Carnivore - Herbivore - Omnivore

Under my mini column on the carnivore diet which I recently shared it exploded quite a bit with the most diverse reactions

Carnivore - Herbivore - Omnivore

For instance, one large group was happy with my pure view of health effects for the individual eater and others seething because I refused to mix the themes of sustainability and animal friendliness in my consideration. On many occasions, I have explained that I have seen some scientists, the Health Council and the Nutrition Centre take less seriously in their judgement in terms of health for the individual eater, because they include the 2 themes WELL.

Hypersensitivity reactions

After all, it is a given that there are people who hypersensitivity reactions can have on components of plant-based foods. We are all different and so a customised search is the only really right way to go. The immunological benefits that a certain group of people may have with carnivorous diet is remarkable to say the least. You cannot gloss over their experiences that they got rid of all kinds of complaints through a carnivorous diet, because this way of eating would be unsustainable and animal-unfriendly. Instead, it offers an opportunity to investigate better why this is so, and when you have a better grasp of that, you may be able to come up with great solutions. After all, we live in a time where a lot is possible in terms of innovation.

Plant breeding

One factor that greatly influences plant-based nutrition is plant breeding. Plant breeding is the development, through artificial selection, of plants that best meet human requirements. This technology is an sich neutral, but which selection you apply can affect the health value of the product. For instance, you can breed to make plants more resistant to disease, infection, foraging and climate, but also to improve taste, appearance and yield. When applying breeding, it is very important to keep looking from a helicopter view, because in your mission to improve one trait, it may be the case that unpleasant side-effects can arise in another area. In my opinion, the health value in this has too often been underexposed in the past. Example: making wheat varieties more resistant to infection.

• On the one hand, this is positive because you need less pesticides and get more yield security.
• On the other hand, doubts have also arisen in recent years due to the side effect that certain resilience agents (called ATIs) could have adverse effects on the eater with regard to immune system (1).

  Example: Reducing bitter substances.

• For better taste.
• The same bitterness can sometimes be healthy and you lose it.

  However, if you do see health as a key focus at plant breeding you can also use this technique for good on this topic. For example, there are initiatives that aim to increase certain healthy nutrients (2), or precisely on reducing substances that are potentially unhealthy/ a hypersensitivity reaction can provoke (3).

Elimination diet

That the carnivore diet might be an easy stepping stone for people in a strict elimination diet (before reintroducing plant-based food sources 1 by 1), I don't think is crazy. After all, it is very difficult to find out which plant-based components you get an immunological reaction/ irritable bowel reaction to and which you don't. After all, there are an awful lot of possibilities of gluten to fodmaps and from allergen to ATI that could cause it in the individual. Therefore, I would like to inspire my old friends at Wageningen University specialising in plant breeding to do more with this. By focusing more on preventing negative immunological effects on the individual eater, all kinds of plant-based food sources will be well digested and tolerated by more people.