{"id":40190,"date":"2025-07-24T06:21:06","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T11:21:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/?p=40190"},"modified":"2025-08-20T14:19:34","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T19:19:34","slug":"meat-vs-plants-diet-gut-bacteria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/meat-vs-plants-diet-gut-bacteria\/","title":{"rendered":"Meat vs Plants: Diet & Gut Bacteria"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

The human gut is filled with lots of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other organisms. These bugs make a comfy home for themselves in our digestive tract. And that’s a good thing. This group of microorganisms is collectively known as our gut microbiome. From keeping the \u201cbad\u201d bacteria at bay to improving how we process foods and medications, the gut microbiome is a vital part of a healthy human body.<\/p>\n

Over the past few years, there\u2019s been growing concern that lifestyle innovations and high-fat, high-sugar Western diets have altered the genetic composition of this microbiome and upset the delicate balance. In fact, many scientists believe the upset balance of our gut bacteria leads to chronic inflammatory conditions like Crohn’s disease.<\/p>\n

The question is: Can we quickly restore that balance by making changes to our diet? To test this question, researchers from Harvard and Duke University looked at two diets:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Plant-based diet: Rich in grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables<\/li>\n
  2. Animal-based diet: Heavy on meat, eggs, and cheese<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    They changed the diets of six male and four female American volunteers between the ages of 21\u201333 and found that the microbiome of each person rapidly changed depending on the diet they ate. For example, within just a day or two, the animal-based diet increased the amount of a known inflammation-causing bacteria (bilophila wadsworthia) in the gut. Plus, researchers found out that the gut microbiome could quickly switch between the herbivore and carnivore profiles, just from a change in diet. This data suggests that even small changes to eat less meat and more plants can have noticeable effects on your gut microbiome.<\/p>\n

    Apart from being pretty cool, this research shows that the gut microbiome is very adaptive. It tells us we can take proactive steps to change our microbiomes, using food to create a healthy balance of bacteria in the gut.<\/p>\n

    Cylinder is a benefit to help you maintain a healthy gut. A healthy gut helps overall health, weight management, sleep quality, joint health, how we manage stress and anxiety, and more.<\/p>\n

    Cylinder is available to A&M System employees, spouses, retirees, or dependents (ages 18+) who are enrolled in the A&M Care or J Plan. Graduate student employees enrolled in the Grad Plan and retirees enrolled in the 65 Plus Medicare Advantage Plan are not eligible.<\/p>\n

