Pork and Your Health

Original on February 17, 2020

By Sing H. Lin, Ph.D., E-Mail: singhlin@gmail.com

Abstract

Pork is not good for human health due to several problems listed in the following:

(I) The ratio of omega-6/omega-3 essential fatty acids in pork ranges from 14 to 29 which is too high and is not good for human health. The desirable ratio of omega-6/omega-3 in our diet should be 4 or less for good health. Excessive omega-6 is immunosuppressive and inflammatory. The serious diseases that can be caused by eating pork frequently over long term include high blood pressure, higher cholesterol level, obesity, heart diseases, diabetes, stroke, hepatitis E, chronic inflammation, joint pain, enlarged liver, liver failure, gout, gallstones, inflammation of the appendix (appendicitis), osteoporosis, Alzheimer's, asthma, Multiple Sclerosis (MS), etc.,

(II) Eating under cooked pork is dangerous because pork is often loaded with bacteria or virus or several kinds of nasty parasites,

(III) Eating pork can cause nasty headache and higher sensitivity to motion sickness for people who are allergic to eating pork,

(IV) Over-cooked or burned pork is carcinogenic,

(V) Pork cooked just right can still cause cancer through the mechanism of IGF1 (Insulin Like Growth Factor 1), and

(VI) Processed pork (such as ham, bacon, sausages, salami and hot dogs/frankfurts) is also carcinogenic.

More detailed explanations for these health problems of eating pork are described in the following. These problems help us understand the simple law in the Bible prohibiting eating pork. This simple law is valid not only in ancient time but also in modern time. For the sake of our good health, we should avoid eating pork.

1. Introduction

I was not a Christian for my first 75 years of life. It is only about 4 years ago, a friend invited me to go to a church on Sundays to participate in some church activities.

In recent couple years in a periodic meeting of a small group to study and to discuss the Bible, the following sections in the Bible had very strong impact on me.

2. Bible Prohibits Eating Pork

Book of Leviticus, 11.7, 11.8

11:7 The pig is unclean with you because the hoof is divided into two parts, but it does not chew.

11:8 You must not eat the flesh of these beasts, and you must not touch the dead, and they are unclean to you.

Book of Deuteronomy, 14.8

14:8 The pig is unclean with you because it divides the hoof but does not chew it; You must not eat the flesh of these beasts, nor touch the dead.

These sections had very strong impact on me when I read them for the first time in 2019 because of my 30+ years of suffering from frequent and nasty headache plus motion sickness caused by eating pork. It took me more than 30 years of suffering to figure out that my frequent headache and motion sickness were caused by eating pork. This 30-year suffering started from my birth until I was about 30 some years old and such suffering was more than 40 years ago. I stop eating pork about 40 years ago.

I was shocked and amazed to learn that the Bible knew about such problem and wrote down such law clearly and concisely several thousand years ago to tell us NOT to eat pork.

3. My Own Experience

3.1. Frequent Nasty Headache and Solution

I used to keep one big bottle of Aspirin in the drawer in my office, in my home and in my travel bag because I had to take such pill often for my frequent headache. After suffering the nasty problems of headache and motion sickness for more than 30 years, I read a book about 40 years ago written by a doctor (physician) who is a specialist in treating many patients with long-term nasty headache problem. This book is the result from many years of medical practice of this special doctor. The book indicates that some people are allergic to certain foods which can trigger the headache. A special group of foods containing certain ingredient(s) which can trigger headache in some people. Pork is in such group of “Bad foods”. So, I did an experiment on myself by avoiding eating pork for several months. Bingo! My frequent and nasty headache was gone and disappeared after avoiding eating pork for several months. What a great relief for my 30 years of suffering!

3.2. High Sensitivity to Motion Sickness

Furthermore, I used to be very sensitive to motion sickness. In my younger days, I often could not finish riding the city bus in Taipei City in Taiwan. I often had to get off the bus about half way and walked all the way home because motion sickness on the bus was so bad for me.

I used to have to take motion sickness pills if I had to get on any air plane or any boat. After the air plane landed at the destination city, I often had to drive a rental car to the conference hotel. However, driving an unfamiliar rental car in an unfamiliar city under the influence of motion sickness pill is dangerous. Such dangerous problem was part of my many years of suffering the consequence of eating pork.

Fortunately, my sensitivity to motion sickness is also reduced substantially after I avoided eating pork. In recent 30 years, I do not have to take motion sickness pill anymore and can enjoy many sightseeing trips on various boats, bus, car or ocean cruise ships or airplane flights no matter how rough it is.

The sightseeing trips become so much more enjoyable for me after I stop eating pork.

3.3. Stop Eating Pork 40 Years Ago

So, getting rid of the frequent nasty headache and motion sickness is a very strong incentive for me to stop eating pork starting about 40 years ago. Therefore, I have been obeying this law in the Bible faithfully for more than 40 years now even though I was not aware of this law in the Bible until early 2019.

