We grew up eating raw meat
I come from a country where eating raw meat is a normal thing. If you never eat raw meat just talking about it may gross you out. You may imagine blood dripping all over, vampire teeth and a sacrificial dance.
But do not let your imagination go too far. None of this is true. Many cultures eat raw meat on a regular basis without thinking twice about it. However, here in Canada we have a different view about eating raw meat.
Just yesterday I met a person, who due to fear of bacteria, would not touch raw meat with her hands. She would scrub herself if accidentally did so. Although that may feel extreme most of us believe that there is a lot of bad bacteria in raw meat.
How did we survive so far?
What I am going to write now is not to endorse raw meat eating, neither it is a manifesto against vegetarian diets, but the huge discrepancy between health authorities advice and what’s natural has to be addressed. A few questions come to my mind:
- How did we survive so far?
- What did we eat before we discovered fire?
- Were we all vegetarians before that?
- How do wild animals survive in nature?
- Do they cook and sterilize their meat as well?
- Was meat bacteria easier on us before we discovered disinfectants?
- Or maybe only our vegetarian ancestors survived and those who ate meat perished by contracting a nasty infection?
- How come those who eat raw meat now in different countries keep on thriving?
- And lastly how come I am still around after pounds and pounds of raw tartar experience in my life?
Distinguish sensless paranoia from poor farming practices
Paranoia about bacteria and viruses seem to envelop our nation and it is not healthy. People focus on cooking, and overcooking the meat to kill every possible bug, meanwhile they should be focusing on the question: why our meat is unsafe and riddled with bacteria. If you can’t answer here is the scoop.
Commercially available meat (those in regular stores) is not the same as organic meat. Commercial meat is of inferior quality. It comes from cows with lowered immune system due to poor living conditions.
Lower immunity invite a whole host of pathogenic bacteria and this, in fact, can cause problems for humans. So the reason why you are told to be afraid of raw meat is not because raw meat is dangerous. It is because unhealthy treatment of cows makes them walking bacteria hosts.
Making raw meat safer
Meat must be fresh and come from healthy, well-cared for, animals. Choose grass-fed organic and fresh. Commercial meat is unhealthy for many reasons, not just bacteria, besides meat spoils very easily.
Unless you buy from your local organic farmer or butcher you will never know how old your “fresh” meat is. Freshness is the crucial safety factor, because the older the meat the more pathogenic bacteria it has, regardless of the source. Be very diligent about choosing fresh meat and preparing it right away. Otherwise you risk food poisoning.
Raw meat is better than cooked
- Uncooked meat has fuller spectrum of nutrients than the cooked variety. Many vitamins, amino acids, essential fats and other compounds are destroyed by cooking, so eating cooked meat is less nutritious than eating it in a raw state.
- Cooking meat in high heat creates compounds that are detrimental to health. Grilling, BBQ, and frying meat contribute to inflammation and development of cancers. When you read another study about how bad meat is for health check if the study distinguished between commercial and organic meat and between raw and prepared. Many studies lump everything together and blame all the meat, where they should only blame commercial variety or heat-treated products for health ill-effects. Screen the studies before making a leap of faith.
So, how was my tartar? Yummy….
