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A Chemical Hunger – Part V: Livestock Antibiotics

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Re: A Chemical Hunger – Part V: Livestock Antibiotics

#3
I thought anti-biotics in animals generate lean muscle mass? They would not get fed to them if they made animals fat.

I guess you could argue that they work differently in humans. I could certainly see that for cows and their different digestion, but pigs being omnivores are more similar.

I also think % body fat would be a better measure of obesity than BMI.

Re: A Chemical Hunger – Part V: Livestock Antibiotics

#4
post #3

I thought anti-biotics in animals generate lean muscle mass? They would not get fed to them if they made animals fat. I guess you could argue that they work differently in humans. I could certainly see that for cows and their different digestion, but pigs being omnivores are more similar. I also think % body fat would be a better measure of obesity than BMI.

Fat tastes better than lean meat. I think it would be desirable to make livestock fat. Historical records indicate people like fat animals for food. Biblical texts refer to flattened animals as desirable.

Re: A Chemical Hunger – Part V: Livestock Antibiotics

#5
post #2

So livestock antibiotic use is correlated with obesity? I'm reminded of: https://www.tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations

It might be spurious or not — antibiotics are known to cause weight gain, but I don’t know even vaguely enough about chemistry or biology to know if the quantity of antibiotics in either the environment or the human food chain is high enough to have a noticeable impact.

Re: A Chemical Hunger – Part V: Livestock Antibiotics

#6
post #5
post #2

So livestock antibiotic use is correlated with obesity? I'm reminded of: https://www.tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations

It might be spurious or not — antibiotics are known to cause weight gain, but I don’t know even vaguely enough about chemistry or biology to know if the quantity of antibiotics in either the environment or the human food chain is high enough to have a noticeable impact.

Antibiotics is basically chemotherapy but for bacteria, killing a lot of the good bacteria in your guts causes all kinds of havoc.

I've only had to use it twice in my life, one time as an adult. I then forgot to also take probiotics at the same time, had stomac issues for weeks after the treatment.

Re: A Chemical Hunger – Part V: Livestock Antibiotics

#7
post #3

I thought anti-biotics in animals generate lean muscle mass? They would not get fed to them if they made animals fat. I guess you could argue that they work differently in humans. I could certainly see that for cows and their different digestion, but pigs being omnivores are more similar. I also think % body fat would be a better measure of obesity than BMI.

> I also think % body fat would be a better measure of obesity than BMI.

The author mentioned why they list BMI rather than body fat percentage in part 1:

> (Most experts consider measures like body fat percentage to be better measures of adiposity than BMI, and we agree. Unfortunately, nearly every source reports BMI, and most don’t report body fat percentage. Here, we use BMI so that we can compare different sources to one another.)

https://slimemoldtimemold.com/2021/07/07/a-chemical-hunger-p...

Re: A Chemical Hunger – Part V: Livestock Antibiotics

#8
Will be banned in the EU next year: https://www.saveourantibiotics.org/media/1842/2022-changes-t...

(aside, but I suspect the author is One Of Us; I clicked on https://slimemoldtimemold.com/2021/07/15/a-chemical-hunger-i... because of the funny title, but it addresses an argument I see a lot on here and cites a HN comment!)

Re: A Chemical Hunger – Part V: Livestock Antibiotics

#9
post #4
post #3

I thought anti-biotics in animals generate lean muscle mass? They would not get fed to them if they made animals fat. I guess you could argue that they work differently in humans. I could certainly see that for cows and their different digestion, but pigs being omnivores are more similar. I also think % body fat would be a better measure of obesity than BMI.

Fat tastes better than lean meat. I think it would be desirable to make livestock fat. Historical records indicate people like fat animals for food. Biblical texts refer to flattened animals as desirable.

You mean ‘fattened’, not ‘flattened’, right? Unless those guys had a thing for steam roll-erred livestock :D

Re: A Chemical Hunger – Part V: Livestock Antibiotics

#10
post #3

I thought anti-biotics in animals generate lean muscle mass? They would not get fed to them if they made animals fat. I guess you could argue that they work differently in humans. I could certainly see that for cows and their different digestion, but pigs being omnivores are more similar. I also think % body fat would be a better measure of obesity than BMI.

I think you meant steroids.. not antibiotics..
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