4. Time Delay Obscures the Cause and Effect Relationship

However, the relationship between eating pork and getting headache or getting motion sickness is not that simple and clear. It seems that there is a time delay of a few days and accumulation of sufficient dosage (of toxic ingredients in pork) before the headache or the sensitivity to motion sickness shows up. So, by the time headache shows up or sensitivity to motion sickness shows up, most people do not know what caused the headache or motion sickness because they did not eat pork on the day of headache or even in last couple days before the headache. It took that specialist doctor many years of experience and many headache patients to figure out this tricky and indirect relationship.

Due to such obscured relationship between eating pork and negative health consequences, many people do not understand the meaning and the health consequences of “The pig is unclean with you” and do not pay much attention to “The pig is unclean with you” in these sections in the Bible listed in Section 2.

On the other hand, all pharmacies and supermarkets have long and big racks full of various kinds of over-counter painkiller medicine such as Aspirin, Tylenol, Advil, Ibuprofen, Aleve, Motrin, etc. Many people have been popping these painkiller pills for their frequent headache but do not know what is causing their frequent headache.

After reading the draft version of this article, couple friends told me that allergy doctors can do some suitable tests to determine if a person has such allergy to eating pork even for the more challenging case of the allergic reaction being delayed by several days after eating pork.

Beside headache and sensitivity to motion sickness, eating pork frequently over long term has other more serious negative effects on our health as described in many references discussed in the following.

5. Modern Medical Science on Bad Effects of Pork on Your Health

Fortunately, modern medical science provides more detail explanation on the meaning of “The pig is unclean with you. You must not eat the flesh of these beasts, nor touch the dead.” as summarized in the following medical article and YouTube presentation:

A. THE ADVERSE INFLUENCE OF PORK CONSUMPTION ON HEALTH

by Professor Hans-Heinrich Reckeweg, M.D.

Biological Therapy Vol.1 No. 2 1983

https://healthmasters.com/blog/adverse-influence-pork-consumption-health

B. SHOCKING MUST SEE! WHY Eating PORK is BAD For HUMANS:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nMlDxlw1II

The modern medical science described in References A, B, (and C to L in Appendix) indicates that a person may get one or more of 70 possible diseases if one eats pork frequently over long term, including obesity, high blood pressure, higher cholesterol level, higher probability of getting cancer, heart diseases, diabetes, stroke, hepatitis E, inflammation, joint pain, enlarged liver, liver failure, gout, gallstones, inflammation of the appendix (appendicitis), osteoporosis, Alzheimer's, asthma, Multiple Sclerosis (MS, a devastating autoimmune condition involving the central nervous system.), several kinds of parasitic diseases, etc.

More references on the bad effects of eating pork on your health are listed in the Appendix below.

While pork-averse nations like Israel and India were nearly spared from MS's (Multiple sclerosis) degenerative grips, more liberal consumers of pork, such as West Germany and Denmark, faced sky-high rates of MS.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified processed meats – (such as ham, bacon, sausages, salami and hot dogs/frankfurts) – as a Group 1 carcinogen which means that there is strong evidence that processed meats cause cancer.

More than 50% of American have high blood pressure because they are pork eaters. Long-term high blood pressure can damage many internal organs and lead to several serious diseases.

6. Meat and Cancer

Dr. Kristi Funk, MD is a board-certified breast cancer surgeon & physician. In addition to her surgeon practice, she spent huge amount of time and effort to study thousands of published medical research papers from various studies on food, nutrition and cancer. These medical research and studies identified one of the key mechanisms for cancer caused by eating too much animal meat and animal fat as described in the following:

Average human body has about 40 trillion cells and about 60 billion cells die every day. Usually human body produces and maintains a normal level of IGF1 (Insulin Like Growth Factor 1). Normal level of IGF1 is important for average human body to make about 60 billion new cells to replace those 60 billion cells that die every day.

But consumption of excessive amount of animal proteins stimulates the IGF1 in human body to go up way beyond the normal level. Such excessive level of IGF1 (similar to excessive level of insulin) will increase the risk of cancer, heart disease and diabetes. In a medical study that tracked 6,381 people on their meat consumption for 18 years, the results show that for people with age between 50 and 65, high intake of meat results in a 400 % increase in cancer mortality and 7300 % increase in diabetes rate relative to the control group with low intake of meat.

Furthermore, the same study shows that for older people beyond the age of 65, high intake of meat has no bad effects on cancer mortality and on diabetes rate. (I guess that (a) older people probably are deficient in IGH1 and (b) the digestion system of older people is not as efficient as that of younger people. Therefore, high intake of meat by older people probably just brings their deficient IGF1 up to “normal” level for good health, but does not overshoot into excessive IGH1 level so that there are no bad effects for older people.)

