Urban humans have lost much of their ability to digest plants

https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/03/human-gut-bacteria-that-can-digest-plant-matter-probably-came-from-cows/

by karma_daemon • 2 years ago

24 17 2 years ago

lambdaba8• 2 years ago

Ha, seems like what all those kooky carnivore diet proponents have been saying all along... (disclosure: am on carnivore diet). Yeah, I personally believe the microbiome plays a big part, I know for sure mine was messed up growing up and increasingly so, after rounds of antibiotics, sugary foods, etc. etc.

But I've also come to the conclusion humans are facultative carnivores, that plants have always been a fallback food.

FpUser• 2 years ago

I eat lots of veggies/greens and meat. So I guess I am ok.

lambdaba8• 2 years ago

I think if you have access to produce that is not contaminated with pesticides, and grown on quality soil so that it's not devoid of nutrients, it's fine. But it's is intriguing how some people experience remission from chronic ailments by removing plants altogether.

airstrike• 2 years ago

Maybe this explains why every lunch at Pura Vida makes me feel bloated these days... maybe I should just keep at it and this (gas) too shall pass

_heimdall• 2 years ago

It'd be interesting to see more data that could help narrow down potential factors in the difference of gut microbes.

Highly processed foods and use of prescription drugs (especially antibiotics) come to mind. I could see both of those being different for rural vs urban populations and would likely have some impact on microbiomes.

lambdaba8• 2 years ago

Also birth by c-section https://www.science.org/content/article/swabbing-c-section-b... "The microbiomes of C-section babies look a lot different from those of babies born vaginally. In particular, they have lower numbers of Lactobacillus, Escherichia, and Bacteroides bacteria in their guts."

aaron695• 2 years ago

When you inoculate cattle rumen normally the shared water trough keeps it going. So you might inoculate some cattle then the rest will also get inoculated. It might even be tied individual cows losing the inoculation, the herd can keep it going.

Similarly having camels with cattle does this, since camels naturally have gut bacteria of value they pass it on through shared water.

Once thing I noticed going from sharing a beer with our goats to soft drink, beer being a brown bottle, soft drink being clear there would be a lot of cud in the bottle.

Of course in modern society digesting plants more efficiently is bad. More energy makes you fatter and roughage is good.

Urban humans have lost much of their ability to digest plants

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