Posted on 11/28/2010 11:09:08 PM PST by neverdem
Pass the Methyl Eugenol
Why you should enjoy your Thanksgiving chemical feast.
It is that time of year: parties, presents, family gatherings — and dining-room tables laden with a tempting array of mouthwatering seasonal chemicals.
Chemicals? Yes.
We live in an intensely chemical-phobic society, one where labels and menus advertise foods as being “all-natural” and “purely organic.” Poultry sections offer fryers from “happy, free-range chickens.” “Chemical free” cuisine is in.
So it may come as a shock to you that even an all-natural holiday feast (and every other meal you consume throughout the year) comes with chemicals, including some that are poisonous, others that cause cancer in rats at high doses, and lots with unpronounceable names.
Assume you start with an appetizer, move on to a medley of crisp natural vegetables, and proceed to a traditional stuffed bird with all the trimmings. You wash your meal down with the libations of the season, and top it off with homemade pastries.
You will thus have consumed holiday helpings of various “carcinogens” (defined here as a substance that at a high dose causes cancer in laboratory animals), including:
● hydrazines (mushroom soup);
● aniline, caffeic acid, benzaldehyde, hydrogen peroxide, quercetin glycosides, and psoralens (fresh vegetable salad);
● heterocyclic amines, acrylamide, benzo(a)pyrene, ethyl carbamate, dihydrazines, d-limonene, safrole, and quercetin glycosides (roast turkey with stuffing);
● benzene and heterocyclic amines (prime rib of beef with parsley sauce);
● furfural, ethyl alcohol, and allyl isothiocyanate (broccoli, potatoes, sweet potatoes);
● coumarin, methyl eugenol, acetaldehyde, estragole, and safrole (apple and pumpkin pie);
● ethyl alcohol with ethyl carbamate (red or white wine).
Then sit back and relax with some benzofuran, caffeic acid, catechol, and l,2,5,6-dibenz(a)anthracene with 4-methylcatechol (coffee).
And those are only the carcinogens you just scarfed down. Your 100 percent natural holiday meal is also replete with toxins — popularly known as “poisons.” These include the solanine, arsenic, and chaconine in potatoes; the hydrogen cyanide in lima beans; and the hallucinogenic compound myristicin, which is found in nutmeg, black pepper, and carrots.
Now, here’s the good news: These foods are safe. In fact, all of the above-named chemicals are in these foods courtesy of Mother Nature.
Four observations are relevant:
● When it comes to toxins, the dose makes the poison. Some chemicals, regardless of whether they are natural or synthetic, are potentially hazardous at high doses but are perfectly safe when consumed at low doses such as those found in our foods.
● While you probably associate the word “carcinogen” with nasty-sounding synthetic chemicals like PCBs and dioxin, the more we test naturally occurring chemicals, the more we find that they, too, cause cancer in lab animals.
● The increasing body of evidence documenting the carcinogenicity (in the lab) of common substances found in nature highlights the contradiction we Americans have created in our regulatory approach to “carcinogens”: We try to purge our nation of synthetic ones while turning a blind eye to the omnipresence of natural ones.
● While animal testing is an essential part of biomedical research, so is common sense. A rodent is not a little man. There is no scientific foundation to the assumption that if high-dose exposure to a chemical causes cancer in a rat or mouse, then trace amounts of the chemical must pose a cancer risk to humans. If we assumed that all rodent carcinogens might pose a human cancer risk and banned them “just in case,” we’d have very little left to eat. (A radical solution to our nation’s obesity problem!)
These trace levels of natural or synthetic chemicals in food or the environment pose no known human health hazard at all — let alone a risk of cancer.
So, the next time you hear a self-appointed “consumer advocate” fret about the man-made “carcinogen du jour” and demand the government step in and “protect” us — remember, you just ingested a meal full of natural carcinogens without a care in the world and with no risk to your health.
Pass the methyl eugenol! Bon appétit!
– Dr. Elizabeth Whelan is president of the American Council on Science and Health.
Did I miss the part stating how many belt notches you have to loosen before those Turkey Day chemicals become toxic?
Yes, it made me hungry for methyl eugenol, and I remembered there was some in the fridge. With a dollop of whipped cream from a can on top, I love my pumpkin pie.
On the other hand, taken in moderation it can have some beneficial aspects.
Americans will still feast for Christmas so the advice is relevant.
The Food Nazis have scared Americans to death over a trivial health issue. There are a lot of things we could die from, but from our food isn’t one of them.
OMG we are all going to DIE!!!!!!
It’s well known that research causes cancer in laboratory mice.
Did I miss the part stating how many belt notches you have to loosen before those Turkey Day chemicals become toxic?
Isn't obesity different from carcinogenicity and toxicity?
Penn And Teller Get Hippies To Sign Water Banning Petition
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi3erdgVVTw
Nope my TV dinner was free range said so on the box.
bttt
Diabetes may clamp down on brain cholesterol
IOM Report...New Dietary...Levels...Calcium...Vitamin D...Maintain Health...Avoid Risks...
Upper intake levels represent the upper safe boundary and should not be misunderstood as amounts people need or should strive to consume. The upper intake levels for vitamin D are 2,500 IUs per day for children ages 1 through 3; 3,000 IUs daily for children 4 through 8 years old; and 4,000 IUs daily for all others. The upper intake levels for calcium are 2,500 milligrams per day from age 1 through 8; 3,000 milligrams daily from age 9 through 18; 2,500 milligrams daily from age 19 through 50; and 2,000 milligrams per day for all other age groups.
FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.
Our bodies have cancer cells floating in them most of the time - safe - something kills them off - something natural.... Maybe there's a good reason for toxins in food.
One fact the anti-antis omit is that the only way to test for carcinogens is to give rats very large doses of various foods and food ingredients.
Scientists can’t experiment on humans, and animals like chimps are too expensive. They have to use very large doses in order to distinguish one food or foodstuff from the others. E.g., large doses of sugar will not cause cancer but large doses of some synthetic sweeteners will.
The message is: Do not ingest too much of certain chemicals. Those who disparage the studies don’t understand the method.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.