Plant-based diets may help rheumatoid arthritis by decreasing exposure to an inflammatory compound found in animal products.
The Inflammatory Meat Molecule Neu5Gc
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Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.
For those of you who have been following my work since the beginning, you’ll remember back in 2003, I covered this landmark paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: “Human uptake and incorporation of an immunogenic nonhuman dietary sialic acid.”
If you take autopsy samples, you can find proof of a molecule called Neu5Gc in human tumors. You can see it stained brown here in human breast cancer, melanoma, ovarian cancer, brain tumors.
Now, this mystified researchers, because human beings are “genetically unable to produce” this substance. But, other animals can. Maybe, the researchers proposed, human beings absorbed it from eating other animals.
Well, to test this, because it’s found in animals and animal products, the researchers had to first eat vegan for a few days to clear their system (no animal-derived ingredients in foods or drugs or shampoo), and then they basically drank a glass of diluted pig mucous.
And, within days, this invading meat molecule could be found oozing from their bodies, in their saliva, urine—even their hair clippings. “Because [Neu5Gc-type compounds] are not found in plants, and Neu5Gc is not synthesized by microbes, the dietary source of Neu5Gc must be foods of animal origin…” The metabolic incorporation of this “molecular ‘Trojan horse’”, if you will, from animal products, may possibly be contributing to the higher rates of cancer and heart disease among meat-eaters.
This is what they think may be happening. Comes into our mouths from animal products in our diet, incorporates itself into our cells, leading to chronic inflammation directly, and the formation of antibodies—which can then lead back to more inflammation, which may partially explain the increased risk of cancer and heart disease noted in those consuming animal products.
“In contrast, vegetarianism decreases the risk of cancer…and heart disease…” Although saturated fat in meat and dairy products is the usual explanation” for that fact, maybe we should start looking into the association between Neu5GC and the incidence of both cancer and ischemic heart disease.
And, hey, what about autoimmune diseases—like rheumatoid arthritis? Maybe that’s why vegetarian diets seem to improve rheumatoid arthritis. Maybe that’s why you don’t see rheumatoid arthritis in other great apes, right? Maybe, the incorporation of this reactive alien molecule into inflamed tissue, such as arthritic joints, could potentially be aggravating arthritis.
But, you take animal products away, and within weeks, rheumatoid sufferers may feel better.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- McDougall J, Bruce B, Spiller G, Westerdahl J, McDougall M. Effects of a very low-fat, vegan diet in subjects with rheumatoid arthritis. J Altern Complement Med. 2002 Feb;8(1):71-5.
- Varki A. Colloquium paper: Uniquely human evolution of sialic acid genetics and biology. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010 May 11;107 Suppl 2:8939-46.
- Tangvoranuntakul P, Gagneux P, Diaz S, Bardor M, Varki N, Varki A, Muchmore E. Human uptake and incorporation of an immunogenic nonhuman dietary sialic acid. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003 Oct 14;100(21):12045-50.
- Padler-Karavani V, Yu H, Cao H, Chokhawala H, Karp F, Varki N, Chen X, Varki A. Diversity in specificity, abundance, and composition of anti-Neu5Gc antibodies in normal humans: potential implications for disease. Glycobiology. 2008 Oct;18(10):818-30.
- Varki, A.: Evolutionary Perspectives on the Origin of Diseases IN, Current Trends in Sciences (Invited Book Chapter), Ed. N. Mukunda. Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore, India, pp. 395-402, 2009.
Image thanks to Pulmonary Pathology via flickr
Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.
For those of you who have been following my work since the beginning, you’ll remember back in 2003, I covered this landmark paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: “Human uptake and incorporation of an immunogenic nonhuman dietary sialic acid.”
If you take autopsy samples, you can find proof of a molecule called Neu5Gc in human tumors. You can see it stained brown here in human breast cancer, melanoma, ovarian cancer, brain tumors.
Now, this mystified researchers, because human beings are “genetically unable to produce” this substance. But, other animals can. Maybe, the researchers proposed, human beings absorbed it from eating other animals.
