[Mikulas0]

This whole comment seems to be based on the premise that eating meat leads to bad gut bacteria. Do you have any sources for that? I am genuinly curious. My mental model (which isn't based on much hard evidence) is that sugar and processed foods are the things to avoid when aiming for good gut bacteria.

[Theodores]

Nowhere am I saying that meat leads to bad gut bacteria, what I am saying is that you can starve out the gut bacteria that eat meat and live for a while with just the bacteria that eat plant based foods.

Because you can't live off just meat alone (unless you are a dog or other carnivore with a short intestine) there isn't the option to cut out the plants and just live off burgers and sausages for a year, to clear out and reset the gut bacteria that like a bit of plant material. Going vegetarian is therefore a safe personal experiment.

The problem with processed foods - even if natural and without additives - is that they don't make it past the small intestine with any nutrients in them for the gut flora of the lower intestine.

[Jedd]

> Because you can't live off just meat alone ...

For the record, you can.

Vilhjalmur Stefansson demonstrated this in the USA a century ago, but this was based on his experiences watching and living in the arctic where we have much longer natural experiments to refer to.

Of course, whether you should or not, and the nature of the long term effects, are separate considerations.