5 ms·

I chose to be vegetarian aged six, this was probably my first conscious thought as opposed to doing what I thought other people wanted me to think. I am sure I

I chose to be vegetarian aged six, this was probably my first conscious thought as opposed to doing what I thought other people wanted me to think. I am sure I could put meat in my mouth if under duress but I am fairly sure that the gut bacteria most people have for digested meat have died out a long time ago, I have effectively starved them. I am no scientist and I am not wanting to push a diet choice on anyone, I went vegetarian simply because the food was better at school for the few that were specially catered for as vegetarian, with larger portion sizes being key to my motivation at the time. However, as a science experiment you could go vegetarian for a year to selectively cull the bacteria that go with eating meat. You could go full on vegan too but that isn't as easy a change as going merely vegetarian. Expect some flatulence that will sort itself out in time, something you might also want to look into as part of your experiment. Allegedly people in Africa who actually eat have the most diverse gut bacteria and these guys ain't eating hamburgers. I think that a change over to full vegan would be with health negatives to consider, a change to vegetarian would not run that risk. It is worth remembering that anyone who is anyone in Hollywood is in the serious business of looking after their looks, they tend to be not eating steaks. In sport there are also athletes that only hit the high notes of performance after going on a mostly plant based diet. The probiotics business is a business, they have something to sell. Nobody except for book authors are going to sell you the idea of removing rather than adding something from your diet. As mentioned I am vegetarian by chance - a school dinner lady just happened to do much nicer vegetarian food than meat eater food and I blatantly lied on my first day at that school about being vegetarian just to benefit from the better portion sizes. I had to stick to that lie thereafter and my parents were okay with me not having meat at home. I don't have any skin in the ethics game unlike some recent converts to veganism. However, that said, I can see the upsides financially whenever I dine out. Although bills get split I am aware that my part of the bill is 2/3 the price of whatever everyone else is having or even less than that. I am okay with a bowl of pasta whereas others around the table have some endangered species from some ocean on the far side of the planet, it is obvious what is going to be the cheaper option. You can conservatively estimate four figure savings by spending a year in vegetarian mode so maybe think of something you want to put that money towards in order to cope better with the hardship of not scoffing burgers etc. for a year.

thrower123 7y ago
It's cool you're a vegetarian, glad it works for you, but I fail to see what that has to do with the price of tea in China, let alone this article.
- Theodores 7y ago
  I responded to a comment about how to get good gut bacteria which was asked in response to the original article. I contributed an original idea that by doing A/B testing on one's own gut you can starve half the bad bacteria. I qualified my idea by stating that I don't eat the dead stuff. It is cool you can write snarky and pedantic comments but it has nothing to do with sharing ideas which is what other people like to read.
  - thrower123 7y ago
    I probably should have bit my tongue, but it seems like one can't read a single comment thread these days without tangents about veganism or the wonders of a plant-based diet turning up like dandelions after a summer rain. Evangelism gets my back up.
Mikulas0 7y ago
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 7y ago
  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.

thrower123 7y ago

It's cool you're a vegetarian, glad it works for you, but I fail to see what that has to do with the price of tea in China, let alone this article.

Theodores 7y ago
I responded to a comment about how to get good gut bacteria which was asked in response to the original article. I contributed an original idea that by doing A/B testing on one's own gut you can starve half the bad bacteria. I qualified my idea by stating that I don't eat the dead stuff. It is cool you can write snarky and pedantic comments but it has nothing to do with sharing ideas which is what other people like to read.
- thrower123 7y ago
  I probably should have bit my tongue, but it seems like one can't read a single comment thread these days without tangents about veganism or the wonders of a plant-based diet turning up like dandelions after a summer rain. Evangelism gets my back up.

Mikulas0 7y ago

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 7y ago
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.