When Dr. Atkins Diet Revolution was first published, the President of the American College of Nutrition said, "Of all the bizarre diets that have been proposed in the last 50 years, this is the most dangerous to the public if followed for any length of time."Because I am not a nutrition "professional" with several designations behind my name, I have looked to the best of the best to answer the age old question; "Where do you get your protein from?"
People Require Very Little Protein, Dr. John McDougall MD
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that men and women obtain 5% of their calories as protein. This would mean 38 grams of protein for a man burning 3000 calories a day and 29 grams for a woman using 2300 calories a day. This quantity of protein is impossible to avoid when daily calorie needs are met by unrefined starches and vegetables. For example, rice alone would provide 71 grams of highly usable protein and white potatoes would provide 64 grams of protein.8
Our greatest time of growth—thus, the time of our greatest need for protein—is during our first 2 years of life—we double in size. At this vigorous developmental stage our ideal food is human milk, which is 5% protein. Compare this need to food choices that should be made as adults—when we are not growing. Rice is 8% protein, corn 11%, oatmeal 15%, and beans 27%.8 Thus protein deficiency is impossible when calorie needs are met by eating unprocessed starches and vegetables.
The healthy active lives of hundreds of millions of people laboring in Asia, Africa, and Central and South America on diets with less than half the amount of protein eaten by Americans and Europeans prove that the popular understanding of our protein needs is seriously flawed.
Click Here to learn more about high protein diets and the negative long term health effects.
The chart below shows the % of protein contained in a variety of grains and vegetables.
WHO Recommendations: (With a wide safety margin) | |
Men: | 5% |
Women: | 5% |
Pregnant: | 6% |
Percent of Calories of Proteins16 (Selected Foods) | |
Food | % Protein |
Grains & Flours: | |
Cornmeal | 9 |
Brown Rice | 9 |
Oatmeal | 15 |
White Rice | 7 |
Whole Wheat Flour | 16 |
White Flour | 11 |
Starchy Vegetables | |
Black Beans | 27 |
Cassava | 10 |
Corn | 11 |
Kidney Beans | 27 |
Peas | 28 |
Potato | 8 |
Sweet Potato | 7 |
Green Vegetables | |
Asparagus | 42 |
Broccoli | 42 |
Carrots | 10 |
Lettuce | 40 |
Onions | 32 |
Mushrooms | 12 |
Spinach | 51 |
Meet Your Meat...
The next section come from Dr. Joel Fuhrman, MD and his book "Eat to Live"
What has more protein -- oatmeal, ham or a tomato? The answer is that they all have about the same amount of protein per calorie. The difference is, the tomato and the oatmeal are packaged with fiber and other disease-fighting nutrients, and the ham is packaged with cholesterol and saturated fat.
Some people believe that only animal products contain all the essential amino acids and that plant proteins are incomplete. False. They accept the outdated notion that plant protein must be mixed and matched in some complicated way that takes planning of a nuclear physicist for a vegetarian diet to be adequate. False.
I guess they never thought too hard about how a rhinoceros, hippopotamus, gorilla, giraffe, or elephant became so big eating only vegetables. Animals do not make animo acids from thin air; all the amino acids originally came from plants.
What about Athlete's?
Rip Esselstyn, author of the Engine 2 Diet (picture shown on right) has inspired thousands of athletes to finally take charge of their health and blow away the competition by converting to a "plant-strong" diet. Not only will you enjoy the food, you get to eat meals that include pancakes, pizza, enchiladas, potatoes and more! Rip challenged his fellow Engine 2 firefighters in Austin, TX, to go plant-strong. After only 28 days, they saw remarkable results, including more energy, increased performance, reduction of weight and dramatic decreases in total cholesterol levels. The following section on "plant strong" athletes comes directly from Rip's website:
Just as Tony Gonzalez, the 247-pound tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs football team. For health reasons, Tony changed his diet after signing a 5 year contract extension, making him the league's highest paid tight end, and went on the break the NFL record for receptions by a tight end in 2008. His teammates have nicknamed him China Study after T. Colin Campbell's book of the same name, which Gonzalez studied before changing his diet.Ask Ruth Heidrich, who in 1982 was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer and cured herself by eating a low-fat, plant-strong diet. She has since won more than one thousand triathlons.
Or ask Salim Stoudamire (above left), the plant-eating point guard for the NBA Atlanta Hawks, who says by the fourth quarter, when most players are starting to fade, he's picking it up a notch.
