@BCiF
I understand your fear of pork. From my perspective the main reason why most "unclean" animals were considered though is because someone ate them and had a bad reaction. We all have different tolerances to things and different allergies. My gf is allergic to certain fruits but she can handle unclean fish just fine.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/pigs-sweat-glands/
Most of my life has been spent under the assumption that because pigs don't sweat or their sweat isn't time to heat, that they couldn't get rid of harmful chemicals. A lot of people believed this and so a lot of people spread this around.
It is not true.
Because chickens are not mammals they also do not have sweat glands. In both chickens and pigs the toxins are removed by liver and kidneys just like they are in humans.
So why do animals that don't eat meat need a liver or kidneys?
https://www.pigspeace.org/main/didyouknow.html
https://www.cfs.gov.hk/english/programme/programme_rafs/programme_rafs_fc_02_05.html#:~:text=Natural%20toxins%20are%20poisonous%20substances,protective%20mechanism%20for%20the%20plant.
It's because there are naturally occurring toxins in fruits and vegetables.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5340032/#:~:text=Studies%20have%20shown%20that%20Ascaris,uncooked%2C%20or%20improperly%20washed%20vegetables
... also parasites.
So how does a pig get parasites if all they eat are natural vegetation? Because all of that is part of nature and natural vegetation.
So basically anything you fear from a pig, you can also fear from cows, chickens, who all eat the same things vegans eat. I'm not advertising for pork products here. I rarely eat even a little bit of pork.
But point #1 is that toxins and parasites exist in food in general.
Point #2 is about food preparation.
NO MATTER WHAT YOU ARE EATING...
Food preparation is important. You should be washing your fruits and veggies. Eating these things raw is like not using a condom with a woman you know has herpes. It is common for there to be recalls on Romaine lettuce for example. Doesn't mean you should never eat Romaine lettuce. It just means you could get a bad batch. It's kind of like plants and animals can get sicknesses and diseases the same way we humans can. So if you eat a sick animal then chances are you will get sick too. Period. The bible also talks about this; talks about how an animal dies and how it is unclean. Any animal that dies on its own was generally thought to be unclean ("unhygienic").
Bacterial food poisoning happens all the time, even in restaurants. But it affects some chains more than others because of how quickly the food is prepared. The cooking process kills anything that is alive. That includes bacteria. Toxins are also deactivated in high temps. Even if we were talking about coronavirus, it would die if it got cooked. That's why food prep is important because unless you scan your meal with a microscope you can't see whats growing on its surface or inside it.
Obviously animals do not cook their food. They eat it raw. Therefore they ingest the toxins and parasite eggs and all of that. And yes, as a result they can be hosts for worms. A 2016 study notes that over 3.5 billion people around the world have an intestinal parasite infection. This is typical of developing areas with poor sanitation. You can get parasites from water; especially if it contains fecal matter. The more "natural" your food source is, the more likely it is actually harmful because natural contaminants are living contaminants.
Whatever toxins you ingest are handled by the liver and kidneys. We are all constantly filtering out bad parts of our environment out of our bodies and constantly living with parts of our environment that are beneficial. There are "good bacteria" that you actually want in your intestines to help you digest food and destroy harmful bacteria and other microorganisms as well as produce vitamin K.
If a person doesn't have this community of good bacteria built up, like a small child naturally wouldn't, then food containing microorganisms and parasites are more dangerous. But the point (#3) is that if you are healthy then your body has the right tools to handle the meats that you consume, including pork. One of the biggest reasons to avoid a lot of pork and other red meat is the fat content and load that puts on blood vessels.
But what I'd rather see us do is discuss WHY certain things are bad, and not just blindly label everything and use those labels to judge other people. I say eating plants can be just as dangerous as eating animals. And as far as gelatin... the fact that the customary means of producing gelatin is boiling, that means the risk of it transmitting anything is very low. Our species, not only has a liver and kidneys for a reason, but we also have teeth designed for eating both plants and animals. And we can pretty much eat anything we're not individually allergic to. Religions tend to say otherwise because restriction is how they exercise their control and as well how they convince people that they need that religion to protect them from all the things they don't know and lack the scientific tools to find out. This idea of having inside knowledge makes them attractive; as if that knowledge came from gods, but a lot of times is just based on experiences. If a lot of people are allergic to shellfish, it is reasonable for group of people to assume that shellfish are bad to eat.
But if vegans have about the same life span as meat eaters then what is truly the difference? It would be one thing if you could show that all vegans live to be 120 and meat eaters all die at 70. But that's not true and statistics that talk about this don't normally get it right.
https://www.pacificprime.com/blog/myth-debunked-do-vegetarians-live-longer.html#:~:text=All%20in%20all%2C%20the%20results,longer%20than%20average%20non%2Dvegetarians.
Someone who is health conscious enough to do one thing is probably conscious enough of maintaining a balanced diet, reducing weight, etc. Things that may have a much bigger impact on overall health than whether or not you eat meat or even pork. What kind of sleep do you get? That can affect your lifespan too, so can owning a pet. There are meat eaters who don't care about their health and then there are those who do. There are cultures in the east where meat is the minor part of the meal and western cultures where meat is the main course. It's all about balance. I was very impressed when my Life Science professor said this during a lecture because we were at a Seventh Day Adventist college and SDAs are known for strict vegetarian and vegan diets. But what he said has proved to be true. And because I grew up with them I know that vegetarians don't automatically live longer than anyone else. So you have to be conscious of everything to do with health, including purifying your air and water and exercising to maintain a health weight. That's how you promote long life, not by attacking certain animals.
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