Therefore, IGF1 is a double-edged sword: at normal level it is very important and beneficial to our health, but at excessive level, it becomes very harmful to our health with cancer plus several kinds of degenerative diseases.

More details are in the following YouTube video presentation:

M. WHOLE Life Action Hour - Dr. Kristi Funk - Jan. 6th 2020

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=21&v=8GjpvXWZznY&feature=emb_logo

7. Not All Meats Are Equal as Learned from Lyon Diet Heart Study

However, not all meats are equal in their positive and negative effects on human health. For example, different meats have different ratios of omega-6 essential fatty acid/omega-3 essential fatty acid. The different ratios of omega-6/omega-3 have very different positive and negative effects on human health.

I thank Dr. Michael Greger, MD, for his excellent presentation on this topic on the following YouTube website:

N. 40 Year Vegan Dies of a Heart Attack! The Omega-3 and B12 Myth with Dr Michael Greger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ibPqDPEF4U&t=781s

7.1. Essential Fatty Acids: Omega-6 and Omega-3

Both Omega-3 and Omega-6 are deemed “essential” fatty acids because both of them are necessary for human health, but human body cannot make them. Therefore, both omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids must be obtained through food. In the context of nutrition, “essential” means that the nutrient cannot be synthesized in the human body, and must be derived from dietary sources. Fat is needed to build cell membranes, the vital exterior of each cell, and the sheaths surrounding nerves. It is essential for blood clotting, muscle movement, and inflammation.

This is also the reason that low fat diet is not good for human health because the low-fat diet systematically deprives human body of the “essential” fatty acids, omega-6 and omega-3, that are absolutely necessary for healthy function of human body.

Healthy diet must contain adequate amount of both omega-6 and omega-3 essential fatty acids and they must be in proper ratio of 4 or less to achieve optimal health.

7.2. Different Effects of Omega-3 and Omega-6 as demonstrated in the famous Lyon Diet Heart Study:

7.2.1. The Famous Lyon Diet Heart Study Shows Important Effects of Omega Essential Fatty Acids

The Lyon Diet Heart Study is a randomized medical trial to study the possible health benefits of Mediterranean diet on 600 heart attack patients who already had their first heart attack. 300 patients were on the Mediterranean diet while the other 300 patients (The Control Group) were on a prudent Western diet. The 2-year results from this medical trial show that:

7.2.1.1. The Mediterranean diet group has a 70% reduction in all-cause mortality due to a reduction in coronary heart disease.

7.2.1.2. The Mediterranean diet group has a 50% reduction in cancer rate relative to that of the Control Group.

Both the Mediterranean diet group and the Control Group have the same cholesterol of 239 which is too high (remember that both groups have their first heart attack already). So, cholesterol is NOT the factor responsible for the major health benefits 7.2.1.1 and 7.2.1.2. Then the important question is what is the main factor responsible for such huge health benefits?

It turns out that the ratio of omega-6/omega-3 of Mediterranean diet group is 4 whereas the ratio of omega-6/omega-3 of the Control Group is 20 which is way too high for good health. Several other nutritional studies also show that for good health, the ratio of omega-6/omega-3 should be 4 or less.

7.2.2. Omega-6

Omega-6 fatty acid is pro-inflammatory meaning they promote inflammation. Omega-6 is also immunosuppressive. Of course, inflammation is essential for our survival. It helps protect our body from infection and injury. Omega-6s help stimulate skin and hair growth, maintain bone health, regulate metabolism, and maintain the reproductive system.

But eating excessive amount of Omega-6 fatty acid frequently over long term leads to chronic inflammation which contributes to and triggers many kinds of serious modern diseases such as heart attack, stroke, metabolic syndrome, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, arthritis, Alzheimer's, many types of cancer, etc. Too much Chronic inflammation is like a raging fire inside of you that can eventually cause several diseases and health problems. omega 6 can raise your blood pressure, lead to blood clots that can cause heart attack and stroke, and cause your body to retain water.

Excess inflammation is thought to be a primary cause of many chronic illnesses, such as heart disease, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, arthritis, etc.

In fact, many of the modern medications used to treat and manage these modern diseases actually work by blocking the negative effects of Omega-6’s.

7.2.3. Omega-3

The human brain is made up of nearly 60 percent fat, so it is no surprise that omega-3s are intimately linked to the health of this vital organ. Omega-3 fats are a crucial part of human cell membranes. acid (EPA) and Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are the forms of omega-3 fats particularly important for maintenance of normal brain function in adults. Omega-3 fatty acids are essential nutrients that regulate your brain's structure and ability to perform. And EPA and DHA in particular are known to play a specific role in the structure and function of the brain, especially during the aging process.

