Instagram challenges have become part of our routine and it's a shame. A new challenge, which shows a man eating raw meat in all its forms, is causing quite a stir in the world of health.
We’ve already watched many unhealthy Instagram challenges, but this is the most repulsive and unhealthy challenge yet. This man has been eating raw meat for almost three months (Raw Meat Challenge), in what he says (hopefully jokingly) is a journey to eat "raw meat every day until I die of bacteria.
”While documenting the diet on his @rawmeatexperiment page, followed by close to 85,000 people, this man eats everything from a pound of raw ground bison meat to a raw cow brain, and then drinks (unpasteurized) milk and uncooked eggs. This man, who remains anonymous, praised the minced meat: "Without chewing you can actually just put the beef in your mouth and swallow it, quite tasty, half the cost of a steak."
The experiment faced mixed reactions, from people who were disgusted by the idea to people who ran away from it when they realized what he was doing. According to him, he started the experiment after feeling bad while eating a mostly vegetarian diet. He explained that when he switched to a steak-and-eggs diet, he felt satiated and well for most of the day.
So is this a good idea? No!
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He isn’t the first person to eat this way, with the human lineage existing for millions of years before Homo erectus discovered fire and subsequently cooking about a million and a half years ago. However, humans have evolved since then and for thousands of years have cooked their food, allowing us to be more efficient at eating and digesting food.
Humans today are not built to eat raw meat alone, and such eating can cause many health problems, even if by chance you’re lucky enough not to catch salmonella from eating raw chicken.
For example, a study published in 2014 showed the effect of protein in the diet on our health. The researchers examined the subjects' daily menu and divided them into groups according to the protein intake in their daily diet. The findings suggest a statistical link between increased protein intake and the chance of developing cancer.
The man doesn’t seem to run only on raw meat and eats other meals between his Instagram posts. Yet, he may still get very sick. So far, he claims, he hasn’t suffered from food poisoning from consuming meat without cooking it first, and has managed to avoid any bacteria that may be lurking in it.
If you're undecided, we’ll remind you that eating raw meat is really harmful, as the meat and eggs may contain salmonella, E. coli, listeria and other harmful bacteria.
Handling raw meat, not to mention eating it, especially in the summer, can be quite dangerous - especially for those who are afraid of or particularly vulnerable to infections such as children, pregnant women. Food poisoning such as this comes with vomiting, diarrhea, and a chance of dying.