STRAIGHT FROM THE HORSES MOUTH

Duane A. Lienemann
UNL Extension Educator

 
     I have over the years tried to inform the readers of this document about issues facing agriculture as well as outlying groups who are always nipping at the heels of farmers and ranchers and particularly the food industry in general.  There is no end of “activists” that are continually espousing myths, half-truths and downright lies about animal agriculture, conventional farming methods, and even technology that we have employed to help feed a hungry world. The litany of alleged ill effects from consuming animal foods is endless. Anyone who’s alive today has been witness to an entire lifetime of activist attacks on meat-eating, factory farms, Monsanto, and the food industry ---basically if you’re a rancher, producer or processor, you’ve been one of the main targets of their ire. The partisans who believe that humans are ordained to exist only on plants believe that impacts on human health and longevity can be blamed solely on dairy, beef, pork or chicken!
     Of course, some of them come from so-called “science-based” research groups -- and we have heard them all, including:  The “real” story about GMO’s; Meat causes heart attacks, strokes and cancer; Cholesterol that comes from meat is a cold-blooded killer; Saturated fat is totally unhealthy and should be completely taken out of your diet; Corn syrup and sugar is the reason for obesity in America; and Diabetes strikes meat-eaters more often than vegetarians; and We feed dangerous “pink slime” to our school kids. Not to mention that the very business of raising cattle or pigs is destroying the entire planet at warp speed. Livestock is the major cause of greenhouse gasses because they give off methane. Manure and urine are contaminating all of our rivers and streams. Let’s not forget about the groups that believe that animals have rights equal to human beings.  All of this, of course, is according to the chorus of critics who constantly bash livestock production, meat and poultry processing and food service industry that has built its business on preparing and serving meat and dairy foods.
     Well, now we have a brand new shocking revolution that I take rather personal. Are you ready for this? Dementia is a direct result of eating cooked meat! Yes, you heard that right. Now, there’s yet another (alleged) outcome that animal industry haters can use to shock consumers: “Meat-eating causes Dementia!” Thanks to some researchers eager to plow new ground or make a name for themselves, there’s now a new study claiming that cooking your meat makes you senile.  And of course --- because I am a cooked meat eater, I forget why.  Maybe I better do some research and write it down before I forget again.  Here - I thought it was age, or perhaps too much imbibing of adult beverages in college…hmmmm!    
     It seems that “researchers” at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York (of course in New York!) published a study in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences stating that “age-related dementia may be causally linked to high levels of foods containing advanced glycation end products.” What? I will have to admit I had never heard of “glycation” and had no idea what-so-ever that I was eating that.  It sounds kind of ominous and I thought perhaps before I eat another pan fried or grill toasted steak I better study this further.
     First we may want to ask, just what are advanced glycation end products (AGEs)? Well as I understand it these AGEs are formed when proteins or fats react with sugar, which, of course, can routinely occur during cooking, whether browning meat in an oven, or grilling it over an open flame. According to these researchers - “Modern diets are largely heat-processed and as a result contain high levels of advanced glycation end products.” They go on to say that “Dietary AGE products are known to contribute to increased oxidant stress and inflammation, which are linked to the recent epidemics of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.” They go on to suggest that --“AGEs have also been linked to an accumulation of amyloid plaques in the brain — similar to the lesions associated with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy — that can impair cognitive functioning, as happens in dementia. Oh here we go --- BSE or commonly called “Mad Cow” disease. I remember “the cow that stole Christmas” ten years ago and also remember that it never reached the food chain and none others were ever found!! There was a fear like I had never seen before at that time and it seems that some people cannot just let it rest!
     Don’t get me wrong; Dementia, whether associated with Alzheimer’s or as a result of organic neurological damage, can be devastating. I have seen it in old friends. I also know that it’s a trauma that has been markedly increasing in prevalence over the last few decades. You might ask why? I believe it’s not because we’re suddenly eating more meat, grilling more hamburgers, or ordering more pan-fried flat iron steaks; but instead, thanks to better nutrition, public health initiatives and the advances of modern medicine, we’re living a lot longer than ever before. For example: according to the Health and Human Services’ Administration on Aging, the number of Americans aged 65 and older will increase from 40.22 million today to 88 million by 2050 (doubled) and the number of Americans aged 85 and older is projected to increase from about 5.71 million alive today to some 19.04 million by 2050, nearly quadruple the current total. Why isn’t age the main target?
     I think there needs to be something pointed out on this research. They fed mice a high-AGEs diet and then observed a build-up of proteins in their brains that impaired cognitive functioning, if running through a maze to get a piece of cheese can be considered cognition. The problem is that we’re talking mice, lab animals that are fed high doses of whatever substance is under study until they develop symptoms significant enough to measure. Such tactics hardly parallel human lifestyles, where any study of dietary nutrients is compounded by literally dozens of extraneous factors, from genetics to stress levels - to environmental considerations. I don’t think they provided definitive answers. I’m grilling steaks tonight!!
   The preceding information comes from the research and personal observations of the writer which may or may not reflect the views of UNL or UNL Extension. For more further information on these or other topics contact D. A. Lienemann, UNL Extension Educator for Webster County in Red Cloud, (402) 746-3417 or email to: dlienemann2@unl.edu or go to the website at: http://www.webster.unl.edu/home