The three primary Omega-3 fatty acids are ALA (alpha-linolenic acid), EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid).

All three are critical to human health. DHA, in particular, is a primary structural fat in the human brain and eyes, representing about 97% of all omega-3 fats in the brain and 93% of all omega-3 fats in the retina.

DHA is a major structural component of the cerebral cortex, the part of the brain responsible for memory, language, creativity, emotion, and attention.

Omega-3s are important for:

Mood

Stabilizing the rhythm of the heart

Lowering triglycerides

Helping prevent the most common types of cancer

And more

Having adequate levels of DHA, in particular, can protect you from age-related mental decline, and significantly reduce your risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Seniors with higher levels of DHA are 47% less likely to develop dementia and 39% less likely to develop Alzheimer’s compared with seniors who have low levels.

Furthermore, Omeg-3 essential fatty acid is anti-inflammatory and is helpful to prevent many serious modern diseases, such as heart attack, stroke, metabolic syndrome, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, arthritis, Alzheimer's, many types of cancer, etc.

7.2.4. Optimal Ratio of Omega-6/Omega-3

Various health organizations recommend that for optimal health the ratio of omega-6/omega-3 should be 4 or less. Anti-aging experts suggest going down even further to 1. Omega-6 fatty acids compete with omega-3 fatty acids in our body, therefore having excessive amount of omega-6 will reduce the beneficial effects of omega-3's.

The ratio of omega-6/omega-3 of the meats of grass-fed livestock animals (cattle, goat, sheep, etc.) ranges from 3 to 5. Consumption of meats of such grass-fed livestock animal is good for human health. The grass grazing livestock animals have very elaborate ruminant digestion system consisting of four stomachs with long fermentation time in the first stomach, plus regurgitate and re-chew (the curd) for many hours in order to digest the tough grass properly to convert the grass into the good meat with good ratio of omega-6/omega-3 that is suitable for good human health.

On the other hand, the ratio of omega-6/omega-3 in regular store-bought pork ranges from 14 to 29 which is much too high. Pigs have only one stomach, do not regurgitate and re-chew (the curd) and cannot convert the grass into good meat with good ratio of omega-6/omega-3 for optimal human health. Eating pork frequently over long term resulting in excessive ratio of omega-6/omega-3 which is an important contributor to many serious diseases. This probably is one of the reasons that the Bible prohibits eating pork.

It is then clear that not all meats are equal in the ratio of omega-6/omega-3 for optimal human health as demonstrated by the results 7.2.1.1 and 7.2.1.2. from The Lyon Diet Heart Study.

It is noted that the ratio of omega-6/omega-3 of fresh wild fish is 1 or better and is excellent for human health. Therefore, the Bible allows eating fish and meats of grass-fed livestock animals, but not pork. This simple law in the Bible is supported by the important results 7.2.1.1 and 7.2.1.2. from the modern medical study in The Lyon Diet Heart Study.

In addition to the effects of essential fatty acids, more examples of significant differences between pig and other livestock animals are described in the following:

7.3. Pork Consumption and Liver Cirrhosis

Not all red meats are equal in their relationships to liver cirrhosis. Beef is high in saturated fat, low in polyunsaturated fat. Pork is relatively high in polyunsaturated fat.

Medical studies (Reference C) found that pork consumption has a strong epidemiological association with cirrhosis of the liver, but beef is protective against liver cirrhosis. Saturated fat is protective against liver disease, while polyunsaturated fat causes it.

But fat composition is hardly likely to be the sole issue with pork. Most polyunsaturated fats in modern diets are derived from vegetable oils, not pork. It seems that there must be something else in pork besides polyunsaturated fat that is causing liver disease. More advanced medical research is needed to understand why pork and beef have such opposite effects on liver disease in human being.

7.4. Pork Consumption and Liver Cancer

Medical studies (Reference C) found that the correlation of liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma, HCC) with pork consumption is as strong as that for alcohol. But beef has no relation at all with liver cancer. Again, more advanced medical research is needed to understand why pork and beef have such major difference in their correlations with liver cancer.

7.5. Pork Consumption and Multiple Sclerosis

Medical studies (Reference C) found a significant correlation was obtained between prevalence of multiple sclerosis (MS) and pork consumption (r = 0.87, p less than 0.001). But there was no significant correlation with beef consumption, again showing that not all meats are equal.

This is consistent with the observations that MS is rare in countries where pork is forbidden by religious customs (e.g. Middle East) and has a low prevalence in countries where beef consumption far exceeds pork consumption (e.g. Brazil, Australia). But more liberal consumers of pork, such as West Germany and Denmark, faced sky-high rates of MS.

