According to a report on the US Health Day website, scholars from the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy found that different diets affect the composition of the human gut microbiome, with a meat-heavy diet potentially worsening the gut environment.
Trillions of bacteria live in each person's intestines, playing a crucial role in digestion, immunity, and even weight regulation. Researchers recruited 6 men and 4 women, aged 21 to 33. For the first 4 days of the experiment, they ate their normal diets; for the next 5 days, they switched to an all-vegetarian or all-meat diet; and then they returned to their normal eating habits.
The results showed that the all-meat diet caused significant changes in the gut bacteria, promoting the growth of 22 types, whereas the all-vegetarian diet only increased the number of 3 types of bacteria. Scientists suggest that this change might explain why excessive fat intake can increase the risk of certain diseases, such as enteritis and ulcerative colitis.