IS EATING RAW MEAT A HEALTHY HABIT?

A FULL DISCUSSION OF THE HISTORY OF EATING HABITS

We revisit the history of eating habits since mankind often swings back and forth between the mistakes of the past and the corrections of those mistakes. For example, nearly every continent has a community that promotes raw meals[1] even though humans began cooking with fire about 780,0000 years ago[2]. Reviewing our historical eating habits will shed some light on the merits and demerits of raw foodyism, especially eating raw eggs, meat, fish, poultry, shellfish, and more.

Misleading labels

Beyond liking one’s meat “well done” or “rare,” some may also claim to be “sushi lovers” (raw fish eaters).  Now, we have many  labels to identify our eating habits:

• a carnivore[3], or a “raw meat” carnivore[4] (one who only eats red meat like lamb, beef, bison, and elk; fatty fish; and shellfish; but may include raw cheese and cream when on the raw meat diet)
• an omnivore (a human who eats meat, fish, shellfish, and plant-based foods)
• a vegetarian (a person who avoids meat and seafood but may consume dairy or eggs)
• a vegan (a person who avoids all animal-based foods and only eats plant-based foods)
• a raw foodist[5] (one eating only plant-based foods which are not heated above 118°F or 48°C)

Yet, such labels are irrelevant. In this golden age of information, the purpose of any diet and lifestyle is to keep one healthy. How smooth and supple is your skin? How often does mucus accumulate in your throat? How often are you gassy? How often do you have headaches? How often do you itch? How often do you have ulcers, blisters, or other wounds? How many red flags are in your blood analysis report?

The answers to these health questions matter more than our trendy dietary labels. Even if one’s current choices are guided by social influences, one can learn from history, recognize warnings, and rethink how one has been preparing the foods they eat.

The Beginning

Cooked food was not on our radar in the beginning, but all human ancestors share the unique ability to walk upright. Anthropologists and primatologists confirm human life started in Africa by studying the fossils of skeletal remains. The most famous of these is “Lucy,” the 3-million-year-old adult female discovered in East Africa in the 1970s[6], whose age was determined using paleontological, palemagnetic, and sedimentological studies. Yet, through immunologic and molecular techniques, we now know that the life of the earliest pre-humans started over five million years ago in modern-day Ethiopia, Chad, and Kenya[7].

Later, Europe and Asia were occupied by Homo neanderthalensis (Neanderthals) and Denisova hominins (Denisovans), respectively. The homo naledi were the ancestors of the homo habilis and homo erectus. Then, the homo erectus became the ancestors of the homo sapiens. What did our pre-human and early human ancestors have in common?

Commonality

All versions of early humans were hunters and gatherers. Neanderthals hunted larger game and also had larger, more elongated brains compared to modern humans. Also, hunters and gatherers, homo habilis, homo erectus, homo naledi, and other earlier species had small brains.  They chose smaller prey and scavenged for leftovers from wild animals.

Neanderthals and other human ancestors ate raw meat, drank untreated water, and were bitten by snakes and all kinds of crawlers. Also, our ancestors were at the mercy of the elements: not just the weather, but also mosquitoes, bees, hornets, and cannibals.

Pre-humans were so wild, unforgiving, brutal, unpredictable, and intemperate that they routinely beat and kill over trifles. Archeologists confirm that early humans regularly practiced cannibalism, likely because they saw no difference between human flesh and the flesh of the animals they ate.  Per the Smithsonian, cannibalism is still practiced among members of the Korowai tribe in Papua New Guinea in modern times.

Still, evolution continued. Homo habilis and homo erectus turned stones into anvils and hammers, and they used the stones to split the kernels of nuts on the anvils made of stone. They turned the long slender stems of plants into strings, and they used these improvised strings to tie tree branches to build a raft. They used the same process to produce a stone spear, a stone knife, and a stone hand ax. They killed fish in the creeks and streams with their stone spears. They got their name homo habilis from their ability to use their hands to manufacture stone tools during the “Stone Age”.

Our Stone Age ancestors in Africa, our Iron Age ancestors in Europe, and our Bronze Age ancestors in Asia, Africa, and today’s Middle East were all raw foodists. Eating raw fish, raw meat, raw poultry, raw eggs, raw leaves, raw mushrooms, raw fruits, raw vegetables, and raw nuts is simple, but problematic. These raw foods were storehouses of viruses, fungi, bacteria, protozoa, worms, and other parasites. As a result, skin diseases, dysentery, diarrhea, constant nausea, vomiting, and fever became so rampant that the average life expectancy was 25- 30 years.