Well, to test this, because it’s found in animals and animal products, the researchers had to first eat vegan for a few days to clear their system (no animal-derived ingredients in foods or drugs or shampoo), and then they basically drank a glass of diluted pig mucous.
And, within days, this invading meat molecule could be found oozing from their bodies, in their saliva, urine—even their hair clippings. “Because [Neu5Gc-type compounds] are not found in plants, and Neu5Gc is not synthesized by microbes, the dietary source of Neu5Gc must be foods of animal origin…” The metabolic incorporation of this “molecular ‘Trojan horse’”, if you will, from animal products, may possibly be contributing to the higher rates of cancer and heart disease among meat-eaters.
This is what they think may be happening. Comes into our mouths from animal products in our diet, incorporates itself into our cells, leading to chronic inflammation directly, and the formation of antibodies—which can then lead back to more inflammation, which may partially explain the increased risk of cancer and heart disease noted in those consuming animal products.
“In contrast, vegetarianism decreases the risk of cancer…and heart disease…” Although saturated fat in meat and dairy products is the usual explanation” for that fact, maybe we should start looking into the association between Neu5GC and the incidence of both cancer and ischemic heart disease.
And, hey, what about autoimmune diseases—like rheumatoid arthritis? Maybe that’s why vegetarian diets seem to improve rheumatoid arthritis. Maybe that’s why you don’t see rheumatoid arthritis in other great apes, right? Maybe, the incorporation of this reactive alien molecule into inflamed tissue, such as arthritic joints, could potentially be aggravating arthritis.
But, you take animal products away, and within weeks, rheumatoid sufferers may feel better.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- McDougall J, Bruce B, Spiller G, Westerdahl J, McDougall M. Effects of a very low-fat, vegan diet in subjects with rheumatoid arthritis. J Altern Complement Med. 2002 Feb;8(1):71-5.
- Varki A. Colloquium paper: Uniquely human evolution of sialic acid genetics and biology. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010 May 11;107 Suppl 2:8939-46.
- Tangvoranuntakul P, Gagneux P, Diaz S, Bardor M, Varki N, Varki A, Muchmore E. Human uptake and incorporation of an immunogenic nonhuman dietary sialic acid. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003 Oct 14;100(21):12045-50.
- Padler-Karavani V, Yu H, Cao H, Chokhawala H, Karp F, Varki N, Chen X, Varki A. Diversity in specificity, abundance, and composition of anti-Neu5Gc antibodies in normal humans: potential implications for disease. Glycobiology. 2008 Oct;18(10):818-30.
- Varki, A.: Evolutionary Perspectives on the Origin of Diseases IN, Current Trends in Sciences (Invited Book Chapter), Ed. N. Mukunda. Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore, India, pp. 395-402, 2009.
Image thanks to Pulmonary Pathology via flickr
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The Inflammatory Meat Molecule Neu5Gc
LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Content URLDoctor's Note
Bacterial endotoxins are another reason why animal products may trigger an inflammatory immune reaction. See The Leaky Gut Theory of Why Animal Products Cause Inflammation; The Exogenous Endotoxin Theory; and Dead Meat Bacteria Endotoxemia. For the role saturated animal fat may play in heart disease and cancer, see Blocking the First Step of Heart Disease; Breast Cancer Survival, Butterfat, and Chicken; and Trans Fat, Saturated Fat and Cholesterol: Tolerable Upper Intake of Zero. What does this video have to do with the previous few about Cancer as an Autoimmune Disease? You’ll see in the next video, How Tumors Use Meat to Grow: Xeno-Autoantibodies.
For additional context, check out my associated blog posts: How Tumors Use Meat to Grow; Plant-Based Diets for Rheumatoid Arthritis; Plant-Based Diets for Fibromyalgia; Should We Avoid Titanium Dioxide?; Breast Cancer & Alcohol: How Much Is Safe?; and Mushrooms and Immunity.
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