Why Does Candida Keep Coming Back?
Many people face recurring or ongoing health concerns caused by Candida albicans, and no matter how many natural remedies or
In today’s health discussions, few topics spark more division than dietary choices, particularly the extremes of veganism and carnivorism. Yet when we look beyond ideology and bias, we uncover insights that transcend labels and place the focus where it belongs: human physiology, metabolic pathways, and nutritional needs across life stages.
In this article, we take a clear-eyed look at both extremes through the lens of functional health evaluating their effects on digestive integrity, immune resilience, and nutrient bioavailability.
Both vegan and carnivore diets, when followed strictly over time, can create noticeable changes in digestive function. Long-term vegans may experience slowed production of digestive enzymes and hydrochloric acid (HCl), leading to difficulties in breaking down more complex animal proteins if reintroduced later. Conversely, those on carnivore diets often see changes in bile acid metabolism and enzyme expression adapted to high protein and fat intake alterations that can challenge the digestion of fibrous plant foods if reintroduced abruptly.
These changes are not inherently pathological, but they highlight a key point: our gut microbiome and enzyme production are highly adaptive and highly dependent on what we consistently consume.
While both diets provide certain benefits, nutrient bioavailability varies dramatically depending on food sources. For instance:
Animal-based diets tend to provide these nutrients in ready-to-use forms. Plant-based diets require precise planning, supplementation, and gut integrity to ensure adequate conversion and absorption.
During pregnancy, the body prioritizes nutrient delivery to the fetus making bioavailability essential. Key nutrients such as vitamin A, DHA, choline, iron, and B12 are not just desirable; they are foundational for fetal brain development, immunity, and epigenetic programming.
While vegan diets can be adapted for pregnancy, doing so responsibly often requires medical supervision and thoughtful supplementation to prevent deficiencies that could impact both mother and baby.
Humans are not nutritionally identical. Our genetic background, enzyme capacity, microbial diversity, and even childhood dietary patterns influence how we process different foods. Someone from an ancestral lineage of fish-eaters in coastal Japan may thrive on a diet rich in marine fats and fermented plants, while someone from an alpine, pastoral lineage may have robust adaptations to dairy and red meat.
Both extremes, vegan and carnivore, carry risks of nutritional imbalances:
These deficiencies can manifest as fatigue, cognitive impairment, infertility, poor wound healing, gastrointestinal distress, and increased susceptibility to infection.
The gut microbiome acts as an immune organ. Dietary extremes can tilt the microbial balance, sometimes reducing microbial diversity. In vegans, overreliance on fiber without diversity may promote excessive fermentation, bloating, or overgrowth of certain species. In carnivores, low fiber intake may reduce short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) production, weakening mucosal immunity.
When the microbiome is imbalanced, opportunistic pathogens find room to proliferate. These changes may not cause symptoms immediately, but over time, they affect immune regulation, intestinal permeability, and systemic inflammation.
Many plant-based foods, while rich in antioxidants, also contain antinutrients compounds that can interfere with mineral absorption or irritate the gut. Oxalates, for example, can bind calcium and contribute to kidney stone formation in susceptible individuals. Lectins and phytates may also cause issues in sensitive guts, particularly when intestinal permeability is compromised.
These factors don’t make plant foods “bad,” but they do remind us that context matters. Gut health, cooking methods, and food pairing all influence how we tolerate and absorb nutrients.
In people with autoimmune conditions or chronic infections, nutrient needs escalate. Vitamins A, D, zinc, and B12 play key roles in immune regulation and deficiencies, common in restrictive diets, can worsen symptoms or delay recovery.
Vegan diets, for example, have been associated with decreased intake of these immune-modulating nutrients, sometimes impairing the body’s ability to mount a response or repair tissues. Carnivore diets, while rich in zinc and B12, may lack the antioxidant diversity found in colorful plant foods—critical for quelling oxidative stress.
Health doesn’t reside in ideological purity. It emerges from functional adequacy, biochemical sufficiency, and respect for bioindividuality.
A well-structured omnivore diet that includes plant and animal foods, particularly organ meats, seasonal vegetables, fermented products, and high-quality fats offers the broadest spectrum of micronutrients and microbial inputs. But even that must be adapted to individual needs, goals, and health conditions.
What we need is metabolic flexibility, not dietary dogma.
Rather than asking “Should I be vegan or carnivore?”, a better question might be:
Am I giving my body the nourishment it needs to thrive based on its biology, not my belief system?
The answer is not in labels.
It’s in physiology.
And physiology doesn’t lie.
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