Are There Any Benefits Of Raw Meat Consumption? 

We often come across the question if there are any benefits of raw meat consumption, as eating raw meat is a common practice in a variety of cuisines throughout the world. To state it honestly, there isn't a lot of it benefit to it.

Instead of the benefits of raw meat, one should first find out about all the harmful diseases that it can cause. Cooking meat kills most of the bacteria, viruses, and parasites that raw meat is contaminated with, and eating them raw can directly transfer them to our bodies.

The most common disease that comes as a result is food poisoning, which can include vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramping, fever, and headaches, and can last anywhere from a day to an entire week, leaving us drained and weak.

So, in this article, we'll let you know if eating raw meat is safe for our health, considering how much they are growing popular today.

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Is It Okay To Eat Raw Meat?

Is It Good To Eat Raw Meat? (Image via Pexels/ Luis Quintero)

Though foods like sushi, oysters, and steak tartare are some of the most widely loved cuisines in the world, we should always have at least the surface knowledge of what we are eating.

Usually, properly cooking meat destroys the harmful pathogens contaminated in it, while eating them raw increases the risk of getting contaminated with food-borne diseases. Hence, it is always best to take caution before eating uncooked meat.

Older adults, pregnant women, and children are more vulnerable to them, and hence there aren't any potential benefits of raw meat for them. The most common raw meat dishes popular worldwide are:

1) Sushi: Probably the most famous one, a Japanese dish made of cooked rice rolled in raw fish.

2) Carpaccio: An Italian cuisine made of thinly sliced beef or fish.

3) Caviche: It is made out of minced raw fish cured with citrus juice and added seasonings.

4) Torisashi: Another Japanese dish made out of thin chicken strips, cooked on the outside and raw inside.

5) Streak Tartare: It is made with a minced raw beef stick, mixed with egg yolks, onions, and spices.

Though these dishes are very popular worldwide and are usually found on restaurant menus, it doesn't necessarily mean that they are completely safe. They often come with disclaimers, which warn that uncooked meat intake can cause several life-threatening diseases. Thus, instead of looking at the benefits of raw meat, we should be cautious about its harmful effects.

Precautions could be taken at home itself, by buying meat only from sellers and taking necessary food safety measures, to be safe from any contamination.

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Are There Any Benefits Of Raw Meat Consumption?

Benefits Of Raw Meat Consumption (Image via Pexels/mali maeder)

There is no concrete study available that supports that there are superior benefits of raw meat than cooked meat. Instead, most health nutritionists suggest that it is always good to completely cook meat before eating, as along with killing harmful pathogens, it also breaks down proteins, which makes it easier for the body to digest.

Though some claim that cooking meat decreases its nutritional value, there haven't been any concrete studies proving that. Hence, the safety of eating cooked meat is always better than risking eating raw meat.

Also, generally, it is always safer and healthier to buy fresh meat than to use pre-packed meat for cooking, as packed meat has the chance of comprising meat from multiple cattle or poultries, which increases the risk of food-borne diseases.

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Sushi (Image via Pexels/Pixabay)

Raw fish is comparatively safer than raw meat, while chickens tend to contain the most harmful bacteria like Salmonella, as it is more porous, making it easier for pathogens to be absorbed deep into it. Hence, only removing the surface of raw chicken doesn't necessarily cleanse away all the pathogens, and eating them raw can be dangerous.

As is evident, there are almost no potential benefits of raw meat, and it is always best to cook your food, let it be beef, pork, chicken, or fish thoroughly, for an ample amount of time, at a proper internal temperature before consuming it. This is not just the way to reduce the risk, but avoiding the risk completely.