Hydration and Fascia

These are pictures I took of venison
(white-tail deer meat).  

​The pinkish photo on the left is 'fresh'.  You can see the 'sticky' fascia as I have pulled the muscle apart.  it is shiny and reflects the light.  It slides back and forth easily.   It is well hydrated.  Although, it is not as hydrated as it was inside the warm living animal.  On my cutting board it is at a temperature of 72 degrees only.....inside the deer it would have been flushed with blood and 104 degrees (according to ChaCha).

All the fascial "pockets" are filled with water, and blood (we know this because it is still pinkish).  This venison has already been soaked in brine water in the refrigerator for 24 hours....a day ago it was very dark red. 

It is like a wet sponge. 

This is also a photo of the venison.  

The only difference is it has laid on my cutting board all day and dried.  It looks cooked, doesn't it?  Nope, it is still raw,  Time and drying out are the only differences between it and the one pictured on the left.

Now, I do not have a picture of it (sorry)...but if I had placed the dried venison in water and let it set for a while - it would have somewhat re-hydrated.  Yet, not back to the "fresh" level of the one on the left.  

All the components are still in the dehydrated venison though......
the components of muscle and fascia......minus the water.  

​It is like a dry sponge - the "pockets" are there, but emptied.

---

Consider this:  
​When a person prepares venison (mostly any wild meat) it is good to soak it first in brine water or buttermilk to remove the 'wild' taste.  You want to remove as much of the blood from the muscle tissue as possible.  The meat lightens in color when you do this.

​When you cook the meat it goes from floppy-pliable to stiff.  Which is strange if you think about it.  Usually heat makes objects more pliable.  But in this case the heat is excessive and actually dries out the tissues.  The heat shrinks the fascial 'pockets' and they squeeze out the water.  Liquid will appear from seemingly nowhere into the skillet.  Yes?

So why does a sauna or tanning bed tighten skin?  

So why is massage good for skin tone?

Why is hydration within the fascial "pockets" important?

Why do the wrinkles on babies disappear and yet my wrinkles want to stay?

I will leave you with these questions to chew on today. 
Have a great day.