Hormones In Animals And Meat Quality

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Learn how eating the meat of animals that are exposed to stress hormones can have a negative effect on your health.
There are many different factors that can cause stress in animals. There is no doubt that animals experience fear prior to being slaughtered. Just before terrified animals are slaughtered, they release a host of hormones and toxic substances into their bodies. Why does this matter? Because after the animals have been slaughtered, those hormones remain in their bodies and begin to alter the animal meat. The quality of the meat deteriorates significantly. When you eat the tainted animal meat, you ingest those hormones into your body. Doing so can cause a host of unwanted medical conditions and diseases.

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How Does Stress Affect the Animal

When an animal experiences stress just before being slaughtered, there is a sudden surge of adrenaline, cortisol and other stress hormones that floods the animal’s body. There are physiological changes that take place in the animal, such as an elevated heart rate, a rise in blood pressure, increase in body temperature and elevated respiration.

What Hormones Are Found in Animal Meat

All of the common stress hormones are found in the meat of animals that experienced high levels of stress. When stress hormones come to mind, you probably think of adrenaline. This is one of the main stress hormones and it has a powerful impact on the entire body when it is released into the blood stream of both animals and humans. Adrenaline affects animals in much the same way it affects humans. It triggers that same fight or flight response in animals that humans experience when we are exposed to fear and stress. The effects on the body are nearly the same. Think of the last time you were stressed and afraid… you likely experienced a racing heart, sweaty palms, rapid breathing, shaking…all normal symptoms associated with fear.

Think of how long it took you to calm down after those symptoms developed. Probably a good 30 minutes or more. That’s because hormones are powerful and they continue to circulate in the body long after the stressful event has passed. So it stands to reason that those very same stress hormones will remain in the meat of animals long after they have been slaughtered. In addition to adrenaline, other major stress hormones are present in the meat of animals. The steroid hormone, along with the cortisol hormone, epinephrine and norepinephrine stimulates additional fear and the fight-or-flight response.

How do the Hormones Affect the Meat

Stress hormones such as epinephrine and norepinephrine are released into the blood stream just prior to slaughter. Epinephrine is the hormone that is responsible for breaking down glycogen. Glycogen is actually glucose (sugar) that is stored in the muscles and the liver. When epinephrine is released into the body, it breaks the glycogen down into glucose. This glucose, when combined with oxygen, provides the animal with energy. Under non-stressful conditions, the glycogen levels in animals are normal. But just before the animal is slaughtered, those glycogen levels are elevated because of the surge of epinephrine.

When glycogen levels rise rapidly, there is not enough oxygen in the slaughtered animal to combine with the glucose. So while the glycogen continues to break down glucose rapidly, because there is not enough oxygen to create energy, the entire metabolic process changes. Now, instead of making energy, the body starts to build-up lactic acid. Excess lactic acid builds rapidly builds up in the meat and changes the meat’s pH level, significantly decreasing the quality of the meat.

What is PSE Meat?

PSE (Pale, Soft, Exudated) meat occurs when the animal’s pH levels drop too rapidly after slaughter. To better explain, the pH level in meat drops dramatically when stress hormones surge into the animal’s body just before slaughter. The rate of pH in the meat continues to decline after the animal has been slaughtered. The pH level drops so rapidly that the quality of the meat is greatly affected. The result is meat that is pale, which is often a sign of a lack of nutrients. The meat is also very soft and it usually has a sticky liquid that drips off the meat.

What is DFD Meat?

DFD (Dry, Firm, Dark) Meat occurs when the animal has very low levels of glycogen circulating in the body just after slaughter. This is the opposite of PSE meat and occurs when the animal’s pH levels stay elevated for too long after slaughter. If there is not enough lactic acid in the body, the pH level will not drop rapidly enough. When this happens, the meat quality is affected. The result is a very darkly colored meat that is extremely dry and tough. This meat is of the same poor quality as PSE heat.

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