Video showing freshly cut meat is turning people into vegetarians

A video showing the ‘creepy’ reaction when you put salt onto a fresh cut of meat left social media users vowing to ‘never eat meat again’.

That might seem extreme, but it’s fair to say the clip in question is a bit weird - check it out:

Is it enough to push you towards vegetarianism? Maybe? Maybe not.

But either way, it is pretty interesting to the see the effect that the salt has on it, isn’t it?

When the salt is poured over the freshly cut bit of meat – let’s just assume it’s beef, as that’s what it looks like – it starts to contract and spasm as if it was still alive.

It’s actually something that some people have used in cooking, which adds a particularly whimsical - or horrendous, depending on your outlook – frisson to the dish.

Well, there is a scientific explanation behind it.

X/Weird and Terrifying

For starters, if you’ll excuse the completely intended pun, the meat that you’re using for this sort of culinary trickery has to be seriously fresh.

So fresh – in fact – that the neurons in the flesh are still intact and capable of reacting - that’s the secret behind all of this.

The salt triggers a response from the neurons, which in turn causes the reaction we can see in the meats.

There is a much more complex explanation to be found in an article published last year in Scientific American, which reads: “All cells are polarised, which means the concentrations of charged atoms, called ions, of the fluid inside them is different from the fluid outside them.

“It is this difference in ion concentrations that creates a difference in charge (or voltage) across membrane.

“This difference - called a membrane potential - allows neurons to work.”

It continues: “Neurons are highly specialised cells which process and transmit electrical signals.

“When not activated, neurons maintain their membrane potential by actively pumping out sodium ions and pumping in potassium ions, keeping a voltage difference of roughly -70 millivolts.

“When a neuron is activated, however, specific channels open that allows sodium ions to flood in.

X/Weird and Terrifying

“This rapid change in the charge difference causes potassium channels to open, allowing potassium to flow out.

“At a certain point, the channels all close, and those active pumps work towards restoring the resting membrane potential - but not before triggering channels nearby to open.

“That's how the signal moves from one end of the neuron to the other - channels open in one area, which causes channels nearby to open, and so on and so forth from one end to the other.”

So, as the meat is fresh, the neurons still work when the sodium chloride – salt – is poured on, causing this response.

However, those who have seen this resurfaced video are not keen on the idea, with several claiming it has turned them vegetarian.

One said: “It's not cool at all. I feel creepy," while another added: “Well, this picture could make me give up eating meat.”

A third wrote: “I've just ordered a salad.”

Someone else simply commented: “Yo! I ain't eating meat again.”