Science Imbibing, Brains and Bullies
posted by on February 22 at 12:13 PM
Eat more drumsticks:
Broiler (meat) chickens have been subjected to intense genetic selection. In the past 50 years, broiler growth rates have increased by over 300% (from 25 g per day to 100 g per day). There is growing societal concern that many broiler chickens have impaired locomotion or are even unable to walk. Here we present the results of a comprehensive survey of commercial flocks which quantifies the risk factors for poor locomotion in broiler chickens. We assessed the walking ability of 51,000 birds, representing 4.8 million birds within 176 flocks. We also obtained information on approximately 150 different management factors associated with each flock. At a mean age of 40 days, over 27.6% of birds in our study showed poor locomotion and 3.3% were almost unable to walk. The high prevalence of poor locomotion occurred despite culling policies designed to remove severely lame birds from flocks. …Worldwide approximately 2×1010 broilers are reared within similar husbandry systems.
(Gluten fearing monkeys, dog parasites and bullies after the jump.)
Or eat at Juliano’s:
Gluten sensitivity is widespread among humans. For example, in celiac disease patients, an inflammatory response to dietary gluten leads to enteropathy, malabsorption, circulating antibodies against gluten and transglutaminase 2, and clinical symptoms such as diarrhea. There is a growing need in fundamental and translational research for animal models that exhibit aspects of human gluten sensitivity…When fed with a gluten-containing diet, gluten-sensitive macaques showed signs and symptoms of celiac disease including chronic diarrhea, malabsorptive steatorrhea, intestinal lesions and anti-gliadin antibodies. A gluten-free diet reversed these clinical, histological and serological features, while reintroduction of dietary gluten caused rapid relapse….
Gluten-sensitive rhesus macaques may be an attractive resource for investigating both the pathogenesis and the treatment of celiac disease.
Dogs still don’t belong in restaurants, but for one less reason:
In many countries in the world, livestock and humans are affected with hydatid disease, which is caused by the development, in the viscera, of the larval stage of the cestode Echinococcus granulosus. They become infected by ingesting the eggs of this parasite, which are passed in the feces of the dog—the host of the adult worm. Domestic dogs are key in the transmission to livestock and humans….
…we propose that a recombinant oral vaccine given to the small number of dogs keeping the herd would decrease the number of Echinococcus granulosus adult worms and, consequently, the number of infective eggs. This measure would help reduce the contamination risk factors for humans and livestock, and would be cost-effective for the owners of the dogs.
A video of Echinococcus Hydatid cysts being removed from a patient’s brain:
(Not safe for anyone to view. Ever.)
Attention fellow nerds worldwide—eat better, work out and clean up:
Basic daily healthy practices including nutritious diet, hygiene and physical activity are common approaches in comprehensive health promotion programs in school settings, however their relationship to these aggressive behaviours is vague. We attempted to show the advantages of these healthy lifestyle behaviours in 9 developing countries by examining the association with being frequently bullied, violence and injury…Healthy lifestyle showed an association to decreased relative risk of being frequently bullied and violence/injury in developing countries. A comprehensive approach to risk and health promoting behaviours reducing bullying and violence is encouraged at school settings.
20 Trillion chickens? Really?
Note that "free range" chicken probably isn't any better. Only a microscopic fraction of "free range" chickens have ever set foot outside the barn in which they are virtually immobilized on the floor. You can call your chickens "free range" if you so much as open a six-inch door at the far end of the barn when the chickens are six weeks old -- after the age at which chickens' curiosity or ability to investigate such a thing has passed.
Eggs, too.
Maybe an Obama administration can do something to tighten up the ludicrously flaccid definitions of "organic", "free range" and "natural" that have been allowed by the Bushies.
Um, 2x10^10 = Twenty billion.
The videos from the chicken paper--found at the end--are incredibly disheartening. Animals bred to be so top heavy they can't walk.. wow.
@2
Organic was defined in 1997, which was Clinton time.
