Is A Carnivore Diet Suitable For Us?
A carnivore diet is an all-meat diet. Perhaps one of the most controversial diets that may immediately raise eyebrows. As a science person, I want to explore this diet with an open mind setting aside the arguments against this diet and just focusing on the biology for this essay.
I found three convincing claims, focused only on comparing the anatomy of different animals, to consider or experiment with this diet.
- Stomach acidity.
Scientists propose that stomach acid is a biological filter to kill pathogenic bacteria and digest protein. Scavengers and carnivores have the highest stomach acid followed by omnivores. On the other hand, herbivores have the weakest stomach acid. Human stomach acidity is stronger than herbivores but similar to carnivores! Strong stomach acid kills bacteria in the food and prevents these bacteria from reaching the small intestine. If your stomach acid weakens, you might develop gut microbiome imbalances between the good and bad bacteria in the intestine. This imbalance might cause various conditions such as obesity, gut inflammation, and allergies.
- The length of the intestine.
Scavengers and carnivores have shorter guts compared to omnivores and herbivores. This likely allows faster passage of harmful bacteria through the digestive system before they can multiply and cause illness.
- The size of the cecum.
The cecum is the organ that houses bacteria to break down hard-to-digest plant materials. Herbivores have the longest and largest cecum, whereas humans have a tiny cecum connected to the appendix.
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