Again, it's not an "error" if it's lasted as long as it has. Mother Nature doesn't make mistakes that stick around for millions of years.

Yes, that would be nice, but I'd rather be able to get brains legally...! Here in Pennsylvania, at least, the only part of the cow's head the farmers can sell me is the tongue.

Normally, I would agree with your assessment that “Nature doesn't make mistakes that stick around for millions of years.” However, there are rare instances where Mother Nature can take a very long time to correct her mistakes.

One example of this is the previously discussed human Neu5Gc molecule mutation that can lead to tumor growth in humans. This mutation occurred after our last common ancestor with great apes and first appeared between two and three million years ago when our first ancestors ventured out of Africa. Unfortunately, it remains with humans today.

Perhaps the human inability to produce vitamin C from glucose is indeed another example of a mutation or “error" that Mother Nature has decided not to place at the top of her "mistakes to correct" list?

Bo

That Neu5Gc study was on rats, not humans, wasn't it?

Humans.

Click Here

Interesting study.

Bo

OK.... all of those who would prefer to encrease the probability of exending their lifespan by 12 days instead of never again enjoying the taste of a juicy rib-eye (blue-rare)... raise their hands.

Hello? I said 'raise your hands' people.

Oh well.

Absolutely!

What has often struck me since returning to my carnivore ways, and researching all this stuff on the internet and in books, is that red meat is often top of the list in terms of containing the most of this or that amazing goody that the body totally needs. And if it's not in red meat, then it's in other high-fat animal products, such as cheese or eggs.

You'll read all this hype in a magazine at the dentist's about some new supplement, and then you go home, look it up on the internet, and, what do you know, all you need to do is eat more eggs, meat or cheese!!! L-Carnitine comes to mind, along with eggs (lutein is the thing that apparently will stop you from getting advanced macular degeneration - i.e. going blind).

If red meat has so many essential goodies in it, how can it really be bad for you? (Of course, I know it has to be grass-fed beef and all that...).

amanda

But we can recycle it. And we can also get Vit C from liver. I believe various antioxidants such as glutiathone will help us recycle Vit C. I'm not sure what foods contain lots of glutiathone (I'm betting animal foods do), but the biological need for fruit in the human diet, in order to meet Vit C needs, has not been proven.

amanda

ps

Just found this:
"Raw eggs, garlic and fresh unprocessed meats contain high levels of sulphur-containing amino acids and help to maintain optimal glutathione levels."

Sample Size Man would like to have a word with these researchers.

Too Much of Anything Isolated from the Other Things With Which It Occurs Naturally Can Be a Bad Thing Man would like to have a word with these researchers.

The Body Takes Care of Bad Things Man would like to have a word with these researchers.

Eating red meat could make your body more vulnerable to a dangerous bacterial toxin, according to a new study. A sugar molecule, Neu5Gc, found in beef, lamb, pork, and un unpasteurized milk can attach itself to the cells lining the human intestines and act as a magnet for toxins produced by certain strains of E. coli, often carried in the same meats. The result is bloody diarrhea and sometimes death. “This uncovered the first example of bacterium causing disease in humans by targeting a molecule which is incorporated into our bodies through what we eat,” [ABC Science] says researcher Travis Beddoe.

The study, published in Nature [subscription required], was conducted in petri dishes using mouse tissues and human cells. The scientists tested human gut and kidney cells steeped in these sugar molecules and discovered that the toxin was about seven times more likely to bind to these cells if the sugar was present. It is still “not clear how to extrapolate this precisely to the human body,” [Science News] says co-author Ajit Varki. That is, researchers don’t know exactly what it means for human health yet. However, the researchers estimate that people who eat red meat and dairy products will be about 10 times more susceptible to infection by this strain of E. coli than those who don’t [New Scientist]. The average meat-eating American consumes about 10 to 20 milligrams of Neu5Gc per day; a typical quarter-pound hamburger contains about 3 milligrams of the sugar. Since the sugar is only dangerous in the presence of the bacterial toxin, cooking meat well enough to kill bacteria should largely eliminate the health risk.

The bacterial toxin, subtilase cytotoxin, is thought to have originally evolved to attack cattle and other animals that produce Neu5Gc naturally. For these animals, the consequences of the toxin are less severe because the Neu5Gc in their blood serum prevent the toxin from accumulating at the cells of the gut. However, humans long ago lost the ability to produce Neu5Gc and are only exposed to it through the food that enters their intestines. To demonstrate that humans could add the sugar to their own cells, Varki consumed some pure [Neu5Gc]. “It showed up in my urine and got incorporated into my facial hair,” he says. “I stopped eating red meat after that” [New Scientist].


