Peter:
> It seems that if the intestinal walls have a thick mucus lining with
> the correct PH, the right balance of intestinal flora and no symptoms
> of a "leaky gut" then no parasites will get into the body.

How would you then explain that wild animals (mongooses for
instance...) get parasited?

> I have deleted it but in a post to Martha you talk about
> not caring about the suffering of animals. I am not sure what you were
> trying to say. Could you please elaborate?

Just a desperately simple fact: I do have some reluctances to killing,
but not for moral reasons. Trampling an ant or eating a living
shellfish is easy, I have no inhibitions. But the more an animal looks
like a human, the more difficult it is to kill it. Especially "cute"
animals like rabbits (K. Lorenz says that they look "cute" because the
shape of their head, the relative size of their eyes, etc. make them
look like our own babies). Every honest person will acknowledge that
is it easier to desire the death of a snake or of a bat than of a
little, colorful bird. But objectively, their lives do not have less
value. That's instinct, it hinders us from killing other members from
the same species. When I have to kill an animal (a lobster, a crab...)
to eat it, there is a conflict between the eagerness to eat and the
fear of mutilation: looking at my crab, I can't help but thinking
"what a terrible thing if my limbs were ripped off like that". Notice
that I do *not* think "oh, poor crab, it is suffering so much", but,
instead, "I wish I hadn't the same fate as that animal". That's a
purely *egoistic* thought, opposite to genuine vegan/vegetarian
compassion.

That's what introspection tells me. I of course do not expect other
persons to have the same feelings, especially if they have strong
philosophical/religious beliefs.

Best wishes,

Jean-Louis