7.6. Parasites, Bacteria and Virus in Pork

Many people prefer to eat under-cooked beef steak (medium or rare) instead of well done and well-cooked beef steak because (a) it is reasonably safe to eat under-cooked beef, (b) under-cooked beef may be more nutritious than well-cooked or over-cooked beef, and (c) over-cooked or burned beef is carcinogenic.

On the other hand, eating raw pork or under-cooked pork is dangerous because pork is often loaded with: (i) nasty parasites such as Trichinella spiralis, tapeworm, roundworm, etc. which can cause serious diseases, and (ii) bacteria or virus which can also cause serious and acute diseases as described in The Consumer Report in Reference (J).

The article J in the Appendix indicates that Yersinia bacterial infection after eating pork can cause not only short-term acute symptoms but also long-term reactive arthritis of chronic joint pain, a type of inflammatory joint disease triggered by infection. Reactive arthritis can develop even when the original infection was asymptomatic, leaving some victims unaware that their arthritis is a consequence of food-borne illness.

In developed nations, pork liver is the top food-based transmitter of hepatitis E, a virus that infects 20 million people each year and can lead to acute illness.

One of the dangerous problems of eating pork is tapeworm. Even if you cook the pork very well, the eggs of tapeworm can still survive the cooking. Tapeworm can invade almost any organ (such as brain or eye) in your body causing many kinds of serious diseases.

7.7. Pork Induced Allergy:

There are two different groups of people who are allergic to eating pork. Group 1 shows the allergic reactions quickly on the day of eating pork. But Group 2 has a time delay of several days after eating pork before the allergic reactions show up. The “toxic” substances in pork causing these two different types of allergic reactions may not be the same.

But these people do not have such allergic reactions when they eat other meats (beef, chicken, duck, turkey, fish, bison, goose, etc.).

So, this is another aspect of the important difference between pig and other livestock animals.

7.8. Pig can eat many kinds of filthy and rotten foods and live in very filthy environment, but people probably will get sick very quickly if people eat those kinds of filthy and rotten foods or live in those kinds of dirty environment.

7.9. Wild pigs are resilient to the venom of many snakes, including rattlesnakes and will harass, even kill and eat all sorts of venomous snakes. Please see the following YouTube movies showing that pigs can withstand repeated attacks by a rattle snake at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XFvG4NvUhQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibXmpe8NSQg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ws5TSNedTa8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCfPBpQoHAI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMC1XLZAzhw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAeEQcIKr5U

This means pigs are more tolerant to heavier level of toxin, poison, bacteria and virus inside their bodies and can live well with such heavier toxin, poison, bacteria and virus in their bodies. But human body may not have such strong tolerance for such heavier level of toxin, poison, bacteria and virus such that it is NOT good for human being to eat pork frequently over long term.

The results of these modern medical studies (References A, B, C to L) help us understand why the Bible prohibits eating pork, but does not prohibit eating fish and meats of grass-fed livestock animals because not all meats are equal.

For example, in USA alone, 600,000 people die of cancer every year. These cancer victims are often shocked when their diagnoses indicate advanced stage of cancer. Their immediate response is often “Why?”, “Why me?” Many of such cancer victims may never know that eating pork frequently over long term, especially processed pork in the form of bacon, sausage, ham, salami, etc., is one of several significant contributors to the greatly increased risk of cancer.

Again, the relationship between heart attack or cancer and eating pork is not that simple and clear for people to see easily. It is not that if you eat pork once, you get heart attack or cancer immediately. There is a long time delay and long term accumulation of incremental effects to lead into the higher risk of cancer or other “chronic” but serious diseases. It takes large scale scientific studies over long term by modern science to understand such tricky relationship.

8. More on Bible Prohibits Eating Pork

The Bible written several thousand years ago tells us NOT to eat pork probably because of many problems:

(I) The ratio of omega-6/omega-3 essential fatty acids of pork is way too high (14 to 29) and is not good for human health no matter it is eaten raw or under cooked or cooked just right or over-cooked. The serious diseases that can be caused by eating pork frequently over long term include obesity, high blood pressure, higher cholesterol level, heart diseases, diabetes, stroke, hepatitis E, inflammation, joint pain, enlarged liver, liver failure, gout, gallstones, inflammation of the appendix (appendicitis), osteoporosis, Alzheimer's, asthma, Multiple Sclerosis (MS), etc.,

(II) Eating under cooked pork is dangerous because pork is often loaded with bacteria or virus or several kinds of nasty parasites,

(III) Eating pork can cause nasty headache and motion sickness for people who are allergic to eating pork as described in Sections 2 and 3,

(IV) Over-cooked or burned pork is carcinogenic,

(V) Pork cooked just right can still cause cancer through IGF1 mechanism, and

(VI) Processed pork is also carcinogenic.

The Quran in Islam religion written about 1,300 years ago for Muslim people re-confirms this simple law in the Bible to prohibit eating pork.

