4 ms·
I recall reading, a long time ago, of a person who was eating just meat and only meat for his diet. He was struggling for a while with it, until he intentionall
by fwlr 4y ago
I recall reading, a long time ago, of a person who was eating just meat and only meat for his diet. He was struggling for a while with it, until he intentionally allowed a small amount of meat to rot for a bit, consumed that, and from then on he did much better on that diet. The principle I believe was in play was that the rotting meat contained a lot of bacteria that was very good at breaking down that meat (it would proliferate the fastest) and that bacteria was taking up residence in his gut microbiome and assisting in digesting non-rotten meat in the future. Sort of like how herbivores will sometimes consume small stones to act as mechanical grinders of plantstuff in their stomachs.
This seems like the most likely way that ancient humans consumed actually-rotten meat, in small doses to edit their gut microbiome (likely encoded in traditions that viewed certain specific rotted foods as a delicacy/luxury - not because it was hard to acquire but because you were only supposed to eat it rarely). To the extent that you see claims that “ancient humans ate large amounts of rotten meat” I suspect they’re conflating that with merely “spoiled by modern food standards” meat, which is much less rotten than it sounds.
- tracker1 4y agoKind of curious how much this may correlate to the fact that we don't dry age meat nearly as much as in times past.
- animal531 4y agoHere in South Africa we have a thing called biltong which is basically thick slabs of meat that are cured and marinaded for 24 hours or so, then it's hung up to dry for about a week, depending on the size/dryness that you want. Overall it's a huge industry.
- moremetadata 4y agoMenaquinones are the naturally occurring form of vitamin K identified in bacteria. Different bacteria make different chemicals which can be useful to humans. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7928036/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7928036/ Is it any different to the Germans eating fermented sauerkraut, or Asians eating fermented Soy source?
- heyjon 4y agoAre you referring to this guy?: https://www.vice.com/en/article/nnqw3q/this-guy-has-eaten-nothing-but-raw-meat-for-five-years https://www.vice.com/en/article/nnqw3q/this-guy-has-eaten-no...
- grumple 4y agoOh boy, that guy was definitely a crazy though: https://www.wkyt.com/2021/04/08/lexington-man-arrested-for-vandalism-at-wkyt-other-tv-stations/ https://www.wkyt.com/2021/04/08/lexington-man-arrested-for-v...
- bjoli 4y agoI have seen this in many, though. Diet cures a lot of diseases of affluence, but once you start thinking it is a cure-all, you will start seeing enemies everywhere. I stay far away from the raw vegan community in my town for that reason. I enjoy the food and recipes from time to time, but once COVID struck a not insignifiy chunk of them became intolerable to a boil-head like myself. It made for diverse groups clumping together under one flag. Far-right, back-to-stone-age climate fighters, raw vegans and general conspiracy theoreticists demonstrating together against public health policy. A couple of nazi salutes, juice cleanses, coffee enemas and 5g shielding cures covid, who would have thunk.
- dv_dt 4y agoI consume microbiotically rotted grape juice and sometimes cheese.
- unglaublich 4y agoAnd there's lovely Gorgonzola: double fermented mammal gland fluid. It's great.
- tomcam 4y agoPapillon Roquefort FTW
- forgotmypw17 4y agoI read that article too, and it transformed how I think about food and gut biome.
- teachrdan 4y ago> To the extent that you see claims that “ancient humans ate large amounts of rotten meat” I suspect they’re conflating that with merely “spoiled by modern food standards” meat, which is much less rotten than it sounds. The example from TFA suggests you are wrong about that -- at least judging by the rotten meat dripping with maggots: "In one recorded incident from late-1800s Greenland, a well-intentioned hunter brought what he had claimed in advance was excellent food to a team led by American explorer Robert Peary. A stench filled the air as the hunter approached Peary’s vessel carrying a rotting seal dripping with maggots."