we don’t need to pick a side and fight among ourselves – the growing polarisation of views on SARS-CoV-2 and “pathogenic viruses” will divide and conquer the health freedom movement.  As Alliance for Natural Health’s Dr. Rob Verkerk said:

“Let’s get this one put to bed sooner rather than later – and re-unite our movement based on the multitude of issues we do agree on. Let’s forge ahead with the extraordinarily ambitious task of re-building a world that respects and values humanity, human dignity and freedom, as well as nature. And one that tolerates and respects differences in opinion or perspective.”

Featured image: The Terrain Theory vs. The Germ Theory, Dr. Robert Young and It’s the Terrain, Prestige Wellness Institute