food poisoning from chicken

[galaxy]

I was enjoying the aajonus diet eating steak tartare and sushi for several months but then I tried raw chicken. I got the most pure chicken I could find but after a couple of days I developed heavy diarrhea that lasted for 2 months. I went to the  doctor who ran tests and said it was campylobacter (exactly what MDs say you will get if you eat raw chicken). Aajonus writes in his books that bacteria on food can at most give you a few days of diarrhea but this is not what I seem to have found out.

Can anyone here who understands his theories help me to understand why I should not believe what government agencies say about cooking poultry in order to avoid food poisoning? From what happened to me it seems that they are completely right on that count (I know that they are wrong on most counts, but I'm listening on this one).

My health background is that I suffer from severe fatigue but have no other diagnosed conditions.

[TylerDurden]

Most chicken are grainfed, no matter how "organic" they may be. Grainfed chicken is to be avoided, even if raw.

[Iguana]

I got the most pure chicken I could find

What do you mean by that?

Can anyone here who understands his theories help me to understand why I should not believe what government agencies say about cooking poultry in order to avoid food poisoning? From what happened to me it seems that they are completely right on that count (I know that they are wrong on most counts, but I'm listening on this one).

Of course they are right; all farmed poultry is noxious and dangerous raw, unless it's been grown by ourselves without any soy, wheat, heated food,  cooked leftovers, etc.

Most chicken are grainfed, no matter how "organic" they may be. Grainfed chicken is to be avoided, even if raw.

I feed some raw and soaked grain such as millet and oat to mine, it's no problem. Birds are grain eaters, unlike mammals. 

[Projectile Vomit]

One of Aajonus' greatest flaws it that he assumes what works for him will work equally well for everyone else. He's been eating raw for decades and has endured his share of bouts with food poisoning. He's probably suffered exactly the symptoms you did at various points in the past. He's been on his diet long enough though that his gastrointestinal microbial community is quite healthy now, so he can eat contaminated meat and not suffer ill effects because his gut flora and fauna outcompete the pathogens.

For newcomers to a diet that includes raw animal foods, choosing healthy animals raised in hygienic conditions is incredibly important. When I started I limited my raw animal food consumption to ruminants (cow, sheep, goat, deer, etc.) and avoided animals that were fed grain or that were omnivores (no pig, turkey, chicken, etc.). That worked very well for me, as I've been doing this since 2003 and have never suffered any symptoms of food poisoning resulting from eating raw animal foods. I still won't touch raw commercially raised poultry, and don't eat pig at all, regardless of whether its raw or cooked or how well it was raised.

[galaxy]

The chicken I had said it was organic and air chilled and was fed corn and soy.

I understand that this is not the ideal diet for a chicken that a human will consume, but I have never been able to find a chicken anywhere that was raised for sale that was purely left to its own devices in a pasture that was not given grain (and I have tried hard).

I recently found a new farmer at my local farmer's market who only processes about 200 at a time. It is a small operation of just him and his wife and the fat on the chickens is a beautiful golden color but even they are fed grain at night, even though they can roam a pasture during the day.

Unless you guys know anywhere I can order perfect chickens from, or unless I start my own farm, it looks like chicken is off the menu. Aaajonus might be able to afford 2 months of diarrhea shooting out of him as he dances around with coyotes and wolves but I live in the real world and can not.

[TylerDurden]

I feed some raw and soaked grain such as millet and oat to mine, it's no problem. Birds are grain eaters, unlike mammals. 

I was referring to the chicken being raw, not the raw grains. Even so, wild jungle fowl only ate small amounts of raw grains in the wild, mostly they ate carrion, worms etc.

[Iguana]

The chicken I had said it was organic and air chilled and was fed corn and soy.

Corn and soy are no good, having been subject to intense artificial selection and have been proven to cause trouble when eaten in significant amounts . Plus they are most of the time hot dried, organic or not. Not all the grains are equally troublesome ; wheat is the worst and should be completely excluded, soy probably too.

Yes, we'd better avoid chicken if we don't have a totally reliable source.

[LePatron7]

One of Aajonus' greatest flaws it that he assumes what works for him will work equally well for everyone else.

Agreed.

The chicken I had said it was organic and air chilled and was fed corn and soy.

