Wife Swap - Raw Meat Vs. Cooked Meat

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abajan
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Wife Swap - Raw Meat Vs. Cooked Meat

#1 Postby abajan » Sun Mar 18, 2007 8:51 pm

Did anyone catch the episode of Wife Swap a few weeks ago featuring the family that ate only uncooked food? To top it off, they kept the place untidy and dirty. There basic philosophy was that "germs are our friends" and cleaning chemicals (like bleach etc.) make you sick.

At first, I was repulsed by their lifestyle. Then it dawned on me that they were all quite healthy. It got me to wondering if perhaps most of us sometimes take this whole cleanliness deal a bit too far.

I remember a family friend who related to us how she was always very careful not to let her son as a baby get dirty, yet he seemed to be always sick with one thing or another well into adulthood. When the son, as an adult, went to his doctor he was told that by keeping so clean as a child, his immune system didn't have a chance to properly develop.
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#2 Postby Brent » Sun Mar 18, 2007 9:06 pm

I thought the raw meat aspect was totally disgusting. I couldn't watch all of it. I don't necessarily agree with the clean freak lifestyle though. Heck, just looking around my room right now that's clearly not what happens here. :P
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#3 Postby HollynLA » Sun Mar 18, 2007 9:07 pm

This very topic was discussed on the 20/20 special about worrying in America, Scared Stiff. It was said that houses that are constantly clean can render sicker kids. Remember years ago when babies were born, everything was sterlized in boiling water? (yes I know that some people still do this). Now, doctors tell you that unless the baby is sickly, you do not need to do this. I never sterlized anything when my kids were born. I do clean my house and keep it rather tidy but I don't obsess about every little thing and the world does not end if my kids drop their food and then pick it up and eat it. They are extremely healthy 7 and 11 year olds, haven't even had to see the doctor but once in the past 3 years. However, I know many people that have very sick-prone children and they keep their houses completely sanitized at all times. One friend makes her kids wash their hands after using the bathroom and then use germ-x (yes, everytime). Is this really necessary? Germs are part of our daily lives. Could maybe being exposed to various germs help keep our immune system strong? Are we supposed to be sterilizing and sanitizing everything? I don't think so. I did watch this Wife Swap show and found it very interesting on just how healthy this family was, but yet everything we've ever been taught has told us that eating raw meat would make us sick and possibly even kill us. Really something to think about.
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#4 Postby CajunMama » Sun Mar 18, 2007 9:12 pm

My kids were never sick. Never had an earache. Didn't know what a doctors visit was. Does that tell you about my house? :lol: When they were little, their noony (pacifier) would fall on the ground, i'd wipe it off on whatever was available and stick it back in their mouths. Now my neighbor who's a dentist is meticulous about his house. And his kids were always sick and taking antibiotics.
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#5 Postby Cyclenall » Sun Mar 18, 2007 9:44 pm

I remember watching that episode very well. It was extremely entertaining and I agree with the family somewhat with the eating raw food diet. I thought it was very possible for their bodies to adapt to the raw meat and the dirty environment. One thing that didn't make sense was they said that water makes you dehydrated. I don't know where they got that from since it makes no sense at all. Too bad they didn't explain why they thought that.

I wouldn't want to go on a diet like that because once your on that, if you eat normal food again, you get very sick. I don't know why the family agreed to eat out because they should have refused since they knew they would get ill. I would have not eaten and explained that you can get sick if you change the diet that fast. I wonder how they started on the raw food diet?
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#6 Postby Regit » Mon Mar 19, 2007 12:03 am

Exposure to germs does build a tolerance. There's a reason wild dogs can eat raw meat all day and not get sick while your dog could get very ill off of some raw chicken.

The same is true of allergies. Some people are proponents of exposing babies to dog and cat dander on a regular basis. I once heard a doctor theorize on TV that the reason that allergies to cat dander were so prevalent in the US was the urban legend that cats will kill babies causing parents to keep their babies away form cats.
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#7 Postby TexasStooge » Mon Mar 19, 2007 7:45 am

For me, that episode of "Wife Swap" was an instant turn-off. We're taught germs and e-coli are the enemies of our society, that family was taught otherwise.

I've seen one clip of that episode on "The Soup" where the father of the '"Fear Factor" Family' (which I like to call them) was crying.
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#8 Postby gtalum » Mon Mar 19, 2007 7:49 am

Living in a pigsty probably isn't healthy, but eating uncooked, unprocessed food is very healthy if you have a source of meat which is reasonably certain to be free of contamination. IOW, I wouldn't try it with the meat at the average grocery store.
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#9 Postby O Town » Mon Mar 19, 2007 7:58 am

I have heard that kids playing in the dirt builds thier immunity to germs as well as having a pet around the house. Same kinda thing goes for telling the doctor you need an antibotic for every sniff and cough. Antibotics only helps for bacterial infections, not the normal viral ones most of us get. It just makes it where the antibotics won't work when you really need them. And hey, a little dirt don't hurt! :lol:
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#10 Postby Bobbie Lee » Mon Mar 19, 2007 3:40 pm

O Town wrote:And hey, a little dirt don't hurt! :lol:

Years ago I read that over a lifetime, a person will consume a bushel of dirt. :wink:
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#11 Postby abajan » Mon Mar 19, 2007 7:35 pm

Regit wrote:...I once heard a doctor theorize on TV that the reason that allergies to cat dander were so prevalent in the US was the urban legend that cats will kill babies causing parents to keep their babies away form cats.


I've never heard that urban legend before but I know that rats kill babies! Scary stuff, man. :grr:
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