
Stress hormones in our diet may be a missing link between food and wellness - jstelz7
https://www.worth.com/stress-is-edible-heres-how-we-can-avoid-it-in-our-food-system/
======
the_jeremy
> In plants, the predominant stress hormone is ethylene.

Wikipedia: "During the life of the plant, ethylene production is induced
during certain stages of growth such as germination, ripening of fruits,
abscission of leaves, and senescence of flowers." Ethylene the main way to
ripen fruits, on the vine or after-the-fact.

> ethylene, a plant stress hormone known to trigger stress responses in
> microbiomes, _including in species such as proteobacteria that are present
> in human gut biomes_

The italics section is linked[0] in the article, but the link has no mention
of the word "ethylene". I don't see anywhere they say that the human gut
microbiome is "stressed" by ethylene.

As for the animal meat stress:

> The same pig study found that, due to negative feedback loops, the pigs
> eventually exhibited abnormally low blood levels of cortisol and
> norepinephrine due to overcorrection by the body.

This sounds like eating stress hormones produces less stress in the body, not
more. They then use this as further evidence of their position, somehow.

[0]:
[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000989811...](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0009898115000170)

~~~
allover
I never cease to wonder if articles like this are incredibly cleverly put
together, or incredibly stupid.

I feel like it would take me so much effort to string together these unrelated
things and try to present them in a faux-scientific manner, with such succinct
certainty, in the way this article does.

Like how they smartly concede that they're waiting for answers, ... and then
they quickly breeze through making a bunch of connections, with references
that don't back up what they're saying, as if these are all just 'known'
things. It's kinda clever, and I would expect a lot of people to be fooled.

~~~
colechristensen
I'd say it's something more like fortune telling. Based on scant clues, string
together a story which seems meaningful. There's a skill in taking advantage
of human intuition to grab attention, with a spectrum of how aware you are if
what you're actually doing.

------
macinjosh
Are we supposed to believe that the wild animals our ancestors hunted were not
consistently under stress? I think living in the food chain pretty much
ensures experiences of stress. Both of hunger and the threat of being food for
something else.

Do some people think nature before modern human agriculture was a happy go
lucky place where the creatures experienced little or no adversity? Hope not!

~~~
the_jeremy
I'm sure being a wild animal means some level of stress. I'm also sure it is
nothing compared to the deplorable conditions in which factory farm animals
are raised.

Your comparison feels like talking about soldiers with PTSD and then saying
"all humans have jobs and deadlines and they depend on these for their
livelihood! All humans have stress, how are soldiers different?"

I have no desire to look for images of how disgusting the living conditions
and lives of these animals are in an attempt to prove this, but you are
welcome to. There is no doubt in my mind it is far worse than their state in
the wild. (I'm not defending the "article" or its findings, just saying that
we as a society do terrible things to animals we plan to eat).

~~~
elfexec
> Your comparison feels like talking about soldiers with PTSD and then saying
> "all humans have jobs and deadlines and they depend on these for their
> livelihood! All humans have stress, how are soldiers different?"

Wouldn't the animals in nature be more like soldiers with PTSD and livestock
be more like humans?

> I have no desire to look for images of how disgusting the living conditions
> and lives of these animals are in an attempt to prove this, but you are
> welcome to.

Are they any better than the animals in nature being eaten while alive?

> There is no doubt in my mind it is far worse than their state in the wild.

Then you don't know what it is like in the wild. Ever wonder why you don't
live out in the wild but rather live in human factory farms instead?

The vast majority of livestock don't live like the few cherrypicked
photos/videos pushed by "activists/propagandists". Just like the vast majority
of animals in the wild don't live wonderful lives.

~~~
codebolt
Pigs in particular have it pretty bad, in factory farms in general. Ever heard
of a gestation crate? Imagine being stuck in a box on a concrete floor forced
to look straight ahead for months on end. That's the life of the average pig
in today's world.

------
SketchySeaBeast
I don't know how this would make sense from an evolutionary perspective - once
you kill and eat something you want to rest and recover, not assimilate the
stress and give yourself anxiety so that you don't recover after the meal.