That's the problem. Also partially that chicken is hard for some people no matter how long they've been raw. If you do a search on this forum there's a post showing a bunch of members getting upset stomach from chicken (can't find it though).

For newcomers to a diet that includes raw animal foods, choosing healthy animals raised in hygienic conditions is incredibly important. When I started I limited my raw animal food consumption to ruminants (cow, sheep, goat, deer, etc.) and avoided animals that were fed grain or that were omnivores (no pig, turkey, chicken, etc.). That worked very well for me, as I've been doing this since 2003 and have never suffered any symptoms of food poisoning resulting from eating raw animal foods. I still won't touch raw commercially raised poultry, and don't eat pig at all, regardless of whether its raw or cooked or how well it was raised.

That's sound advice, and typically what I do as well. I had a brief (once) I tried pork, never again. I also only eat grass fed animals, like you mentioned. Along with some wild caught fish.

[goodsamaritan]

I've had bad experiences with chicken I did not raise myself.

The chickens we raise ourselves eat what's in the garden, the grubs in our trash and our fruit peelings and other left overs.

With chickens I do not raise ourselves I found Pamora Farms reliable and tasty.  Even eating their raw livers.

http://www.pamorafarm.com/index

(I only eat chicken maybe 2 to 3 times a year.)

[Bacchal]

Aaajonus might be able to afford 2 months of diarrhea shooting out of him as he dances around with coyotes and wolves but I live in the real world and can not.

Sorry about your bout with gut distress. I'm familiar with the campylobacter experience. It lasted about a week and wasn't fun. I would definitely focus on ruminants as your go-to meats.

[galaxy]

As far as I can recall Aajonus's books do not go to noticeable lengths in advising the reader to be careful about their source of animal flesh. From reading them you might think it's ok to go down to your local Wal Mart and buy some Tyson chicken then rip off the cellophane and gobble it from the styrofoam tray.

I nonetheless took the best precautions I could and bought the best stuff I could find according to what I knew at the time.

Based on what multiple people have posted in these forums, the reality about eating some forms of raw flesh seems to be different from the theory that is presented in Aajonus's books.

[Projectile Vomit]

Aajonus severely underemphasizes the need for high quality foods, in my opinion. It's easy for me to imagine how his books inadvertently lead to many cases of food poisoning.

[galaxy]

To give Aajonus the benefit of the doubt, I wonder if it's not the case that getting "food poisoning" is actually an extreme healing crisis and that ingesting the "pathogenic" bacteria, although no fun in the short run, actually helps you by cleaning up diseased tissue.

I might actually buy into that if his books contained any hard references but they don't. What do you guys think? I remain doubtful since I can't find any other sources making the same claims, and although it all sounds good in theory it's no fun to experience it firsthand. Especially when you don't know if it is in fact a "healing crisis" or just the sickness that the FDA warned you about all along.

[LePatron7]

To give Aajonus the benefit of the doubt, I wonder if it's not the case that getting "food poisoning" is actually an extreme healing crisis and that ingesting the "pathogenic" bacteria, although no fun in the short run, actually helps you by cleaning up diseased tissue.

Dude. I don't care what anyone says. Diarrhea, vomitting, upset stomach, nauseousness - none of that is a "normal" process of detoxification.

When you stop eating junk foods and start eating raw foods, your body knows how to rebuild itself without the food poisoning symptoms.

On my transition to raw foods, I've never had any problems. Except for the few instances where I added a new food and it gave me problems.

For example, "cleaned" raw eggs are fine for me. I've been eating them for the longest. But "dirty/uncleaned" chicken eggs give me the shits, vomiting, the works.

Same thing with brain. I can eat up to 5 oz before I start getting the shits.

But GF chuck roast, I can eat every day with 1 oz of suet without problems. Same thing with marrow bones.

I personally don't buy into AV's nonsense. He's just trying to make money. That's why when he's in Ft Lauderdale in March I'm not going. You get one hour free, then it's $105, after that like $300. The guys making a fortune. He's also full of it. He (most likely) didn't have any of those health problems. If he did, he'd get the records and release them to the public to prove it. He's said it's up to the person who wants to know to get the info from the hospitals. But the fact is we can't get other people's health records due to HIPAA privacy laws.

