Americans love pork. Every year pig farmers produce around 10 to 15 million metric tons of this stuff, with an average per person consumption of around 50 pounds a year. It’s not just Americans that enjoy ham, bacon and other pig meat products. Pork is the most widely consumed meat on the planet, making up almost 40 percent of animal flesh sold worldwide.
Nonetheless, despite our passion for pork and its undeniable nutritional value, pigs are dirty animals. They’ll eat and digest almost anything and they process food quickly, not bothering to detoxify poisons, instead storing them in their fat. This makes indulging in any pork products a potentially risky pastime.
For example pork eating is associated with multiple sclerosis. According to a 1986 article in the journal “Medical Hypothesis”, there is a significant correlation between pork consumption and the dreaded autoimmune disease that affects the nerves, can lead to paralysis and ultimately death. Pigs can harbor various disease-causing viruses, including hepatitis B and Menangle virus. Likewise, roundworm, pinworm, hookworm and tapeworm.
Eating pork is the leading cause of trichinosis, a parasitic infection caused by the trichinella worm, that can cause severe abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. and over time, as the ingested worms produce new larvae, a full-blown trichonella infestation can occur in muscle tissue. For those not dissuaded from enjoying pork, make sure your meat is cooked thoroughly, ideally to a temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit, and allow it to rest for at least three minutes before carving and consuming.
