# Eating raw Pork Pancreas and Beef Liver **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 23, 2009, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-raw-pork-pancreas-and-beef-liver/494088 "2009-04-23T13:04:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Simple\_Mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7cd45c/32.png) [@Simple\_Mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simple_Mind)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2009, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-raw-pork-pancreas-and-beef-liver/494088/1 "2009-04-23T13:04:03Z")
What’s the truth behind using raw Pork Pancreas and Beef Liver as a Cancer treatment? ---
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2009, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-raw-pork-pancreas-and-beef-liver/494088/2 "2009-04-23T13:30:51Z")
> [@Simple\_Mind](#): > > What’s the truth behind using raw Pork Pancreas and Beef Liver as a Cancer treatment? As you’ve given it, it seems decidedly non-factual. You have no source, or citation. On the face of it, I’d expect the human digestion system to break down, as much as possible, the constituents of the organs into simple molecules, which would be the same molecules derived from any other protein source. I’d never heard of this particular therapy before, so you’ve just getting a knee-jerk responce, here. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2009, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-raw-pork-pancreas-and-beef-liver/494088/3 "2009-04-23T13:46:27Z")
I Am (sort of) A (very junior) Cancer Researcher. \* What’s the specific claim? I assume it’s that pancreas and/or liver, eaten raw, will somehow cure or prevent cancer? Ok, that’s a claim… but it’s about as useful as saying your powdered unicorn horn is a cure, unless you have a plausible mechanism or some sort of direct evidence. Well, liver is stuffed full of nutrients, but nothing you can’t get elsewhere. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to eat spleen. The problem with cures for cancer is that it isn’t a single disease. Rather, it’s caused by an astonishing variety of different mutations, which seem to occur in every possible combination, making each cancer unique. Claims about a broad cure for cancer rank slightly above claims for perpetual motion machines, and are a fertile source for the snake oil salesmen of the world. - my lab does jack diddly squat with cancer itself… but we do study some genes with connection to cancer, and I’m in a cancer research department, so I talk to and hear talks from people that actually focus on cancer. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2009, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-raw-pork-pancreas-and-beef-liver/494088/4 "2009-04-23T14:11:39Z")
[This site](http://www.curemanual.com/blog/2009/03/curing-cancer-with-raw-pancreas-raw-liver-and-enemas-by-dr-jaime-e-dy-liacco-pitahc-oic-director-general/) claims all cancers are a nutritional deficiency. > [@](#): > > Kelley found that cancer is only a nutritional deficiency, a deficiency of pancreatic enzymes and of nutritional elements that make for a strong immune system. He found that the cancer cell, which is an animal cell, has a protein coating with a negative ion charge; immune system cells also have negative ion charges, so the two repel each other. So no matter how strong the immune system is, it cannot kill the cancer cell. So what Kelley found is that pancreatic enzymes will digest the outer coating of the cancer cell. This removes the negative ion charge, and the immune system cells can now go in and kill the cancer cell. Douchebag quackery of the worst kind. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2009, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-raw-pork-pancreas-and-beef-liver/494088/5 "2009-04-23T14:15:47Z")
…the fuck? OK, OK, you got us. It turns out that they’ll cure any and all cancers instantly and without side effects due to their magical glowy field of happiness and love. I, along with the rest of the biomedical industry, have been suppressing this knowledge because there’s more profit in treatment than in free cures. Shucks. I can’t believe it got out. Guess I’ll go look for a job in fast food. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2009, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-raw-pork-pancreas-and-beef-liver/494088/6 "2009-04-23T14:27:13Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Guess I’ll go look for a job in fast food. Oh noes! I’m going to lose my humongous grant-funded salary! I can no longer cash in on the BILLIONS of dollars of research funding! I’ll no longer be able to make payments on my yachts! … Wait a second. That McDonalds job pays pretty well, comparatively… ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2009, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-raw-pork-pancreas-and-beef-liver/494088/7 "2009-04-23T18:30:56Z")
Maybe the trichinosis worm that you’re bound to get will eat the cancer for you. And your brain. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2009, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-raw-pork-pancreas-and-beef-liver/494088/8 "2009-04-23T18:34:21Z")
I think a shotgun wound to the medulla oblongata would solve the problem a lot quicker. ---
**Author:** ![Simple\_Mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7cd45c/32.png) [@Simple\_Mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simple_Mind)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-raw-pork-pancreas-and-beef-liver/494088/9 "2009-04-24T12:23:44Z")
I was refering to Dr.Kelly, and now i am wondering what would happen if i eat the Pancreas, would the enzymes in it help me to digest my foot more efficient? and what does Beef Liver contain in Vitamins and Minerals? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-raw-pork-pancreas-and-beef-liver/494088/10 "2009-04-24T12:49:05Z")
Pancreatic enzymes are proteins, and if you eat them your own digestive juices will break them down long before they have a chance to reach your bloodstream and will not aid your own digestion. Liver has some nutritional benefits, but nothing shown to treat cancer. Two things about consuming supplements derived from animal organs or eating the raw organs themselves: One (as noted) - raw meat can contain bacteria or parasites that can be harmful. Two - there’s potential for prion-associated disease (i.e. “mad cow” disease) from organ supplements. So, the benefits (particularly in regard to cancer treatment) have not been shown, but the downside is readily apparent. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-raw-pork-pancreas-and-beef-liver/494088/11 "2009-04-24T13:14:29Z")
> [@Simple\_Mind](#): > > I was refering to Dr.Kelly, and now i am wondering what would happen if i eat the Pancreas, would the enzymes in it help me to digest my foot more efficient? > and what does Beef Liver contain in Vitamins and Minerals? Are you suffering from a vitamin or mineral deficiency? If you live in a developed country, the answer is almost certainly no. So don’t worry about it. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-raw-pork-pancreas-and-beef-liver/494088/12 "2009-04-24T13:49:17Z")
> [@Simple\_Mind](#): > > …now i am wondering what would happen if i eat the Pancreas, would the enzymes in it help me to digest my foot more efficient? Maybe if you ate your foot first. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-raw-pork-pancreas-and-beef-liver/494088/13 "2009-04-24T13:50:17Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Pancreatic enzymes are proteins, and if you eat them your own digestive juices will break them down long before they have a chance to reach your bloodstream and will not aid your own digestion. Liver has some nutritional benefits, but nothing shown to treat cancer. Just to give a specific example, the best known protein produced by the pancreas is [insulin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insulin_therapy#Modes_of_administration). When the pancreas doesn’t produce insulin, the result is diabetes. Insulin cannot be given orally to diabetics, because it would be digested: > [@](#): > > Unlike many medicines, insulin cannot be taken orally. Like nearly all other proteins introduced into the gastrointestinal tract, it is reduced to fragments (even single amino acid components), whereupon all ‘insulin activity’ is lost. There has been some research into ways to protect insulin from the digestive tract, so that it can be administered in a pill. So far this is entirely experimental.