On Mon, 24 Feb 1997, Roy P D'Souza wrote:

> Hi Michael,

> I read a claim somewhere (Instincto literature, I think) that the pollutants
> that accumulate in the fatty tissue pass through one's body without dissipation,
> if the fish/meat is raw. If it is cooked, they are released into the body. I
> don't remember where I read it, though. I'll try to track it down.

It would be pretty interesting if they could show actual evidence of this.

> I remember reading about the parasites claim as well. (They feed on dead tissue,
> are harmless to faw fooders, etc.) But I also remember Kirt mentioning that a
> few Instinctos somewhere fell ill with Malaria, which should not have happened
> according to Anopsology proponents. If the virus claim was wrong, perhaps the
> parasite claim is suspect?

Not sure what your saying here.  Malaria is caused by a parasite - not a
virus - though the symptoms are viruslike.  According to my dictionary
malaria is "any of a group of diseases characterized by attacks of chills,
fever, and sweating: caused by parasitic protozoans that are transferred
to the human bloodstream by mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles and that
occupy and destroy the red blood corpuscles".

So if instinctos came down with malaria they were suffering from a
parasitic infection - and one that wasn't just attacking dead tissue.  But
on the other hand they probably didn't get it from eating RAF.  And plenty
of non-instinctos come down with malaria.

Similarly with that foot long worm that grows under the skin that Pat
mentioned.  People get it from drinking water with the worm larvae/egg in
it.  I don't know if it even lives in fish.  If I remember correctly its
whole life cycle is either in the water or infecting people.  When an
infected person goes to get water the worm - which has broken through the
skin - lays more of its eggs in the water.  This parasite occurs in places
like Africa and India.  Anyway, like malaria, this parasite is transferred
by means other than eating RAF.  Unlike malaria its relatively easy to
avoid and treat.

Parasites have been around for millions of years and they've been
infecting animals eating only natural raw foods and living in the wild for
the great majority of that time.  I don't see why humans should have some
special imunity.  On the other hand animals have survived and done pretty
well during that time (until recently anyway) in spite of the parasites.
In fact, a parasite that was too harmful to its host probably wouldn't
survive as its source of food would die.  So in my opinion its possible
that instinctos may become infected with parasites but most of them aren't
that harmful and the benefits of RAF outway the harm of the parasites.
Though raw pork - with the possibility of contracting trichinosis -
probably isn't a good idea.

So what do all you RAFers have to say?  How do you deal with the parasite
issue?  Do you just try not to think about it?  Do you take the instincto
line that its not a problem on faith or is there any real evidence to back
it up?

Since I sometimes eat raw eggs I'll share my feelings about salmonella.
Basically I only eat eggs that are from organically fed free-running
chickens and are pretty fresh.  So I figure the chances of them being
infected with salmonella are pretty small.  If there is some infection I
don't expect it to be a strong infection.  My system would be able to
handle it without much trouble.  I limit my intake to 2 at a time.  On
top of all that I usually have them with cultured vegetables - the
beneficial bacteria in the culture would tend to work against any harmful
bacteria that might potentially be in the eggs.  So I guess I'm pretty
cautious about it.

Michael