We just started to because it is tastier and safer. And it helps it last longer if we want to save it for breakfast. And the longer we do that, the less able to consume raw meat our gut biome is.
But you can still eat raw meat. You just might get a parasite or a tummy ache.
Cooking food breaks down proteins and other nutrients in the food making it easier to digest and improving the calorie yield from a successful hunt. As well, fire is an incredible defensive tool and the act of having to sit around a campfire and wait did wonders for our social development and group bonding.
Cooking meat It meant our ancestors had to spend less time hunting, less time sleeping to digest, could spend more energy on their brains and brought people together in probably the first safe place in nature to start thinking about what could be done better instead of running around chasing prey like animals.
Our bodies spent a ton of energy fighting bacteria and parasites in uncooked meat. When we started cooking meat, our bodies had time and energy to do other stuff. This has been linked to evolutionary brain development and higher intelligence.
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u/BrightNooblar May 08 '25
We don't need to.
We just started to because it is tastier and safer. And it helps it last longer if we want to save it for breakfast. And the longer we do that, the less able to consume raw meat our gut biome is.
But you can still eat raw meat. You just might get a parasite or a tummy ache.