The Danger of Unconventional Food Trends: The Risks of 'High Meat' Consumption
Have you come across the term "high meat"? Contrary to what the name might suggest, it doesn't refer to meat elevated in height. Instead, it's a bizarre trend involving the consumption of raw, putrefied meat that's been left to decay over an extended period. Proponents of this practice claim that consuming this meat can induce a state of euphoria and hallucinations, suggesting that the bacteria formed during the decomposition process might be beneficial for gut health. But how much truth is there to these claims?
If you actually believe that eating decayed uncooked meat has any benefit, then I should quickly educate you on the meat borne illnesses that have plagued us for years including Botulism, E.coli, Trichinella, Listeria, Salmonella, Staphylococcus, Campylobacter, Shigella, Streptococcus, and Anthrax.
With botulism, patient would feel a sudden loss of feeling in their face and their eye droops, they begin to have difficulty breathing, and soon will not be able to talk. They will experience nausea, vomiting, stomach cramp, and would soon not be able to feel their hands and feet, as well as losing all form of feeling. To avoid contracting botulism, it is best to cook food especially meat properly, preventing any food that has an awful smell, and refrigerating herbs and foods that aren't consumed at the moment properly.
Another meat borne disease is caused by E.coli and it can happen with just eating a bugger that isn't properly prepared. This can lead to diarrhea, retching, pain, and could even lead to passing out blood. E.coli dies when they are cooked above 70 degrees Celsius. Also, washing properly, prepping, and refrigerating are good ways to prevent E.coli in food, and one final notice, do not eat anything that smells awful because trust me it will an awful health experience.
If a person wakes up feeling fatigue and nauseated to the extent that they stagger to the bathroom, experiencing eye ache when eye is exposed to light and are swollen and tender. When doctors perform screening on the patient they find egg structures in the brain, causing inflammation. When this happens, it can be as a result of Trichinella worms consumed with uncooked or undercooked meat especially pork.
While there are good bacteria, there are a lot of bad bacteria and on meats bad bacteria tend to grow faster because it is a fertile breeding ground for bacteria. This high meat recipe, people who eat this meat cut it into pieces and put them into a jar. After a while which could be days or weeks, the jar is opened but this opening comes with a stench but then they eat part of the decayed meat.
People might assume this is fermentation but it isn't because fermentation can occur in three basic forms; lactic acid fermentation Ethyl alcohol fermentation, and acetic acid fermentation. Lactic acid uses bacteria like lactobacillus to convert sugar to lactic acid which results in food like yogurt, sourdough, and kimchi. Ethyl alcohol fermentation which uses yeast to break down sugar to alcohol and carbon dioxide to producing alcoholic beverages. When it comes to acetic acid fermentation uses bacteria like Gluconobacter to convert sugar to acetic acid such as in the case of vinegar.
While fermentation requires special monitoring, high meat doesn't require special monitoring. Dry-aged steak isn't the same as high meat as they are kept in dry-aging room with control on temperature and humidity and the temperature is hostile to meat bacteria. If anything goes wrong with the process of making dry-aged steaks, the meat will go wrong. With curing, salt is used to remove the moisture from the meat and the salt prevents bad bacteria from growing on the meat.
While the internet is rife with unusual dietary trends like "high meat," it's crucial to approach such practices with a healthy dose of skepticism and an understanding of the potential risks involved. The allure of novel experiences should not overshadow the importance of food safety and the well-documented dangers of consuming raw, decayed meat. Our health and wellbeing must always take precedence over following questionable internet trends. High meat is non of the following form of fermentation, it is pure decomposition of meat and it is not safe to eat. Please do not eat rotten meat as it can lead to food poisoning, food borne illness, paralysis and death.
Reference
https://www.localharvest.org/blog/9885/entry/high_meat_recipe_preparation_for
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/botulism/symptoms-causes/syc-20370262
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/e-coli
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/trichinosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20378583
https://eatcultured.com/blogs/our-awesome-blog/fermentation-the-basics
https://www.artofmanliness.com/living/food-drink/a-guide-to-dry-aged-beef/
https://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/nchfp/lit_rev/cure_smoke_cure.html
https://asianinspirations.com.au/food-knowledge/meat-heat-the-importance-of-cooking-temperatures/
Image Reference
Image 1 || Cookipedia || A spicy Jamaican
Image 2 || FLickr || Waiting for Snow
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