    For more information about Cylinder, visit the Wellness webpage<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0Reference: https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC3957428\/<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The human gut is filled with lots of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other organisms. These bugs make a comfy home for themselves in our digestive tract. And that’s a good thing. This group of microorganisms is collectively known as our gut microbiome. From keeping the \u201cbad\u201d bacteria at bay to improving how we process foods…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1971,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-benefits-news","category-wellness"],"yoast_head":"\nMeat vs Plants: Diet & Gut Bacteria - Benefits<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/meat-vs-plants-diet-gut-bacteria\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meat vs Plants: Diet & Gut Bacteria - Benefits\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The human gut is filled with lots of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other organisms. These bugs make a comfy home for themselves in our digestive tract. And that’s a good thing. This group of microorganisms is collectively known as our gut microbiome. From keeping the \u201cbad\u201d bacteria at bay to improving how we process foods...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/meat-vs-plants-diet-gut-bacteria\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Benefits\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/tamusystem\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-24T11:21:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-20T19:19:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Estela Felan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@tamusystem\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@tamusystem\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Estela Felan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tamus.edu\\\/benefits\\\/meat-vs-plants-diet-gut-bacteria\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tamus.edu\\\/benefits\\\/meat-vs-plants-diet-gut-bacteria\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Estela Felan\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tamus.edu\\\/benefits\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d875846e2a8e7eaeb3e5f2925c191e2a\"},\"headline\":\"Meat vs Plants: Diet & Gut Bacteria\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-24T11:21:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-20T19:19:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tamus.edu\\\/benefits\\\/meat-vs-plants-diet-gut-bacteria\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":411,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tamus.edu\\\/benefits\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Benefits\",\"Wellness\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tamus.edu\\\/benefits\\\/meat-vs-plants-diet-gut-bacteria\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tamus.edu\\\/benefits\\\/meat-vs-plants-diet-gut-bacteria\\\/\",\"name\":\"Meat vs Plants: Diet & Gut Bacteria - Benefits\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tamus.edu\\\/benefits\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-24T11:21:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-20T19:19:34+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tamus.edu\\\/benefits\\\/meat-vs-plants-diet-gut-bacteria\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tamus.edu\\\/benefits\\\/meat-vs-plants-diet-gut-bacteria\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tamus.edu\\\/benefits\\\/meat-vs-plants-diet-gut-bacteria\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Regents Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tamus.edu\\\/benefits\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Benefits\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tamus.edu\\\/benefits\\\/category\\\/benefits-news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Wellness\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tamus.edu\\\/benefits\\\/category\\\/benefits-news\\\/wellness\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Meat vs Plants: Diet & Gut Bacteria\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tamus.edu\\\/benefits\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tamus.edu\\\/benefits\\\/\",\"name\":\"Benefits\",\"description\":\"The Texas A&M University System Network\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tamus.edu\\\/benefits\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tamus.edu\\\/benefits\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tamus.edu\\\/benefits\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Texas A&M University System\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tamus.edu\\\/benefits\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tamus.edu\\\/benefits\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tamus.edu\\\/benefits\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/146\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/TAMUS-WhiteSeal.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tamus.edu\\\/benefits\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/146\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/TAMUS-WhiteSeal.png\",\"width\":700,\"height\":700,\"caption\":\"The Texas A&M University System\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tamus.edu\\\/benefits\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/tamusystem\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/tamusystem\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tamus.edu\\\/benefits\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d875846e2a8e7eaeb3e5f2925c191e2a\",\"name\":\"Estela Felan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tamus.edu\\\/benefits\\\/wp-content\\\/wphb-cache\\\/gravatar\\\/61b\\\/61b248f9592d7634133e184f6d0c6d16x96.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tamus.edu\\\/benefits\\\/wp-content\\\/wphb-cache\\\/gravatar\\\/61b\\\/61b248f9592d7634133e184f6d0c6d16x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tamus.edu\\\/benefits\\\/wp-content\\\/wphb-cache\\\/gravatar\\\/61b\\\/61b248f9592d7634133e184f6d0c6d16x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Estela Felan\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tamus.edu\\\/benefits\\\/author\\\/efeagin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Meat vs Plants: Diet & Gut Bacteria - Benefits","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/meat-vs-plants-diet-gut-bacteria\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Meat vs Plants: Diet & Gut Bacteria - Benefits","og_description":"The human gut is filled with lots of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other organisms. These bugs make a comfy home for themselves in our digestive tract. And that’s a good thing. This group of microorganisms is collectively known as our gut microbiome. From keeping the \u201cbad\u201d bacteria at bay to improving how we process foods...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/meat-vs-plants-diet-gut-bacteria\/","og_site_name":"Benefits","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/tamusystem","article_published_time":"2025-07-24T11:21:06+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-08-20T19:19:34+00:00","author":"Estela Felan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@tamusystem","twitter_site":"@tamusystem","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Estela Felan","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/meat-vs-plants-diet-gut-bacteria\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/meat-vs-plants-diet-gut-bacteria\/"},"author":{"name":"Estela Felan","@id":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/#\/schema\/person\/d875846e2a8e7eaeb3e5f2925c191e2a"},"headline":"Meat vs Plants: Diet & Gut Bacteria","datePublished":"2025-07-24T11:21:06+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-20T19:19:34+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/meat-vs-plants-diet-gut-bacteria\/"},"wordCount":411,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Benefits","Wellness"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/meat-vs-plants-diet-gut-bacteria\/","url":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/meat-vs-plants-diet-gut-bacteria\/","name":"Meat vs Plants: Diet & Gut Bacteria - Benefits","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-07-24T11:21:06+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-20T19:19:34+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/meat-vs-plants-diet-gut-bacteria\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/meat-vs-plants-diet-gut-bacteria\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/meat-vs-plants-diet-gut-bacteria\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Regents Home","item":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Benefits","item":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/category\/benefits-news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Wellness","item":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/category\/benefits-news\/wellness\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Meat vs Plants: Diet & Gut Bacteria"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/","name":"Benefits","description":"The Texas A&M University System Network","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/#organization","name":"The Texas A&M University System","url":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2026\/02\/TAMUS-WhiteSeal.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2026\/02\/TAMUS-WhiteSeal.png","width":700,"height":700,"caption":"The Texas A&M University System"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/tamusystem","https:\/\/x.com\/tamusystem"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/#\/schema\/person\/d875846e2a8e7eaeb3e5f2925c191e2a","name":"Estela Felan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/61b\/61b248f9592d7634133e184f6d0c6d16x96.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/61b\/61b248f9592d7634133e184f6d0c6d16x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/61b\/61b248f9592d7634133e184f6d0c6d16x96.jpg","caption":"Estela Felan"},"url":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/author\/efeagin\/"}]}},"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":5,"label":"Benefits"},{"value":38,"label":"Wellness"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"Estela Felan","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/author\/efeagin\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":5,"name":"Benefits","slug":"benefits-news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":18,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":15,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":5,"category_count":15,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Benefits","category_nicename":"benefits-news","category_parent":0},{"term_id":38,"name":"Wellness","slug":"wellness","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":43,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":5,"count":16,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":38,"category_count":16,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Wellness","category_nicename":"wellness","category_parent":5}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1971"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40190\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/benefits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}