Food and Medicine: A Biosemiotic Perspective (Biosemiotics, 22)

Contents
About the Editors
Introduction to the Volume
	References
Part I: Food
	Biochemistry of Desire: The Biosemiotics of Advertising to Bacteria
		Introduction
		Engineering the Human Condition
		Biochemical Versus Audiovisual Advertising
		Artificial Selection Prescribes, Natural Selection Proscribes
		How Bacteria Create Desires
		Being Plural
		The Flavor Industry
		Taste and Democracy
		Scent Manipulation as Deceptive Semiosis
		Responding (Reacting?) to Manipulation
		Fasting as Counterpoint to Stimuli Barrage
		Conclusion
		References
	Food, Health and the Body: A Biosemiotic Approach to Contemporary Eating Habits
		Food, Health, and Medicine: From Antiquity to Contemporary Societies
		Food and Health in Contemporary Societies: The Case of Genetically Modified Foods as Opposed to Organic Products
			GM Food: The “Denial” of Nature
			Organic Food: The “Praise” of Nature
			Organic vs Genetically Modified Food and the Communication of Nature
		Food, Health… and the Body
		References
	How Sugarcane Accelerated Semiosis During Industrial Modernity, and How We Can Slow Down with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
		A Short History of Sugar
		Sugar and the Acceleration of Production
		Sugar and the Acceleration of Consumption
		Innovation and Acceleration
		Biopower and the Neurophysiology of Glucose
		Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, a Remedy for Sugar-Fueled Acceleration?
		The Biosemiotic Constitution of Modern Consciousness
		References
	Food, Care and the Sugar Maple Stand
		Sylvan Semiosis
		Land Husbandry and the Production of Maple Syrup
		Caring with Maple Trees
		Concluding Remarks
		References
	Restoring the Meaning of Food: Biosemiotic Remedies for the Nature/Culture Divide
		Introduction – Taking an Ecological Stance
		From Bacterial Culture to Cultivating Nature
		From Cultivating Nature to Cultivating Meaning
		Levels of Meaning from Nature to Culture
		Animism as Distributed Intelligence
		Becoming Means Assimilating Nature and Co-constructing Culture
		Conclusion
		References
	Free-Range Humans: Permaculture Farming as a Biosemiosic Model for Political Organization
		Introduction
		An Intelligent System Is Held Together with Semiotic Scaffolding
		Intelligent Agency Emerges from the Constraints (Lawful Use of Signs) That Enable Freedom (Misinterpreting Signs)
		Bisoemiosic Permaculture Negotiates Between Heterarchies and Hierarchies, Diversity and Specialization, Niche-Building and Global Intercourse
			Was It the Tool Itself or the Way We Used It?
		Why We Can’t Have Nice Things: Parasites and Monopolizers of Finite Resources and Semiotic Scaffolding
		Gas Burns the Semiosic and Poetic Ties
		Conclusions
		References
Part II: Medicine
	Biosemiotics, Holistic Biology and Self-Actualization
		Introduction
		‘Evidence-Based’ Mechanical Physicalist Medicine Contrasted with Biosemiotic ‘Person-Centered’ Relational Medicine
		Kurt Goldstein’s ‘Holistic Biology’ and the Existential Challenge to Self-Actualization That Pathology Poses
		The Reality of Communication and the Semiotic/Relational Recovery of ‘Person’ in the Human Frame: A Peircean Perspective
		Bridging the Gap Between ‘Fact’ and ‘Value’ Through a ‘Semantic Closure Relation’
		Integrating Complementary Approaches in Brain Injury Rehabilitation
		The Distinction Between the Physical and the Relational in the ‘Divided Brain’
		Concluding Thoughts
		References
	The Role of Biosemiosis and Dysfunctional Signaling Processes in Human Pathology
		Introduction
		Problems with the Current Model of Food Allergy
		Medical Diagnostics Challenge the Current Food Allergy Paradigm
		Errant Defense Is Not Exclusive to the Immune System
		Psychoneuroimmunology and Pathological Conditioning
		Types of Conditioning that Contribute to Pathology
		Interoceptive Perception and Classical Conditioning
		The Conditioned Reflex as Hidden Contributor to Illness
		Symptoms as Unconditioned Stimuli
		The Formation of a Conditioned Reflex
		Defense Behavior of Target Organs
		The Sympathetic Nervous System: Mediator of Defense
		Conclusion
		References
	Omics and the Biosemiotic Interaction of Food with Body, Mind, and Health
		Introduction
		Omics Sciences and Their Importance
		Gut Microbia Modify Omics Dynamics Through Modulating Food Intake and Processing
		The Biosemiotic Vocabulary of Extracellular Vesicles and Exosomes Mediating Higher-Order Cellular Communication
		Case Study: Interactions Between Foods and Health in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2D)
		Summary and Conclusions
		References