How Much Protein Do Humans Really Need?
Protein is an essential macro-nutrient that provides the building blocks for our bodies. However, the amount of protein that we need is greatly overestimated.
Despite the advertising hype of the meat and dairy industries, humans require an extraordinarily low amount of protein in their diets. The primary function of protein is growth, which is negligible in adults, as well as repair from injury and replacement of worn-out cells.
We need only 2.5 to 10% of our calories from protein, according to official sources.Many official groups, including the World Health Organization suggest that eating a mere 10% of our total calories as protein is sufficient. Protein deficiency is extremely rare in developed countries, even for those on strict vegan diets.
If you think that this is not enough, consider this: our greatest need for protein is when we grow the most, i.e., in infancy. An infant practically doubles in size during the first 6 months. The ideal food for a baby is mother’s milk. Therefore, breast milk can be used the “gold standard” for nutrition – including protein content.
Mother’s milk provides on average approximately 6% of calories from protein (far less than cow’s milk, which has 22% of calories as protein). This is the maximum concentration of protein we will ever need in coming from our food.
It should be obvious that adults do not require more protein per calorie than this, as infants, with their extremely rapid rate of growth have the highest need for protein per calorie of all humans.
So even though meat has more protein than vegetables, it doesn’t matter, because the amount in vegetables is already much more than you need. If you’re shopping for a car and one goes 200 miles an hour and the other goes 300, it doesn’t matter, since the maximum speed limit in the U.S. is 80 mph. Two hundred mph is more than enough for a car, and 22% protein from vegetables is more than enough when your protein needs are only 2.5 to 10%.
The extra protein isn’t better, it’s actually harmful. Too much protein – especially protein coming from animal sources – is dangerous and has been linked to various serious health conditions, including heart disease, cancer, strokes, hypertension and osteoporosis.
Most American’s get way TOO much animal protein. The average American eats over 100 grams a day – an unhealthy amount. Most adults only require 30-50 grams of protein a day. Still, many of us, including athletes, fitness enthusiasts, bodybuilders, dieters, and the overweight are obsessing about their proteins and turn to meat, dairy, protein powders, protein drinks, and nutritional bars in a quest for even more protein.
Myth: “People Need 20% Protein—and Animal Protein Is Best”
Many people still believe that protein is only available from meat and animal sources and we will get sick, weak, lose all muscle mass, or even fall over dead without animal protein! They even use “meat” and “protein” interchangeably, as if plant foods had no protein content at all!
(Once you realize that protein is a nutrient that is present in most foods we eat, you will see how the MyPlate recommendations make no sense, since vegetables, fruits and grains all have PROTEIN!)
If you are worried about protein deficiency, you need to know that plant foods contain protein too, for example, rice is 9%, potatoes are 8%, corn is 11% and spinach is about 30% protein per calorie.
People often comment they know sickly vegetarians to justify daily meat eating as a healthy lifestyle choice. But of course, not all vegetarians eat a healthy diet or live a healthy lifestyle: although they don’t eat meat, they might eat white bread and cotton candy for breakfast, and avoid exercise like plague! Have you ever seen a sickly gorilla? He eats plants all day and gets plenty of physical activity.
The truth is, taking too much protein – especially animal protein – is not a small matter. It contributes to many diseases, ages you prematurely and can cause significant harm.
While vegetable foods are alkaline, animal products are acidic foods, and they require huge amounts of hydrochloric acid from the stomach to digest them. This acid needs to be neutralized, at the expense of our bones. The excess protein you are not using isn’t stored by the body as protein; it’s converted to fat, or eliminated via the kidneys. Eliminating protein leaches even more calcium and other minerals from the bones and breeds kidney stones.
How Can We Get Enough Protein?
When a diet is centered around WHOLE unprocessed foods (vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts & seeds), the diet automatically contains a healthy amount of protein. It does not need to be a concern. No protein counting is necessary.
A typical assortment of vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans and whole grains supply about 50 grams of protein per 1000 calories. And don’t forget, some green vegetables are almost 50 percent protein, and when you eat more green vegetables, you are getting your protein with a ton of other super-nutrients for optimal health.
Many factors determine how many calories and how much protein you really need: age, size, growth, activity level, digestion, metabolism, body type, genetics, culture, geography.
By eating a variety of these foods, you are getting much more than protein. Plus, you are priming your body to be disease-proof.
It’s easy to build muscle even on a completely plant-based vegan diet
And if you want to build muscle, let’s remember that exercise, not extra protein, builds strength, denser bones, and bigger muscles. Loading on various protein powders and other muscle building supplements may lead to higher body mass; however, excessive body mass, even excessive muscle development from over-consumption of animal products, is a risk factor for heart attacks and other diseases later in life.
Animal products may lead to quick muscle mass, but eating lots of animal flesh is a Faustian bargain: short-term gain for a steep long-term price.
So, if you are wondering if you should I add protein powders to your smoothie after your workout, the answer is ‘No.’ As an athlete, your body needs carbohydrates at each meal to fuel your muscles, as well as vitamin C, antioxidants and various other nutrients, to neutralize the free-radicals created during the workout; and green smoothies are great for that. There are no antioxidants or vitamin C in meat.
Plant foods supply plenty of protein even for athletes and those trying to build muscle. Remember, the largest land animals in the world, elephants, are exclusively vegetarian. Your body can assemble all the amino acids from a plant protein source to create quality muscle mass.
Eating more calories usually supplies the extra protein for building muscle mass. Carbohydrates are better for supplying extra energy for strenuous activity.
What About Pregnancy and Breast Feeding?
Increased protein needs during pregnancy and breast-feeding are usually met by the extra calories from eating more food.
Plant-Based Diet (and Protein) For Better Health
Even though nutritionists seem to disagree on many topics, most agree that plant-eaters tend to live longer and healthier lives than do meat eaters. In every way, the brocolli-munchers tend to be healthier than the meat-eaters:
Plant eaters have a lower incidence of cancer, especially colon, stomach, mouth, esophagus, lung, prostate, bladder, and breast cancers.
Plant eaters have a lower incidence of cardiovascular disease, namely heart attacks and stroke.
Plant food is better for your heart, since it is low in cholesterol and saturated fat, and high in fiber.
Plant eaters are much less likely to get diabetes than animal eaters.
Plant eaters tend to weigh less than meat eaters, even those who skin their chicken and trim the fat off their steak.
Even the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s dietary guidelines recommend eating more vegetables and grains and less meat, despite pressure from the politically-connected meat industry to promote meat.
Resources:
World Health Organization (
http://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/public_health_nut9.pdf)
http://michaelbluejay.com/veg/protein.html
