The Truth About Eating Pork

I don’t think that I could ever forget my sophomore year biology project. My partner and I had to pick a fetal pig from out of a bag and begin the dissection. I never really thought too much of pork before this time. I ate it leisurely even though my older brother told me not to. For three weeks we would be hacking into this formaldehyde filled omnivore and I would dread going to class everyday.

When we reached the subject of the human body, we were literally forced to take a scalpel and cut this thing apart. Why would we dissect a pig in order to learn about the human body? Believe it or not the pig has the closest anatomy to the human body. Maybe this would explain why my grandfather, who was a preacher, always said not to eat the pig because they were once people that God cast demons into. Well whatever the case I couldn’t talk myself into eating another pepperoni pizza or ham sandwich again.

The smell of dead pig surrounded the north end hallways of my school and the actual classroom reeked of formaldehyde and guts. I remember by lunchtime I was so grossed out that I was hesitant to eat. It seemed like no matter how hard I scrubbed my hands with watered down school soap I could not shake the smell.

I think that the ultimate peak of my disgust happened the moment my teacher started to tell us about the worms that cultivate in the stomachs of the pig. She explained how people that eat undercooked pork carry the risk of cultivating these worms inside of them too. She then instructed us to slice open the stomachs of the pigs and examine. I think that this was the day that I wanted to drop out of school.

I didn’t end up dropping out, however I learned the truth about pork and I realized that it is the most impure animal to consume. I have decided to educate others with the God honest truth about eating the other white meat.

When I first became a Muslim I knew that I would have to refrain from eating pork and trust me it wasn’t a hard decision. I hadn’t eaten pork in 8 years prior to my conversion, ever since the dissection. Islam strongly teaches that the eating of pork is forbidden and should not be consumed by a righteous servant of God.

Allah states in the Holy Qu’ran, “So eat of the lawful and good food which Allah has provided for you, and thank the bounty of your Lord if it is Him you serve. He has forbidden for you only carrion and blood and swine-flesh and that which has been immolated in the name of any other than Allah; but he who is driven thereto, neither craving nor transgressing, Lo! Then Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.” (Qu’ran 16:114-115)

I remember before I was Muslim I was told that the Bible had the same prohibition from God. When I looked I found it. However, many Christians must have looked over this part of their book because many of them still indulge in the disgusting meat. If God created the pig and He is telling us not to eat it than there has to be a reason.

So the Qu’ran and Bible clearly state that pork is forbidden. In Islam, Muslims are very aware of the prohibition and also the health issues that are associated with eating the pig. One of the major issues of consuming pork is the risk of inhabiting trichinella spiralis, a roundworm parasitic nematode.

I cannot forget the countless times that my good friend told me the diaper story. She said that when she was a baby, maybe one or two, she would go into the fridge and eat raw bacon. For some reason she really liked it. One day her dad was changing her diaper and there was a giant worm in there. Every time I hear this story I cringe at the thought of finding a living worm inside of my babies diaper.

Trichinella spiralis or trichinae are found in many warm-blooded carnivores and omnivores, which include the piggy. The direct life cycle of this worm is direct, meaning that it completes all stages of development in one host. When transmission to another host occurs, the second host must ingest muscle tissue of the encysted larval stage of the parasite. Once the infected muscle tissue is consumed then the muscle larvae encysts and begins to enter the tissue of the small intestine and then migrates through the circulatory system to striated muscle tissue. They then began to penetrate a muscle cell, enlarge it to become a unique cyst, and mature to become infective for another host. It takes about 17-21 days for the development to occur. Adult worms will continue to produce several larvae in the pig for several weeks before they are expelled. However, once the larvae are expelled then no other contamination can take place.

Trichinella spiralis has been a major problem associated with pork products throughout the world. During the beginning of the 20th century estimates showed a 2.5% infection rate in U.S. pigs. During the 1940’s, A National Institute of Health report that was published found 16.2% of the American population was infected with the worm, a whopping 1 out of 6 people.

In a 1952 study by Dr. Glen Shepherd which was published in the Washington Post stated that, “One in six people in USA and Canada have germs in their muscles- trichinosis 8 from eating pork infected with trichina worms. Many people so infected have no symptoms. Most of those, who do have, recover slowly. Some die; some are reduced to permanent invalids. All were careless pork caters.” He continued, “No one is immune from the disease and there is no cure. Neither antibiotics nor drugs or vaccines affect these tiny deadly worms. Preventing infection is the real answer.”

You are probably wondering how do pigs contract these worms? For one a pig is a scavenger. It is an omnivorous animal that will eat anything. A pig will eat another pig or even a human if it is placed in front of it. People have been known to feed their potbellies raw garbage or rats that have a very likely chance of being contaminated. Pigs can also harvest the worms by eating animal waste products contaminated with the parasites; exposure to living or dead rodents or other wildlife infected with the worms, or cannibalism among pigs with an infected herd. Pigs can also transmit the worms by tail biting or coprophagy, however, this is not as likely as the other contractions.

There has been extensive research that has been conducted that focused on senility-old age as being characterized by the hardening of the inner lining of the blood vessels of the heart, brain ect. This process is called atheroselerosis. As the result of clot formations, coronary thrombosis or a heart attack, cerebral thrombosis or a stroke are likely. According to medical research the fat content in pork is more than any other meat and it also takes much longer to digest.

Faithful pork eaters will argue to the end that the reason why there were so much worm infestations is because there wasn’t any adequate way to store and freeze the meat. However, that is not the case and believe it or not, people are still contracting the disease during this day and age.

Ham, bacon, pork chops, pepperoni, sausage, Jello, marshmallow and jellybeans are only some of the well-known pork products. Not to mention neck bones, chitterlings, and pigs feet. If you didn’t know that these products are or contain pork, than now you do.

People need to start realizing that pork is not as wonderful as it may seem. Yeah, you may like the taste but is it really worth catching and harvesting a worm farm in your body? Besides, God tells us not to eat it and that should really be the number one reason for true believers.

Well God willing I hope that this information will be of some help to you. True knowledge can open the doors to virtually anything.