First of all, I don’t believe this assertion.
Is there anything other than masses of misinformed people, and the marketing departments of animal food businesses that shows any link between the two? There is no secret about the relationship between industry lobbyists and government agencies which have there be food groups such as “meat” and “dairy.” Other countries in the world have food guides which are not centered around animal food like this.
I would honestly like to know if there is any solid credible information in favour of “animal protein being necessary.”
Thanks.
Categorized | Affiliate Marketing 101
What Information Is Available That Shows People Must Eat Animal Protein To Be Healthy?
Posted on October 19, 2010.
Science has shown – based on the study of comparative dentition, anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry – that humans are an omnivorous species rather than herbivores as contested in many discourses on vegetarianism or purely carnivores as contested by those opposed to vegetarianism. That means humans can eat pretty anything, that doesn’t actually kill them, no matter how poor in nutrition it is.
Like the carnivores, we have fairly simple digestive systems well suited to the consumption of animal protein, which breaks down quickly. The human small intestine, at 23 feet, is a little under eight times body length (assuming a mouth-to-anus “body length” of three feet). This is about midway between cats (three times body length), dogs (3-1/2 times), and other well-known meat eaters on the one hand and plant eaters such as cattle (20 to 1) and horses (12 to 1) on the other. This is not to say that we are meant to eat meat, just that we are capable of digesting it and making use of the proteins and other nutrients in it. This mid point supports the other evidence that we are omnivores.
Herbivores also have specialised digestive organs capable of breaking down cellulose, the main component of plant tissue. Humans find cellulose totally indigestible. Plant eaters have to take their time with it. If humans were ruminants (cud eater), for instance, they may have evolved a stomach with four compartments, enabling regurgitation to allow re-chewing of food. Or they may have evolved an enlarged cecum, a sac attached to the intestines where, like rabbits, food is stored until their intestinal bacteria can digest it. Digestion of this type takes place by a process of fermentation where the bacteria actually eat the cellulose and the host animal consumes what results.
The story is roughly the same with teeth. Humans are equipped with an all-purpose set of dentition equally suited to meat and plant matter. Humans’ dentition evolved for processing starches, fruits, and vegetables, not tearing and masticating flesh. Our oft-cited “canine” teeth are not at all comparable to the sharp teeth of true carnivores. Other plant-eaters, like gorillas, horses, and hippos, have “canines”, and chimps, who are almost exclusively vegan, have massive canines compared to ours.
This discourse could extend into the realms of binocular vision, sleep patterns, and many other of the cases brought by both sides of the debate but there is little point and it wouldn’t answer the question.
There have been no studies, either scientific or otherwise, that have shown that humans must eat any animal products, protein or any thing else, to remain healthy or survive.
Just the reverse is true.
There have been countless papers from medical and scientific research and practise that has shown that the consumption of animal products leads to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, and other degenerative disease – not to mention bacterial, viral, and prion based diseases. This has been exhaustively demonstrated beyond any doubt. If humans were natural carnivores then eating meat wouldn’t cause these problems. The fact that health can be regained by laying off meat and dairy is powerful evidence that humans should not be eating those foods in the first place.
There are 22 standard amino acids, the building blocks of all proteins, that are required by all animal life, including humans. Of these there are 11, known as the essential amino acids. Essential amino acids are “essential” not because they are more important to life than the others, but because the body does not synthesize them, making it essential to include them in one’s diet in order to obtain them. There are 8 essential amino acids required by all humans phenylalanine, valine, threonine, tryptophan, isoleucine, methionine, leucine, and lysine, plus cysteine, tyrosine, histidine and arginine are required by infants and growing children. All of these essential amino acids, and the other 10, can be found in; and digested, absorbed, and metabolised from; plant matter.
This could also extend in to the environmental and ethical issues surrounding farming and slaughtering but I’ll leave at that..
don’t read Good Calories,Bad Calories by Gary Taubes.
animal protein isn’t necessary for survival but he pretty much provides scientific evidence that eating grains isn’t healthy. and it’s hard to get enough calories as a vegetarian/vegan without eating grains or products made from grains. feel free to believe vegetarian propaganda that disputes the claim.
i’ve never seen a study that specifies that animal proteins are required for a healthy diet. Not a one.
