Dispelling the myths (fable busters)

In the words of the great Dennis Miller, "I don't mean to go off on a rant here……….."

There are innumerable myths surrounding vegetarianism; this is all to evident to most vegetarians, who find themselves assuaging the concerns of friends and family members! Really when you get right down to it the entire Veggie.ca web site is about dispelling the myths, so this whole section will focus on the protein myth. And the award for most common question about vegetarianism goes to……… "How do you get enough protein?". Come on up here "How do you get enough protein?" and say a few words.

The amount of protein that is actually needed is so minute that you would have to make a concerted effort to not get enough protein! The low estimate of protein recommendation is 2 ½% of one's daily caloric intake; and the high estimate is just over 8% (1) A little quick math here: for a 2000 calorie a day diet ( which is average), you would be fine with obtaining 50 calories of that in protein, which is 12.5 grams of protein per day (4 calories in a gram of protein). And, if you wanted to be ultra cautious you could take in a up to 160 protein calories, which is 40 grams of protein per day.

The largest misnomer is the belief that we need concentrated protein sources, but every whole natural food contains protein. Plant foods contain all of the macro nutrients (carbohydrates, protein and fat) in varying quantities, as compared with meat (which contains only fat and protein). So every grain, bread, cereal, legume, nut, seed, vegetable, and fruit you consume in the day has some protein in it and those grams add up over the course of the day. I'm oversimplifying, on purpose: to show that it really is that easy!

The belief in animal protein as superior to vegetable protein goes back to 1914, when Osborn and Mendel studied rats: they found that rats grew faster on animal protein than they did when the source of protein in their diet was plants (2). Guess what folks: we're not rats! The composition of rat milk varies immeasurably to human milk, with both higher protein content and a different amino acid profile. Even so, it has been found that rats fed animal protein not only grow faster but also die sooner, plus suffer from a multitude of diseases vegetarian rats do not (3).

The question of whether one has to be ultra-diligent about combining vegetable proteins to create complete amino acid profiles is also based on studies done on how rats' growth is affected by animal protein. Frances Moore Lappe (the first other to write on the subject of protein complementarity - "Diet for a Small Planet") based her book upon the findings of the rat studies. Many of her readers assumed that if you don't eat animal protein, you'd need a to be a registered nutritionist just to sustain health on vegetarian fare. With updated studies having been done since 1914 (one would hope so), Moore Lappe reissued her book, and gave written acknowledgment to the fact that protein deficiency is virtually impossible!

With all the concern about getting enough protein, nobody ever worries about getting too much protein, which if you're going to worry about something…."It appears that once the body has all the protein it needs…then the excess protein begins to feed precancerous lesions and tumors" - Dr. T. Colin Campbell(4) The average American diet, which is frighteningly similar to the average Canadian Diet, contains more than twice the amount of protein than is needed, and much of it comes from meat, eggs, or dairy products (5) There is a "new" (more later on just how old it is!) diet fad followed by many wishing to shed excess body fat in a short time period. It comes under may different names: the lo-carb diet, high-protein diet, Atkins diet , etc… and varies only in the amount of fat accompanying the low amounts of carbohydrates "allowed" and the grotesquely high quantities of protein encouraged. This diet is being followed by many chronic dieters, amateur athletes, and gym-go-ers seeking a muscular physique with low body fat. Translation: you need to compromise your health in order to look healthy: plainly absurd when you word it like that, isn't it? The fact is that muscle does not come from meat; muscle comes from hard work accompanied by a healthy diet, which is well equipped to heal muscle and burn fat. That one should need to diet at all would suggest that the human body or human drives (hunger) are flawed. What is flawed is a society where the amount of unhealthy, processed food is now more readily available than whole, natural food. "How could we be designed with perfect drives for water and air, yet somehow with a major defect when it comes to food?" - Dr. Shintani (6). Most people need 3 or 4 pounds of food each day to satisfy hunger (7). If the food you are consuming comes from refined, processed, calorically dense and nutritionally inferior foods, you simply can't fulfill the hunger drive without over eating! This leads people to believe they are flawed, without willpower, naturally predisposed to chubbiness, and insatiable. Animal foods [and junk foods in general] are so rich in calories that you probably can't satisfy your hunger with them without gaining weight.. Strange that the very countries who consume the most amount of meat, also tend to consume the most amount of processed, refined foods and also have the highest rate of obesity. As mentioned earlier, meat contains only fat and protein, unlike every other food, its missing the carbohydrate. And, what is the only food that contains only carbohydrate?: SUGAR.. If your diet is high in meat; physiologically you will naturally crave sugar.

