Hi all,
I know it's a bit of a dead horse, but I'd like to ask for a general consensus on a few parasite questions (I apologize if all of the answers are in the archives, I searched for a while but didn't manage to find all of the specific information).
Well, I've been doing the Paleo-esque thing for four years now (starting with AV's Primal back when I was living in Los Angeles), quite strictly raw, although I've experimented with a variety of formats. Consequently, I'm not generally parasite paranoid (only knowingly experienced one tapeworm, which my body quickly shed, back from when I was living in Washington state and fishing steelhead.. which came with quite a few of them, and always proved a bit of an odd experience if my marinated had lemon, and you could see them all come alive). However, I have always found the idea of Trichinosis to be quite distressing (and consequently haven't eaten pork since my last cooked lamb-chop, at least 7 years ago). The idea of being an intermediate host, and having the little worms bury into my muscle tissue and/or eyes/face/brain is a tad more intense than giving a worm a free ride in your intestines.
This being said, I have a strong belief in my body's immune system, and have had no problem with bacteria or just about anything else (like I mentioned, even the tapeworm was short lived.. it was a runty little thing, and I passed it soon after first starting to eat the fish.. haven't had a problem since).
However, I can't get over the fact that the parasites obviously are efficient enough to have evolved (although I do note that in fish, the majority of the encysted larva are found around the belly flap, so perhaps it is that they only really cause problems -brain penetration/whatever- in the infirm), and I don't yet understand the process by which the body could actually get rid of them once they've locked down in the muscles (to sit around and cause doctor-confounding aches), where as it is much easier to imagine the body getting rid of an intestinal worm (with their obvious exit).
Eh, I know I have a decent amount of emotional reaction to the idea of permanent physical aberration (muscle/brain burrowing worms being the last frontier of what was once a tightly packed paranoia, born not only of mainstream media, but of having grown up under the rule of a mother obsessed with bacteria and cleanliness), but any discussion, or particularly logic, as to why such concerns about Trichinosis are/aren't unfounded would be much appreciated.
Anyways, I'm thinking about going on a survival expedition/ordeal thing, and will likely end up facing the need to eat Trich possible carnivores, and want to be a bit more prepared.
Thank you in advance for any responses, I've helped moderate forums on other subjects, and know how dull the more common complaints can become.
,
Brandon