Life before the discovery of fire

Archeologists and anthropologists estimated that the total population of our different homo forebearers on the five continents was less than 300,000. Homo habilis, Neanderthals, and Denisovans did not use fire in a controlled manner. They lived lives of strict subsistence doing all they could to get the calories needed to support their existence: hunting game, gathering nuts and fruits, fishing in nearby streams and creeks, eating raw meat, fish, roots, eggs, and leaves. Like rabbits, our earliest ancestors braved all odds all day as they ate and looked for their next meal.

Before fire’s usefulness was discovered, pre-humans and early humans had serious digestive and mental problems. We know this because of the challenges that come with eating raw food today and because of their body makeup.  Per the Smithsonian’s account of human origins,  the homo forebearers had a narrower rib cage, a smaller pelvis, a shorter large intestine, and a longer small intestine. Each characteristic directly impacts health.

A smaller pelvis causes problems for women during childbirth. Issues contributing to the shorter life span include miscarriages, stillbirths, death of the mother during childbirth, amenorrhea (lack of menses), infertility, and even sexually transmitted diseases were routine parts of early life.

A smaller ribcage makes long-distance running nearly impossible. A shorter large intestine drastically reduces transit time for the preparation of fecal matter. Hence, a high frequency of diarrhea, stomach pain, and dysentery among our homo ancestors who routinely saw undigested nuts and leaves in their stool.

A shorter large intestine reduces the time to manufacture phenol, skatol, stercobilin, and microbiota. Then, a longer small intestine increases the time for fermentation and nutrient assimilation, making our forebearers extremely malnourished, gassy, bloated, and intoxicated by alcohol from any fruits consumed.

This anthropological analysis of the structure of some of their internal organs confirms that our homo forebearers were not healthy by any stretch. They might have been sad their entire lives because they were always sick. Constant diarrhea not only dehydrated our homo forebearers. It also impaired their judgment and stifled their creativity. Interestingly, though these harsh conditions were setbacks for some, they provided inspiration and transformation for others.

Fire, Fire, Fire

Constant experimentation enabled emerging humans to produce sparks by rubbing one stone against another. Then, rubbing stones together near dry grass made them discover fire. Per anthropologists, fire was discovered between 780,000 years and 1 million years ago.

Homo erectus, the early humans credited with the discovery of fire, quickly realized that fire produced both heat and light. They used fire to keep themselves warm and keep wild animals away. They also started to grill or roast the fish they caught and the game they killed, which marked the beginning of the consumption of cooked food.

Cooked food tasted better, and it reduced the frequency of diarrhea and indigestion because their small intestine had become shorter, and their large intestine had become longer. Unbeknownst to our earliest ancestors, cooked food allowed them to think better, and produce more brain chemicals.

Anthropologist Richard Wrangham theorized that our ancestors’ consumption of cooked food over 780,000 years ago led to the development of larger brains. Modern primatologists continue to confirm Richard Wrangham’s theory, making it a fact.

Amazingly, many pregnancies were more successful after eating cooked food. The population of the world grew from 300,000 during the Stone Age, Iron Age, and Bronze Age to several million every 100 years to the dawn of the Industrial Age. The world population surpassed 8 billion in 2021 and continues to rise today, largely due to the widespread consumption of cooked food.

The emergence of the homo sapiens

The necessity for evolution to end stagnation during the Stone Age, Iron Age, and Bronze Age, created a new human species. Homo habilis and homo erectus led us to the human species of today called homo sapiens. Critically, homo erectus’ ability to walk upright caused the gastrointestinal tract to shift from a horizontal position to an upright position.

The upright position of the gastrointestinal tract changed the tempo of digestion. The use of fire to cook food made more energy available to the digestive system. As the digestive system acquired more energy from cooked food, brain size increased and the human race experienced even more advancements.

Curiously, the slight difference in the genetic makeup of the homo erectus and homo sapiens enabled the emerging homo sapiens to produce dopamine from norepinephrine. Dopamine is the foundational neurotransmitter associated with planning, execution, abstract reasoning, working memory, analysis and sequencing, and cognitive flexibility. These cognitive skills are associated with the acquisition of knowledge, creativity, ingenuity, risk-taking, adventurism, vision, traveling, experimentation, improvisation, problem-solving, futurism, and temerity.

