Quote Originally Posted by UmAnOnion
actually i remember reading an article about how bodies in the western world are taking longer to decompose than in days of yore because they are so saturated with preservatives from food etc ...

kinda scary to think about ...
Scientifically, thats how the "uncorruptables" are explained. For those who don't know, the "uncorruptables" are the dearly departed in parts of the Catholic world who simply have not decomposed to any measurable degree without the benefit of extreme embalming techniques (such as used on Lenin). How is that possible? According to the faithful it's a miracle. According to science, every last one of them has extremely high concentrations of certain metallic toxins (arsenic, lead and others) which kill the bacteria responsible for decomposition. These individuals usually worked in occupations where they were exposed to significant amounts of these toxins all day every day but not enough to shorten their life any more than the already brief lifespan of their periods (the lead levels in several late medieval stained glass craftsmen has allowed them to be among this exalted group).

There are also examples of buddhist monks in the Himilayas and in Japan who have accomplished the same thing but through a concerted effort in the last months of their lives. There was an interesting Discovery Channel special on them. Essentially they stopped eating real food and only ate things that wound up killing off their stomach bacteria (so that wouldn't be a source of decomposition) and also ingested things that were mildly poisonous. For example, the Japanese monks would only drink water from a Holy Spring that turns out to have high natural levels of arsenic in it. Not enough to kill them instantly but enough to lace their tissues with the bacteriacidal agents.

So I guess now preservervatives are doing the job too!