The habitual and frequent use of large amounts of flesh foods in the diet is actually one of the causes of degenerative disease in a substantial
percentage of the population. The decrease in, or elimination of, flesh foods from the diet is one of the important steps toward optimal health.
Man's anatomy and physiology are poorly adapted to the processing of meat, and it cannot be done without some putrefaction (in addition to
the putrefaction already present in the meat at the time it is consumed). The result is toxemia, which is the starting point of degenerative diseases
like gout, arthritis, heart disease, hardening of the arteries, stroke, osteoporosis, cancer, etc.
3.1 Anatomical and Physiological Basis for Rejecting Flesh Foods
There is a sound anatomical and physiological basis for the recommendation against the consumption of flesh foods. The human anatomy and
digestive system are totally dissimilar from those of carnivores, which have sharp claws and teeth for killing and tearing. Carnivorous animals have
short intestinal canals, and strong secretions of hydrochloric acid, so as to quickly digest and expel the waste products of the flesh they consume,
before putrefaction can occur.
Flesh-eating animals also have the enzyme uricase, which breaks down uric acid into a harmless substance called allantoin; man does not
possess this enzyme. Vegetable proteins, including nuts and seeds, contain enough carbohydrates to render this enzyme unnecessary.
The carbohydrate content of nuts also prevents a process called de-amination. Because the carbohydrate content of flesh foods is negligible,
conventional nutritionists advocate eating protein with a carbohydrate since it is thought that the presence of carbohydrates is necessary for the
digestion of protein and, when none are present, the liver will break down some of the amino acids and convert them to carbohydrates. If this is
true (and the experiments have not been conclusive), then it is obvious that the nuts supplied to us by Nature come completely packaged along
with their digestive requirements, while flesh foods do not.
Lesson 18 of this course includes a preliminary discussion of this subject and contains an interesting chart, "Classification of Animals," which is an
effective demonstration of the fact that man is not a carnivore.
One of the comparisons that is made in this chart is the length of the alimentary canals, which are three times the length of the body in the
carnivora, ten times the length of the body in the omnivora, and twelve times the length of the body in the anthropoid apes and in humans. These
figures, of course, are approximate. Gray's anatomy gives the length of the human alimentary canal as approximately thirty feet.
Hereward Carrington, in The Natural Food of Man, says that some have made the blunder of calling the proportionate length of the human
alimentary canal one to six instead of one to twelve, by doubling the height through measuring humans while they are standing erect. He says,
"This measurement is evidently wrong, for it includes the length of the lower extremities, or hind legs, whereas, in other animals, the measurement is
made from the tip of the nose to the end of the backbone."
The human digestive tract is about four times as long as in the carnivorous animal. The gastric juices of humans have less active antiseptic and
germicidal properties. The intestine of the carnivore is short and smooth, to dissolve food rapidly and pass it out of the system. The human digestive
tract is corrugated or sacculated, for the express purpose of retaining the food as long as possible in the intestine until all possible nutriment has
been extracted from it.
These (and the other anatomical and physiological characteristics of the human digestive system) are the worst possible conditions for the
processing of flesh foods. The excessive secretion of bile (necessitated for the digestion of flesh foods) may result in the premature breakdown of the
liver, and the large quantities of uric acid created by a flesh diet may have disastrous effects on the kidneys. Dr. Robert Perk says that the excess of
uric acid "causes contraction of the minute blood vessels, resulting in high arterial tension and often the blocking of the blood vessels by the uric
acid. This results in serious interference with the circulation and blood supply to the tissues and throws great strain on the vital organs, especially the
heart and kidneys." (Scientific Vegetarianism, Szekely, p. 44.)
3.2 Morbid Results of Eating Flesh Foods
Meat is the most putrefactive of all foods. Flesh, when eaten by humans, tends to undergo a process of decay in the stomach, causing a poisoning
of the blood. Putrefaction in meat eaters is evidenced by bad breath, heartburn, eructations, and the foul stool and odorous emissions—absent in
vegetarians—and it is probable that the attempts of the body to eliminate these wastes has a profound influence on the shortening of man's life
span.
If the body fluid that bathes our cell's is overloaded with waste, causing an excessive secretion of bile—fatigue, weakening and aging are the
inevitable results. The accumulation of toxic substances in the body causes the deterioration of the intestinal flora, and the blood vessels gradually
lose their natural elasticity—their walls become hardened and thickened. Irreversible damage to the organism proliferates.
3.3 Can You Face The Ugly Truth About Meat?
Meats contain waste products that the animal did not get to eliminate, and toxic hormones and fluids released into the blood stream and tissues at
the moment of the death of the terrified animal.
An animal's cellular life continues after death. The cells continue to produce waste materials which are trapped in the blood and decaying
tissues. The nitrogenous extracts which are trapped in the animal's muscles are partially responsible for the flavor of the cooked meat.
Humans who eat the livers of the animals are bombarded with an even greater concentration of waste products and toxic substances. The liver,
being the filtering organ of the body, is loaded with elements the body cannot use, which are trapped in the liver and remain there. Liver eaters
are treated to higher concentrations of mercury and artificial hormones, plus other "goodies" that remain in the animal's disposal system.
Liver increases, even more than muscle meat, the amount of creatine in the urine. Creatinuria (abnormal amounts of creatine in the urine) is
involved in endocrine (glandular) disorders.
