For some reason we have been dragging around this lower intestine that, if keto/carnivore fans would have you believe, we do not need. And that is true, there are people with colostomy bags that are high achievers, without having a functional lower intestine.

Yet others believe that you should be eating all of these fancy probiotic and prebiotic foods to maintain 'gut health' of this lower intestine, as if your life depended on it.

Assuming that both a keto/carnivore diet and a WFPB diet eliminated the food that was causing inflammation, let's say it was sugar, to relieve the arthritis flare ups, then you would think that it would not matter which solution was chosen by the OP.

Well no. The WHO do not list carrots, potatoes and tomatoes as carcinogens. They are not so kind on meat products though. Or alcohol, for that matter. In my own situation, I have a heavy meat eating relative that is having another part of his digestive tract or waterworks operated on every year to remove cancer. He insists on all of the tests, PSA etc., however, I am not willing to just eat steak and get drunk every evening, dutifully getting my nether regions screened for cancer. He would have me believe that it is genetic and not to do with consuming carcinogens. I beg to differ. He has eliminated fibre from his diet, I have eliminated carcinogens.

Fundamentally, our digestive tract is not that of a true carnivore, and, even if it was, there is a price to be paid for consuming animal fats and proteins. This is in the arteries. They get clogged, leading to strokes, heart disease and much else, including cancer, according to some. True carnivores don't live that long, compare the lifespan of the lion to that of its prey. This does not matter to them as they only need to get to reproductive age and procreate.

After getting past the procreation age, priorities change at the individual level. I don't want to die of a heart attack in my fifties, sixties, seventies, eighties or nineties. There are two options for solving this problem, my relative with the cancer woes, steak in one hand, beer in the other, takes a smorgasbord of pills ranging from blood thinners, to statins to much else. He has had the heart bypass operations and more stents than I can count.

Me, I see prevention as better than cure, so that means maintaining a BMI between 19 and 20 with optimal blood pressure, with no cause for blocked arteries due to a diet free of animal products combined with active travel (cycling rather than car dependency).

My relative sees this as no fun at all. Yes, diets are personal. He sees a good weekend as down the pub eating steak and drinking beer, with good company. You can't argue with that, particularly if you are in your twenties. But, I don't want that to be the only option open to me. I like to be able to cycle near effortlessly, to go places and do things during the weekend, even if the only company I get on the way is at the acquaintance level.

Each to their own, I get it. But I am not advocating anything weird. Raw milk, keto, fruitarian, carnivore, junk food vegan and plenty of other diets are weird. You need to be secretly wanting to be in a cult to sign up to these things. No processed food, no refined sugar, no animal products and no alcohol is not how I lived in my younger years, but the fate of my relatives and ancestors has made me embrace the WFPB diet.