Red Meat And Agricultural Practises

December 4, 2004

Nora, I have been thinking that way for a long time. These days with

" mad cow " disease in the news I am thinking about cows being fed

*meat* (!) which has included sick animals (!) which are " rendered

down " and added to protein feeds. Here in Canada we just had a TV

program called " Apocalypse Cow " on " The Nature Of Things " with David

Suzuki. It has a very Canadian emphasis, 'though it does mention

British policies, Japanese policies, and a bit about some cases of

" Jakob-Creutzfeldt disease (JCD) " (the human version of mad cow

disease) in the USA.

Growth hormones are also of concern to me. I had it explained to me

once that bovine growth hormones don't affect humans. Anyone know

about that? Antibiotics fed to the animals are of concern.

Stela

, " Nora Gottlieb "

<nwgott@i...> wrote:

>

> And did they say WHAT the RED MEAT was fed, and injected with before

it was

> eaten by these in the *study * group? How was the red meat 's food

> raised, chemically sprayed, genetically modified corn, etc.?

We just

> may be on the track of something useful here if only they would do REAL

> SCIENCE!!!! ng

>

> -

> " David Elfstrom " <listbox@e...>

>

> Thursday, December 02, 2004 11:34 PM

> Red meat linked with rheumatoid

> arthritis

>

> >

> > Red meat linked with rheumatoid arthritis

> > Thu 2 December, 2004 19:13

> >

>

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews & storyID=632023 & se\

ction=news

> >

> > WASHINGTON (Reuters) - People who eat lots of red meat may be raising

> > their risk of rheumatoid arthritis, an incurable and crippling

disease,

> > researchers have reported.

> >

> > A study of 25,000 people living in Europe shows that those who ate the

> > most red meat had double the risk of rheumatoid arthritis, compared to

> > those who ate the least amount.

> >

> > And people who ate more protein overall, including other forms of meat

> > and plant protein, also had a higher risk of the disease while eating

> > fat did not seem to raise the risk, the researchers found.

> >

> > Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease in which the body's

immune

> > cells mistakenly attack healthy joints.

> >

> > Maybe eating meat somehow sets the body up to attack similar

components,

> > the researchers wrote in the latest issue of the journal Arthritis &

> > Rheumatism.

> >

> > " It may be that the high collagen content of meat leads to collagen

> > sensitization and consequent production of anticollagen antibodies, "

> > Alan Silman and Deborah Symmons at the University of Manchester

wrote in

> > their report.

> >

> > " Meat consumption may be linked to either additives or even infectious

> > agents, but, again, there is no evidence as to what might be important

> > in relation to rheumatoid arthritis. "

> >

> > Silman and Symmons's team worked with data from 25,000 men and women

> > taking part in the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer. These

> > volunteers kept a careful food diary for a week, had blood samples

drawn

> > to confirm the kinds of nutrients they ate most, and have been

followed

> > since for more than a decade.

> >

> > About 35 patients developed confirmed rheumatoid arthritis. The RA

> > patients were more likely to have been former smokers and tended

to eat

> > less food containing vitamin C.

> >

> > The most striking difference, the researchers said, was in terms of

> > eating red meat.

> >

> > " A high level of red meat consumption may represent a novel risk

factor

> > for inflammatory arthritis or may act as a marker for a group of

persons

> > with an increased risk from other lifestyle causes, " the researchers

> wrote.

> >

> > " It is unclear whether the association is a causative one, " the report

> > said.

December 4, 2004

I am so glad I gave up red meat 17 years ago!

C

Stela Nokt <stelanokt wrote: