Red Meats and a Therapeutic Diet
There are many reasons to not include red meats in a therapeutic
diet ranging from slowing down the process of elimination to
increasing the chances of colon cancer.
Meat digestion and assimilation uses more of the body's energy
than other foods. This use of energy in a person whose system is
weak may well tip the scales into them becoming ill.
If a person is on a detoxifying diet, meat will slow down the
process of elimination because it uses a lot more energy than
other foods. Meat is known as a suppressing food; in fact a
heavy meat eater may not have any elimination whatsoever.
Another effect that increases the suppressing value of meat is
the promotion of putrefying and unfriendly bacteria; these are
form due to the increase of alkalinity in the gut which meat
proteins promote.
If meat proteins reach the colon in an undigested form they will
putrefy, the result of this rotting is the release of toxins
into the colon and offensive gas. Research has shown that
protein in meat cause putrefaction twice as fast as vegetable
protein.
Autointoxication happens due to the putrefaction and toxin
production. The liver recycles the toxins into the bile instead
of eliminating them.
By eating meat the high protein value is counterbalanced by the
high fat value of the saturated fats within meat.
The risk of colon cancer increases with a diet high in fat.
There are many reasons for this.
A fatty diet increases the secretion of bile salts into the gut,
whilst in the gut the bacteria there convert the bile salts in
carcinogens which are link to liver and other cancers. A
low-fibre meat diet causes constipation which lengthens the
contact of toxins against the lining membrane of the colon which
increases the risk of cancers.
Fruit and vegetables have protective values against cancer,
people who are big meat eaters tend not to eat enough fruit and
vegetables which results in there protective values being low.
Also when meat is cooked or preserved in a certain way (i.e.
barbecued) carcinogens are created.
Meat has iron in it; people with high iron amounts increase
their chances of certain forms of cancer such as colorectal and
lung cancer. In fact cancer sufferers with high iron amounts
actually decrease their survival time which suggests that
tumours like an iron-rich environment.
Eating too much meat causes excessive uric acid; this may lead
to gallstones, gout, kidney stones, Bright's disease and
rheumatism. This is a major concern in meats which are not of an
organic origin. Meat can easily be contaminated by bacteria and
also contains toxins such as herbicides, pesticides,
antibiotics, various hormones, adrenalin, phenolic acid,
creatine, creatinine, uric acid, urea, chemicals and parasites.
For example a one-pound well done steak contains 4 to 5
micrograms of benzopyrene. This is equivalent to a person
smoking 300 cigarettes. Benzopyrene is one of the major cancer
causing substances found in tobacco smoke. In Iceland where a
lot of smoked fish is eaten and benzopyrene is found in the fish
from the smoking, the population suffer from high rates of
stomach and intestinal tract cancers.
The meat industry is just that, it is an industry and many of us
are not aware that cattle, pigs, chicken and sheep are raised
intensively to produce cheap meat quickly. To do this they are
raised in a carefully controlled mechanized assembly line
environment where they are frequently given antibiotics and
other disease fighting medicine. This unnatural way of raising
livestock leads to cheap meat but this meat tends to be
nutritional deficient and full of chemicals.
Because of the way intensively reared meat is produced it is
prone to bacteria and parasites such as salmonella and
clostridia (which lead to botulism). If meat is not refrigerated
and cooked properly than these bacteria and parasites can lad to
major ill health.
To keep meat looking fresh, healthy and pink, food additives are
used. Sometimes Nitrates are used which can change to
nitrosamines which are highly carcinogenic. Sulphur dioxide and
benzoates are other ways of chemical preservation that have been
linked to food intolerance in sensitive people. Sulphur dioxide
and other forms of inorganic sulfites are collectively known as
sulfiting agents. Sulfites have an adverse effect on vitamin B1.
Food colourings and flavouring are also added to meat products
to make them more appealing and to enhance flavour; these too
can have a negative affect on people who are prone to food
intolerances. To enhance the colour in process meats,
antioxidants are used in the form of chemicals such as butylated
hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT).
The reason for adding food additives, colourings and flavouring
to meat is to conceal their inferior quality and extend shelf
life. Normally this type of meat is high in fat content and low
in nutritional quality. These deficiently in nutrients can cause
many different ailments in people.
Antibiotics are used extensively in rearing livestock, low doses
of antibiotics causing animals to put weight on faster as well
as keeping bacteria diseases in check. Unfortunately these
diseases are becoming resilient to the antibiotics and are
becoming more prevalent. The antibiotics most given to animals
are penicillin, chlortetracycline and tetracycline, these are
also used to treat human health problems. It is now becoming
evident that the antibiotic resilient bacteria are being pasted
onto humans which are causing disease in humans that is
resilient to antibiotics.
As highlighted the process of rearing meat, preserving and
making it look fresh for market can produce a product which is
high in chemicals and toxins and low in nutritional value. The
body takes a long time to process and elimination meat. This
results in the body becoming in contact with a toxic food
product for a long time. A healthy body mostly copes with this
but if a body is unhealthy it could lead to major health
problems. This is why it is best to keep to a vegetarian diet
and to abstain from eating red meat when on a therapeutic diet.