“ALL ABOARD, AMERICA! Welcome to the super-express
protein train. Sit back. Enjoy the ride.

Fill up on all your protein favorites: beef, chicken, turkey, pork,
processed meats, cheese, eggs, milk, and a quick protein
drink or bar.”

Destination: Cancer, Heart Disease, Type 2 Diabetes, or Stroke.

STOP!

Dare to take one bold, gigantic leap off the protein train!

“What?” you wonder, “Why would I do that? I’m getting my
protein, lots of it. They say protein’s good for you, the more
the better. Besides, I love these foods. I’ve been eating
them all my life.”

In other words, with a full, satisfied belly, you’re very content
to stay on that protein train and never get off—until the very
last stop.

And what’s wrong with that? It’s certainly not wrong, per se.
It’s a choice. Your choice. Just know the consequences of
your choices.

If you choose to overload with protein, particularly sourced
by animal products, you’re endangering your health and life.

Look at the foods you eat through a new lens.

Then, honestly evaluate your own level of mobility, energy,
clear thinking, emotional stability, and joy for purposeful living.

Then, dare to ask yourself: “Am I happy
with what I see and how I feel?” 

Protein Pushers Prevail, America’s Health Fails.

The profit-hungry, protein pushers have shouted “ALL ABOARD”
the protein train for so many decades that we think the lies they
spin are true.

The granddaddy lie of all: “You must eat meat
to get enough protein, and the more the better.”

And, much to our demise, we’re delighted to comply.

We love to eat (and eat some more) the foods our mamas and
grandmas gave us to eat. In fact, these foods are woven into the
very fabric of our culture.

We’re not going to stop eating them now, not for love nor
money nor health nor life.

We’re hooked. Addicted.

Breakfast: Eggs and bacon, maybe sausage.

Lunch: Hamburgers or sandwiches, made with processed
meats and cheese.

Dinner: Chicken, turkey, pork, pot roast, meatloaf, pizza,
mac and cheese, and spaghetti with meat sauce and
meat balls. You name it. We love it.

THE RESULTS from Americans blindly scarfing up
foods we’re told are good for us:  

1. Big profit for the beef, poultry, pork, egg,
   dairy, milk, cheese, and pre-packaged,
   processed food industries.
2. Undeniable health problems for Americans.
    And it’s getting worse, not better.

It’s past time to leap off that animal protein train. NOW!

Yes, Protein IS Good.

Protein is one of our three essential major nutrients vital to
health and life, along with unrefined carbohydrates and fats.

We need adequate amounts of protein for growth, repair,
transporting oxygen in the blood, and the production of
hormones, enzymes, and antibodies.

However, contrary to America’s favorite
modus operandi, “If something is good,
more is better,” eating too much protein
is NOT BETTER!

Especially the huge quantities of animal
protein that Americans devour every day—
day after day.

So, what’s the big deal about eating so much protein?

Great question. Hang on. We’ll get to it in a minute.

First, How Much Protein Do We Actually Need?

The National Academy of Science and the Food and Nutrition
Board (government agency) recommend 0.36 grams of protein
per pound per day for most adults.

That’s 36 to 72 grams of protein per day for a 100-to-200-pound
adult.

Eating a variety of plant foods can easily provide 36 to
72 grams of protein per day.

Yes, as discussed in Parts 1 and 2 of this 4-part protein
blog series, a variety of plants contain enough protein to meet
our protein needs. click here

Plants average about 10% to 15% protein,
plenty of protein to fulfill our recommended
daily allowances. 

In fact, the diets of cultures known for
longest-lived people on the planet consist
of 10-15% protein, largely plant protein.

In contrast, the average American diet consists of a whopping
30 to 40% protein, mostly animal protein—way above the
recommended 10 to 15% protein.

Furthermore, the World Health Organization recommends
only 4.5 to 5% protein—significantly less protein even than
10 to 15%.

Shocking, right?

Percentage of Protein in Plants vs Animals.

Compare below the high protein percentages in animal
products vs. lower protein percentages in plant foods.

Keep in mind the 5% protein the World Health Organization
recommends, and the 10 to 15% protein The National Academy
of Science and the Food and Nutrition Board recommend.

Chicken: 61% protein
Turkey: 68%
Beef: 26%
Eggs: 33%
Milk: 21%

vs.

Brown rice: 8% protein
Potatoes: 11%
Oranges: 8%
Carrots: 10%
Tomatoes: 16%
Romaine lettuce: 34% (yes, romaine lettuce
contains 34% protein!)

As you can see, plants provide plenty of protein. click here
In contrast, animal sources of protein provide
way more protein than we need.

Now let’s circle back to that great question:

“What’s the big deal about eating too much
animal protein?” 

Disclosing the Undisclosed Protein Facts.

1. Protein can’t be stored.

Your body can’t use, or store, more than 15% protein of
total calories consumed.

If your diet consists of foods averaging more than 15%
protein, then your body must get rid of all protein
consumed over 15%.

Look at the percentages of protein in the animal products
listed above. All animal products contain considerably
more protein than your body needs or can store.

Therefore, your liver and kidneys must work extra hard
eliminate excess protein, including extra protein,
sourced by protein powders, bars, and drinks.

