Nutrition
Protein
NOTE: Nutrition cannot realistically be fragmented, or divided, into its individual nutrients (protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, etc.). A whole food is exponentially superior to the sum of its measurable nutrients. In speaking of fragmented terms such as “protein,” “carbohydrate,” and “fat,” we must always remember that real food comes in a whole form.
Protein
Plants fix nitrogen and manufacture protein. We get our protein from plants, not animals.
What is protein?
Protein is a macronutrient. “Macro” simply means “big,” since macronutrients (protein, fat, and carbohydrates) are larger than micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). Proteins are built of amino acids that connect and fold together in different ways to make many different proteins. Different proteins, made of different combinations of amino acids, have different actions in the body. It’s easy to understand that cars, trucks, buses, and tractors are all made of the same general materials, but have very different capabilities. Different proteins likewise have very different actions in the body. Some are hormones, some are enzymes, and some provide structure to our cells.
Where does protein come from?
Protein comes from plants. Plants fix nitrogen – that’s scientific terminology for “manufacture protein” – and incorporate it into food.
…Wait, I though protein came from animals?
It is a common misconception that protein comes from animals. Animals do not create protein; they get it from plants (or from other animals who got it from plants). We likewise get our best protein from whole plant foods.
How much protein do I need?
Ever since protein was discovered, it has been overpraised and overdosed. Modern nutritional recommendations drastically inflate recommendations for protein intake, apparently to be “extra certain” of avoiding deficiencies. But this is far more detrimental than beneficial. Except in the case of extreme malnourishment, it would be very difficult to be deficient in protein without being severely deficient in food itself (Mariotti, et al; McDougall; Turner-McGrievy). The risk of protein deficiency is extremely low (and virtually impossible except in cases of starvation), and the risk of disease from a diet high in protein (per nutritional recommendations) is extremely high. Consuming excess protein, such as in animal products, is detrimental to health and leads to disease conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and cancer (McCarty; McDougall).
But if the body uses so much protein, don’t I need to eat more of it?
The body requires far more fuel (carbohydrates) than replacement structure (fat and protein). This is easy to understand in terms of a car – we refuel far more often than we replace a part. Even (or more accurately, especially) those with intense workout regimes, physically demanding work, or who are otherwise very active (such as children) thrive best on a diet of mostly carbohydrates – meaning <10% fat and <10% protein, the very composition of a diet of whole plant foods. When we exceed 10% fat and/or protein (meaning, when we eat anything animal-based), we significantly increase our provocation to disease.
"Even small intakes of foods of animal origin are associated with… significant increases in chronic degenerative disease mortality rates."
Campbell TC, et al. Diet and Chronic Degenerative Diseases: Perspectives from China. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 59(5): 1153S-1161S, May 1994.
Even a small amount of animal-based foods (meat, eggs, or dairy) disturbs the proper balance of nutrients and hormonal function and significantly promotes disease in the body. Excess protein is especially provocative of cancer:
“The promotion of cancer growth and development… can be repetitively turned on and off by non-mutagenic mechanisms, even completely, by modifying the consumption of protein.… This suggests that ultimate cancer development is primarily a nutrition-responsive disease rather than a genetic disease.”
Campbell TC. Cancer Prevention and Treatment by Wholistic Nutrition. Journal of Nature and Science, 3(10): e448, Oct. 2017.
It is no small thing that cancer growth and development and literally be turned on and off with the amount of protein in the diet. Increased protein turns on cancer growth, and decreased protein turns it off. The threshhold is at 10% of dietary “calories” – in other words, any protein in excess of a whole plant foods diet is essentially carcinogenic. Animal-based foods significantly exceed our protein needs and turn on cancer growth and development.
Essential and Nonessential Amino Acids: Are animal-based foods "high-quality proteins"?
Modern nutrition recommendations have called animal-based foods “high-quality proteins” – not because they are healthier, but because they contain excessively high amounts of all 20 amino acids. This is very misleading because animal-based foods are not “high-quality” nutrition at all. Calling animal-based foods “high-quality proteins” is as nonsensical as calling processed sugars “high-quality energy.”
Although the body uses approximately 20 different amino acids, we do not need to eat all 20. There are only 9 amino acids that need to come from diet (“essential”) because the body synthesizes the other 11 (“nonessential”) from the 9 we eat. Some suppose it is better to eat high amounts of all 20 amino acids “just in case” the body “can’t” synthesize the amino acids, but this is as untrue for protein as it is for vitamin A and omega-3’s. In fact, some nonessential amino acids (glutamate and aspartate) can act as excitotoxins in the body. It is not necessary nor healthful to consume high amounts of all 20 amino acids. Eating animal protein is detrimental to health (McDougall, Campbell, McCarty).
Do I need "complementary proteins"?
Dietitians are taught to teach vegans that they need to combine plant foods of different amino acid compositions (“complementary proteins” such as grains and legumes) together in a meal to make a “complete protein.” Although we do benefit from consuming a variety of foods to broaden our nutritional panel, this is unnecessary in terms of protein. The “complementary protein” myth has been retracted by its originator and repeatedly debunked. Plant foods provide us with the proper amount and proportion of amino acids we need for excellent health (Mariotti, et al; McDougall; Turner-McGrievy; McCarty; de Gavelle, et al; McDougall; Robbins).
RESEARCH
Mariotti F, et al. Dietary Protein and Amino Acids in Vegetarian Diets – A Review. Nutrients, 11(11): 2661, Nov. 2019.
McDougall J. Plant Foods Have a Complete Amino Acid Composition. Circulation, 105(25): e197, June 2002.
Turner-McGrievy G. Nutrient Adequacy of Vegetarian Diets. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 110(10): 1450; Oct. 2010.
Campbell TC, et al. Diet and Chronic Degenerative Diseases: Perspectives from China. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 59(5): 1153S-1161S, May 1994.
McCarty MF. Vegan Proteins May Reduce Risk of Cancer, Obesity, and Cardiovascular Disease by Promoting Increased Glucagon Activity. Medical Hypotheses, 53(6): 459-485, Dec. 1999.
de Gavelle E, et al. Protein Adequacy Is Primarily a Matter of Protein Quantity, Not Quality: Modeling an Increase in Plant:Animal Protein Ratio in French Adults. Nutrients, 9(12): 1333, Dec. 2017.
McDougall C, et al. Plant-Based Diets Are Not Nutritionally Deficient. Permanente Journal, 17(4): 93, Fall 2013.
Campbell TC. Cancer Prevention and Treatment by Wholistic Nutrition. Journal of Nature and Science, 3(10): e448, Oct. 2017.
John Robbins, Diet for a New America: How Your Food Choices Affect Your Health, Happiness, and the Future of Life on Earth, H J Kramer, Inc. and New World Library, 1987, p. 170-202.