before anyone starts taking this as me pretending to be a health expert, im literally not. i smoke cigarettes, eat greek yogurt, eat fruit and take weed brownies/edibles. im not waking up at 6am drinking green juice and tracking my selenium intake. this is just my opinion after actually thinking about the argument and looking at the evidence behind it.
and honestly i think the raw meat diet has one of the weakest risk/reward ratios of any diet trend ive seen.
“but our ancestors ate it raw”
this argument has always seemed incredibly shallow to me.
yes, humans have eaten raw meat throughout history. that doesnt establish that raw meat is better for humans. it establishes that humans can eat raw meat.
there is a massive difference between “humans historically did this” and “this is the optimal thing to do when you have access to modern food preparation”.
our ancestors also dealt with parasites, bacterial infections, food spoilage and a whole range of problems that modern food safety exists specifically to reduce.
if someone genuinely thinks evolution selected humans to intentionally expose themselves to avoidable pathogens because it builds character, theyre confusing historical necessity with biological optimisation.
what are you actually gaining
this is the question raw-meat advocates never seem particularly interested in answering.
okay, you dont cook your steak. cool.
what meaningful nutritional advantage did you just unlock?
the answer usually ends up being “enzymes”, “bioavailability” or “cooking destroys nutrients”.
but cooking doesnt turn meat into cardboard. cooked meat is still an extremely nutrient-dense source of protein, iron, zinc, B12 and other nutrients.
yes, heat can alter some nutrients. thats true of basically every food preparation method. but “some nutrients are affected by cooking” does not logically become “therefore eating meat completely raw is superior”.
youre taking a relatively minor theoretical nutritional argument and using it to justify a much more concrete food-safety risk.
thats an awful trade unless you can actually demonstrate a significant benefit.
the food poisoning argument is not complicated
raw meat can contain pathogens. this isnt some anti-carnivore conspiracy.
CDC guidance specifically identifies raw or undercooked meat as a food-safety risk and recommends cooking meat adequately to reduce the risk of foodborne illness.
and ground meat makes the argument even worse because grinding can distribute bacteria throughout the meat rather than leaving contamination primarily on the surface.
so when someone tells me they eat raw minced beef every day because “humans are supposed to eat meat”, im just thinking why would you deliberately remove one of the easiest safety measures available to you?
if you eat rare steak because you like rare steak, whatever. thats a different argument.
but claiming that raw meat is objectively healthier requires evidence that actually outweighs the downside.
“ive never gotten sick”
this one is always funny.
“ive eaten raw meat for years and nothing happened” is not evidence that raw meat is safe.
its evidence that nothing happened to you yet.
risk doesnt mean something happens every single time. thats not how probability works.
you can drive without a seatbelt for years without crashing. that doesnt make the seatbelt useless.
if cooking reduces the probability of foodborne illness and doesnt meaningfully destroy the nutritional value youre trying to obtain, why wouldnt you do it?
meanwhile fruit actually fills nutritional gaps
this is where i think the diet gets especially ridiculous.
meat is useful. obviously.
but meat doesnt magically contain everything your body needs.
fruit provides fibre, potassium, vitamin C, folate and a huge range of plant compounds.
berries are especially easy to add because you dont even have to restructure your diet around them.
blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries.
throw them into greek yogurt and youve immediately added a completely different nutritional profile to your meal.
there is also actual epidemiological evidence linking higher fruit and vegetable intake with better long-term health outcomes. obviously this doesnt mean “eat blueberries and become immortal”, but it makes the idea that plant foods are basically useless extremely difficult to defend.
greek yogurt + berries clears the caveman slop
this is probably the simplest example.
greek yogurt gives you a convenient source of high-quality protein and calcium.
berries give you fibre, vitamin C and various polyphenols and other bioactive compounds.
you can add oats, honey, banana or whatever else fits your diet and calories.
its nutritious, convenient, tastes good and takes about 30 seconds to make.
compare that with somebody sitting there eating raw mince because they read that fire is “unnatural”.
you dont need to invent a dietary ideology to eat well.
ancestral doesnt mean optimal
this is probably the biggest logical error behind the entire movement.
evolution isnt a health optimisation algorithm.
natural selection doesnt care whether you have perfect cholesterol, low cancer risk at 70 or good cardiovascular health at 85. it cares whether traits help organisms survive and reproduce in their environment.
so “humans evolved eating X” doesnt automatically mean X is optimal for modern humans.
modern humans have refrigeration, sanitation, food safety standards, cooking equipment and access to foods our ancestors couldnt even dream of.
using modern technology to reduce unnecessary risk isnt somehow betraying your biology.
and yes im aware of the irony
again, i smoke cigarettes.
i take weed brownies/edibles.
my diet isnt some perfect health-maxxing protocol.
so im obviously not trying to stand here and tell everyone im the pinnacle of human optimisation.
if anything, thats why im making the argument.
im not saying “look at me, my lifestyle is perfect”.
im saying that even with my objectively questionable habits, i can still recognise when a dietary argument doesnt make sense.
you dont need to be a health saint to understand basic risk/reward.
the actual conclusion
eat meat if you like meat.
eat steak.
eat chicken.
eat fish.
eat eggs.
just cook the fucking thing.
then eat fruit.
eat berries.
eat greek yogurt.
eat vegetables.
eat whatever carbs fit your diet.
get enough protein and calories.
have some variety.
you dont need to choose between “raw primal carnivore” and “vegan”.
the sensible position is incredibly boring: eat a varied diet containing nutritious foods and dont deliberately introduce unnecessary food-safety risks for a benefit you cant demonstrate.
the raw meat diet isnt stupid because meat is bad.
its stupid because people have taken a perfectly good food, removed one of the easiest ways to make it safer, and then convinced themselves the inconvenience is actually a health advantage.