8.1. More Medical Research is Needed

Even with the modern science today, we may still not fully understand all the detailed and complex mechanisms and pathways for pork to cause so many health problems for human being. As science advances further in the future we may understand more about them and may get a deeper understanding of this simple law in the Bible prohibiting eating pork.

8.2. Ancient Time vs. Modern Time

Many people thought that the law in the Bible and in Quran prohibiting eating pork is valid only in the ancient time due to acute problems (II) listed in Section 8. These people thought that such law is not applicable in modern time anymore due to the good hygiene and good medical services in modern time.

But these people missed the serious problems (I) (III), (IV), (V) and (VI) that are still relevant and valid in modern time. So far, the good hygiene and good medical services in modern time appear to be powerless to prevent or to eliminate many serious modern diseases in (I), (III), (V) and (VI).

Therefore, it may not be wise to violate this simple law in the Bible, not only in the ancient time but also in the modern time.

9. Meaning of Allergy to Eating Pork

With the help of modern science to understand that eating pork frequently over long term can cause many serious diseases, then the allergic reactions of headache and motion sickness by some people (including me) due to eating pork may be considered as a blessing or an inborne self-defense gift to protect these “allergic” people from many more serious diseases (I), (II), (IV), (V) and (VI) caused by eating pork frequently over long term.

In other words, my allergic reaction of headache and motion sickness prompted me to stop eating pork 40 years ago such that I probably have avoided many more possible serious diseases due to eating pork and have been enjoying better quality of life in these 40 years. As a contrast, in the year 2019 alone, four of my classmates from National Taiwan University passed away and several other classmates passed away in previous years already.

If I did not have the allergic reaction of headache and motion sickness in my first 30 years of life, I might have continued eating pork in recent 40 years and might have been suffering many possible serious diseases due to eating pork. It is obvious that the quality of my life with all these possible serious diseases in recent 40 years would have been very bad or I might not be still alive today.

In this sense, people who are not allergic to eating pork need to be aware that they may be “unfortunate” because of the lack of such inborn self-defense gift to protect them from so many serious diseases that can be caused by eating pork frequently over long term.

In similar way, heavy smokers are unfortunate in lacking the inborn self-defense gift of allergy to smoking to protect them from many serious health problems caused by heavy smoking.

Alcoholic people are unfortunate in lacking the inborn self-defense gift of allergy to alcohol to protect them from many problems of alcoholic.

10. Health Benefit of Not Eating Pork

As is well known that the life expectancy of a nation is affected by many factors, such as food, nutrition, life style, stress, quality of social relationship, quality of sanitation, tens of thousands of chemicals and pesticides in the environment and on the food, pollution in the air, water, and at home, quality of medical services, extent of vaccination protection against bacteria and virus caused diseases, parasitic diseases, etc.

In order to make a meaningful controlled study on the health benefits of not eating pork, we need to look at two populations in the same country so that most other factors are about the same and the only significant difference in the two populations is eating pork. The following data show the results of such “controlled” studies.

10.1. First Case Study

Loma Linda is a city in San Bernardino County, California, in United States. Loma Linda is one of the five Blue Zones in the world and the only one in USA where people enjoy long, healthy and happy life.

The Seventh-day Adventists living in Loma Linda obey the law in the Bible and do not eat pork. About 50% of Adventists eat fish (as allowed by the Bible) while other 50% of Adventists are vegetarian and avoid all meats. The meat eaters in Seventh-day Adventists are wise to avoid eating pork and instead eat fish so that the ratio of omega-6/omega-3 in their diet must be low and very good.

With such healthy diet, healthy eating habit and healthy life style, the Seventh-day Adventists in Loma Linda live 10 years longer than the life expectancy of general US population.

Most fish and seafood have good amount of omega-3, but have practically no omega-6. So, if one eats too much omega-6 from other foods, then eating some fish is an excellent way to correct the excessive ratio of omega-6/omega-3 in the diet.

10.2. Second Case Study

According to British census data, British Jews live an average of five to six years longer than their gentile counterparts, and there may be nearly three times as many British Jewish centenarians as in the general U.K. population.

However, it is noted that not all Jews avoid eating pork. Some Jews do eat pork. If all Jews avoided eating pork and also followed the healthy diet and healthy life style of The Seventh-day Adventists, then British Jews might live 10 years longer instead of only five to six years longer than their gentile counterparts.

11. Do More Beyond Not Eating Pork

Eating pork frequently over long term is one of several significant factors to damage the health and to cut short the life expectancy due to the problems (I), (II), (III), (IV), (V) and (VI) described in Section 8.

But stop eating pork alone is only a necessary step, but is not a sufficient step to guarantee long, healthy and happy life. One needs to do more by following the healthy diet, healthy eating habit and healthy life style of people in the Blue Zones to enjoy long, healthy and happy life.

