Why You Should Avoid Pork

Pork is the most consumed meat in the world, accounting for around 38 percent of global meat production. It is especially popular in East and Southeast Asia, Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, North America, South America, and Oceania. ( 1 )

If you are familiar with the Bible; God instructed his people not to eat pork or shellfish. Many people are surprised to discover this, but in the Old Testament, God warned that the pig was an unclean animal. Because? Because the pig is a scavenger and is not intended for human consumption. ( Leviticus 11 ).

Pigs are pretty dirty animals, they eat farm waste and literally anything they can find; This includes bugs, insects, remains they find lying around, their own feces, corpses of sick animals, including their own offspring. A farmer one day went out to feed his pigs and never returned. That morning in 2012, it became the pig's breakfast. ( 2 )

Just knowing what a pig's diet is like can explain why pig meat can be so dirty and so unappetizing to consume. Being "disgusted" is not the only reason not to eat it, it is essential that you know a little more about pork before reaching your own conclusion.

The pig's problems

1. The pig's digestive system

Pork meat is more saturated with toxins than other farm animals. There are several reasons that explain this:

1. A pig digests what it eats quickly, in about four hours while a cow takes 24 hours to digest the grass it eats. During the digestive process, animals (including humans) eliminate excess toxins and other ingested components that could be harmful to health. Since the pig's digestive system works in a fairly basic way, many of these toxins are stored in fatty tissues, which are subsequently destined for human consumption .

2. It is known that the pig has few sweat glands ( 3 ). By barely being able to sweat, it cannot get rid of toxins , which accumulate in the pig's body, which means that, by eating its meat, we ingest all those toxins. No human being needs to accumulate more toxins than they already have.

In fact, we should do everything we can to eliminate them and reduce exposure to more toxins. Choose carefully what you eat.

2. Risk of cancer from consuming processed bacon or pork

According to the WHO , the consumption of processed meat such as ham, bacon and sausages causes cancer . The International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies processed meat as carcinogenic, something that causes cancer. Researchers found that consuming 50 grams of processed meat per day increased the risk of rectal cancer by 18%. ( 4 )

Processed meats such as ham, bacon, sausages, and some deli meats are all products derived from pork; 50 grams would be equivalent to 4 slices . Precisely this amount can increase the probability of getting cancer by 9%.

Unfortunately, pork and processed meat is often consumed by people following the Keto diet , the Paleo diet, or the Atkins diet among others. As a substitute for this meat, healthier meats such as beef, lamb or chicken could be used.

3. Swine flu in humans

Swine flu is a virus that has been transferred from pigs to humans . Influenza or flu viruses can be transmitted directly from pigs to humans, from humans to pigs, and from humans to humans. ( 5 ) Human infection with swine flu virus is likely when people are physically close to infected pigs.

Swine flu in humans is now called "human variant virus infection" . I wonder why the authorities removed the word "pig". Probably so that people wouldn't stop eating pork.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, H1N1 and H3N2 are swine flu viruses "endemic among pig populations in the United States." Outbreaks can occur throughout the year. H1N1 has been observed in swine populations since 1930, while H3N2 began in the United States around 1998. ( 6 )

According to the CDC, swine flu has not been proven to be transmissible to people from eating properly handled and prepared pork. Properly prepared means cooking the pork to an internal temperature of 71ºC degrees. This is supposed to kill viruses and other foodborne pathogens. But what happens if you consume pork from a pig that had the flu and was not cooked properly?

4. Dangers of trichinosis

Did you know that pigs carry a variety of parasites in their bodies and meat? Some of these parasites are difficult to kill even by cooking. This is why there are so many warnings about eating undercooked pork . One of the biggest concerns with eating pork is trichinosis, or trichinellosis. This is an infection that humans contract by eating undercooked or raw pork that contains the larvae of the Trichinella worm. ( 7 ) In some countries and cultures, they actually consume raw pork.

This parasite and worm is very commonly found in pork. When the worm, which usually lives in cysts in the stomach, bursts open through stomach acids, its larvae are released into the pig's body . These new worms make their home in the pig's muscles. Next stop? The unconscious human body consuming this infected flesh.

Similar to what these worms do to pigs, they can also do to humans. If you eat raw or undercooked pork that contains the parasite, you are also swallowing Trichinella larvae encased in a cyst . Their digestive juices dissolve the cyst, but that only releases the parasite inside. The larvae then penetrate the small intestine, where they mature into adult worms and mate . If you are in this stage of trichinosis, you may experience abdominal pain, diarrhea, fatigue, nausea, and vomiting.

Unfortunately, it doesn't end there. About a week after eating the infected pork, the adult female worms now inside your body produce larvae that enter your bloodstream and eventually burrow into your muscles or other tissues . Once this tissue invasion occurs, symptoms of trichinosis include:

• Headache
• High fever
• General weakness
• Muscle pain and tenderness
• Pink eye (conjunctivitis)
• Light sensitivity
• Swelling of the eyelids or face.

