But studies conducted over the last few decades do indicate that putrefaction, the process of decay, offers many of cooking’s nutritional benefits with far less

But studies conducted over the last few decades do indicate that putrefaction, the process of decay, offers many of cooking’s nutritional benefits with far less effort. Putrefaction predigests meat and fish, softening the flesh and chemically breaking down proteins and fats so they are more easily absorbed and converted to energy by the body. That was my first thought seeing the headline. As long as it can be stomached, it makes sense that we'd favor rotten food as a kind of natural over processed food that makes it easy to get at the nutrients. Another way to look at it is that the putrefaction is basically the same thing that happens once we eat it.