Or ask Martina Navratilova (above center), the world's winningest tennis player, who servers up plant-based foods exclusively. Or ask plant-devourer Dave Scott (above left), a six-time winner of the famed Hawaii Ironman triathlon. Or better yet, try going plant based yourself and see how much your athletic performance improves.
Animal Protein & Osteoporosis
One of the major causes of osteoporosis in this country is excess animal protein. As is generally recognized, protein is made up of amino acids. These acids are, logically, acidic -- that is, they have a pH of less than 7, which is neutral. The human body cannot operate in an acidic environment -- it must be alkaline, that is, above 7 or about 7.2. So when you take in whey protein powders, or animal protein such as egg whites, fish, dairy, poultry or beef, this acid load has to be neutralized. Our bodies have the perfect buffering system. We use the same mechanism you see advertised on TV ads for Tums and other antacids for "acid stomach", which is calcium. And where do we store our calcium? In our bones. Our bones are very active living tissue, and calcium is constantly moving in and out of them. So if we consume a high acid meal, especially animal protein, our bones are called upon to give up some calcium to neutralize or buffer this acid so that we can keep the heart beating, muscles contracting, and nerves firing. Overtime, our bodies tire of this constant acid-buffering cycle of leaching calcium from our bones, which causes acidosis, leading to osteoporosis.
What about Calcium Supplementation?
This is a small exert from Dr. Joel Fuhrman's site on Osteoporosis. Click Here to read the entire article.
Contrary to popular belief, you do not need dairy products to get sufficient calcium.
Every natural food contains calcium. When you eat a healthy diet, rich in natural foods such as vegetables, beans, nuts, and seeds, it is impossible not to obtain sufficient calcium. In fact, the addition of more natural plant foods to the diet has been shown to have a powerful effect on increasing bone density and bone health. Fruits and vegetables strengthen bones. Researchers found that those who eat the most fruits and vegetables have denser bones. These researchers concluded that fruits and vegetables are not only rich in potassium, magnesium, calcium and other nutrients essential for bone health, but, because they are alkaline, not acid-producing, they do not induce urinary calcium loss. Green vegetables, in particular have a powerful effect on reducing hip fractures, for they are not only rich in calcium, but other nutrients as well, such a vitamin K, which is crucial for bone health.
So most unprocessed, natural foods contain calcium and green vegetables have particularly high levels. In fact, one four-ounce serving of steamed collards or kale has about the same amount of calcium as one cup of milk. Take a look at some natural foods and their approximated calcium levels.
Bok-choy, two cups. . . . . . . . . . . 300mg
Broccoli, two cups. . . . . . . . . . . .150mg
Collard greens, two cups. . . . . . . . 600mg
Calcium-fortified OJ (8oz). . . . . . .300mg
Garbanzo beans, one cup. . . . . . .. 150mg
Kale, two cups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .350mg
Orange (one). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60mg
Romaine Lettuce (4 cups). . . . . . . . 60mg
Sesame seeds ¼ cup. . . . . . . . . . . 350mg
Soybeans, one cup. . . . . . . . . . . . 175mg
Spinach, two cups. . . . . . . . . . . . 500mg
Sweet Potato, two cups. . . . . . . . 150mg
Tahini (sesame seed paste) two tbsp .300mg
Tofu, one cup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .150mg
Turnip greens, two cups. . . . . . . . . .500mg
Green vegetables also have calcium absorption rates of over 50 percent, compared with about 32 percent for milk. And, since animal protein induces calcium excretion in the urine, compared to dairy, the calcium retention from vegetables is higher. All green vegetables are high in calcium.
The American, “chicken and pasta” diet-style is significantly low in calcium, so adding dairy as a calcium source to this mineral-poor diet makes superficial sense—it certainly is better than no calcium in the diet. However, it is much more than just calcium that is missing. The only reason cow’s milk is considered such an important source of calcium is because the American diet is centered on animal foods, refined grains, and sugar, all of which are void of calcium.
Of course, when our calories come mostly from oil, sugar, flour, and animal meat, instead of unrefined plant foods such as these, it can appear that, without dairy, the diet would be too low in calcium. But, medical studies confirm that drinking cow’s milk does not lead to stronger bones and just relying on milk without sufficient vegetable intake can actually worsen bone health. When more vegetables are consumed, you get extra calcium and a cornucopia of phytochemicals that are not found in dairy. Studies demonstrated that individuals who drank one glass or less of milk per week were at no greater risk of breaking a hip or forearm than were those who drank two or more glasses per week. It was also noted that high total calcium intake and milk consumption did not protect against osteoporotic fractures.
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