~~~
heyoni
Evolution is really only concerned with procreation and not much else beyond
that. It definitely doesn't care if you feel stressed or suffer some
inflammation after a meal.

~~~
ta999999171
Fun fact for the reader at home - ANY meal produces an inflammatory response!
A large part of the "eat smaller meals" belief, for many.

~~~
proverbialbunny
Some meals induce quite a bit more inflammation than others. Not including an
autoimmune response, eg soy is a common cause of inflammation, inflammation is
caused when what you eat falls behind the mucous layer in the stomach lining.
So, if your diet provides the nutrients to have a healthy mucous layer or you
have good genetics, you're far less likely to have an inflammation response
when you eat. I believe eating mushrooms or yams has the nutrients that help
the most.

------
gitpusher
There are some interesting ideas in this article, but it's nearly all
speculation.

~~~
aeternum
This definitely fits the organic / free-range narrative (ie happy cows make
better milk/meat). So regardless of veracity, it will likely be a popular
idea.

------
Ericson2314
I'm reminded of the whole dietary cholesterol fiasco. After that, I'm inclined
to assume most things are metabolized. And foo molecule food in <=/=> foo
molecule in blood.

If our ancestors got our meet from hunting, surely those animals for full of
cortisol, unless a lifetime of chronic stress in a disgustingly cramped
creates more stress hormones.

~~~
SketchySeaBeast
That's my sort of assumption as well, but the article seems to indicate
otherwise.

> A recent study of piglets published in the Journal of Animal Science by
> Purdue University scientist Elizabeth Petrosus found that when pigs are fed
> stress hormones such as cortisol or norepinephrine, their blood levels of
> these hormones spike, body temperatures rise and gut biomes shift.

I'm not saying I believe it, but that's the argument they are making. Now does
that mean that eating stressed plants cause similar results for our stress
levels? I doubt it.

~~~
dr_orpheus
Yeah, the whole article is based around that one study of piglets. It seems
like a lot of conclusions to draw from one data point in general, especially
since there are often differences in animal/human studies that can lead to
incorrect conclusions.

------
michael2l
Funny how we want to take an incredibly complex system and boil it down to
1+1=2. We think we're really advanced when we throw in 3rd or 4th step into
the math equation. But not surprisingly this sort of reductionism leads to
people being equally certain of exactly opposite conclusions. To the point
they'll belittle the other person's simplistic understanding while completely
missing the simplicity of their own model.

------
allovernow
This would have interesting implications for folklore common in some East
Asian countries, particularly China, where meat flavor is "enhanced" by animal
suffering at time of death. I must say the practices are abhorrent -
particularly regarding the slaughter of intelligent, sensitive animals like
dogs and pigs.

~~~
SketchySeaBeast
The article make mention of flavour, and I don't think you need to try to
scientifically rationalize what can be sufficiently explained by human
cruelty. In fact, based upon these findings I'd expect eating tortured meat to
be less enjoyable than that relaxed kind.

------
chiefalchemist
Interesting hypothesis, but feels a bit light on fact and data. Breezed right
over the bit about plant-based diet being a negative.

As for avoiding pork, that's a given. That industry is one massive toxic waste
dump.

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annoyingnoob
Apparently, my initial response below was too terse and insensitive - though
it may be how I really feel after reading that.

It seems unscientific to me, its an opinion piece pitched as common sense. And
its coming from someone that is looking to 'transform the way you think'. The
approach strikes me as offensive.

_________________________________________________________

Hocus Pocus, I said its true!

"Changing lives by transforming the way people think." -Yun Foundation

~~~
dang
Please don't post like this to HN. You may not owe the Yun Foundation better,
but you owe the community better if you're participating in it.

Would you mind reviewing the site guidelines
([https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html))?
Note these ones:

" _Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone
says, not a weaker one that 's easier to criticize._"

" _Please don 't post shallow dismissals, especially of other people's work. A
good critical comment teaches us something._"

------
vsyu
I believe it!