Meal after meal. Day after day. Year after year.

End result: liver and kidneys wear out
prematurely.

2. Too much protein elevates acidity.

Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. Yes, we need
those amino acids, but too much of them (amino acids) make
the PH in the blood and body too acidic.

An acidic environment in the body causes:

=> Arthritis

=> Joint pain

=> Gout

=> Cancer: breast, prostate, rectal, colon, pancreatic,
stomach, and liver. click here

• Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment.
• Cancer cells can’t thrive in an alkaline environment.
• ONLY fresh fruits and vegetables, our health heroes,
  create an alkaline environment in your body.

Not coincidentally, which foods prevent cancer?

Fresh, whole fruits and vegetables. <click here>
<click here>

No one ever claimed that meat, cheese,
eggs, milk, or protein drinks prevent cancer.

Then why do we fill up on those foods and
not fruits and vegetables?

=> Osteoporosis and osteopenia.

When the PH of the blood and body is too acidic,
a very unhealthy state, the body must neutralize
that acidity with a “base,” for your protection.

Calcium, pulled from the bones, happens to be
that neutralizing base.

Too much protein increases the acidity in your body.

Your smart body leaches calcium from your bones to
neutralize the acid PH.

Then, the calcium is promptly eliminated from your
body. Goodbye calcium from your bones.

Quite simply, decades of eating
too much animal protein causes
decades of calcium being leached
from your bones.  

The result: osteoporosis and osteopenia,
particularly in women, who typically have
smaller, less dense bones than men.

Important sidenote. By the time osteopenia and
osteoporosis can be picked up by the most
sophisticated imaging, that bone loss has been
going on for a terribly long time, as early as childhood,
from a diet high in animal protein and other
calcium-robbing foods and low in fresh fruits and
vegetables.

Once you’re told you have osteopenia or osteoporosis,
there is no drug that even begin to fill those “holes”
in your bones, caused by year after year of calcium
depletion.

 

Our Government Knows Meat Kills.

In 2000, twenty-three years ago, the U.S. Public Health
Service, reported that 54% of all deaths from heart disease,
stroke, vascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, kidney, and
gallbladder diseases could be directly attributed to eating
meat (a conservative number considering the source).

Rhetorical questions:

1. If the government has known for a long time that eating
too much meat kills, then why didn’t they warn us?

WARNING: TOO MUCH MEAT IS HAZARDOUS TO
YOUR HEALTH!!!!

I never saw that warning sign, did you?

2. With all the recent research supporting the
health advantages of plant protein over animal protein,
why isn’t our government speaking up now?

My best guess:
The Powerful Protein Pushers Reign!

However, even if our government
campaigns for healthy eating habits,
rich in whole, fresh fruits and vegetables,
low in animal protein (an unlikely scenario),
would most Americans have that
eye-popping “ah-ha” moment and change
their eating habits?

Sadly, probably not.

Again, Powerful Protein Pushers Win. We Lose.

Too Much Animal Protein, Too Few
Essential Nutrients.

When we fill our bellies with animal products, we eat
significantly fewer foods rich in unrefined carbohydrates.

Unrefined carbohydrates, not protein,
power us with energy.

Fruits and vegetables, along with whole grains and beans,
are our best sources of unrefined carbohydrates.

If we are not eating enough whole, fresh fruits and
vegetables, we get depleted of energy.

We’re also missing out on health- and life-supporting
enzymes, phytochemicals, vitamins, minerals, and many
other essential micronutrients provided by plants.

 

Irrefutable Link Between Animal Protein,
Diseases, and Early Death. (click here)

Research supports the fact that eating too much animal protein
causes many chronic, debilitating diseases, some of which
lead to early death. click here

– Cancer: breast, prostate, colon, rectal, pancreatic,
stomach, and liver. click here

– Cardiovascular Diseases

Note: fat and cholesterol are known contributors to
heart and cardiovascular diseases. Animal protein
alone is also linked to those cardiovascular diseases. click here
Meat is loaded with fat, cholesterol, and
animal protein. click here   

– Stroke

– Arthritis

– Joint Pain

– Gout click here

– Inflammatory Bowel Disease click here

– Type 2 Diabetes click here

– Kidney Stones click here

– Gall Bladder Disease

– Osteoporosis click here

 

No Stopping That Runaway Protein Train

Realistically, we don’t have the power to stop that
runaway protein train.

However, we do have the power to consciously change
our own eating habits.

We can choose to fill up on our health heroes, fresh fruits
and vegetables, whole grains (brown rice, quinoa)
and legumes (black beans), and raw, unsalted nuts and seeds.

If we eat and fill up on the best-foods-for-us first,
then we’ll naturally transition away from eating
too much meat and other health-robbing foods.

The effort you make today will reward you a thousand-fold
later with more energy, mobility, mental clarity,
joy, and lower risk of pain and infirmity from a
life-robbing disease.

It takes a ton more energy and time
to be sick later, then it does to work
on building health now.

I’m hopeful that one day that first person will ask me
the question I’ve been patiently waiting to hear:

“Do you think I’m eating too much protein?”

I’m more than ready with the answer!

 

“You are the master of your own choices
and either the beneficiary of, or the slave to,
the consequences.” – Dr. Leslie Martin