It’s now 2008. Why haven't we heard about this Neu5Gc molecule before now? It’s potential harm has been know for at least as far back as 2003!! Like it or not, this is important stuff and we should have been informed long ago.

I sometimes have a sneaking suspicion that the entire game here on earth has been rigged.

This only furthers that suspicion.

Bo

Fresh meat cures scurvy. Maybe it's because of the toxin Neu5Gc.

Last year I did an Eskimo (or what I thought an Eskimo) diet of fish/seafood only, but to increase my fat intake I added coconut oil.

Within that month experiment, the small patch of psoriasis on my knee dramatically improved. I thought at the start it was the coconut oil, but wasn’t sure, thought may be it’s the fish oil in the seafood (there are various theories on the net) anyway, followed the elimination principles. I eliminated red meat from my diet and ate more seafood… and what do you know!!! my psoriasis disappeared!! I’ve been trying to cure it for years now, I was in tears when I realised the cure was as simple as eliminating (drastically reducing) red meat.

Red meat was the culprit in my case – I agree red meat may be OK for some people, but its not necessarily good for everyone…

Oh and when I did a few months of meat only – my blood test results showed I became dangerously anaemic , go figure, all this red meat and I became dangerously anaemic, the Dr insisted I should take iron tablets (which I still do as I think I still am suffering from the consequences).

SandyDown, you make it sound like you were eating only red meat before you switched to fish/seafood. Did you eat only red meat? If not what else did you eat with the red meat?

On the second part of your post, you say you ate red meat for a period during which you developed anemia. Based on what I know about red meat or any kind of meat I must doubt those facts that you reported. Sorry.

Psoriasis is a skin disorder. Many common symptoms of carbohydrates poisoning (the so called diseases of civilization) are skin disorders including psoriasis. Some here will even tell you that their psoriasis receded or even reversed completely after they cut out carbs from their diet. This would contradict the hypothesis that meat caused psoriasis because after they cut out carbs, they had to add meat and perhaps even red meat.

As for red meat causing anemia, I doubt it. If anything, red meat has the potential to cause iron poisoning over the long term but that has yet to be demonstrated. Vilhjalmur Stefansson has a thing or two to say about long term red meat consumption. The first is that he has not suffered any ill from eating exclusively meat including red meat for years. However, I can't think of an alternative cause for the anemia you were diagnosed with. Regardless, this would suggest that the diagnosis you got was incorrect.

With that said, I don't doubt that you saw what you saw. I wasn't there and I have to believe you. I only offer an alternative hypothesis for the facts that you've observed. Or in the case of anemia, historical facts that cast doubt to the accuracy of the diagnosis from your doctor.

The only difference between red meat and white meat for instance is the amount of hemoglobin i.e. red blood cells they contain which colors the meat accordingly. Saying that red meat causes disease is like saying that hemoglobin causes disease because by comparison white meat contains less hemoglobin and is never blamed for anything.

You might want to get hold of "The Protein Power Lifeplan" by the good Drs Eades which has a whole chapter about the subject of iron. In order to find out whether you really have anaemia, you should get your ferritin levels checked. Apparently, an overload of iron is more common in the standard American diet due to excessive iron fortification in foods than anaemia, which is more of a myth than anything. Once the iron is in your body, it stays there. You need to ask for a serum ferritin test, if the result is under 50 mg/dl then that is apparently a "healthy ideal". Higher than that and you should consider giving blood to get rid of the excess iron.

I would be very wary of taking iron tablets, myself. If you don't want to buy the book, maybe your local library will have it. But it's worth buying.

I can't take any form of artificial iron because it gives me the runs like you wouldn't believe.

Read up on this - maybe there's also some stuff on the website or blogs of the good Drs Eades, too.

Too much iron in your system is actually quite dangerous and I think your doctor is not doing you a favour prescribing you iron tablets. But I can't quote the entire chapter to you - you'll just have to get hold of it yourself!

Good luck and Happy Reading

amanda

Amanda -

1- I am not American.

2- I am not against protein, all I said is Red meat may not be beneficial for everyone.

3- I know all about Anemia, and how to test for it, I have a resident Dr at my house too.

4- I read more diet book and health books than I can list over here

In summary, if you are healthy and happy eating red meat them go ahead - but I am pointing red meat may not be suitable for everyone - just like any other food item. Also the benefits in the red meat is only absorbed in specific environment and as part of various food combination.