Golob has earned my trust for consistently delivering accurate and well-qualified information. Still, I can't help being reminded of the KFC name change story from back in the day.
no one likes the dark meat. everyone likes the breasts. therefore, make the breasts bigger.
i'm going to have a veggie burrito for lunch.
Some, and soon most, Walmart's carry organic produce, as does Safeway now. These definitions, along with "free range", need to be re-defined through legislation before their definitions are pummeled into an even more meaningless pulp than they are.
If the FDA can't step up and do it's job, this should be handled at the state level.
Sometimes I am so glad to be a vegetarian.
My mistake. 20 Billion sounds a lot more correct anyway.
I like dark meat. My favorite part of the chicken is the thigh or the back. I like to eat the bones whole, too, especially the long leg bones. Crunch 'em up. Mmm, suck that marrow out.
Vegetarians taste good, especially with honey.
If people would just stop eating cows, that video wouldn't exist along with equal threats to humanity like global warming, the obesity epidemic, diabetes, many cancers and heart diseases, etc.
Do people seriously not realize beef is the #1 killer of americans and the environment or is Frito Pie really that worth it?
@12
It's that worth it.
I don't care if they need wheelchairs, chickens are becoming more and more delicious with each passing year.
Seriously, go into any Safeway and randomly pick a roast whole chicken for about $6.50. Every single chicken is perfect. 20 years ago, you had to search hard to find chickens of this quality.
And all you smug vegetarians-- you know what makes that fake meat in your veggi burgers and schwarma? Pure gluten, that's what. Even if you're not celiac, the stuff is gradually breaking down your body. Humans are not meant to eat high-gluten cereals. It's gradually slowing your ability to absorb vitamins.
#12 - People don't believe that because it's probably not true.
Ground beef might be something to stay away from, but a good cut of steak (doesn't have to be expensive, just need to know what to look for) or pork, posses less of a risk to your health than most commercially packaged foods - And SOME saturated fat intake is a good addition to your diet.
Nothing against vegetarians, but issues in modern farming practices effect you too (genetic engineering, hydrogenation, gas-ripened fruits, etc.).
Actually, most studies strongly suggest you should reduce your red meat intake and increase your vegetable and fruit intake, as well as switch from processed foods to more whole grains.
And a better choice than beef is bison (beefalo), it's leaner, tends to be organic, and they produce a lot less methane due to their diets, and use about 1/20th the grazing land ... plus it's just cooler.
eclexia @12, I feel sorry for you. You've never tasted chicken if you think Safeway chicken is good. It tastes of nothing.
#16 - Oooh, I just had me some Bison sausage last weekend (actually, like 3 days last week). It was hunted though, not farmed, and it was amazing.
MOST people probably should cut back on "red meat", a label which includes all sort of nasty variety of cow-stuff, but my point was just that it can be good for you, as long as you're shopping smart, and doing so in moderation. Keep in mind, "downer cows" don't make good steaks, those are heading elsewhere.
Just like whole grains however, too much, without balance is bad. We all eat too many wheat and corn products. I know I do.
This is the first time I haven't wanted to know WWFS?(What Would Fnarf Say). He eats fucking bones! He knows what chicken tastes like, in ways I'm glad I can't imagine.
Gold-clad-bone-eatin'-know-it-all freak.
@14
You base this gluten information on what, exactly? Something you read on the internets, right?
Right.
Oh, PdxRichie, you don't know the half of it. I eat things I pick up off the sidewalk. I eat metal. I used to chew up paperclips into little tiny balls, until one day I needed $28,000 worth of dental work....
I too prefer the dark meat on chickens, very tasty. Cheaper too. I should try duck, I hear it has more dark meat than chickens do.
And I need to eat more red meat, PSBC keeps turning me down and telling me to go talk to my doctor because my 'crit's at 32%.
Considering what happened last year with Chinese wheat gluten, I wouldn't eat it either.
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