By not getting enough calories
Our fellow herbivore in the wild ---the strongest animal in the world---getting plenty of protein while eating nothing but raw plants.
Essential nutrient? Yes. More important than complex carbohydrates? No. Earlier this week, I blogged about the importance of fiber in the diet of herbivores. Today, I want to revisit the old question about protein—because this is a concern that is not likely to disappear during my lifetime.
Even Bill Clinton, who has reversed his heart disease by following the dietary advice of Campbell, Esselstyn and Ornish, still thinks he needs a protein shake to make sure he gets enough. That’s fine, as long as he has a plant-based protein shake—he definitely doesn’t need to consume ANY animal protein—EVER.
My “Fiber Blog” included an analysis of 13 foods that I consume on a regular basis. They include a few from each category: fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, and nuts. Once again, I went to nutritiondata.com and determined how many grams of each macronutrient there were in 100 grams of product. A few showed zero protein and/or fat because the amount was less than one gram. So, in those cases, I checked the chart in the back of “The McDougall Plan” book and, sure enough, every single food had at least some of all three macronutrients.
Two of my 13 foods below feature fat as their #1 source of calories. If you want to lose weight, you should go easy on foods such as avocado, nuts and olives.
Grams of macronutrients/100 grams for 13 of my routine foods. (Macronutrients are where we get our calories.) Notice that every single one of these 13 foods has protein in it—some more than others.
Same for carbs and fat—every single one has some of both. And Mother Nature has made sure that all three macronutrients contain just the right amount of all three of our macronutrients. This bears repeating:
- All 13 foods have protein
- All 13 foods have carbohydrates
- All 13 foods have fat
Protein-Carbs-Fat (grams per 100 grams)
Another great source of protein, carbs AND fat.
- 1 — 10 — .5 —Carrots
- 2 — 7 —- .5 —Broccoli
- 3 — 4 —- .5 —Spinach
- 2 — 9 —- 15 —-Avocado
- 9 — 24 —- 1 —-Black Beans
- 11 — 10 — 5 —Edamame Beans
- 21 — 22 — 49 –Almonds
- 1 — 14 — .5 —- Blueberries
- 1 — 15 —- 1 —-Pear
- .2 — 15 — .5 —Apple
- 5 — 27 — 1 —-Whole grain pasta
- 13 — 69 —7 —Oatmeal
- 3 — 23 —-1 —Brown Rice
*As you may have guessed, water makes up much of the weight of many of these foods—especially the first three.
*Avocado and almonds are in red only because of their high fat content. If you’re trying to lose weight, you might want to go easy on these very healthy, whole foods.
Nature's ONLY approved source of animal protein in our diet.
Animal sources of protein. The only animal source of protein that we should ever consume is the milk from our own mother. Did you know that her milk is only 5% protein, and that is during the period of our lives when we are growing most rapidly.
By comparison, the typical adult in the Western world is deriving over 15% of her calories from animal protein—and it is literally killing us. On the other hand, it’s impossible to consume too much protein when your only sources are whole, plant-based foods.
By the way, even Dr. Spock learned the truth about milk and animal protein before he died. Two final points to remember:
- We are the only species in history that ever consumes the milk of another spices.
- We are the only species in history that consumes ANY milk after weaning.
Still have questions about protein? Visit our Protein Page
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J. Morris Hicks, working daily to promote health, hope and harmony on planet Earth.
From the seaside village of Stonington, Connecticut – Be well and have a great day.
—J. Morris Hicks…blogging daily at HealthyEatingHealthyWorld.com
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J. Morris Hicks, engineer. writer. big picture guy. 
Great post. I started reading a book:Appetite for profit by Michele Simon. Her thesis is that Big Food will do everything in its power to keep us hooked on high sugar, high fat and high sodium products that have seduced us for years.
Another great post! Thank you! Americans woke up one day and realized cigarettes are bad for our health. So I do have faith that one day we will realize the problems with animal protein. I will be sharing this post on my personal Facebook page, along with my website’s Facebook page, AND I will post a link to it from my blog. Thank you once again!
I have been preaching the protein mantra forever: We are the only species in history….
It’s unbelievable the flak I get: I’m called stupid, nuts, mistaken — the research tells you, the doctors tell you, the dairy council tells you, “You need cow’s milk for protein” — where have we heard that before?
Try convincing a young mother while she feeds her baby cow’s milk — this is the holy grail — she will never change.
And the beat goes on. Change…ever so elusive — it will never happen on a global level, it will never happen on a local level.
Maybe we should all suckle on a cow’s teat.
Sal Liggieri