Hello,
Dr. Chuma here,
I have been following a vegan diet now for 9 years, and, as most vegans will tell you, the most common question I get is “where do I get my protein!” The answer is very simple. I get all the protein I need from plants.
Protein is NOT something the vast majority of people need to worry about. But if you spend any time listening to or reading internet influencers, and even some misinformed medical professionals, we all need to be consuming more protein. Food companies take advantage of this misinformation and splash such phrases as “Contains Protein” on food packaging because it increases sales by 30%.
But the fact is that the average American consumes 2-3x more protein than they need or their body can even process. All that extra protein cannot be stored by the body, unlike fat and sugar, the other 2 macronutrients. Protein must be used immediately or processed and discarded by our livers and kidneys.
Most people don’t know what protein is. Many think of it as a source of energy. It is not, unless you are in a situation of extreme starvation.
Proteins are complex molecules which play many critical roles in the body. They are the main components of things such as enzymes, antibodies, structural components like cell walls as well as muscle. They are folded up chains made up of thousands of individual molecules called amino acids. There are 20 amino acids, 11 of which our bodies can make and 9 of which, known as essential amino acids, which we must consume. Proteins can’t be absorbed until they are broken down into chains of at most 2-5 amino acids. They then are small enough to pass through the intestinal wall and into our bloodstream. They are then reassembled to create all of these compounds necessary for life.
Contrary to the popular belief that animal products are the only sources of protein, plants are just as good, if not a better source. In fact, plants have more absorbable and healthier proteins than animal products do. Broccoli, for example, has more protein per calorie than steak. Another example are potatoes. A large potato has as much protein as an egg, often touted by the egg industry as “nature’s perfect food”. But the potato has no cholesterol whereas the egg has a lot.
There is also a very common misconception that meat, eggs and fish contain all 20 amino acids, including the 9 essential ones. The truth is that all plants contain all the amino acids, essential and non essential. There is one notable exception which is animal collagen, promoted as good for hair and skin. It is the only food missing one of the essential amino acids, tryptophan. Collagen products do have more of the same amino acids found in our own skin, nails and tendons, but collagen still has to be broken down to be absorbed and then reassembled. But the body might use those collagen amino acids for something different like hormones or enzymes, not necessarily collagen. So the notion that eating collagen is good for our hair, skin and tendons actually makes little sense. The same flawed logic applies to the idea that you need to eat animal muscle for our muscles to grow bigger and stronger.
Animal proteins are harder for the body to process. The kidneys, which filter out most of the protein we eat, have a much harder time processing animal proteins than plant ones. The National Kidney Foundation recently acknowledged this fact, recommending that kidney disease patients eat a more plant-based diet.
When it comes to exercise and muscle maintenance and growth, there is no study that shows that animal protein outperforms plant proteins. Again the opposite is true. Athletes recover faster and can train harder on plant-based diets. There is a movie called “The Game Changers” which highlights many world class athletes like Patrik Baboumian, the strongest man in the world and Novak Djokovic, the world’s greatest tennis player who are plant-based. Carl Lewis, one of the fastest men of all time, was well known to be plant based.
Ultimately, it’s not the protein which makes you stronger and bigger. It’s the work. You won’t get stronger bones and muscles by pounding the protein shakes and sitting on your butt binging on Netflix. It’s getting in the gym, lifting weights or getting on the trails and exercising!
Looking at the healthiest and the longest lived human populations in the world, they are 95-100% plant-based. None of them give any thought to protein.
Just look to nature for further evidence of the benefits of eating plant-based. Some of the largest, strongest and fiercest mammals on the planet are vegan. Gorillas, elephants, giraffes and rhinoceroses consume exclusively plants and they appear to be doing just fine.
So the next time the waitress at the restaurant asks if you want to add a protein to your salad, just tell them that the salad has plenty of protein already! Or better yet, ask for some tofu. Misconceptions about soy are coming up in my next piece.
See you next time.