>
>
> But doesn't it seem that humans sicken and die of bacterial problems at a
> much higher rate than other animals?  The neighborhood dogs lap up the water
> in my bird bath all the time.  I don't think I'd be around for long if I did
> that regularly.  Other animals seem to deal with bacterial and viral
> infections much better than humans, and cooking is an excellent way to
> sterilize things.
>
>

Actually all the sterilizing is what makes us so vulnerable to disease. Not being
used to exposure of bacteria left us without defense. It is perfectly normal and
healthy to eat aged meat, full of bacteria. I've drunk water in the woods that
was just running over the ground after the rain (a little upstream from my dog
because she stirred up mud) and I'm still alive.
Sterelizing and thorough cleaning was something that we learned to do the last 50
years and drs are taking a different point of view now. In fact they advice NOT
to dust childrens rooms every day in order for them to build up some resistance.
The Paleo granny had more resistance against disease then the strongest men and
women today. Why? Because she was exposed to bacteria daily and developed a far
better immune system. And don't tell me that they never became as old as we do
plz...
I like to eat my meat mostly cooked but that is only because I am used to it. I
know that on the few occasions where I eat it raw it is better digestable for my
body. It is not body wisdom that tells me to fry my food, it is a cultural hangup
which I hope to overcome in order to live as natural as possible.
The fact that our ancestors had access to fire could mean that they cooked food
sometimes. It could also be for protection against predators at night.
Still within human memory is the distinction between raw meat eaters and
"civilized " people. The Jewish kosher laws of draining blood and not eating raw
meat were intended to tell the differences between the neighbours who did eat
their meat raw and their own tribe. Apart from others benefits the laws sees fit.
As explained to me by me ex-father in law who was a big shot rabbi in Israel.

Christy