Meat not only harbors the bacteria infecting the living animal, but it may also carry molds, spores, yeasts and bacilli picked up during
postmortem handling.
A book on meat processing explains that the flesh becomes more tender and palatable by the process of ripening, hanging and maturing
(aging). Vic Sussman, in The Vegetarian Alternative, pp. 149-150, says, "Few meat eaters would like to hear the words putrefaction, rigor mortis,
and rotting applied to their sirloin and pot roast. But flesh is flesh, though the euphemisms ripening, toughening and enzymatic action are kinder to
the ear."
Trained government inspectors use sight, smell and touch in a constant battle to protect meat eaters from intentional and accidental abuses. But
effective regulation of flesh food is enormously difficult. Sussman says (p. 151) "Even the most conscientious inspectors are forced by circumstances
and the pressure of time to let suspect carcasses leave the plant."
Those who eat processed meats also get many of the odds and ends of the animals—eyes, ears, bladders, lips, udders, snouts and parts of the
bones and skin. Not even a meat inspector can tell from what part of the body the sausages and frankfurters came—it is all meat tissue, and all
legal. (Woolsey, Meat on the Menu…, pp. 21-22.)
In his pediatrics textbook, Dr. Emmet L. Holt of New York City says that if two dogs were put on a leash and one fed water and the other beef tea, the
dog getting the water would live longer, because beef tea does not contain any nourishment if the fat is skimmed off, but does contain urinary
wastes, which poison the dog.
Owen S. Parrette, M.D., in Why I Don't Eat Meat, p. 13, says that when he was a medical student, the class was given glass test tubes to be used for
growing bacteria that are present in human diseases such as typhoid, staphylocci, and bubonic plague. "The professor had us make up some
beef tea, pour a little into each test tube, and place a cotton cork on top. We sterilized the tubes and later inoculated them with these dangerous
bacteria. The germs all thrived on the beef tea. It was a perfect medium for them."
Carrington also says (p. 109), "Meat-eating is the more or less direct cause of various diseases." The tapeworm embryos are carried by beef, pork
and fish. The deadly trichina parasite is found mainly in pork, but also in fish, fowl and other meats. Trichinosis closely resembles cerebro-spinal
meningitis. Tuberculosis has been communicated from cattle, typhoid fever from oysters. Epilepsy has been traced to meat-eating.
Twenty-six diseases, including salmonellosis, staphylococcus and psittacosis, are known to be common to both man and poultry. (Meat on the
Menu..., Woolsey, p. 27.)
Since little or no progress has been made in eradicating these dangers, the only people who are immune are those who never eat meat.
Authorities recognize that the basic problem is with the nature of the product itself. The National Academy of Science reports, "Reluctantly, we are
forced to recognize the infeasibility of eradicating salmonellosis at this time." ("An evaluation of the Salmonella Problem," National Academy of
Sciences, Washington, D.C., 1969)
The late Dr. John Harvey Kellogg said, when he sat down to his vegetarian meal, "It is nice to eat a meal and not have to worry about what your
food may have died from."
3.4 Meat-Eating Predisposes to Disease
In addition to directly causing certain diseases, meat-eating also predisposes the body to disease. In pestilences of any character, meat-eaters
are the chief sufferers. Wounds heal far more rapidly in vegetarian soldiers. Carnivores are far more subject to blood poisoning than are
vegetarians. Vegetarians survive major operations more frequently than meat-eaters. (Carrington, pp. 111-112).
John A. Scharffenberg, M.D., in Problems with Meat says, "Meat is a major factor in the leading causes of death in the United States, and probably
in similarly affluent societies. In fact, next to tobacco and alcohol, meat is the greatest single cause of mortality in the United States." He makes this
statement on p. 101 of his well-documented book, in summarizing "the formidable and persuasive scientific evidence we now have." He marshals
this scientific evidence of the disease potential of meat and the relationship of meat to these specific problems: atherosclerosis, cancer, decrease
in longevity or life expectancy, kidney disorders, osteoporosis, salmonellosis, and trichinosis. He quotes an editorial statement in the Journal of the
American Medical Association: "A vegetarian diet can prevent 97% of our coronary occlusions." (Editor: Diet and Stress in Vascular Disease, JAMA,
76:134-35, 1961).
Several more recent, well-organized studies have identified the risk factors of atherosclerosis and heart attacks: a 1970 study by twenty-nine
voluntary health agencies, in cooperation with the American Medical Association (these study groups consisted of many of the nation's top
scientists); a 1977 study by the Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs: a twelve-year Finnish Mental Hospital Study (Effect of
cholesterol-lowering diet on mortality from coronary heart disease and other causes, Lancet 2:835-38, 1972); and a 1975 study comparing Seventh
Day Adventists who had different dietary habits. The Seventh Day Adventist study revealed a 64% vulnerability to coronary heart disease in meat-
users, 40% for lacto-ovo-vegetarians, and 23% for total vegetarians. The 1977 study by the Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human
Needs reported the significant deleterious influence of. the consumption of dietary cholesterol (animal fat) and recommended the increased use
of fruits, vegetables and whole grains, and a decrease in the use of foods containing saturated fat (animal fat).
Flesh Foods Cause Degenerative Disease
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