Hi Kelli,

>the reason meat consumption in this country
is linked to a higher incidence of colon cancer is because of the
"unnatural"
state of the meat most people here buy.<

That is only one possible reason. I can think of several other
possibilities:

Meat from animals that lived on grain rather than plants is eaten,
resulting in a harmful balance of fats, or:

That typically on some oocasions the meat eaten was no longer fresh and had
started to 'turn' (with red meats turning red to gray and starting to
smell, indicating its toxicity), but that fact was hidden because the meat
was cooked (and often drowned in 'special' sauces) to "purify" it. Very
often hamburger, whether organic or otherwise, has already gone bad by the
time it is purchased - probably the same is true with chicken, or:

Meat is often eaten in too large quantity in one sitting (8  - 12 oz).

The negative effects of the previous may be exaggerated when the meat is
eaten with cooked starch foods (eg meat and potatoes diet), as digestion is
slowed and intestinal putrefaction increased by such a food combination.
Even worse is adding a sugary dessert.

Finally, a last potential problem is that the meat has been cooked or
overcooked, creating toxic compounds in the process.

If meat is 'natural', fresh and perhaps eaten raw or undercooked, most of
the problems might be solved and the risks of colon cancer or other disease
might drop dramatically. It is hard to say how much of the percentage of
any negative effects is due to the raw vs cooked issue. Jean-Louis
epidemiological evidence suggests that other issues besides raw/cooked may
be most important. 

The risk of acute illness, from bacterial contamination not handled by the
cooking process, might increase though - unless a smell test for purity and
freshness is truly accurate (?).

In my own case, I haven't yet sorted out all the benefits/drawbacks of
raw/cooked on digestibility and overall health - all I know for sure so far
is that non-fresh and/or factory-farm meat is a problem, and that charred
meat tends to produce gas. I might try thoroughly cooked (but not charred)
fresh meat just to see if is a problem (which might be indicated by
digestive gas or smelly bowels in a day) - problem is it does not appeal to
me!


Paul ([log in to unmask])