Asian people, including Indonesia, know the pleasure of eating the soft and smooth texture of raw fish meat in sushi or sashimi dishes. Many drinks are also given a mixture of raw eggs, for example milk mixed with ginger and honey and consumed by people as a stamina enhancer.
If consumed occasionally, these raw foods are not harmful. However, if you consume it too often, you need to be careful because there are long-term health problems that lurk. This also applies to raw or undercooked meat.
The main problem with eating raw food is the parasites that may still be attached to the uncooked food. In general, the parasites that are commonly encountered are salmonella bacteria which will die when food is cooked thoroughly. Meanwhile, in raw food, if the processing is not right, these bacteria may still nest and enter the body when consumed.
Apart from meat and fish, some types of vegetables are also dangerous if consumed too often when they are still raw. Raw vegetables that need to be avoided, for example, are kale. In large quantities, raw kale can cause hormonal imbalances that cause fluctuations or symptoms that indicate fluctuating blood sugar, body weight, and overall metabolic health. You can also suffer from thyroid swelling or goiter.
If your body is in good health, consuming raw food may not cause significant health problems. However, it is different if your body has a decreased immune system, there are several health problems that can arise, such as the following health problems.
- Digestive problems
Raw meat and vegetables tend to be difficult for the body to digest. This is because meat and vegetables have a fibrous structure that is more difficult for our digestive organs to digest. The human digestive organs are indeed not the same as the digestive organs of animals which can directly digest all the food that enters. Too much vegetable fiber from raw vegetables can even make you bloated and constipated.
- Parasite Infection
Parasitic infections are one of the main problems that lurk in people who like to eat raw fish or food that is not properly cooked. Of the many types of parasites that exist in raw fish, there are some that don't cause serious symptoms, but there are also those that can have a negative impact on health in the long term.
Liver Flukes for example, this type of flatworms parasite infects many people who live in tropical countries. This parasite usually resides in the liver, consumes blood and causes swelling of the liver, bile duct infections, gallstones, and liver cancer.
Another type of parasite that often infects raw fish enthusiasts is the tapeworm. Symptoms of tapeworm infection are stomach discomfort, diarrhea, constipation, and tiredness. This is because tapeworms steal nutrients from the intestines, especially vitamin B12. Even though it doesn't cause serious symptoms, a tapeworm infection is quite scary because it can grow in the human body, even up to several meters.
- Scombroid poisoning
Scombrotoxin or scombroid poisoning occurs when a person consumes raw fish that is not properly stored, processed and served, causing spoilage by bacteria. Symptoms of this poisoning can include itching, headaches, vomiting, and diarrhea.
- Interfere with thyroid hormone function
Many raw vegetables such as kale, broccoli, cauliflower, mustard greens and cabbage contain goitrogens . Goitrogens are natural compounds that occur in some foods that can inhibit thyroid function and can eventually lead to hypothyroidism. If a person suffers from hypothyroidism, the body's metabolic processes will slow down so that the energy produced by the body will decrease and cause the body to tire easily.
Those are some health problems that can arise if you consume too many raw vegetables, fish or meat. Let's be wiser in choosing and processing the food we will consume so that your body and your family can be far from disease. #LiveExcellently