> the only real downside from eliminating meat or reducing it substantially is the reduction in essential B vitamins provided.
Only the B12 actually. And omnis are also often deficient. Even industrially farmed animals were deficient until they started to supplement their feed (so when eating industrial meat, you indirectly eat supplement).
The B12 deficiency in those eating plant-based is a hygiene issue: before settling in villages we ate a lot of "soil" with our food, and drank a lot of soil-run-off surface water. As the soil contains a lot of B12 and the microbes that create it (which probably can even live in our intestines).
> the only real downside from eliminating meat or reducing it substantially is the reduction in essential B vitamins provided.
Only the B12 actually. And omnis are also often deficient. Even industrially farmed animals were deficient until they started to supplement their feed (so when eating industrial meat, you indirectly eat supplement).
The B12 deficiency in those eating plant-based is a hygiene issue: before settling in villages we ate a lot of "soil" with our food, and drank a lot of soil-run-off surface water. As the soil contains a lot of B12 and the microbes that create it (which probably can even live in our intestines).