Protein in the nutritarian eating style

A nutritarian eating style contains more than enough protein to meet the body's needs. Beans and other legumes are a rich source of protein. Green vegetables also contain protein, in fact broccoli contains more protein per calorie than steak. Seeds and nuts contain signficant amounts of protein. Adequate protein is essential, but 40-60 grams of protein per day is an ample amount. In fact, the World Health Organization recommends 5% of calories from protein. For an average male eating a 2000-calorie daily diet, 5% is 100 calories, which is only 25 grams of protein! Athletes in training may need additional protein. Such needs will automatically be met in a nutritarian eating style, as more calories will be eaten.

A balanced diet of vegetables, fruits, beans and other legumes, and seeds and nuts contains all the protein you need. For example, a salad containing five ounces of spinach topped with an ounce of sunflower seeds or pepitas contains 9 grams of protein. A cup of black beans over eight ounces of cooked broccoli, topped with an ounce of walnuts totals 27 grams. So just this medium-sized nutritarian meal contains 36 grams of protein. Livened up with some help from the list of flavor enhancers, and some fruit for dessert, it would be a tasty and filling lunch.

You do not benefit from extra protein. It doesn't make you stronger, faster, or smarter (more exercise and reading more books can help with those). Unlike carbohydrates, protein is not a clean-burning fuel in the body, and excessive amounts, especially of animal proteins, increase the toxic load and produce numerous negative effects. You need the right amount, the amount that is found in the foods that our species evolved eating. Not more, not less.

It is a myth that plant proteins need to be "complemented". A meal built around green vegetables, beans, and some seeds or nuts generally contains ample amounts of all eight essential* amino acids. Even if not, the body has a clever way to get around this, or the human race would have died out a long time ago. Cells from the intestinal walls are sloughed off as part of the normal digestion process, and some of the protein they contain is reabsorbed. So even if an occasional meal is a bit short on one of the essential amino acids, the protein in those cells supplies it.

Human beings are primates, and primates are almost total herbivores.** We are not evolved to metabolize more than small amounts of animal protein, and there are quite a few reasons to be wary of consuming it.

There is no strong evidence that the listed animal products are harmful if they constitute 10% or less of calories. There is compelling evidence, documented in the China Study and other research, that higher levels increase the incidence of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer, the effect rising rapidly with the amounts consumed.

There is no scientific evidence that fully vegan nutritarian diets (supplemented with vitamin B-12***) are in any way inferior to those with some animal products. There is a small percentage of people, 1% or less, who cannot produce enough of some inessential* amino acids. This can be determined by medical testing. These people, especially if they are involved in athletic training, may need to include some animal protein in their diets.

Much more commonly, in many individuals animal proteins promote inflammation and immune system problems. For this reason it is a very good idea for people with autoimmune conditions such as multiple sclerosis, inflammatory arthritis, lupus, Type I diabetes, fibromyalgia, Crohn's disease, irritable bowel, and so on to avoid animal proteins entirely.

* Proteins are built out of about 20 amino acid "building blocks". The digestion process breaks proteins in food down into their amino acids, which the body reconstitutes into the human proteins that it needs. All except eight of the amino acids can be manufactured by the body, and are called "inessential" because they do not need to be obtained directly from the diet. Those remaining eight are "essential", in that they must be present in the foods we eat.

** Primates in nature do eat insects and have occasionally been observed to eat small amounts of other animal foods, but the total is less than 10% of calories (hmm, just about what seems to be the safe limit for human beings) and generally much less.

*** The need for vitamin B-12 supplementation is not evidence that animal products are somehow necessary. Like humans, animals do not produce vitamin B-12. It is produced by bacteria, and in a primitive environment would be found in plant foods. In today's unnaturally clean food environment, it is possible for some people to develop vitamin B-12 deficiency eating a purely vegan diet. To be on the safe side, B-12 supplementation is called for. In fact, everyone on any kind of diet should be tested for vitamin deficiencies, as there are some individuals who require additional amounts to maintain proper blood levels. In particular, deficiencies of the critically important vitamin D are common, especially in northern climates.