By far, the most common question I hear is:
"If I don't eat meat, or as much meat, where do I get my protein?" Sound familiar?
Let's cut to the chase – the protein chase. I'm a simple kind of girl so I ask simple kind of questions. I don't do complicated – complicated confuses me and the last thing I need is to be more confused. That's a scary thought.
Just for grins and giggles, let's have fun with protein and see if my common sense speaks to your common sense.
8 Very Simple Protein Questions:
#1 Common Sense Protein Question: "Do elephants eat hamburgers?"
As you know, protein is for growth, among many other things. Like the growth of muscles. Have you ever heard of an elephant, giraffe, ape, cow, or horse eating hamburgers, chicken, fish, or even protein drinks to get enough protein to grow great, big muscles? No, of course not.
If elephants can eat plant foods to get plenty of protein, so can we with our relatively little muscles and bodies.
#2 Common Sense Protein Question: "Do elephants have to mix and match plant foods to get a 'complete protein'?"
Oh, yeah, right. I can just see it now. An elephant making sure he eats just the right plant foods to get just the right combo of proteins. I don't think so.
My brain says: If they don't have to mix and match, neither do we.
#3 Common Sense Protein Question: "But aren't we different from elephants?"
Good question. Yes, elephants are a wee bit different than us. No, duh, as the kids say. But this is the common sense point:
If a small variety of plant foods can provide the right quantity and quality of protein necessary to grow and maintain a great big mammal like an elephant, then isn't it logical that plant foods, and a much larger variety at that, can provide people with enough protein to grow and maintain our relatively little muscles, bones, tissues, and organs?
My common sense says, "Yes." What does your common sense tell you?
#4 Common Sense Protein Question: "At what time in life do human beings require the most protein?"
Okay, so you can't quite wrap your brain around the fact that elephants and humans can be compared—that can be a big leap—elephants to people. That's fair enough. So I'll tell you what—let's talk about just people—little people, as in babies.
Our cute little babies tell the whole protein story. See for yourself.
Again, what is the purpose of protein?
You've got it! Growth. When do we grow the most? From the ages of 0 to 2. Right?
What is the very best food for 0 to 2 year olds? Lamas' milk.
How much protein do you suppose is in mama's milk? 15%, 25%, or 30% protein? Guess again.
This may knock your socks off, but human milk contains only 4.5% to 5% protein—that's all.
If 4.5% to 5% protein is plenty of protein to meet the growing needs of babies, then that same amount of protein, and even less, is plenty for us big people. We've stopped growing.
#5 Common Sense Protein Question: "How much protein is in an orange?"
Hang on. Shock factor coming. An orange has 8% protein. Whoa! Isn't that unbelievable? An orange with 8% protein?
Remember, rapidly growing babies only require 4.5% to 5% protein. At 8% protein, oranges not only have enough protein, they actually have an abundance of protein.
What about other plants?
Spinach: 49% protein
Broccoli: 33%
Cauliflower: 26%
Romaine lettuce: 36% (imagine that much protein in that watery, green stuff!)
Corn: 11%
Kale: 22%
Cucumber: 24%
Potato: 11%
Carrot: 10%
Cantaloupe: 9%
Grapefruit: 8%
Berries: 7%
Tomato: 16%
Almonds: 13%
Pumpkin seeds: 17%
Brown Rice: 8%
Oats: 15%
Kidney beans: 26%
Looks to me like we get plenty of protein from eating plants.
We don't "have to" eat animal protein, which also comes with a lot of fat, cholesterol, extra calories, extra weight, extra diseases, and extra heartache. In fact, we don't even have to eat beans, tofu, or any other higher protein plant foods to get enough protein.
Fruits and vegetables have plenty. Interesting, don't you think?
#6 Common Sense Protein Question: "But isn't meat protein superior to plant protein?"
In a word, "No." That is a complete myth that has been perpetuated for almost 100 years. No matter how much this boggles our brain-washed brains, meat protein is not superior to plant protein. The amino acids, or building blocks that make up protein, are just the same whether they come from a plant or animal.
Protein is protein is protein is protein, no matter what the source. If we eat enough food (not a problem in the U.S.), we get enough of the "right" protein—even if the food sources are just plants.
#7 Common Sense Protein Question: "But don't I need more protein for strength and energy?"
Okay, back to our friend, the elephant. Where do elephants get their strength and energy? Not from eating cows or protein bars, that's for sure. An elephant's power comes from plants – that's all there is to it.
Our best source of energy doesn't come from protein at all – it comes from carbohydrates found in whole, unrefined plant foods, like fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables capture the sun's energy and then generously pass it on to us.
The core energy we have (or don't have) today comes from the plant foods we ate (or didn't eat) – yesterday; not the so-called energy protein bar or steak (or that dark, liquid brew) we ate today.
#8 Common Sense Protein Question: "How much protein does the World Health Organization recommend?"
Good thinking. The WHO recommends, not exactly a coincidence, the same amount of protein that is found in human breast milk: 4.5% to 5% protein. Remember, oranges have 8% protein.
Is the protein fog starting to lift a bit? There are lots of true experts out there, way, way smarter than I, who agree:
Plants provide us with plenty of protein for superior health and fitness – it's as simple as that. Bingo bango.
You may choose to eat beef, chicken, fish, and protein drinks, but you don't "have to." Aren't we lucky to have the gift of choice? What's not so lucky is that many of us forget that consequences follow choices—sometimes immediately and sometimes many years down the road.
Good choices beget good consequences; bad choices, especially day after day bad choices, beget painful consequences.
It's your body and your life. You have the incredible power to feed your body and your life or the power to deplete your body and your life.
