Posted on 09/29/2003 3:20:49 PM PDT by blam
Red meat molecule 'may cause health problems'
Eating red meat introduces a potentially dangerous non-human molecule into the body tissues, new research has showed.
A study found that the molecule, a sugar only found in non-human mammals, is absorbed into tissues such as blood vessels and secretory cells.
Tests showed that it can generate an immune response which might induce harmful inflammation.
The scientists have not ruled out a link with cancer and heart disease - although they acknowledge that at present this is speculation.
To date, research has focused on the role of red meat saturated fats and chemical products that arise from cooking.
The new study, led by scientists at the University of California in San Diego, USA, is the first to investigate dietary absorption of a cell-surface sugar called N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc).
Humans are genetically unable to produce the molecule, which occurs naturally at high levels in lamb, pork and beef. Only very low or undetectable amounts of the sugar are found in fruits, vegetables, hen's eggs, poultry and fish.
Laboratory studies and tests on three human volunteers - all members of the research team - confirmed that ingested Neu5Gc is absorbed into human tissues.
They also demonstrated that the body may view the molecule as a non-human invader and launch an antibody-based immune response against it.
Although the sugar does not occur naturally in humans, other researchers have found traces of it in human cancer tumours.
Story filed: 22:04 Monday 29th September 2003
The molecular basis for the absence of N-glycolylneuraminic acid in humans.
Maybe the ones that did died before they had off-spring...huh?
Uh huh.
It's hard to imagine how this one enzyme could cause such great selective pressure as to kill off all progeny containing it. I would be more inclined to imagine that some other genetic change producing substantial survival advantage occurred concomminantly. The advantaged "strain", albeit with the damaged enzyme gene, simply outproduced the others leading to this condition being "normal".
As opposed to, say, the role of excessive amounts of sugar and processed carbs, which have absolultely no effect on cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
I agree...I just said the first thing that came to mind.
Like many vitamins?
which occurs naturally at high levels in lamb, pork and beef. Only very low or undetectable amounts of the sugar are found in fruits, vegetables, hen's eggs, poultry and fish.
So this necessary nutrient can only be found in meat products?
Laboratory studies and tests on three human volunteers - all members of the research team - confirmed that ingested Neu5Gc is absorbed into human tissues.
Like other animal-products-only vitamins (cyanocobalamin, for example)?
They also demonstrated that the body may view the molecule as a non-human invader and launch an antibody-based immune response against it.
Like the way some people are allergic to various vitamins (A, D, C)?
Although the sugar does not occur naturally in humans, other researchers have found traces of it in human cancer tumours
So clearly this vitamin has some kind of anti-cancer role, otherwise it would not be found concentrated in cancerous bodily tissues. Obviously this means that meat products are a necessary part of a healthy, anti-cancer diet, since there is no way to get this vitamin without eating meat.
Exactly the same is true of Vitamin-C (all mammals except for guinea pigs and primates -- which includes humans -- produce their own Vitamin-C internally), but you don't see articles claiming, "Vitamin molecule may cause health problems". On the contrary, we *need* the Vitamin-C we get from external food sources, and *avoiding* eating foods which contain Vitamin-C is what actually causes "health problems" like the disease Rickets.
If fact, it was only because Vitamin-C was present in sufficient amounts in primates' diets that the mutation which "broke" our Vitamin-C synthesis gene wasn't immediately weeded out by natural selection. I suspect the same may be true of the "broken" human N-Glycolylneuraminic acid synthesis gene.
I don't know if N-Gn is an essential nutritional like vitamin C but but if so carnivorous primates would survive.
Science on the march - let's stop and remember the man who first discovered how to split the beer molecule...
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