Biochemical Chain Reactions

When a package of firecrackers goes off in a chain reaction, one fusing or reacting with another, it is similar to the unseen reactions which occur in our body. A muscle cramp is such a reaction: the controlled release of energy has gotten out of hand; the normal controls cannot function. Or, as when such chain reactions occur in nerve endings, we have peripheral neuritis, angina pectoris, tic douloureux, herpes, etc.

The fuel that supports such reactions must be looked into. It happens to be phosphagen, which is so unstable that it cannot be separated from living tissue–at least it has not been so to date. The relationship of this reaction to sugar and potassium has been discussed.

Enzyme Regulators

Let us consider how the enzymic balance which controls ali living reactions is disturbed by nutritional deficiency. Almost every vitamin in its natural form is combined in an enzyme system. The characteristics of pellagra, of beriberi, of scurvy–all involved degenerations of a chain reaction type. These reactions are pathological deviations from normal enzyme reactions–chain reactions of a nature such as you get in your automobile if you have a broken accelerator spring, allowing your throttle to drop into the wide open position; or like a short-circuit in the wiring which allowed the battery current to warm up a conductor to a red heat.

All living cells are like an idling automobile engine: they are giving off carbon dioxide from combustion of their fuel reserves, which is essential for their reaction ability to their being able to carry on their functions. Even the seeds of plants are giving off carbon dioxide, proving their “engines” are in operation. If, on test, no carbon dioxide is being given off, it is a foregone conclusion that the seed is dead and cannot be sprouted. But some seeds have been found still alive after thousands of years, showing how well designed is the little “power plant.” Lotus seeds, for example, are known to have grown even though 3000 years old.

lnositol

Inositol has a molecular structure quite similar to glucose, the blood sugar. (Please distinguish here between natural glucose and the synthetics sold as corn sugar, corn syrup, dextrose, etc.) This structure of inositol may be a clue to its function. It is not useful, like glucose, as a fuel to supply energy for living tissues: such energy coming from reactions very complex biochemically–chain reactions that revolve around phosphagen. But, when the sugar is oxidized to produce energy, the phosphagen will disintegrate and lose its components by way of the blood and kidneys–unless maybe inositol is present to take the place of the temporarily lost sugar (until the next meal), thereby preventing valuable parts of the fuel-utilizing mechanisms from being junked. This process is simple, like the ship that must load up with stone ballast if there is no cargo to carry to keep her from capsizing.

The control of these enzymes, not too strangely, comes into our bodies from the seeds we eat or rather from the germ of those seeds, such as wheat. Raw, whole wheat gives us the enzyme to break clown the phytin of the seed into inositol, phosphoric acid, potassium and calcium and magnesium phosphates. Barley water contains this enzyme also. However, bleached white flour is not only refined but has had its enzymes destroyed by bleach poison, which also converts a vitamin E factor–xanthine–into a diabetic-producing poison– alloxan.

Potassium

The role of potassium in these reactions has been almost as much of a mystery as that of inositol. Like inositol, potassium has been shown to have a vital part to play in nerve and muscle function, the organs which can have chain reactions, Matthews has stated, “Potassium is necessary for the life of every living thing so far tested.” He also pointed out that in the tests with rats, the male required about twice the potassium needed by the female. (Reference: Applied Trophology, Vol. 2, No. 9 and Vol 1, No. 12)

Potassium seems to contribute radioactivity to our metabolic pattern and to act as a timing device to the heart muscle by reason of this effect. Potassium is selected in the soil by plants according to its radioactivity, which exchanges low activity potassium for higher, and it is probable that rainwater brings radioactivity from the higher atmosphere (the ionosphere or Heaviside layer), down to the plant life where it is put into organic forms for our nutritional use.

Related Disorders

What disorders have been related to these chain reaction disturbances? We will mention but a few: diabetic neuritis, pruritus (itching), constipation (peristalsis), tic douloureux, lupus erythematosus, paralysis, muscular dystrophy, arthritis and others. Remember that biochemical chain reactions are under the influence of the enzyme systems, and loss of function of these important regulatory networks may be one of the principal deleterious effects of counterfeit food products.