11.1. Healthy Diet in Blue Zones

The healthy diet and healthy life style of people living in blue zones are described in the following YouTube presentations by Dan Buettner and Tony Buettner:

O. “How to live to be 100+ - Dan Buettner”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ff40YiMmVkU

Apr 17, 2013

Talk by Dan Buettner.

P. “Blue Zones: Secrets of a Long Life”

Mar 1, 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVauROroe1Y

The healthy diet in blue zones is very close to Mediterranean diet which has excellent healthy ratio of omega-6/omega-3 of 4. The principal aspects of this diet include proportionally high consumption of olive oil, legumes, unrefined cereals, fruits, and vegetables, moderate to high consumption of fish, moderate consumption of dairy products (mostly as cheese and yogurt), moderate wine consumption, and low consumption of non-fish meat products. Desserts and red meat are saved for special occasions and are, therefore, eaten only occasionally.

11.2. The Mediterranean Diet Pyramid is shown in the following:

Source of this Mediterranean Diet Pyramid: Oldways Website at:

https://www.oldwayswebstore.org/mediterranean-diet-pyramid-refrigerator-magnet/

The healthy blue zone diet is 95% whole food plant-based diet. 95% of the diet eaten every day in blue zones is whole food plant-based. The other 5% of the diet in blue zones is animal products.

More detailed description of Blue Zones Diet and Food Guidelines can be seen here.

11.2.1. Not All Oils Are Equal

Notice that in the 95% whole food plant-based diet in The Mediterranean Diet Pyramid, it singles out olive oil, but does not mention many other oils. Olive oil is famous as healthy oil and should be used every day. But many other oils, such as corn oil, cottonseed oil, grapeseed oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, soybean oil, peanut oil, etc. are unhealthy bad oils and should be avoided and thrown out from the kitchen because they contain too much omega-6 but almost no omega-3. The ratio of omega-6/omega-3 in regular western diet ranges from 10 to 50 and are too high, not good. In this sense, many people need an oil change in order to follow the blue zone diet to achieve good ratio of omega-6/omega-3 for good health. The famous Lyon Diet Heart Study in Section 7 demonstrated the importance of maintaining good ratio of omega-6/omega-3 in the diet.

In view of the important problem of vitamin B12 deficiency of vegetarians and vegans as described in Reference N, the 5% diet from animal products in blue zone diet is a very wise way to take good care of the problem of vitamin B12 deficiency of vegetarians and vegans.

So, the healthy diet in blue zones tells us that we do not have to go 100 % all the way into plant-based diet, 95% is good enough to gain most health advantages of vegetarians and vegans.

Then, the next level up in Mediterranean Diet Pyramid is fish and seafood that they eat often, at least twice each week. It is noted that the ratio of omega-6/omega-3 of fresh wild fish is 1 or better (less) and is excellent for human health. So, the animal products in blue zones diet is heavily dominated by the fish and seafood. The extra-long chain omega-3 fats EPA and DHA help cool inflammation by supporting the production of anti-inflammatory prostaglandins, powerful hormone-like substances that turn down the body’s internal fires. Cold-water fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, anchovies, sardines, herring and black cod should be staples in your diet.

11.3. Health Benefits of Eating Fish and Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids

The health benefits of Omega-3 essential fatty acids are demonstrated by The Famous Lyon Diet Heart Study described in Section 7.2.1. Furthermore, two large scale randomized and controlled medical studies conducted by Harvard Medical School and published in The New England Journal of Medicine in 2018 provide more support for health benefits of eating fish and omega-3 essential fatty acids.

The first study is known as The Vitamin D and Omega-3 trial (VITAL) and is funded by The U.S. National Institutes of Health involving 25,871 healthy people. The test group was taking a daily 1-gram omega-3 prescription supplement that included a combination of two omega-3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). The control group was taking a placebo. The study results show that:

11.3.1. People who ate less than 1.5 servings of fish a week or didn't eat fish at all in the test group receiving the omega-3 supplement show a significant 40% reduction in heart attacks as compared to the control group taking placebo,

11.3.2. African American participants in the test group show 77% reduction in heart attack for those receiving the omega-3 supplement, compared with those in control group taking the placebo ,

11.3.3. People who eat fish often ( eat at least two servings a week of fatty fish ) show no benefit between the test group vs the control group . In other words, for people who eat fatty fish frequently, there is no benefit to take fish oil supplement.

"Healthy lifestyle practices, including regular physical activity, healthy diet, and not smoking, will reduce heart disease risk by close to 80%," said Dr. .JoAnn Manson, MD, one of the two VITAL Study Directors.