With dopamine, the lives of the homo sapiens became better than the lives of their ancestors. In short, the homo sapiens, with their cooked food and bigger brains, made plans and invented objects while the human species who remained raw foodists continued to live in the moment. They stagnated.

Trends and justification for eating raw meat, poultry, eggs, and fish

A strong genetic influence on a person makes one develop a tendency to behave in a certain way or develop an unexplained preference for one thing over another. This is how our genes make us unique not only in our looks, voice, gait, and speech patterns but also in our mannerisms and personality.

The taste for raw meat is the fullest expression and the resurgence of the Neanderthal gene and homo erectus gene. Even though the person cannot produce enzymes to digest raw meat, they still crave it because of the overpowering force of genetic dominance in their hippocampus. This genetic and blinding dominance compels one to accept the imposed habit as normal.

Some communities adopt raw foodyism as a cultural norm. For example, the Buddhist practice of a meat-free diet encouraged many Japanese to make raw fish their dietary staple. Moreover, historical Japanese religion and Shinto traditions viewed fresh fish as pure. Therefore, raw fish became even more popular there before becoming a dietary delicacy in other parts of the world. Though the merits of eating raw meat, fish, eggs, and more include cultural, traditional, or ritualistic reasons, the microbes attacking our systems remove all the health advantages of eating raw flesh.

Demerits for eating raw meat, poultry, eggs, seafood, and fish

According to studies, women who consume raw meat and fish may experience menstrual problems, frequent miscarriages, stillbirths, breast issues, infertility, and ovarian problems. Likewise, men who consume raw meat and fish may suffer from erectile dysfunction, sterility, semen disorders, skin diseases, and digestive or metabolic issues as our ancestors did.

The truth is that eating raw meat, fish, eggs, or even raw vegetables is often self-poisoning. Airborne microbes are attracted to raw food as much as they are attracted to an open wound. These harmful bacteria cause food poisoning. Routine offenders and their symptoms include:

• Listeria monocytogenes, often called listeria
  • Found in seafood, poultry, meat, unpasteurized dairy products, and fruits or vegetables harvested from listeria- contaminated soil.
  • Infection causes fever, chills, muscle aches, diarrhea, upset stomach, stiff neck, headache, confusion, and loss of balance
• Salmonella
  • Most often found in eggs, beef, chicken, pork, vegetables, fruits
  • Occasionally  in processed foods
  • Infection causes  diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps
• E. coli
  • Found in human intestines and animal intestines
  • Found in untreated water and contaminated food
  • Infection causes diarrhea, bloody diarrhea, stomach cramps, and fever
• Campylobacter
  • Found in poultry, shellfish, pigs, sheep, cattle, ostriches, cats, and dogs
  • Infection causes diarrhea with or without nausea and vomiting, bloody diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps
• Helicobacter pylori
  • Found in raw fish and poultry
  • Infection causes stomachache, burning stomach pain, nausea, appetite loss, bloating, frequent burping, weight loss, and stomach cancer

How can a raw meat eater get rid of microbes? They cannot. Only cooking the meat fully kills microbes. While many cultures have agents and cleaning supplies with antimicrobial properties, there are even microbes that feed on these cleaning agents.

Other than chlorine which disinfects meat while raising the risk of bladder and rectal cancers, any product used to clean raw meat, raw fish, raw snails, or raw oysters can still be a microbe’s growth factor.

For example, sushi lovers often rely on the fact that their raw fish is salted and treated with vinegar. Yet, salt increases the speed at which helicobacter pylori bacteria cause cancer. Then, to make matters worse, anaerobic bacteria grow using vinegar’s main component (acetic acid) as a carbon and energy source.

Even if one’s immune system is strong enough to delay such infections, the microbes continue to damage the body. While E. coli infections typically subside within two weeks, the infection may also progress into hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which is a rare, but serious condition that speeds kidney failure and death.

Similarly, listeria can fester in an individual for a month or two before producing symptoms. Even worse, pregnant women with listeria may not show symptoms but will have serious blood and brain infections that may cause the child to be born with listeriosis.

The lifelong challenges that a child born with listeriosis faces include blindness, seizures, paralysis, intellectual disability, and problems with the heart, kidneys, or brain.

The dangers continue. Eating raw eggs increases susceptibility to salmonellosis and typhoid, two diseases that will send the person immediately to the emergency room. Also, eating raw meat increases susceptibility to streptococcal and staphylococcal infections, with streptococcus known to cause cancer.

