Effects Of Prohibited Food, Intoxicants,
And Ingredients On Human Hormones
And Behaviour
(A Paper Presented On: September 20, 1986
At The Fourth Annual Convention
Of The Islamic Food And Nutrition Council Of America.
Held At The Muslim
Community Center, Chicago)
QURANIC PROHIBITIONS
FOOD
"He has forbidden you dead meat, and blood, and flesh of swine , and on which
any other name has been invoked besides that of Allah. But if one is forced by
necessity without willful disobedience, nor transgressing, due limits.... than he
is not guilty, for Allah is forgiving, merciful." (Al Baqarah: 173)
"Forbidden to you are: Dead meat, blood, the flesh of swine and that on which
has been invoked a name other than Allah's, and that killed by strangling, or by
a violent blow, or by a headlong fall, or by being gored to death: That which has
been eaten by a wild animal: Unless you are able to slaughter it, that which has
been sacrificed on stone: (forbidden) also is the divination of arrows: that is
impiety. (Al Maidah: 4)
"Say: I find not in the Message received by me by inspiration any meat forbidden
to be eaten by one who wishes to eat of it, unless it be dead meat, or blood
poured forth, or the flesh of swine, for it is an abomination, - or what is
impious, (meat) on which a name has been invoked, other than God's. But even so,
if a person is forced by necessity without wilful disobedience, nor transgressing
due limits, - Your Lord is Oft-Forgiving , Most Merciful." (Al An'am: 145)
"He has-only forbidden you dead meat, and blood; and the flesh of swine, and
any (food) over which the name of other than God has been invoked. But if one is
forced by necessity without wilful disobedience, nor transgressing due limits,
- Your Lord is Oft-Forgiving , Most Merciful." (An Nahl: 115)
INTOXICANTS
"They ask you concerning wine and gambling. Say: "In them there is great sin,
and some profit, for men, but sin is greater than the profit." (Al Baqarah: 219)
"O you who believe! Approach not prayers, with a mind befogged, until you can
understand all that you say." (An Nisaa: 43)
"O you who believe! Intoxicants and gambling, (dedication of) stones, and
(divination by) arrows, are an abomination of Satan's handiwork. Avoid such
(abomination) that you may prosper." (Al Maidah: 90)
"Satan's plan is to sow enmity and hatred among you with intoxicants and
gambling, and to hinder you from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer. Will
you not then give up." (Al Maidah: 91)
PROPHET MOHAMMED (PBUH) ON THE SUBJECT OF LAWFUL AND PROHIBITED.
"That which is lawful is plain and that which is unlawful is plain and
between the two of them are doubtful matters about which many people do not know.
Thus he who avoids doubtful matters clears himself in regards to his religion and
his honour, but he who falls into doubtful matters falls into that which is unlawful."
(Narrated by Abu Abdullah An Numan Bin Bashar-R.A. Reported in Bukhari and Muslim.)
"Allah the Almighty has laid down religious duties, so do not neglect them;
He has set boundaries, so do not cross them; He has prohibited some things, so do
not violate them; about some things. He was silent out of compassion for you, not
due to forgetfulness-, so do not seek after them." (Narrated by Abu Tbalaba Al
Khushani Jurtum Bin Nashir-R.A.reported in Ad-Daraqutni.)
"Allah the Almighty is pure and accepts only that which is pure. Allah has
asked the believers to do that He asked the messengers, and the Almighty has
said: (23:5 1) " 0 you messengers! Eat of the pure things and do right." And
Allah the Almighty has said: (2:172) "O you who believe! Eat of the pure things
that we have provided you." Then the Prophet (pbuh) gave example of a man tired
and dusty after a long journey, raises his hands to the sky and says: "O Lord!
0 Lord!".. while his food is unlawful, Ns drink is unlawful, his clothing is
unlawful, and he is nourished unlawfully, so how can his prayers be answered?"
(Narrated by Abu Huraira-R.A. reported in Muslim.)
