Raw meat diet - crazy fad or the way to a healthier lifestyle?

I recently heard of a Melbourne man who has adopted a raw meat diet,  he eats large quantities of fatty raw meat, raw liver, raw chicken and  raw heart and other organs.  He eats raw eggs, unpasteurized milk and plenty of butter - chopped into cubes over his raw meat.  He has the smallest quantity of vegetable juice but no fruit and no grains.  He claims to feel fantastic on this diet.  So much so that he has put his young daughter on the diet although he does make some concessions and allow her fruit and nuts for her school lunch box (he realizes that she would be ostracized in the play ground if she were to bring her raw meat to school).

Of course I had heard of vegans who only eat raw food but this raw meat diet was new to me so I decided to investigate it a little further.  As someone who loves to cook and to eat a very wide variety of foods I felt rather depressed, as well as more than a little revolted by this extreme way of eating.

There seem to be two approaches to raw meat diets.  The Primal diet which includes raw dairy products, fatty and organ meats, honey and minimal fruit and vegetable juices.  And the raw Paleolithic diet which avoids non paleolithic foods like dairy, grains and legumes. 

The Paleolithic diet has been around for a while.  Proponents of this way of eating argue that for millions of years man subsisted on food that he found while hunting and gathering.  This would include seasonal fruits, meat from game, fish and fowl, vegetables and nuts.  It was only some 10 000 years ago that Neolithic man came along with his agriculturalist practices.  At this time he found that previously indigestible foods could be ground or cooked to make them edible.  Grains, beans and potatoes could be stored for long periods and were high in calories.  They could also be planted.  Around this time dairy products were also added to the diet.  There are many respected scientists and nutritionists who believe that our digestive systems are not able to cope with this this change in diet from the paleolithic diet to one that is heavily reliant on grains.  They believe that the increasing levels of heart disease, diabetes and obesity as well as other health issues can be attributed to the fact that the human physiology is not able to cope with the modern grain and starch rich, processed diet.

There does seem to be some sense to this approach.  Our Paleolithic ancestors would have eaten very much more fiber in their diets than we do.  And a lack of fiber has been linked to colon cancer as well as to heart disease and diabetes.

Dr. Loren Cordain from Colorado, is an expert in the area of Paleolithic nutrition and author of 'The Paleo Diet'.  She says that generally, health begins to noticeably be disrupted when cereal grains provide 70% or more of the daily caloric intake. Versions of the paleo diet have been used to help patients with celiac disease, gluten intolerance and auto-immune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, and are also fed to triathletes wanting to be lean, mean and strong for their endurance events.

It is important to note that the Paleolithic diet is not a high protein, low carb diet.  It was actually low in fat, low in salt and high in fiber from plant foods.  Much of the protein would have come from nuts as well as from meat.

Of course most of the people who follow the Paleolithic way of eating will cook their meat products.  Those that insist on following a raw paleolithic diet will argue that this is how our ancestors ate.  The truth is that no one really knows when paleolithic man started to cook his food but there is certainly evidence of him having used fire and it is likely that he was cooking his food as long ago as 1.9 million years.  

The Primal Diet was founded by Aajonus Vonderplanitz.  Apparently his real name was too boring for him so he came up with this zany new name.  He is a self proclaimed nutritionist from California who has been following his own raw meat  diet for 38 years.  95% of the diet consists of raw meat, raw eggs and dairy.  The other 5 % comes from vegetable juices and other low carbohydrate fruits such as avocados.  Vonderplanitz bases his diet on the theory that the raw fats bind to the toxins in the body which are then eliminated more easily.  The meat can be made more palatable with herbs and spices but many following the diet claim that they eventually develop a taste for raw meat.  "High" meat - this is meat that is well past its sell by date (rotten) is favoured.  Vonderplanitz claims that "high" meat inspires a natural high.  Also favoured are rancid unpasteurized yoghurt and fermented vegetables.

Vonderplanitz recommends that those following his diet should start with fresh raw meat.  One follower says that it took him a while to eat the "high" meat because "it stinks like hell and it tastes like an aged raw cheese."  He says he had diarrhoea after the first experience but now he is used to it and regrets not having done it sooner as it has cleared up all of his health problems.

Most health and diet professionals are in agreement that advocating a diet that relies on eating raw meat is very irresponsible and possibly downright dangerous.  It is a fact that raw meat may contain harmful bacteria that can cause serious food poisoning and even death.  Especially to those whose health is already compromised.  When raw meat is eaten - as carpaccio or steak tartare it must be fresh and of the highest quality.  The same is true of sushi and sashimi which should always use the freshest fish.   

The followers of the Primal diet all claim that the benefits are enormous and that the risk is worth it.  Vonderplanitz claims that he has witnessed his diet "reversing 95 per cent of all diseases (including cancers), while energy, mental clarity and emotional well being improve".  He does say that the rotting meat should be organic and free range and ideally grass fed.  He does not advocate eating your average supermarket meat.

Vonderplanitz has published two books - "We want to live" and "The recipe for living without disease".  He claims to have cured himself from various diseases and conditions including cancer.  The problem with his claims is that there is a distinct lack of documentation.  It is possible that there is something in his claims, a New York doctor - Nicholas Gonzalez has observed that some of his patients have thrived on raw meat diets - especially those with leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma.   There just hasn't been any research into the possible benefits of eating raw or rotten meat as the health risk would be too great.

Of course there may be many things wrong with our western diet.  It certainly contains far too much refined and processed carbohydrate.  Clearly there are people who find it difficult to digest diets that are heavy on grains and starches who would do well to follow some of the principles of the Paleo diet.  But the Primal diet as advocated by Vonderplanitz seems not only extreme but revolting.  Our ancestors may have had occasion to eat rotten meat through lack of availability of anything else.  We, on the other hand are lucky enough not to have to eat it.  We also have such a wide variety of tasty foods available and hundreds of wonderful ways to cook and prepare it.  How dreadful it would be to eliminate the pleasure of eating - one of the greatest pleasures.  We have come a long way since the days of our cave-man ancestor.  Why go back?