On Mon, 14 Sep 1998 06:09:24 -0700, Mary <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>>... but i have heard that this can leave you unable to
>>digest vegetation in the future.
>
>If you go all meat, does that mean you are unable ever again, to digest
>vegetation?
>

According to my reading, the problem is, that your intestinal flora,
degenerates. This means that the *wanted* symbiont bacteria
living in your gut die out because they lack their usual food
whereas unwanted (toxifying) bacteria come in.
(same can occur after an oral antibioticum treatement).

There are treatements to re-establish a working bacteria in the various
portions of the intestinal / colon, which invol
ves trying to get some
living bacteria of the rhight kind to the rhight place.
Eating for example raw onion and lactose (yes, milk sugar) helps the "good"
symbionts.

I've read that the reason why lactose is in the milk is actually to
get, keep and maintain the rhight bacteria in the time when a mammal
still doesn't get any vegetable food (is lactating).
Lactose is indigestable by our own organism, it's *intended*
to pass , and be processed by the intestinal flora.

A bad or inappropiate (or simpliy differing) intestinal flora may also
be the reason, why different humans react so differently
on a certain kind of nutrition, besides genes (that one for Todd specially).

In my own experience it can take years to regain or build up a
once destroyed intestinal symbiont flora.

regards

Amadeus