It is not required of the believers to always find a scientific justification
for the divine prohibitions.However, if they look and find it, they must share
the information, that will increase their faith. To the contrary, lack of
confirmation should not question the authenticity of the Quran. We believe that
all Quranic statements are true, and if science has not confirmed some of them
yet, it will do so in the future, may be it needs to examine its data more deeply
or repeat the experiment.
For the benefits of non-medical readers, before I describe the topic in
question i.e. hormonal and behavioral effect of prohibited food, intoxicants and
ingredients, I must define some medical terms and inter-relationships:
HORMONES:
These are the powerful secretions of Endocfine (internal) glands. They control
the functions of all organs, and even individual cells. They are made from
proteins (peptides) or sterols in nature. The endocrine glands are hypothalmus
which secretes various releasing hormones for pituitary, and pituitary which
secretes hormones for target endocrine glands. Both of them are inside the brain.
Target endocrine glands are thyroid hormones. Thyroid hormones control our
metabolism, energy level, and temperature tolerance. Behind them are para-thyroid
gland which control our calcium metabolism. In the abdomen are adrenal glands
above the kidneys which secrete cortisone, the life saving essential hormone,
and catecholamines and aldosterone which control our blood pressure and heart-rate.
steroids and catecholamines are derived from cholesterol. Also in the abdomen is
the pancreas which secretes insulin which lowers blood sugar, and glycogen which
raises a low blood sugar. Lower down in the pelvis are gonads, ovaries in women,
and testes in men, which secrete estrogen, progesterone and testosterone respectively.
All these hormones have internal control, and influence each other. They control
our growth, muscle mass, bone development, temperature tolerance, blood pressure,
energy, fertility, sex desire, thirst, and well being in general.
HOW DO HORMONES AFFECT BEHAVIOUR:
The site of secretion of releasing hormone, and of neurotransmitter in the
brain are the same in the hypothalmic area. Most of the psychotropic drugs either
act by increasing or decreasing the neurotransmitter levels i.e epinephrine,
norepinephrine, serotonin, dopamine or endorphrin level in the hypothalmic area.
Similarly, peurotransmitters influence hormone secretion.
Clinically we see various behavioural manifestations in endocrine disorders.
Hypoglycemic patients (low blood sugar) suffer from depression and poor mental
concentration and patients with low thyroid have impotency and depression, while
patients with high thyroid have agitation, irritability, and lack of sleep.
Patients with low cortisone (Addison Disease) have severe depression while with
high cortisone have hallucination and psychosis. Patients with high testosterone
have been claimed to have criminal tendencies (i.e. rapists) while low testosterone
have behavioral problems in adjustment. Patients with calcium changes.
Physiologically, boys and girls are different in playing behavior i.e.
aggressive versus passive (playing with mechanical toys and guns versus dolls)
due to difference in their sex hormone even in pre-pubertal age. This becomes
more obvious after full sex differentiation takes place. In fact, by changing
the sex hormone level of a given sex one can change not only the sexual behavior
but the aggressiveness of a particular sex. Homosexual males have been noted to
have less male sex hormones, and on the other hand, repeated sex offending males
can be "cured" by castration or by the injection of the female hormone progesterone.
In one experiment, female rats whose mothers were treated with testosterone while
pregnant showed male behavior pattern of threatening peer, rough play, and
increased sexual activity as compared to a control rat. This shows that
testosterone not only affects the individual, but the offspring as well. Girls
with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (excessive testosterone secretion) when in
post puberty age show tomboy attitude with liking rough sports, preferring boys
as playmates, and low interest in dolls and baby care. Sexual behavior is not
only affected by testosterone, but also by the pineal gland which is turned off
and on by light and darkness.
Hormones, not directly but indirectly by controlling sugar, calcium, sodium
balance,affect behaviour in general to include anger, love, anxiety, panic
attacks, and agitation. The hyperactivity in children could be due to low blood
sugar or due to many food preservatives and coloring agent like nitrites, and
Dye No. 5.
After this much introduction of hormones, and behavior, I turn to the main
theme.
