“Never should one morsel of swine’s flesh be placed upon your table.”  Ellen White

How aware are you of what eating pork does to the human body?

And the pig, though it has a split hoof completely divided, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you.  (Lev. 11:7; NIV)

Some might say that I’ve gone from “preachin’ to meddlin’” as I write about this topic.  America has a love affair with pork.  Dr. Jordan Rubin says that he’s met people who have an emotional attachment to pork, eating bacon for breakfast and pork chops with mashed potatoes and gravy for dinner.  Perhaps that’s the way you were raised and you might even feel the same way.

I grew up on a dairy farm and we had pigs.  I actually loved eating pork.  Ham was one of my favorite meats.  As I think of that now, my body shudders at the thought.  Pigs are dirty, smelly, and sloppy.  They also eat filth and slop and anything that’s thrown their way.

When Jerry and I were first married and reading Scripture together, we came across the scriptures in Leviticus and Deuteronomy where God informs the Hebrew people what to eat and what NOT to eat.  He classified certain animals as clean versus unclean.  He recommended a number of clean meats to eat such as cows, goats, sheep, oxen, deer, and buffalo.  However, he clearly stated not to eat swine and called them “detestable.”  Was He being mean?  No, God knew all about their physiology.  He created them to be nature’s garbage cleaners.

Quoting Dr. Rubin, “Pigs will chomp on pails of you-know-what and not be bothered in the least.  They will derive nutrition from human excrement dredged from a latrine pit, eliminating a sanitary problem for their rural masters.  Even their own waste tastes fine to them.  Pigs have a simple stomach arrangement.  Whatever a pig eats goes straight into a simple stomach, where it’s rudimentarily digested and pushed out the back end.  Total transit time: 4 hours.”  Compare this to the sophisticated digestion process of a cow or buffalo.  These animals eat grasses, alfalfa, and hay, a vegetarian diet.  These animals take a leisurely twenty-four hours to digest their food.  Remember when you eat the meat of animals, you’re actually eating what they ate.

Dr. Rex Russell says, “Pigs are gluttonous, never knowing when to stop eating.  Their stomach acids become diluted because of the volume of food, allowing all kinds of vermin to pass through this protective barrier.  Parasites, bacteria, viruses, and toxins can pass into the pig’s flesh because of overeating.  These toxins and infectious agents can be passed on to humans when they eat a pig’s flesh.”  He goes on to state that in the United States, three of the six most common food borne parasitic diseases of humans are associated with pork consumption.  These include toxoplasmosis, taeniasis or cysticerosis (caused by the pork tapeworm Taenia solium) and trichinellosis.

Prayer Power
Father, we are so thankful for Your Word and for Your Truth that guides us into all truth.  We ask that You reveal Your wisdom to each of us.

Link of the Day
Pork and More – Unclean for All Stomachs Not Only the Jewish Kind

Blessings on you as you consider the many reasons why you would want to avoid eating pork.