The second study is known as Reduction of Cardiovascular Events with EPA–Intervention Trial (REDUCE-IT) involving 8,000 middle-aged and older adults who had elevated triglyceride levels and who had already experienced a cardiovascular event or had other significant risk factors for one. The test group was taking a daily high-dose, 4-gram prescription omega-3 medication (with only EPA). The study results show that

11.3.4. This medication may help to protect high-risk individuals from cardiovascular events. Those taking it were 25% less likely to die from heart disease or to have a heart attack, stroke, or a type of chest pain called angina. They were also less likely to need a procedure to open a blocked heart artery.

Then the next level up in the Pyramid of smaller quantity are poultry, eggs, cheese and yogurt which they eat weekly in moderate portion.

The last level up of allocated very small quantity are red meats and sweets (sugar, desert, etc.) which are eaten less often.

11.4. Insignificant Role of Pork in Healthy Blue Zone Diet

The Mediterranean Diet Pyramid shows that pork plays a tiny insignificant role in the blue zone diet since pork is only one of several options of meats (e.g., meat of cow, or sheep, or goat, etc.) and sweets occupying the very small quantity at the top of the pyramid and are eaten infrequently.

It also indicates that sweets (sugar, deserts, soda, ice cream, cookies, etc.) are as bad as pork and should be eaten in very small quantity and infrequently. In this way, the unhealthy effects of sweets and excess omega-6 in small quantity of pork eaten infrequently can be compensated for easily by plenty of healthy omega-3 in larger quantity in fish eaten more frequently.

12. Concluding Remark

Pork is not good for human health due to many health problems listed in Section 8. For the sake of our good health, we should avoid eating pork.

Furthermore, we should also avoid many unhealthy oils, such as corn oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, soybean oil, peanut oil, etc., because they contain too much omega-6, but almost no omega-3.

The Mediterranean Diet Pyramid provides very healthy diet so that people in blue zones can live 10 years longer than average population and with 10 times greater possibility of becoming a centenarian. Pork plays only a tiny insignificant role in such healthy blue zone diet.

However, in addition to the healthy diet, one also needs to follow the healthy life style in blue zones described in the two YouTube presentations O and P listed above to enjoy long, healthy and happy life.

In some dinner discussions, I heard that some friends are still suffering from high sensitivity to motion sickness on large cruise ships on rough sea. I suggest that these friends either (a) go to see an allergy doctor to get a test to see if they are allergic to pork, or (b) try an experiment by avoiding eating pork for several months to see if their sensitivity to motion sickness is reduced or not.

There are many kinds of wild fish, free-range poultry and many kinds of meat of free-range grass-fed livestock animals one can eat. So, stop eating pork will not harm you as long as you eat enough fish, good poultry and/or other good meats.

If you know of other friends at senior age who are still suffering from high sensitivity to motion sickness, please forward this article to them.

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Appendix: References on Pork and Your Health

A. THE ADVERSE INFLUENCE OF PORK CONSUMPTION ON HEALTH

by Professor Hans-Heinrich Reckeweg, M.D.

Biological Therapy Vol.1 No. 2 1983

https://healthmasters.com/blog/adverse-influence-pork-consumption-health

B. SHOCKING MUST SEE! WHY Eating PORK is BAD For HUMANS:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nMlDxlw1II

C. Is Pork Still Dangerous?

Did Leviticus get it right? Pork may still be dangerous.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/perfect-health-diet/201202/is-pork-still-dangerous

D. 10 Important Reasons Why Eating Pork Is Bad for You!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlypfH7ezEo

E. The #1 Food You Should Stop Eating Immediately

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn5WRh6MIWY

F. Pork Tapeworms on the Brain: Neurocysticercosis, infection with pork tapeworm larvae brain parasites, is an increasingly serious public health problem in the United States, potentially causing headaches, dizziness, seizures, other neurological disorders, and sudden death.

https://nutritionfacts.org/video/pork-tapeworms-on-the-brain/

G. Avoiding pork tapeworm parasites (cysticercosis) is not as easy as just avoiding pork.

https://nutritionfacts.org/video/avoiding-epilepsy-through-diet/

H. Not So Delusional Parasitosis

https://nutritionfacts.org/video/not-so-delusional-parasitosis/

I. Chronic Headaches & Pork Tapeworms: Chronic headaches such as migraines or “tension” headache symptoms may be a sign of pork tapeworms in the brain.

https://nutritionfacts.org/video/chronic-headaches-and-pork-tapeworms/

J. 4 Hidden Dangers of Pork

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/is-pork-bad

K. Eating Outside Our Kingdom: A higher rate of cancer deaths among those that handle and process meat is attributed to infection with viruses, and chronic exposure to animal proteins.

https://nutritionfacts.org/video/eating-outside-our-kingdom/

The Consumer Reports also agree with Bible about eating pork is bad and touching pork is also bad as described in the following YouTube website:

L. Pork Problems: Consumer Reports Finds Dangerous Bacteria in Pork

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyXwJKms9yY