Hi David,

Here are some of my thoughts -

> I'm curious how one goes about attempting to add raw meat or fish to the
> diet - what are the guidelines and safeguards?

Genearlly, I usually dislike much meat, raw or cooked, but I enjoy fish
and can discuss this.  If you are near a Japanese grocer, I believe they
are by far the best.  It is customary in their culture to consume fish
raw, not cooked.  Therefore, the vendors that supply grocers offer
parasite-free fish.  And around us they have a relatively high turnover
so things are fresh.  Outside Japanese groceries, I'd be very, very
careful of the fish you select.

Near us, we have Japanese grocers, and also higher-end groceries that
have fish counters with butchers that will recommend a particular catch
suitable for sashimi and also tell you what isn't suitable.  While I can
butcher a fish, it is a chore, and a distasteful one for me to cut a
large fish up, and the Japanese grocers will have done that already,
generally.  I would not ever get frozen fish or consume fish that is not
fresh.  I enjoy raw fish plain, or plain with some/combination of
tamari, fresh lemon, fresh minced garlic.  The taste of dried or smoked
fish does not appeal to me, but technically those are raw also as they
have been processed without much heat.  Smoked fish often has sugar
added or is packed  in oil or has and other undesirable stuff added to
it, so I avoid those generally.

I would recommend avoiding shellfish altogether unless you are very
certain of its source.  I am biased against shellfish since in my
cultural upbringing they are considered toxic.  Also, B blood types
cannot handle them according to the D'Adamo book.

I am always careful with handling raw fish.  When you handle and slice
fish, clean up the knife and cutting board and plates and utensils,
everything the raw fish touches, with hot soapy water, and a good hot
water rinse.  Wash your hands with soap and dry them after touching the
fish.  If you want to be very careful, take a spray bottle of 98-99%
water plus 1-2% bleach and a towel to spray and wipe down areas that are
touched by the raw fish.  Spraying down a towel and wiping a cutting
board down with it - that is a good idea if you want to speed things up
- spray, wipe down, rinse, then just rinse it off and you're ready to
use it again quick.

You MUST be very careful about cutting/trimming the fish and cleaning up
especially if you have pets.  According to my vet, dogs can easily be
injured by the worms or bacteria in raw fish, to the point where they
cannot recover and must be euthanized, and they cannot be fed raw or
rare fish.  We have a dog, and we also enjoy raw fish a lot.  We are
careful in its handling.  If we have leftovers we sometimes will boil it
and mix it into the dog's kibble, a mixture which he loves.

BTW in the US, pregnant women are warned to stay away from sashimi.
There is never such advice given in Japan, according to some of my
friends.

I enjoy dried turkey and dried beef, but otherwise don't eat much of
those cooked or raw.  Once in a long while I cook lamb, but I don't care
for it raw.  I do feed my dog raw lamb from time to time and use the
same precautions with that as noted above.

I have eaten raw fish for over 20 years and always enjoyed it.  I did
get sick once about 20 years ago and I presume it was from some raw
fish.  I would guess that the grocer (American store, not Japanese) that
sold the fish to me had the fish a while, although they reassured me it
was fresh during the purchase.  However, remember, fresh in Asian
cultures means freshly caught that day, or, preferably still alive.  In
American stores I have since found that "fresh" labelling in the shop
means "not previously frozen." Since then I have shopped at Japanese
grocers whenever possible for sashimi and not had another incident.  I
enjoy salmon, mackerl, yellowtail, albacore, barracuda, halibut and they
are nearly always available in SF's japantown - a great place to get
fresh fish and seaweeds.

regards

roberta
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