Rare meat is cooked to a temperature below 145 degrees Fahrenheit, and the digestion of rare meat differs somewhat from that of more thoroughly cooked meat. The process of heating meat results in the denaturation of meat proteins, and this denaturation is the first step of protein digestion in your gut. In addition to protein, rare meat might also contains variable amounts of fat you must digest prior to absorption. Digestion of the nutrients in rare meat occurs in your stomach and small intestine, with help from your pancreas and gallbladder.
Stomach
When rare meat reaches your stomach, glands within your stomach lining release an acidic fluid called gastric juice. The low pH of this fluid relaxes the tightly folded meat proteins in a process called denaturation. Denaturation also occurs in the presence of heat, and the more the meat you consume is exposed to heat, the greater the level of denaturation before the protein hits your stomach. Without the benefit of heat, therefore, rare meat must undergo the bulk of its denaturation within your stomach, potentially taking longer to unfold. Once the meat proteins unfold, a digestive enzyme called pepsin clips the long strand into shorter protein chains called peptides.
Pancreas and Gallbladder
Although no digestion occurs in either your pancreas or gallbladder, both the pancreas and gallbladder play key roles in the digestive process. Your pancreas synthesizes pancreatic juice, a fluid containing bicarbonate buffer and several digestive enzymes, and secretes it into your small intestine. There, it meets the partially digested rare meat coming from your stomach. The bicarbonate buffer neutralizes the acidic food products from your stomach so the protein- and fat-digesting enzymes, active at neutral pH, can complete the digestion of the rare meat you consumed. Meanwhile, your gallbladder secretes bile -- a substance that emulsifies fat to break it down into small, water-soluble droplets -- into your small intestine.
Small Intestine
In your small intestine, protein digestion continues with the action of trypsin, chymotrypsin, aminopeptidase and carboxypeptidase. These digestive enzymes clip the rare meat peptides into smaller and smaller units until single amino acids remain, ready for absorption. The fat from the rare meat you consumed, once emulsified by bile, undergoes digestion in your small intestine when the digestive enzyme lipase cleaves the fat triglycerides into glycerol and free fatty acids. The cells lining your small intestine then absorb the products of meat digestion.
Considerations
Meat, poultry and seafood can all harbor food-borne pathogens that die if you apply sufficient heat during the cooking process. Rare meat, however, might not be cooked to a high enough temperature to render these microorganisms harmless. Ground meats, pork, poultry and seafood should all be cooked thoroughly, according to the University of Illinois Extension, while whole cuts of lamb and beef, such as roasts or steaks, may be safely cooked to medium-rare, or 145 degrees Fahrenheit. Meats heated to a lower temperature may cause illness after you digest them.
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