drmichaelroth@juno.com
214-707-3878
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Hello again everyone!
My wife's been asked this question for a couple of decades, and since my newfound appreciation of vegetarianism, I've been hearing it for a few months as well. The question? "But where do you get your protein?"
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Before answering, I have to be honest, I'm actually what you would call a "flexitarian", meaning I'm primarily vegetarian and only eat meat once in a while now. Even though there are some cultures such as Eskimos where meat is the main staple of their diet, I heartily advocate vegetarianism of some form in the U.S. or at the very least, a drastic decrease in the consumption of all meats. The reasons of course, include health concerns such as obesity (watch Pixar's WALL-E sometime to see where we're heading), cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, kidney disease, and diabetes. However it goes much deeper than that.
As I've written before, our current industrialized meat stock is loaded with synthetic hormones and antibiotics that we are consuming second hand. The quality of the meat itself has suffered drastically due to the unnatural feeding of GMO corn and soy products to the animals (a primary reason for loading the animals with antibiotics - they are constantly sick). The majority of livestock animals (cows, pigs, chickens, etc.,) are treated inhumanely, and meat and eggs are often mishandled and dirty. And...pollution is a big factor - industrialized meat production is one of the primary causes of oil consumption and pollution in America! Additionally, over-consumption, among other things, is also causing the extinction of many fish species.
But, I'm getting off the subject. Being versed somewhat in nutrition, I've never asked a vegetarian of any sort, "What about protein"? The reason is that as long as calorie intake is good, it's fairly easy to meet daily recommendations for protein.
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| The concern about protein is misplaced and there seems to be an American obsession with it, unlike any other country. Although protein is obviously an essential nutrient, we don't need large amounts of it. In fact, even athletes do not need much more protein than the general public.
Back in my 20s and 30s, I read all the bodybuilding magazines and following their advice, started taking between 1-2 grams of protein per lb of body weight. I actually got up close to 200 lbs at one point, which on my small skeletal frame is considered overweight. Yes, I got big, but I also got fat and I felt terrible!
So, how much protein do we need? The RDA recommends that we take in about .36 grams of protein for every pound of body-weight, which is actually quite generous for most people. But factors such as age, metabolism, activity, etc. may bring that requirement closer to .45 grams per pound for some. Women generally need about 20% less protein. The protein recommendation for vegans counts for about 10% of daily calories. This contrasts with the protein intake of non-vegetarians, which is close to 14-18% of calories.
It is actually quite easy for a vegan diet to meet the recommendations for protein. Nearly all vegetables, beans, grains, nuts, and seeds contain good quantities of protein, and this doesn't even include the protein that comes from eggs and/or dairy sources if one is a lacto-ovo-vegetarian. So, vegans eating varied diets containing vegetables, beans, grains, nuts, and seeds rarely have any difficulty getting enough protein as long as their diet contains enough energy (calories) to maintain weight.
To show how easy it is to meet protein needs, I've included only a few foods and their protein content in grams (g):
- 1 cup Oatmeal (6 g)
- 1 Bagel (9 g)
- 2 slices Whole Wheat Bread (5g)
- 1 cup Vegetarian Baked Beans (12g)
- 5 oz Tofu (11g)
- 1 cup Broccoli (4g)
- 1 cup Brown Rice (5g)
- 2 tbsp almonds (4g)
- 2 tbsp peanut butter (8g)
Total: 64 grams
You can see that from this small menu sampling the amount of protein is more than enough for most people.
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Even though people eating the standard American meat-eating diet get more protein than a vegetarian, more is not necessarily better. There does not appear to be any health advantage in a high protein diet.
Quality: Although many believe that animal products are high quality proteins containing all the essential amino acids, many vegetarian sources also contain all the essential amino acids, although the amounts of one or two of these amino acids may be low. Therefore a varied diet of unrefined grains, legumes, seeds, nuts, and vegetables, usually covers all the bases without consuming mass amounts of food.
Along that line, I believe the current caloric recommendations are dangerously high and I can't help thinking these recommendations are put out by popular food manufacturers simply to get us to eat more of their foods! If we follow their advice, we'd be eating an average of 2900 to 3500 calories per day. Actually, many of us eat more than that! But unless you're a professional or Olympic athlete, you probably should be eating closer to 1,800-2,000 calories per day. Calorie restriction is much healthier, more economical, and better for everyone, even our planet!
End note:
I just finished reading a book that I highly recommend: In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. It's a wake-up call to how eating has changed in the last 100 or so years, the health dangers of our Western or SAD (Standard American Diet), along with some great tips to reverse this trend and begin eating more like we were designed to (not as advertisers would like us to).
I thank you once again for your time, for your friendship and for your devotion to good health! May God protect and keep you!
Yours in good health,
Dr. Mike
drmichaelroth@juno.com
214-707-3878
www.SomaHealth.Net
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