HORMONAL AND BEHAVIORAL EEFFECT OF PORK MEAT AND FAT INGESTION:
Pork meat and fat are not only prohibited to Muslims, but were also prohibited
to Jews and Christians as well because "Swine were designed to be scavengers, to
eat up filth." In old testament Leviticus Chapter 7-8, it is mentioned about
swine " Though he divides the hoof and be cloven footed, yet he cheweth not the
cud, he is unclean to you. Of their flesh shall you not eat." There is no mention
in the Bible that Jesus ever ate pork in his life. It was Paul who declared all
food and drink permissible saying, "To the pure, everything is pure."
THE LIFE OF THE SWINE:
To get a first hand idea, I interviewed farmers of Fisher, Indiana, who breed
swine. According to them "Swine is cheaper to breed, since it does not require
pasture, it can live on manure and other such items including dead meat. In fact,
it can even eat its own feces. Their sexual habits are also different from other
animals like cow, sheep and goat. Swine have very little shame i.e. engage in sex
acts anytime anyplace. The female hog is very aggressive in sexual activities
when she is in "heat" she does not care about anything (i.e. food or privacy)
until she has the sex. They i.e. swine, also lick the genitals of their partners
after sex like dogs, but not other mammals like cow, sheep or goat."
WHY IS PORK FAT DIFFERENT FROM OTHER ANIMAL FAT:
Fats are lipids which are a source of energy. They can be of vegetable source
or of animal source. Triglycerides are neutral fats with 1 molecule of glycerol
and three fatty acids. The fatty acids can be saturated or unsaturated.The more
unsaturated fats have high melting points. The iodine value of fat gives the
degree of un saturation. The iodine value of lard is 65, beef 45, and mutton 32.
After ingestion, emulsification of fat takes place in the stomach by gastric
lipase. By pancreatic lipase hydrolysis of triglyceride into glycerol and fatty
acids takes place. The fatty acids and glycerol are used by various tissues like
muscle, heart, kidney, and liver for an energy source. Herbivorous (plant eating)
animals have unsaturated fatty acid on the position 2 of the triglyceride (tg)
molecule, while the carnivorous (meat eating )animals have saturated fatty acid
at the position 2. Pancreatic lipase (pl) can not hydrolyze TG molecule if
saturated fatty acid at position 2. Fat of dogs, rats, cats, and pork, have
saturated fatty acids on positions 2. If a person eats fat of herbivomus animal,
the fat will be hydrolyzed, absorbed, and then re synthesized and stored as human
fat, while that of carnivorous animals and pork fat will not be hydrolyzed and
therefore has to be deposited in humans as pork fat in the adipose tissue.
WHAT HAS DEPOSITION OF PORK FAT TO DO WITH HORMONE AND BEHAVIOR IN HUMANS:
Circulating hormones are in bound form and free form. The free form has to be
attached to receptor in fat tissue before becoming active. Obesity decreases the
number of receptors therefore the hormones cannot be utilized. Therefore, if the
hormone is insulin, it leads to diabetes (type 2); and if it is testosterone, it
leads to sub fertility and amenorrhea. The amount of fat also controls hormone
release. Therefore we see menarche is delayed in athletic girls with less fat,
and occurs early in sedentary overweight girls.
It can be postulated that in humans who have pork fat deposit there is
derangement in the binding of hormones, therefore they have a higher level of
circulating active hormone. It is possible that the sexual promiscuity and
deviant sexual practices of pork eating society is due to what they eat! After
all, it has been said by nutritionists, "Yor are what you eat."
Since this is a paper on hormones and behavior, the time does not permit
discussing the effect of pork on cholesterol, sodium and the relationship to
heart disease.
EFFECTS OF DEAD MEAT AND BLOOD INGESTION:
Dead meat is the meat of animal which died before slaughtering and blood
could not flow out, and blood ingestion is not only the drinking of blood as it
was prevalent in the Jahiliya of Arabia or even now in Africa (and in France) but
also the blood which is retained inside the meat by improper killing of the
animal. All hormones, and antibodies are retained in the blood, and all infective
organisms including virus flourish in the blood media, therefore ingestion of
such will be dangerous midecally. It may also induce animal instincts as seen in
carnivorous animals like dogs, cats, and lions.
