Date: 17 July 2002
Transcribed by Aajonus.net & Rawmeatgang
Voiceover: Take a look inside this refrigerator. Meet the nutritionist who believes mold and bacteria are part of a balanced diet. Decide for yourself, when this human vulture invites his friends to feast on rotten meat.
Ripley: The bacteria that grows on spoiled food looks something like this. Not very appetizing, huh? Well, Ripley's dined with a man who believes that a healthy diet consists of eating rotten meat. Wait till you see what's inside this guy's refrigerator.
Voiceover: What would you do if you went to the fridge for a snack and saw this? If you're Aajonus Vonderplanitz, you grab a fork and dig right in. Believe it or not, he's been eating the foulest food he can find for the last three decades. In fact, the meat he eats every day is intentionally rotted for over a year. As a child, Aajonus was constantly getting sick, and he fought through years of frustrating illness.
Aajonus: By the time I was probably six, seven years old, I developed colds and flus that would last from three to five months.
Voiceover: Then, in the late 60s, Aajonus was diagnosed with deadly lymphoma cancer. He immediately began a series of radiation treatments to halt the deadly disease. But the cancer kept on spreading. Fearing the end was near, Aajonus set out to travel the world. While in Alaska, members of a local Inuit tribe took him in. According to their custom, they encouraged the dying man to eat a remedy of raw, rotten meat.
Aajonus: It stunk like dead animal, and I mean it was horrendous. I couldn't get within five feet without wanting to vomit. I thought I was having a near-death experience, so I went and lied down in my campsite. And I woke the next day, and I wasn't dead, and I felt better.
Voiceover: Feeling like a new man, Aajonus decided to explore in depth the world of putrid meats and organs. He discovered there's actually a science to this diet of decomposition.
Aajonus: Well, bacteria, virus, and parasites feed on degenerative tissue. So it helps you get rid of the poisons that are in the body. Like the vultures and crows, they feed on degenerative animals. They don't go around attacking healthy animals.
Voiceover: Now, preparing food is a simple process. He chops a variety of animal parts into cubes. These he places in jars with plenty of air space. Then, Aajonus lets nature take its course.
Aajonus: You have to open it every three to four days to put more oxygen in it to keep the bacteria moving.
Voiceover: The meat's not ready until mold and bacteria have done their dirty work for at least a month. But a warning, eating any spoiled food can be extremely dangerous, even deadly. Don't try this at home. In fact, it's a putrefaction process so hazardous that food safety specialist Jeff Davidson simply cannot support it.
Jeff: I'm guessing a lot of people are going to be concerned with things like E. coli, salmonella, even botulism. Maybe you're going to vomit. You may have some days of diarrhea.
Aajonus: This is a buffalo heart chopped up.
Jeff: [smells] Oh, whoa.
Voiceover: Some of Aajonus' favorite meats decay in their own juices for over a year.
Aajonus: This is cod livers. This is about a year and three months old.
Voiceover: Though doctors warn that consuming spoiled food could lead to illness or even death, Aajonus claims his afflictions have miraculously disappeared, a situation he attributes to consuming spoiled cuisine. As strange as it may sound, with each bite of rotten flesh, Aajonus says he only gets stronger. This rotten meat eater has even written a how-to book about his unique diet. And not only that, he's a certified nutritionist actually counseling patients to improve their health. But even with all the positive benefits he attributes to eating rotten flesh, Aajonus does have one important piece of advice.
Aajonus: You don't want to do it in your house because it will stink your house up.
Voiceover: Believe it.