Page 25 - Fall2011

ANCIENT SOURCE OF FOOD and disease associated with swine, known as the
Pork is one of the oldest sources of meat, “swine flu.”
with domestication of pigs documented as early There are two helminth (worm) parasites
as 5,000 BCE. Today it is estimated that 38 that we have in common, which cause the same
percent of the world’s meat production is pork, diseases in pigs and in us: the nematode, Trichi-
although its consumption varies widely through- nella spiralis, which causes trichinosis, and the
out the globe. Fresh pork is less common than tapeworm, Taenia solium.
its many processed forms, including “cured” and Taenia solium or tapeworm eggs hatch in
“uncured” variations such as bacon, prosciutto, a pig’s intestines and the microscopic embryo
and many other types of hams. Pork processing penetrates the intestinal wall, travels through
is an old traditional method that goes back to the the bloodstream, and ends up in another body
times before refrigeration and was originally em- part, such as swine muscle (pork meat), where
ployed to preserve the meat. However, the curing it develops into a cyst-like form. When a human
and smoking of pork imparts interesting flavors ingests undercooked pork containing a cyst, the
to the meat as well, and so processed pork meats parasite pops out and attaches itself to the hu-
have remained popular over the years. Marinat- man’s intestinal wall, and the tapeworm begins
ing fresh pork meat before cooking it is another to grow—up to twenty feet in length. Moreover,
traditional method used in preparing fresh pork, if a human ingests eggs of the pork tapeworm,
which both tenderizes it, and imbues it with more he can develop a disease known as cysticercosis,
flavor. which creates cysts and lesions throughout the
In this pilot study, we investigate the ef- body, obviously causing health problems.
fects on live blood of consuming these various Trichinella spiralis is a roundworm parasite
forms of pork—to observe the effects, if any, on distributed worldwide. Trichinosis, the common
the biological terrain of the body. The research name for this disease, was once quite common
questions pursued here are as follows: and even fatal. The larval form of the worm
becomes encysted in bodily tissues and can
1. Is there an effect from consuming pork on cause a variety of symptoms. Both tapeworms
the blood as observed in dark-field live blood and trichinosis can cause a large inflammatory
analysis? response in the body.
2. Does unprocessed pork have a different ef- These diseases were known to ancient cul-
fect than processed pork? tures including the Egyptian and Greek cultures,
and later among the Jews and Muslims. Both Pork
We thus determine whether traditional Judaism and Islam proscribe the eating of pork.
preparation methods of pork affect the blood In Leviticus 11:2-4, 7-8, and Deuteronomy 14:8, processing is

differently than the modern method of simply animals that do not possess split hooves and that an old
cooking fresh pork. do not bring up their cud, which include both pigs traditional
and camels, are not kosher. Moreover, in Islam,
THE STATUS OF PORK AND HEALTH the flesh of swine is considered fit only for sac- method that
It is interesting to note that swine have much rifices for God and is forbidden to be eaten. Ad- goes back to
in common anatomically and physiologically ditionally, certain Christian and other religious the times
with humans—more than meets the eye. The sects consider it taboo to eat pork. The common
fact is that porcine tissues are the most similar diseases that swine and humans share are perhaps before
to human tissues compared to other animal tis- a reason that pork was forbidden by the ancient refrigeration
sues. For example, in medicine, pig heart valves religious dietary laws, although it must be said and was
are used to replace damaged human heart valves that there is no scholarly agreement on whether
without any tissue rejection from the human there was an underlying rational explanation for originally

recipient. these laws. employed to
There are even common diseases that we These diseases still plague humanity today preserve the
share with pigs, such as the most recent outbreak and are more common in developing countries
of influenza, which was caused by H1N1, a virus such as China and Mexico than in the United meat.

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