[eveheart]

He's also full of it.

Aajonus' book We Want To Live was the first book I ever read that addressed eating raw meat. I felt so much better within two days that people at work could see the difference just by looking in my face. From AV, I got the idea to eat raw meat, so I owe him a nod; however, none of his other concepts (like raw milk and juicing) do anything for me. When I tried raw milk, including raw goats milk kefir, I got sick in a way that didn't feel healing at all. I percieve AV as a "shock jock" with a bit of a good message packaged in a lot of PR insanity.

I follow my own body's guidance, and I recommend this method to everybody. This forum suggests many reasonable things to try, but in the final analysis, your own results are your guides because nobody else's body is like your own.

[jessica]

i love poop covered chicken eggs........THE MOST!
not joking really, i have this weird relationship with chicken poo

[van]

Since I just eat the yolks,  I crack them by the sink and running water, and rinse in the water and shift hands holding the yolk separating it from the white...  Much easier than washing them off all the time.  That is unless you've got a thing for poo   lol

[galaxy]

Poop on eggs is a great sign. Means they haven't been washed and still have their natural antibacterial coating intact.

[galaxy]

Well, to wrap this thread up here I am on Aajonus Vonderplanitz's own forum and it doesn't look like anyone really supports his point of view on raw poultry. I don't think he should be presenting himself as an authority and telling people to eat raw chicken in his books without also realistically warning them about the danger of food poisoning and how to minimize the risk. Beef and fish might not be that big of a deal but chicken definitely is.

[LePatron7]

Poop on eggs is a great sign. Means they haven't been washed and still have their natural antibacterial coating intact.

Right that was my understanding as well. But after the massive shits and vomiting I had, I think it's best to a) get them cleaned or b) clean them before eating them.

Well, to wrap this thread up here I am on Aajonus Vonderplanitz's own forum and it doesn't look like anyone really supports his point of view on raw poultry. I don't think he should be presenting himself as an authority and telling people to eat raw chicken in his books without also realistically warning them about the danger of food poisoning and how to minimize the risk. Beef and fish might not be that big of a deal but chicken definitely is.

yeah, bummer that you had to go through that. But at least now you know.

[svrn]

I eat raw chicken all the time. They say that they are not fed any grain but maybe they are fed a little. I also eat raw pork regularly that is also supposedly not fed any grain.

I never have problems with either.

From my experience, although i didnt think so in the beginning, the more i am on this diet the more I agree with almost everything aajonus has to say.

[FRANCIS HOWARD BOND]

“People are being sold chickens with potentially lethal levels of bacteria, but not enough is happening to clean up this scandal.    With around 100 deaths a year are linked to Campylobacter, we're calling for the food industry to make chicken safe”.   Chickens are currently being sold in UK supermarkets with potentially hazardous levels of this bacteria.   How can we be sure it is safe to eat such chicken completely raw?    I have eaten a lot of supermarket chicken raw recently without any problems, so do not know if the risk is significant?   Any suggestions?

[Brad462]

By supermarket meat I assume that you mean grain fed?  Yeah, I wouldn't eat any raw meat that isn't grassfed and hormone free.

[TylerDurden]

Chicken, unless specifically stated as being "pastured"(ie "grassfed) is always grainfed. Avoid like the plague.

[eveheart]

Chicken, unless specifically stated as being "pastured"(ie "grassfed) is always grainfed. Avoid like the plague.

In the US, there is no official definition of pastured.

In California, pastured chicken have access to the outdoors. The outdoors, in this case, can be a small door in the CAFO building, but the building may be too large for each chicken to be near enough to a door to go out. In addition, the outdoor area may be a dirt-floored pen. The original meaning of pasture ("land covered with grass and other low plants suitable for grazing animals, especially cattle or sheep") is completely lost.

I bought real pastured chicken only once. I visited the Saladin-style ranch and saw chickens in a real pasture! The downside was that each chicken cost over $30, and the farm was a 2-hour drive from my house. My bird was killed to order. It tasted like sashimi - very good!

If you buy organic pastured chicken in California, the chicken will have been fed non-GMO organic grains. In other US states, check your local situation, since there is no federal law about chickens.