"Phosphate Additives In Meat Purge And Cola"
In my video "Treating Kidney Failure through Diet",
I profiled research suggesting that the use of plant-based diet
may be helpful for the patients with kidney failure,
because control of dietary phosphorus intake
is the lynchpin in the successful control
of a leading cause of disease and death in kidney failure patients,
too much phosphorous in the blood.
But now we're beginning to realize
that absorbing too much phosphorus isn't good for anyone.
Having high levels in our blood has been found
to be an independent predictor of heart attacks
and mortality in the general population,
increasing the risk of not only kidney failure,
but heart failure, heart attacks, coronary death, and overall death.
Higher phosphate levels associated
with a significantly shorter lifespan.
Dietary intake of phosphate is an important matter
not just for persons with kidney disease, but for everybody.
It's thought to cause damage to blood vessels
and accelerate the aging process,
even potentially hurting our bones,
contributing to osteoporosis by disrupting hormonal regulation.
The estimated average requirement of phosphorus
is less than 600 a day,
but the estimated average intake
is nearly twice that in the United States.
How do we stay away from the stuff?
If you look at nutrient tables,
it looks like many plant foods have as much phosphorous
as many animal foods,
So why are plant-based diets so effective
in treating kidney failure patients?
Because most of the phosphorus in plant foods
is found in the form of phytic acid,
which we don't digest,
so the bioavailability of plant phosphates
is usually less than 50%.
See, only a third to a half of plant phosphorus may be absorbable,
whereas most animal products are all up around 75%.
So when you adjust for how much
actually gets into our system
you see plant foods are better.
It's like the absorption of heme and non-heme iron,
our body can protect itself from absorbing
too much plant-based iron,
but can't stop excess blood-based,
or heme iron from animals
slipping through the intestinal wall.
The worst kind of phosphorus,
absorbed nearly 100%, are phosphate additives
added, for example, to cola drinks.
Why would they do that?
Otherwise cola drinks would be black.
Without the added phosphate,
there would be so many glycotoxins produced
that the beverage would turn pitch black.
Thus, cola drinks owe their brown color to phosphate.
Phosphate additives play an especially important role
in the meat industry, where they are used as preservatives,
for the same reason – to enhance a meat products color.
Just like the dairy industry adds aluminum to cheese,
meat and poultry is "enhanced"
by injecting it with phosphates.
If you look at meat industry trade journals
and can get past all the macabre ads
for head dropping robots for the kill floor
and foot chopper-offers,
you'll see all these ads for injection machines.
Why?
Because of increased profitability.
Enhanced meats have better color and less purge.
Purge is a term used to describe the liquid
that seeps from flesh as it ages.
Many consumers find this unattractive
and so the industry views it as a win-win.
When you inject chicken with phosphates
the consumer benefits through the perception of enhanced quality,
and the processor benefits from increased yield
because they just pumped it up with water
and they sell it by the pound.
The problem is that it can boost phosphorus levels
in meat nearly 70%,
a real and insidious danger for kidney patients,
but now we know it's a danger for all.