Raw food and bacteria

Introduction
Concerns about bacteria are something of a routine in our daily lives. We keep our house clean, teach our kids to wash their hands before a meal, and make sure we cook our food thoroughly. Despite these measures we are still getting sick. Raw food contains more bacteria than prepared food, so would at first glance pose a bigger threat to our health. But is this really the case?

Bacteria and our defense system
Bacteria are not only everywhere around us, they are also inside us. For instance our intestines contain millions of bacteria, of over 400 different species, which participate in our digestion. Bacteria (like salmonella) are also present in all our food, especially in its raw, natural state.

In nature there seems to be less concern about bacteria. Cheetahs sometimes store their prey for days in a tree before eating it, the fox steals and eats raw eggs, and chimps, gorillas and other primates eat insects. The reason why these animals don't get sick is because they have a trained defense system, which is used to taking care of local bacteria.

Having an untrained defense system can be lethal: during the conquest of South America a majority of 50 million natives died merely of contagious 'white man' diseases, for their defense systems were not trained to fight these strange bacteria/viruses. (1) That is why having a locally prepared meal in a far away, less developed country could be a problem for the tourist, while the locals have no problems at all with the same food, because their bodies are trained to cope with those specific bacteria.

To be able to deal with bacteria, we have to train our bodies' defense system, by being in contact with, and ingesting bacteria regularly. Only if the defense system is exposed often enough, will the body be well trained to overpower these bacteria. To accomplish this, we have to eat raw foods.

Biochemically speaking we are very much the same as other mammals, and for millions of years we also ate only raw foods. Nowadays we hardly consume raw foods anymore, and the food itself is becoming more and more sterile. Elderly people especially are advised not to consume raw foods. But when only prepared foods are consumed, the defense system is not trained to fight bacteria. Serious consequences can then arise from eating something stored in the fridge too long.

All fresh natural foods contain sufficient bacteria to train the defense system. If food contains too many bacteria, it has already been partially decomposed by bacteria. If the food is raw, one can tell by the smell if it's edible or not. But if the food has been prepared, contains herbs and spices, and has been stored in the fridge, it is much harder to tell. Eating bad food on purpose "to intensify training" isn't advisable, because absorbing too much bacteria on a regular basis eventually can cause arthritis (2), stomach and/or colon cancer. (3)

The only way to get sick from bacteria in food is by having an untrained defense system, or by consuming food that contains far too many bacteria. The body might then need to increase the body temperature to fight the bacteria: this is what we know as a fever. When animals are sick, they usually don't eat, because their defense system is weakened, and they don't want to burden the system even more. So when we are sick we shouldn't eat anything either, and let the body do its work.

Antibiotics
When one is ill, antibiotics are often prescribed, but unfortunately they hardly work anymore (4). Antibiotics have been used so much that bacteria have become resistant to them (5). At best antibiotics only weaken bacteria, but will also weaken the defense system, increasing risk of infection (6) and raise the possibility of becoming ill again. (7) Antibiotics also kill bacteria in the colon, which could cause sleeplessness (8), as some of these bacteria produce factor S, responsible for inducing sleep. (9) Some antibiotics (like streptonigrin) increase radical oxygen release to fight bacteria, which damages human cells as well.

Conclusion
Bacteria are not dangerous, unless our defense system has been severely weakened. In order to train that system, we have to eat raw food. When consuming raw foods daily, consuming something bad accidentally can give someone the runs at worst.