There are a lot of voices online shouting that you must be fully plant-based (vegan) or you must go fully animal-based (carnivore). Let’s walk through what each approach offers, where the risks are, and more importantly how you can figure out what truly works best for you.
Risks of Going Extremes: What to Watch Out For
Also, “healthy” doesn’t always mean good for you individually. People have food intolerances (gluten, lactose, certain plant compounds, or even meat proteins), so what’s nominally healthy may bloat someone else or cause discomfort.
The “One-Diet-Fits-All” Fallacy
None of us have the same biology, and that’s why no single diet works the same for everyone. Digestion, genetics, and the gut microbiome all play a role in how we process food and what fuels us best. A plant-only approach, for instance, can leave you short on essentials like vitamin B12, iron, zinc, or calcium. On the other hand, going fully animal-based strips you of fibre, antioxidants, and phytochemicals, while also straining digestion if your system isn’t used to heavy fats and sometimes even raising risks tied to high saturated fat intake. To add another twist, even foods widely seen as “healthy” (like raw plants) can contain antinutrients that block mineral absorption or upset digestion for some. So, the idea that one side; plant or animal is universally “best” is oversimplified. What works wonders for one person may backfire for another.
Digestion & Gut Health: The Quick Feedback Loop
Here’s where your body usually tells the truth:
How does your stomach feel the next morning? Heavy, bloated, or light and clear?
How well do you poop? Soft, smooth, and snake like? Or hard, sluggish, feeling like things are stuck?
Do you clear your bowel well under 30 seconds or does it take over 30 minutes?
Do you feel foggy, heavy, low in energy, or sharp, alert, comfortable after the poop?
It is well analyzed and believed that deep-fried or highly processed stuff is unhealthy and we are all aware of that. Excessive consumption of those makes you feel constipated, bloated, heavy, or maybe even bad mood or brain-fog effects the very next day.
On other days, when you eat more “real food” , which is minimally processed and generally believed to be healthy, the effect is often clearer digestion, better mood, more energy.
Listening to Your Body: How to Find What’s Best for You
Here’s a step-by-step “body experiment” you can try:
- Reset for a few days: Think of days when you ate completely at home ; the minimally processed and real home cooked food after which you and your gut felt better. It could differ according to your geographical location and society. Analyze it well.
- Experiment with your “good days” foods: Eat those foods mindfully and after maybe 3-7 days, see which foods preceded days when you felt light, strong, digestive-clear. Those are your clues. Tailor your diet according to it.
- Design your tailored personalized diet: Include protein (of good quality), healthy fats, fibre, antioxidants, vitamins & minerals. Calculate the calorie intake; macros and micros abundance using any free webapps. If short on any, adjust. Yes you need to search well, nobody knows you better than you do. That is why your conscious approach is required to tailor a personalized diet.
Why Digestion & Proper stool Matter More Than You Think
It may feel odd to talk about poop, but hear me out: your stool and gut are one of the fastest feedback loops your body gives you.
- Regular bowel movement: This often means enough fibre, good hydration, balanced diet.You will have a smooth, soft and snake-like poop that likely stimulates your prostate and vagus nerve too. You will then obviously have a GOOOOOOOD morning and a great day.
- Irregular bowel movement: This indicates something is off, maybe too little fibre, too much processed or fried food, possibly eating something your body doesn’t process well. You will feel bloated, heavy, angry, confused all at once.
Balancing the Whole Picture
- Micronutrients are where extreme diets often fail if not well planned (B12, iron, zinc, omega-3s, etc.).
- Fibre & antioxidants come largely from plants. They support gut microbiota, reduce inflammation, and help clear out waste.
Saturated fats, trans fats, processed foods are now widely known to be problematic. High saturated fat demands more energy to break chemical bonds; trans fats are broadly harmful as they aren’t effectively broken down. Carbs in excess ;especially refined sugars are linked with obesity, fatty liver, insulin resistance.
Don’t forget
In many societies, food is well connected with cultural and emotional level. You should feel pleasure in eating. Your diet should be culture as well as budget friendly. So it's your responsibility to tailor your diet that is abundant in macros and micros, in accordance to your societal norms, and also that makes you and your gut feel great. Trust me, it’s not that difficult. Eat mindfully, do the analysis, you will definitely find your ideal diet yourself. Let your body guide you.
Call to Action
Want to figure out your best diet? Try this:
For the next 5 days, eat mostly real, minimally-processed foods. Mix in both plant and animal sources if you tolerate both (or lean into what your gut seems to like). Analyze what you ate, how your stomach felt the next morning, energy, mood, stool. At the end of those 5 days, look back: which foods make you feel lighter, clearer, energized? Which seems to weigh you down or upset your gut? Share your findings either with friends/family or here in comments; so you can start building a diet that fits you.
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