235. The Harmfulness Of A Mixed Flesh And Vegetable Diet

Vegetarians allege not only that eating flesh is not necessary, but that it is harmful. This is a universal condemnation without reference to the extent to which flesh foods are incorporated in the diet, whether moderately or in excessive proportions.

The main grounds on which flesh eating is condemned are the following:

1. Intestinal bacteria are thereby greatly increased.

2. Certain compounds in flesh are the progenitors of uric acid, and therefore flesh eating tends to rheumatic troubles.

3. Cases of toxic poisoning are caused by eating flesh foods that have undergone certain fermentations.

236. Bacteria In Foods

Figures are given in the arguments for vegetarianism showing that uncooked flesh carries with it very great numbers of bacteria, which is undoubtedly true, although, as little flesh is eaten the outside of which is not cooked, counts of surface bacteria unduly magnify the fact. No comparisons are made between the number of bacteria conveyed by meat and those in market milk, or in uncooked vegetables that have been exposed in the markets, neither is any direct proof furnished that the meat inhabiting bacteria are a cause of intestinal troubles in a normal, healthy individual.

237. Bacteria Abundant In Intestines

The intestinal tract of man, chiefly the colon or large intestine, normally contains countless numbers of bacteria that are developed mostly in the intestine, although a minor part may be introduced with the food.

Competent investigators agree that quite a portion of the fecal residue consists of dead or living bacteria that have accumulated in the large intestine, but it is not affirmed that this fact is an indication of harm. Some able authorities hold that the presence of these organisms is essential to digestion. Their action on proteins is in some respects similar to that of the digestive enzyms, and the resulting products may have the same value to the body. The digestion of cellulose is accomplished wholly by bacteria, and these organisms cause acid formation from carbohydrates. Their action on fats is regarded as slight.

238. Relation Of Foods To Intestinal Bacteria

It is argued that flesh foods are favorable to the growth of intestinal bacteria. They are present, however, in the large intestines in very'great numbers with any diet. The fact is, vegetable foods are known to be very favorable media in which to develop micro-organisms, as is shown in laboratory processes and in the rapid fermentations which such foods undergo. It is significant that herbivorous animals are the subjects of acute intestinal fermentations. Doubtless the nature of the diet greatly influences the type of bacteria that is dominant in the intestinal tract at any given time. A heavy meat diet would favor the increase of the putrefactive forms, while a vegetable diet or one containing sugar, or sugar-forming bodies, would favor acid-producing forms. No proof is yet forthcoming that a reasonable mixed diet of flesh and vegetables is any more dangerous to health through the kind or extent of bacterial development than is a purely vegetable diet. Doubtless heavy meat eating, especially when excretion is imperfect, may result in toxic disturbances through putrefactive fermentations in the intestines, but while " auto intoxication " may be promoted under abnormal conditions by an abundance of meat proteins in the intestinal tract, there is no evidence that reasonable flesh eating is more dangerous in this particular than a vegetable diet. Inferential conclusions based on bacterial counts are not safe. That is, it is not proved that, under normal conditions, a possible excess of intestinal bacteria with a mixed diet does any harm. It seems probable that the acute indigestions sometimes attendant upon generous consumption of vegetables, fruits, and various "sweets," and which may be due to bacterial action, are fully as serious as any similar disturbances that may be caused by flesh eating.