HORMONAL EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL:
Both in acute and chronic alcoholism, endocrine glands are affected. Hypoglycemia
is a manifestation of acute alcoholism which may be severe, and can lead to coma.
This should be recognized and treated with dextrose intravenously since it mat
not respond to glycogen. Low magnesium with resultant low calcium is another
effect resulting in poor concentration, muscle twitching and even seizure.
Increase in urine flow is due to depression of antidiuretic hormone.
Chronic alcoholism leads to pancreatitis with failure of pancreatic endocrine
system (sometimes Diabetes) and exocrine gland (malnutrition). This leads to
protein deficiency leading to reduced production of testosterone, which may lead
to impotency, gynecomastia in men and amenorrhea in women. Alcoholics can also
have a pseudo (false) cushing syndrome. Alcohol related liver disease causes
increased clearance of testosterone with testicular atrophy leading to true
hypogonadism. Sperm formation is also affected leading to infertility. Infants
born to an alcoholic mother can also have undercended testes and labial hypoplasia.
In addition, the cortisol levels are increased during withdrawal, while LH and
LH-RH levels are suppressed during chronic alcoholism.
BEHAVIORAL EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL:
Alcohol, being a central nervous system depressant, depresses both facilitatory
and inhibitory pathways. It is the suppression of the latter that abolishes the
shame and removes control. Therefore, what a normal person will be prevented from
doing i.e. abusive language, undressing in public, etc. will not be prevented
under the influence of alcohol. There are more serious behavioral disorders
described to include brain disjunction in 50-70%, memory loss, depression both
acute and chronic, high suicide rate, mood fluctuation, delirium tremorous (DTS)
in withdrawal state, and blackout spells during drinking. One-third of all auto
accidents are due to alcoholism. Under the influence of alcohol are mental
judgement and motor skills, which are both affected. Sometimes the level of
consciousness is also affected. Alcohol had been found to be at the root of
family violence, sexual violence, rape, assault, and child abuse.
Alcohol is not an aphrodisiac, as it is claimed. Not only does it depress the
central nervous system's effect on the libido, but actually lowers the penile
blood flow and tumescence (swelling) thereby decreasing the performance.
EFFECTS OF NARCOTICS (COCAINE & MARIJUANA) ON HORMONES AND BEHAVIOR:
Both LSD and cocaine cause decreases in plasma testosterone and LH. The
aphrodisiac effect is due to local anesthesia causing prolonged erection and
central stimulation causing general well being. Also by inhibiting the inhibitions,
they encourage engagement in unusual sex acts like sodomy or oral genital sex.
Psychologically they cause mood elation and a false sense of euphoria
followed by depression, anxiety and agitation Panic attacks, suicidal tendencies,
and violent behaviors are not uncommon. Chronic usage may lead to schizophrenia,
paranoia, and a variety of psychiatric disorders, even infants born to cocaine
addicted mothers show signs of withdrawal.
EFFECTS OF INGREDIENTS ON HORMONES AND BEHAVIOR:
If ingredients are of prohibited nature, i.e. pork, lard, alcohol, cocaine
etc., the effect will be as described earlier, though because of the small
quantity, the effect will be slow and may be cumulative.
More serious are items like sugar which causes reactive hypoglycemia; sodium
which may lead to hypertension; DES (Diethylstillbestrol, a female hormone given
to cattle and chickens to increase fat and muscle content) linked to vaginal and
cervical cancer in women; and artificial sweeteners like saccharine related to
bladder cancer in rats, and aspartame related to brain damage.
CONCLUSION:
More research is needed on all of the above areas, especially those affecting
the life style of Muslims. Though usage of prohibited items are not commonly
found in Muslims, the dangers also may come to their health and spirits by the
effects of non-prohibited items like western rock music, dress (i.e. tight jeans
affecting testicular temperature) and sexual practices, and cigarette smoking.
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