This is a fascinating read. From a medical standpoint, eating anything that is so closely related to the human body genetically is cannibalism as far as I am concerned. Does that seem like a stretch?"Over 60 percent of the 1,415 infectious diseases currently known to modern medicine are capable of infecting both humans and animals. Most of these diseases originated in animals and now infect people and include viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa and helminths, with 175 pathogenic species associated with diseases considered to be ‘emerging’.Between 1972 and 1999, 35 new agents of disease were discovered and since then many more have re-emerged with renewed vengeance after long periods of inactivity, or are expanding into areas where they have not previously been reported, according to World Health Organization (WHO). These include tuberculosis, malaria, and cholera."
Do you know why the bible and the Jewish tradition specify not to eat pork? That it is considered "unclean"? It is partly because pigs have a strikingly similar genetic code to humans. This is why before you go into surgery you are told not to eat any pig products because infection and transfer of parasites and disease risk increases dramatically.
"One reason for God's rule forbidding pork is that the digestive system of a pig is completely different from that of a cow. It is similar to ours, in that the stomach is very acidic. Pigs are gluttonous, never knowing when to stop eating. Their stomach acids become diluted because of the volume of food, allowing all kinds of vermin to pass through this protective barrier. Parasites, bacteria, viruses and toxins can pass into the pig's flesh because of overeating. These toxins and infectious agents can be passed on to humans when they eat a pig's flesh" (Russell, p. 76-77)."Additionally, pig stem cells and other parts are studied and used to treat humans (purified of course) because of the close similarities between our genetics. Armour thyroid is a wonderful drug for thyroid disease patients that works so well because it is taken from actual pig thyroid which supplies not only T3 and T4 but several other iodine/tyrosine molecules that they thyroid needs and synthetic drugs generally do not supply. Pigs and humans are close relatives. Apes and humans are really close relatives. What will be eating next? Soylent Green?
So, when we eat our "relatives" we have a higher incidence of acquiring diseases. This is true of eating any animal of course. Maybe PETA and other groups who don't believe in eating meat can use this as their mantra...it isn't safe.Eating larger animals tends to create a greater propensity of transferring toxins. For example, tuna are very large and the risk of mercury contamination is quite great compared to a small fish whose body and fat stores don't hold the toxins. This applies to land animals too.
Then there is the issue of how the animal is raised and slaughtered and the foods it is fed, cleanliness of 'processing', etc.
I am not strictly vegetarian. I will eat organic free range chicken and the occasional buffalo meat. I generally gave up meat less for moral reasons, than for the fact it seemed to make me ill. After watching enough Oprah and 20/20 programs on how disgusting the meat industry is with all the fifth and who knows what else we might be eating...I gave it up. The treatment of the animals became something I learned later on.
When I was growing up, we butchered our own animals that our cousins raised. It was still a pretty horrific experience, even though the animals were treated a thousand times better than what you see in corporate agriculture. They did get hormones though and grain feed, which isn't healthy. Yet, it was better than what you get today at your average supermarket.
How about we improve our health and give our sisters and brothers a break at the same time? We have better solutions for our dietary needs that are also less harmful to our ecosystem.
Posts
