Chemicals in Meat. Scary!

Dangerous Chemicals in Meat

Numerous other potentially hazardous chemicals, of which consumers are generally unaware, are present in meat and meat products. In their book Poisons in Your Body, Gary and Steven Null give us an inside look at the latest gimmicks used in the corporate-owned animal factories. "The animals are kept alive and fattened by the continuous administration of tranquilizers, hormones, antibiotics, and 2,700 other drugs," They write. "The process starts even before birth and continues long after death. Although these drugs will still be present in the meat when you eat it, the law does not require that they be listed on the
package."

One of these chemicals is diethylstilbestrol (DES), a growth hormone that has been used in the U.S. for the last twenty years despite studies that have shown it to be carcinogenic. Banned as a serious health hazard in thirty-two countries, it continues to be used by the U.S. meat industry, possibly because the FDA estimates it saves meat producers more than $500 million annually.

Another popular growth stimulant is arsenic. In 1972 this well-known poison was found by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to exceed the legal limit in fifteen percent of the nation's poultry.9

Sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite, chemicals used as preservatives to slow down putrefaction in cured meat and meat products, including ham, bacon, bologna, salami, frankfurters, and fish, also endanger health. These chemicals give meat its bright-red appearance by reacting with pigments in the blood and muscle. Without them, the natural gray-brown color of dead meat would turn off many prospective consumers.

Unfortunately, these chemicals do not distinguish between the blood of a corpse and the blood of a living human, and many persons accidentally subjected to excessive amount have died of poising. Even smaller quantities can prove hazardous, especially for young children or babies, and therefore the United Nations' joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee of Food Additives warned, "Nitrate should on no account be added to baby food." A.J. Lehman of the FDA pointed out that "only a small margin of safety exists between the amount of nitrate that is safe and that which may be dangerous."

Because of the filthy, overcrowded conditions forced upon animals by the livestock industry, vast amounts of antibiotics must be used. But such rampant use of antibiotics naturally creates antibiotic - resistant bacteria that are passed on to those who eat the meat. The FDA estimates that penicillin and tetracycline save the meat industry $1.9 billion a year, giving them sufficient reason to overlook the potential health hazards.

The trauma of being slaughtered also adds "pain poisons" (such as powerful stimulants) into the meat. These join with uneliminated wastes in the animal's blood, such as urea and uric acid, to further contaminate the flesh the consumers eat.

Diseases in Meat

In addition to dangerous chemicals, meat often carries diseases from the animals themselves. Crammed together in unclean conditions, force-fed, and inhumanely treated, animals destined for slaughter contract many more diseases than they ordinarily would. Meat inspectors attempt to filter out unacceptable meats, but because of pressures from the industry and lack of sufficient time for examination, much of what passes is far less wholesome than the meat purchaser realizes.

A 1972 USDA report lists carcasses that passed inspection after the diseased parts were removed. examples included nearly
100,000 cows with eye cancer and 3,596,302 cases of abscessed liver. The government also permits the sale if chickens with
airsacculitis, a pneumonia-like disease that causes pus-laden mucus to collect in the lungs. In order to meet federal standards,
the chicken's chest cavities are cleaned out with air-suction guns. But during this process diseased air sacs burst and pus seeps
into the meat.

The USDA has even been found to be lax in enforcing its own low standards. In its capacity of overseeing federal regulatory agencies, the U.S General Accounting Office cited the USDA for failure to correct various violations by slaughterhouses. Carcasses contaminated with rodent feces, cockroaches, and rust were found in meat-packing companies such as Swift, Armour, and Carnation.10 Some inspectors rationalize the laxity, explaining that if regulations were enforced, no meat-packers would remain open for business.

Digesting Meat

MEAT-EATER
-Has claws
-No skin pores, perspires through tongue
-Sharp front teeth for tearing, no flat molar teeth for grinding
-Intestinal tract 3 times body length so rapidly decaying meat can pass out quickly
-Strong hydrochloric acid in stomach to digest meat

HERBIVORE
-No claws
-Perspires through skin pores
-No sharp front teeth has flat rear molars
-Intestinal tract 10-12 times body length
-Stomach acid 20 times less strong than meat-eaters

MAN
-No claws
-Perspires through skin pores
-No sharp front teeth has flatrear molars
-Intestinal tract 12 times bodylength
-Stomach acid 20 times less strong than meat-eaters

Once within the stomach, meat requires digestive juices high in hydrochloric acid. The stomachs of humans and herbivores produce acid less than one-twentieth the strength of that found in carnivores.

