Comments

Cancel reply

You must be Login to post a comment.

Sign on with:

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

1. Most plant foods are low in one or two of the essential amino acids. But, you can get enough of these amino acids by including a variety of plant foods in your diet. It was once thought that plant proteins needed to be combined within a meal by mixing grains and legumes to create a "complete" protein, also called complementary proteins, with good amounts of all essential amino acids. But today, we know that the liver can store the amino acids so we don’t have to combine them in one meal. Animal protein, such as that found in meat, dairy and eggs, is considered "high quality" protein because it has good amounts of all essential amino acids. Meeting your protein needs may be more easily accessed on a vegetarian (versus vegan) diet, because you can include high quality animal protein sources such as milk, cheese, cottage cheese, and eggs to help meet protein needs. (as per the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 2014)

   Vegan diets are usually lower in protein than standard American diets. Humans cannot make nine of the twenty common amino acids, so these amino acids are considered to be essential. We must get these amino acids from our diets. Protein sources of non-animal origin often have all of the essential amino acids, but the amounts of one or two of these amino acids may be low. For example, grains are lower in lysine (an essential amino acid) and legumes are lower in methionine (another essential amino acid) than those protein sources designated as high quality protein. The myth Lappe admitted to creating was that combining was complicated, not that it wasn\’t required. (Dr. Reed Manels, Simply Vegan, 5th edition). Animal sources of protein tend to deliver all the amino acids we need. Other protein sources, such as fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts and seeds, lack one or more essential amino acids. Vegetarians need to be aware of this. People who don’t eat meat, fish, poultry, eggs, or dairy products need to eat a variety of protein-containing foods each day in order to get all the amino acids needed to make new protein. (www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/protein/)

   Protein combining is a dietary strategy originally applied to livestock feed. In the 1950s and 1960s, Nevin S. Scrimshaw used the combination of cottonseed flour with maize in Guatemala and peanut flour with wheat in India. In 2011 PLOS ONE published an article investigating the specifics of protein combining for 1251 plant-based foods. The bases of reference were the amino acids indispensable to human nutrition, and the ideal proportioning of these amino acids in a meal. They explain that "complementation involves consuming two or more foods together to yield an amino acid pattern that is better than the sum of the two foods alone." Many plant proteins are lower in one or more essential amino acids than animal proteins, especially lysine, and to a lesser extent methionine and threonine. And so, it important to eat a variety of plants… just not necessarily at the same meal. Plant protein can meet protein requirements as long as sources of dietary protein are varied and caloric intake is high enough to meet energy needs. (as per the current ADA advice)

   Complentary plant protein is NOT a myth. Anyone who disagrees should tell us how they came to know better than the experts. Besides normally being low in caclium, vitimin D, iron, and zinc, a vegan diet is dangerously low in B12 (esp bad for pregnant women). Studies show people who eat a strictly plant-based diet often suffer from subclinical protein malnutrition, meaning you\’re likely not getting enough sulfur. By eliminating all animal foods you also run the real risk of a number of other nutrient deficiencies, as some simply cannot be obtained from plant foods. Vegans MUST take supplements for B12 (esp if you\’re pregnant), creatine, carnosine, D (plants contain D2 but alone it\’s not digestable), omega-3 DHA, heme-iron, taurine, sulfur, as well as many others (such as iodine). (as per vegansociety.com) How much effort are you nutrition experts spending busting the myth vegans don\’t need to take a supplement?

   A 14-member panel in 2010, organized by the NIH Consensus Development Program, looked at more than 35 studies. The experts were surprised to learn that many people avoid drinking milk in fear of getting sick when their stomachs could most likely handle more than they think. People are self-diagnosing without actually getting a diagnosis from a doctor. People who think they are lactose intolerant need to consider whether they are getting enough nutrients before cutting milk from their diet. The panel also found limiting consumption of dairy foods containing lactose left many people without the necessary amount of calcium and vitamin D important for bone growth, which can lead to osteoporosis and other adverse health outcomes. Moreover, whey (diary) protein has little to no lactose (less than 1%). There\’s another myth that needs busting. Who is up for the task?

   Log in to Reply

   1. Vegan Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees died at the young age of 62 of colon cancer. A recent study linked low vitamin B12 (VERY common to vegans – and why 100% of them need to be taking a supplement) to increased risk for colon cancer. It\’s also possible that Gibb\’s veganism was low in calcium (also common), which would have placed him at increased risk. Calcium regulates cell growth in ways that are thought to lower risk for certain cancers. Then, scientists have found that long term vegetarianism can lead to genetic mutations which raise the risk of heart disease and cancer. The mutation occurrs to make it easier for vegens to absorb essential fatty acids from eating only plants. But, it has the knock-on effect of boosting the production of arachidonic acid, which is linked to inflammatory disease and cancer. When coupled with a diet high in vegetable oils – such as sunflower oil – the mutated gene quickly turns fatty acids into dangerous arachidonic acid. The finding helps explain the previous research which found vegetarian populations are nearly 40% more likely to suffer colorectal cancer than normal meat eaters.

      Very smart people can make very dumb choices. Steve Jobs died from his at 56. How else are we to explain Steve Wozniak (an overweight fast-food junkie) outliving him? Steve\’s longstanding food fanaticism, eating disorders, and mood swings started in his teenage years. His diet could easily have lead to pancreatic cancer as per Dr. Healy of the Jonsson Cancer Center and Director of the Pituitary Tumor and Neuroendocrine Program at UCLA. Moreover, Jobs\’s kidney stones were also the predictable result of his high fructose diet. As a tech at Atari, he was known as "a hippie with b.o." He clung to the belief that his fruit-heavy vegetarian diet would prevent not just mucus but also body odor. As Isaacson writes "It was a flawed theory." When he was young, he sadly learned that he could induce euphoria and ecstasy by starving himself. Steve Jobs died regretting that he had spent so long attempting to treat his cancer with alternative medicine before agreeing to undergo surgery, his biographer disclosed. Cancer experts have said Jobs may have extended his life or even survived if he had promptly tackled his cancer aggressively with scientifically proven medical treatments. When asked why "such a smart man could do such a stupid thing,"Isaacson answered: "I think he felt: if you ignore something you don\’t want to exist, you can have magical thinking. It had worked for him in the past. He would regret it." It\’s a lesson for us all.

      Log in to Reply

2. Any website that is using "Cups" to "grams of protein" ratio while trying to sound scientific should be laughed at.

   Log in to Reply