In this new mini-series we will look over some of the most interesting and helpful scientific studies from many areas of life, some common, some more esoteric.
In this installment I want to explore the idea of which is better between plant and animal dietary protein?
While we could explore the too debatable ethical science or the harder to comprehend science of ecology surrounding this idea, I instead today want to focus on the third option: nutritional science.
My reasoning behind this is that it is really irrefutable at this point and far easier to comprehend or relate to, as it is backed up by a formidable amount scientific literature and intimately relates to ones own state of being, unlike the ethical or ecological sciences respectively.
It’s worth mentioning that the scientific method is observation, experimentation, trial and error, and the resultant empirical evidence discovered. I may use just my body or my body in conjunction with machines to arrive at conclusions. Both are valid means of arriving at conclusions to the world we inhabit, so long as they are replicable by others.
The Nutritional Science
Dietary Protein
The Science of nutrition is the study of how the ingestion of foods affects ones physical being. How some foods increase vitality by liberating energy within one’s body, maintaining good blood flow, proper brain function and immune efficiency etc., while others have the opposite, deleterious impact, creating disease.
I like to think that as I understand more about this science I can make better choices when shopping and thereby refine my diet to incorporate a better selection from nature’s larder.
Now some individuals may hold the vague idea that "protein is protein" no matter if it comes from animals or plant based sources.
However, there is overwhelming scientific research to suggest that consuming protein that originates from plants is far more beneficial to our body’s major systems compared to the way in which animal protein has an overly adverse affect.
There are environmental influences which determine if foods have harmful substances in them, like GMO or chemical fertilizers, and then there are innate ones. Ones which are simply a part of the foods chemical composition itself, like how meat always contains more harmful cholesterol and saturated fat than plant sources. These are the two main examples we will explore today.
But before we do, I would like to quickly look at protein itself. How do we determine which option has a better supply of this? Disregarding any other factors? This is the starting point. Because protein supply relates to the state of your muscles, how they grow and are maintained within the body.
All the macro-nutrients like protein, carbohydrates and fats contain carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. But it is only protein which contains nitrogen. Furthermore, as the majority of protein is found in muscles assessing nitrogen balance is a good way to ascertain protein status, whether one is getting an adequate amount of protein for ones muscles or not.
There is much research that suggests plant sources are at least equivalent to meat based on this determinate:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6686252
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19329389
These examples suggest that plant protein is just as good at building muscle as meat sources of protein.
So when both are just as good, or plant based even better, at producing and maintain muscle mass, why else is plant based protein better than meat?
Well plant based protein does not cause you an early death as they don’t contain harmful nutrients like saturated fat and bad cholesterol, and animal protein itself promotes cancer cell growth.
There are also major ethical and environmental benefits for switching to plant protein. However, I will not go into these topics today. At the end of the day, what is the point of harming animals and the environment when you can reach all of your goals and be healthier through a plant based diet?
Saturated Fat and Bad Cholesterol
The two most researched and documented factors in why meat, eggs and dairy protein are bad for the body is the large amounts of saturated fat and bad (LDL) cholesterol that is found in them. Too much will clog your arteries including those in your heart and brain.
The American Heart Association states:
The American Heart Association recommends aiming for a dietary pattern that achieves 5% to 6% of calories from saturated fat. For example, if you need about 2,000 calories a day, no more than 120 of them should come from saturated fats.That’s about 13 grams of saturated fats a day.
On the other hand a fresh organic plant based wholefoods diet is low in saturated fat and cholesterol and thus lowers the chance of developing some of most pervasive and devastating diseases, like heart disease.
In general, you can’t go wrong eating more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and fewer calories. – American Heart Association
The evidence for the negative impact of saturated fats and bad cholesterol is overwhelming in today’s dietary science.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9006469
William C. Roberts is editor and chief of the American College of Cardiology and he has singled out cholesterol as the only cause of atherosclerosis (thinning of the arteries) and has gone as far to say that human beings are herbivorous as only herbivores can get atherosclerosis:
Now you may have come across articles recently saying that bad cholesterol does not pose an increase risk to heart disease, as it has made national headlines in many nations. Because I want to keep this series short, I will end here by referencing this article by the British Heart Foundation in response these false claims:
https://www.bhf.org.uk/heart-matters-magazine/news/behind-the-headlines/cholesterol-and-statins
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