A lot of microbial diversity comes from putting random shit in your mouth - an activity babies engage in with alarming (to new parents) frequency.  Caged mice with impaired microbial diversity don&#x27;t have the same breadth of opportunity to pick up new microbes via this mechanism that humans do.<p>One of the primary benefits of raw food is that it is a great way to introduce microbial diversity.  On the other hand, a diet comprised only of cooked or sterile processed foods is going to exacerbate microbial diversity issues.