Another crucial difference between the meat-eater and the vegetarian is found in the intestinal tract, where the food is further digested and nutrients are passed into the blood. A piece of meat is just part of a corpse, and its putrefaction creates poisonous wastes within the body. Therefore meat must be quickly eliminated. For this purpose, carnivores possess alimentary canals only three times the length of their bodies. Since man, like other non-flesh-eating animals, has and alimentary canal twelve times his body length, rapidly decaying flesh is retained for a much longer time, producing a number of undesirable toxic effects.

One body organ adversely affected by these toxins is the kidney. This vital organ, which extracts waste from the blood, is strained by the overload of poisons introduced by meat consumption. Even moderate meat-eaters demand three times more work form their kidneys than do vegetarians. The kidneys of a young person may be able to cope with this stress, but as one grows older the risk of kidney disease and failure greatly increases.

Further evidence of the unsuitability of the human intestinal tract for digestion of flesh is the relationship established by numerous studies, between colon cancer and meat-eating.One reason for the incidence of cancer is the high-fat, low-fiber content of the meat-centered diet. This results in a slow transit time through the colon, allowing toxic wastes to do their damage.

Native Foods Cafe

Attention all vegans...if you are looking for a good restaurant to grab some grub at..try Native Foods Cafe. Check out some of the yummy items they have on their menu. I'm a big fan of the Native Nachos but honestly I haven't had anything from there that wasn't good!




http://www.nativefoods.com

Ice Cream

I'm an ice cream freak! So when I changed my diet to non-dairy I went through ice cream withdrawals! BUT....there are substitutes and really good ones. My favorite is Soy Dream's Butter Pecan and also soy delicious which makes tons of different kinds of ice cream including sorbets and also ice cream made with coconut milk. YUM! You can find these brands at your local grocery stores.

Aspartame...the devil!

I recently have been reading more on the ingredient Aspartame. It is an artificial sweetner used in soft drinks and many other things. It is something that should be avoided at all costs! It amazes me that ingredients like this one gets approved by the FDA and is allowed to be put in our food and drinks for us to consume. So it is really up to us to look out for these things and take care of ourselves because no one else is.

Aspartame accounts for over 75 percent of the adverse reactions to food additives reported to the FDA. Many of these reactions are very serious including seizures and death.(1) A few of the 90 different documented symptoms listed in the report as being caused by aspartame include: Headaches/migraines, dizziness, seizures, nausea, numbness, muscle spasms, weight gain, rashes, depression, fatigue, irritability, tachycardia, insomnia, vision problems, hearing loss, heart palpitations, breathing difficulties, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, loss of taste, tinnitus, vertigo, memory loss, and joint pain.

How aspartame was approved is a lesson in how chemical and pharmaceutical companies can manipulate government agencies such as the FDA, "bribe" organizations such as the American Dietetic Association, and flood the scientific community with flawed and fraudulent industry-sponsored studies funded by the makers of aspartame.

Aspartame can be found in thousands of products such as:

instant breakfasts breath mints cereals sugar-free chewing gum cocoa mixes coffee beverages frozen desserts gelatin desserts juice beverages laxatives multivitamins milk drinks http://www.mercola.com/article/aspartame/dangers.htm MUST READ http://www.mercola.com/article/aspartame/hidden_dangers.htm

pharmaceuticals and supplements, including over-the-counter medicines shake mixes soft drinks tabletop sweeteners tea beverages instant teas and coffees topping mixes wine coolers yogurt

Toast

I can smell the fresh cornbread as I walk into my favorite vegan friendly LA restaurant, Toast. I try and eat here at least once a week because the menu is too good for words. I'm sitting at my usual table (yes, I come here often enough to have a usual table) sipping my ice tea. I always order the lentil soup to start with...so I'm anxiously waiting...and here it is and no surprise it's delicious as usual! It's by far the best lentil soup I have ever had! Up next is my falafel burger...on it is hummus, tomatoes and little cucumbers on a wheat bun. My mouth is filled with flavor on ever bite and the sweet potato fries are cooked just right..which I dip in tobasco sauce of course. I am stuffed as always and fully satisfied....

....I'll be back in a few days!