And while no one particularly wants to consume worms, trichinosis is a serious disease that almost anything should be done to avoid. Abdominal symptoms may occur one to two days after infection, while additional symptoms usually begin two to eight weeks after infection. According to the Mayo Clinic, the severity of symptoms generally depends on the number of larvae consumed in infected meat.

The CDC recommends cooking pork thoroughly, as well as freezing pork before cooking to kill worms. I don't know about you, but I don't feel good eating anything that first has to kill its worms to eat.

In fact, trichinellosis has been theorized to be the exact cause of Mozart's sudden death at age 35 . An American researcher theorized this after studying all the documents recording the days before, during and after Mozart's death. This research published in the June 2001 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine found that Mozart suffered from many of the symptoms listed above and had himself recorded his consumption of pork in his diary just 44 days before his own death . ( 8 )

5. Pigs harbor common viruses and parasites

Pigs carry many viruses and parasites. Whether by coming into direct contact with them through farms or by eating their meat, we are at greater risk of contracting one of these painful, often debilitating diseases (not to mention our bodies become overloaded with toxins) .

Pigs are the main carriers of:

• Taenia solium had it
• Hepatitis E virus (HEV): In developed countries, sporadic cases of HEV genotype 3 have occurred in humans after eating raw or undercooked pork. ( 9 )
• Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, also known as blue ear pig disease
• Nipah Virus
• Menangle Virus
• Viruses of the Paramyxoviridae family ( 10 )

Each of these parasites and viruses can cause serious health problems that can last for many years.

Industrial livestock and pigs

If all of these concerns aren't enough or you think you'll avoid them by cooking your pork very well, you should also know the common conditions of pork raised for consumption . Today, a whopping 97 percent of pigs in the United States are raised in factory farms. This means that these pigs never live a healthy life of fresh air and open pastures.

If you are a pork eater, you should know that it is very likely (only 3 percent unlikely) that you are eating the meat of a pig that spent all its time in a crowded warehouse without fresh air or exercise, fed a steady diet . of harmful medications to keep pigs breathing as producers make pigs grow faster and fatter. These medications often cause pigs to become crippled due to their own excessive and unnatural weight gain. ( 11 ) Do these sound like conditions that produce a health-promoting piece of meat? Of course not, so you should avoid pork and other factory farmed meats.

Drug-resistant bacteria in pork chops and ground pork

An estimated 70 percent of factory-farmed pigs get pneumonia when they go to slaughter. Unsightly, dirty factory farm conditions and extreme overcrowding make pigs extremely likely to contract serious diseases . Conditions are so bad that the only way to keep these pigs barely alive is sometimes to overuse and overuse antibiotics.

I've talked a lot about what this does to humans. Like humans, pigs more frequently develop antibiotic-resistant diseases . You may like the taste of pork, but do you want to consume a pork product from a pig that has a "superbug"?

The story of bacteria-laden pork continues. A 2013 Consumer Reports analysis of U.S. pork chops found in ground pork samples a widespread presence (69 percent) of a bacteria called yersinia enterocolitica . This bacteria infects about 100,000 Americans a year, especially children, and can cause fever, diarrhea, and abdominal pain in humans. ( 12 )

History of pork and cultures that do not eat it

The pig is one of the oldest forms of livestock in the world. It is said to have been domesticated as early as 5000 BC. When it comes to the beginnings of pork consumption in the US, Hernando de Soto is called "the father of the American pork industry." In 1539, de Soto landed in Florida with 13 pigs in tow, and the consumption of pork spread and grew thereafter in America. Pigs were first commercially slaughtered in Cincinnati, which was nicknamed "Porkopolis." ( 13 )

On the other hand, Kosher Orthodox Jewish dietary laws and Halal Islamic dietary laws prohibit the consumption of pork. There are many other religions and cultures that also avoid pork .

Christian religious denominations that prohibit the consumption of pork include:

• Ethiopian Orthodox
• Hebrew roots
• Messianic Jews
• Rastafari
• Seventh Day Adventists
• United Church of God

Avoiding pork for these groups is based on Leviticus 11, Deuteronomy 14, Isaiah 65, and Isaiah 66.

Final thoughts

What you choose to eat is up to you. Myself, I choose to stay away from unclean pork (and shellfish). The reasons discussed here are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to eating pigs and your health.

If you think you can opt for a “higher quality” pork product, think again. Don't be fooled by a "no added hormones" claim when it comes to pork because, although it might be true, hormones are not allowed in the US for pork production. It is the pig itself, factory farm conditions, and the common use of medications that are some of the major problems that "no hormones" will not eliminate or eliminate.

Original Article: https://draxe.com/nutrition/why-you-should-avoid-pork/

References:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pork
• https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/10/farmer-eaten-by-hungry-hogs/
• https://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/04/22/2223974.htm
• https://www.cancer.org/latest-news.html
• https://www.everydayhealth.com/swine-flu.aspx
• https://www.cdc.gov/flu/swineflu/keyfacts_pigs.htm
• https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/trichinellosis/
• https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/648393
• https://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/hev/hevfaq.htm
• https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/4/2/98-0214_article
• https://www.peta.org/living/food/top-10-reasons-eat-pigs/
• https://www.peta.org/living/food/top-10-reasons-eat-pigs/