The Cancer Connection

Nearly one-fifth of the world’s cancers are caused by bacterial, parasitic, or viral infections. According to the World Cancer Research Fund International, Mongolia has the highest incidence of stomach cancer, followed by Japan, and South Korea. It is not surprising that nations known for eating raw fish, raw scallops, raw snails, and raw oysters have individuals with high rates of stomach cancer. Not only do all raw foods have a wide array of bacteria to weaken our systems, but the salting process used to preserve raw fish also increases the speed at which helicobacter pylori bacteria found in raw fish take over cell function to cause stomach cancer.

Moreover, eating raw fish and raw meat also means eating fish cancers, animal cancers, and parasites which cause cancer in humans.

For example, koi pla, a popular Thai dish made of seasoned raw freshwater fish is so packed with liver flukes that a single serving is enough for the parasites to cause liver cancer. While Western raw foodists may be tempted to think they are exempt from raw food cancers, the cancer risks associated with raw red meat and salted fish are made worse by the alcohol and sugary drinks often consumed with American and European meals.

One should not give up and say, “We will all have cancer no matter what.” Efforts to reduce cancer risk are worthwhile because death by cancer is often slow, painful, and horrible.

For example, throat cancer, mouth cancer, and stomach cancer starve the person to death after making them lose their appetite. Then, cancer paralyzes the person and makes them extremely negative, depressed, anemic, emaciated, and underweight. Even with a strong support system and modern medicines, those battling cancer become victims of urinary incontinence, bowel incontinence, renal failure, liver failure, and heart failure.

Why choose a diet and lifestyle that will leave one a shadow of their old self?

The decision

Is raw better? No. Though some turn to raw food to embrace tradition, to cut costs, to minimize exposure to man-made toxins, and even to be trendy, we now know the health risks of consuming raw meat, raw poultry, raw eggs, and raw fish are many. These risks include:

• Infection
• Birth defects
• Gastrointestinal issues
• Loss of intellectual ability
• Cancer of all kinds
• Kidney failure
• Early death

When we do not learn from history, history repeats itself. Though many trendsetters and cultural enthusiasts promote raw food, there is no need to shorten our lifespan and bring on the same challenges our early human ancestors suffered when they were eating raw meat, fish, and more.

Are health risks associated with eating meat (or any food) whether cooked or raw? Yes. The Downside of Nutrition Part I covers that in detail. However, in modern times, we cannot only select higher quality meat, fish, etc. but also cook most of the danger out of our food. One can choose a future that is different from the past.

One’s health journey does not have to be misled by tradition or cravings. Rather, Symptometry’s root cause therapeutics® helps individuals make dietary and lifestyle choices that boost energy, creativity, and longevity regardless of the illnesses and patterns that are dormant in their genes.

Dr. Maxwell Nartey, DSym, DHM ~ Professor of Symptometric Science

American School of Symptometry, NFP, World Center for Health Education and Scientific Enlightenment

BIBLIOGRAPHY

[1] Dean, S. (2013, May 20.) 15 Raw Meat Dishes from Around the World. Bon Appetit. https://www.bonappetit.com/trends/article/15-raw-meat-dishes-from-around-the-world

[2] Kuta, S. (2022, November 16.) Early Humans May Have Cooked Fish 780,000 Years Ago. The Smithsonian. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart -news/early-humans-may-have-cooked-fish-780000-years-ago-study-suggests-180981134/

[3] Cleaveland Clinic. (2021, July 1.) The Carnivore Diet: Can You Have Too Much Meat? – Cleveland Clinic https://health.clevelandclinic.org/the-carnivore-diet/

[4] McAuliffe, L. (2023, February 20.) What is the Raw Meat Carnivore Diet: Benefits and Risks. Dr. Robert Kiltz. https://www.doctorkiltz.com/raw-meat-diet/#:~:text=It%27s%20all%20in%20the%20name,bison%2C%20lamb%2C%20and %20elk.

[5] Petre, A. How to Follow a Raw Vegan Diet: Benefits and Risks. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/raw-vegan-diet

[6] Arizona State University Institute of Human Origins. Lucy’s Story. https://iho.asu.edu/about/lucys-story

[7] Su, D.F. (2013) The Earliest Hominins: Sahelanthropus, Orrorin, and Ardipithecus. Nature Education Knowledge 4(4):11. https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/the-earliest-hominins-sahelanthropus-orrorin-and-ardipithecus-67648286/

Image Credit: Freepik

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