The "new' miracle diet is not so new, but is now being followed by many: Weight Watchers has a high protein diet option, as does Jenny Craig; there are even books on the market dedicated to "carbohydrate addicts" (12 step program for brown rice addicts????). First of all its worth noting that not all carbohydrates are "created" equally: the one's created in nature and always accompanied by fiber, protein, EFAs, vitamins and minerals differ greatly form the one's "created" - stripped, shaken, baked, fried, boxed, canned and ready-for you in a shiny package - by major food producers. Dieting with weight loss as a goal first became popular with the publication of William Banting's 'Letter on Corpulence', which he wrote after his physician, William Harvey, helped him lose weight by having him stop eating foods that contained starch, or sugar . He mainly consumed lean meat, dry toast, soft-boiled eggs, and a couple of drinks (alcohol) a day. His low-carbohydrate diet is the origin of the idea that potatoes and pasta make you fat (7). The high protein diet, after failing to produce sustainable results, re-emerged in the 1940s with Alfred Pennington's diet, and again in 1961 with Dr. Herman Taller's "Calories Don't Count" best-selling title (8). Taller claimed that by eating fats, you stimulate the body's fat-burning system, which makes the stuff burn more efficiently, he also believed they softened other body fats and flushed them out of the body. Taller was found guilty of six counts of mail fraud for using the book to promote a particular brand of safflower capsules, which the court called a "worthless scheme foisted on a gullible public" (9). The same year, Dr. Irwin Stillman wrote 'The Doctor's Quick Weight Loss Diet', written with Sinclair Baker (who later co-wrote the Complete Diet' with Herman Tarnower and, barely credited, Jean Harris). Stillman was a strict carnivore, allowing his patients to eat only lean meat, poultry, eggs, and low-fat cheeses. His theory was that the protein molecule is so big and complex that it takes the body more energy to digest it. Stillman himself died of a heart attack in 1975 - after some 20 million people had been on his diet (10)! Not to be deterred, Dr. Robert Atkins (a cardiologist!) came out with his "Diet Revolution". Frederick Stare, Harvard obesity specialist, commenting on DR Atkins recommendations, said it bordered on malpractice to recommend such large proportions of saturated fats and cholesterol when the hazards to the heart were well known and the American Medical Association (AMA) called it a "bizarre regimen" that is "without scientific merit." (11). Dr. Atkins retort: "Political action and protest on your part can help revolutionize the food industry, by forcing it to decarbohydratize many foods - just as it has de-calorized some foods - but with a federal law to back this change!… Martin Luther King had a dram.. I, too, have one" (12). I don't even no where to begin with that simultaneously, ridiculous, sensationalistic, and offensive (compare yourself to Martin Luther King?!) statement! Here's the real kicker: now that enough time his passed for dieters to forget Dr. Atkins past failure, he has come out with a "New Diet Revolution" based on the same premise and he's selling millions of copies! Aside from the fact that a high fat and high protein diet is associated with increased risk of heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis, diabetes and liver degeneration (like this isn't enough), here's why this diet works IN THE SHORT TERM ONLY: *large amounts of protein, , put people in a state of ketosis, where, without enough carbohydrates, the body breaks down fats for fuel faster than the body can eliminate the ashy protein left-overs. These leftovers, the ketones, not only cause bad breath but constipation, nausea, and weakness as well (13). The high-protein content of the diet also spikes your cholesterol levels to all-new highs, strains the kidneys, and denies the body the necessary vitamins , minerals, and fibers found in the amounts of fruits and vegetables that are disallowed on such diets.

When asked "How do you get enough protein?", my sister (also a vegan, and mother to two vegan children) replies: "Come on, give me something more challenging than that!"

(1) Robbins, John, "Diet for a New America, Stillpoint Publishing, 1987
(2) "Diet for a New America"
(3) "Diet for a New America"
(4) Marcus, Erik, "Vegan - The New Ethics of Eating", McBooks Press, 1998
(5) "Vegan - The New Ethics of Eating"
(6) "Vegan - The New Ethics of Eating",
(7) Fraser, Laura, "Losing it", Penguin Books 1997
(8) "Losing it"
(9) "Losing it"
(10) "Losing it"
(11) "Losing it"
(12) "Losing it"
(13) Ballentine, Rudolph, MD, "Diet and Nutrition - A Holistic Approach", The Himalayan International Institute, 1978