(Notice how some answers immediately change the topic to needing protein in general – and not specifically animal protein, which is actually what you are talking about. It is said people can’t put down their own agendas long enough to actually answer the question)
I doubt there is one. Its good you brought this up. I myself is not fond of meat but due to my upbringing, I do consume in isolation some fish. But I try my best to refrain from chicken, mutton, beef and so on. I also realised that this diet of mine has helped me stay healthy and calm in character. The way to go is green.
Yes, people Living here in America (that have money) do NOT have to eat animal protein to be healthy. Happy? They have big supermarkets, time, and money. The majority of the worlds population does not as exsft explained.
There isn’t any because it isn’t true. My wife is a licensed dietitian and life long vegetarian; how could those two things be compatible if you have to eat animal protein?
While there are amino acids in vegetables, you need a wide variety of plants to get ALL the amino acids to create a complete protein. LOL! You are funny. Why not talk about poor people in the developing world? Does it not meet your criteria to prove your point. It is soooooo difficult when people actually have points that disprove yours, isn’t.
Meat, by itself, is a complete protein. People who are not obsessed with their diet tend to eat it and not have to worry about which amino acid have I missed?
Here’s another. With a lot of care, work, and a good bank account, you can get the protein you need from a plant based diet. But you do need Vitamin B12 and it’s not available from any plant sources. None. Zilch.
From VeganHealth:
–“Because the amino acids in whole plant foods are harder to extract due to the indigestibility of some plant cell walls, vegans need about 10% more protein than non-vegetarians. For that reason, I have inflated the RDA for vegans by 10%. The RDA for protein is supposed to cover the needs of 97.5% of the population, but the average adult between 19 and 50 years old needs only .66 g per kg of ideal body weight per day (the average vegan would therefore need .73 g per kg) (1).”–
For Lynn: I don’t need a “new” definition for zilch. There is absolutely no plant source for B12. None, zilch. VeganHealth, the Vegan Society, VRG, any major veg*n website will tell you that you need to supplement your diet with B12. There are high processed foods fortified with B12, but it’s not from plants. It’s from a lab somewhere made from who knows what? My B12 comes from a natural source. The cows eat grass, they make B12 in their gut and store it in their flesh. I eat the flesh. It’s how humans evolved and it’s worked pretty darn well for millions of years.
There is no evidence, report or scientific data that concludes that animal protein is necessary. How could there be when over 7,000,000 Germans, 4,000,000 Brits, 1,000,000 Americans etc. walk, talk and breath every day to disprove it?
EDIT: In response to the assertion that you cannot get vitamin B12 from a non animal source……
What is B-12 derived from? Isn’t it always from an animal product?
B-12, when used to fortify foods, is generally synthetic or fungal in origin. While it is commonly found in animal products, it is now more readily available in soy milks, meat analogues, and Vegetarian Support Formula (Red Star T-6635+) nutritional yeast.
So……..better start finding a new definition of the word ‘ziltch’.
On the contrary, meat and dairy are eve more highly regarded in non Western countries. The fact that it is rare to find a table with so much meat does not mean people do not want it. They just can’t afford it.
here are a few articles: (long read though)http://www.fao.org/docrep/t0562e/T0562E0…http://www.prostate-massage-and-health.c…http://www.naturalfamilyawareness.com/he…http://www.salagram.net/Vege-RedMeatTrut…http://www.brighthub.com/health/diet-nut…
There is one serious flaw in your argument however. When you mention “need”, you are referring to a “all things being equal” scenario where every single human being has access to foods the way a Westerner might: supermarkets overflowing with brightly colored produce AND meat including all types of dairy/dairy substitutes, supplements, alternatives etc with all the correct nutrition labeling information available in order for you to make the correct choice whatever that may be. But not all people enjoy such luxuries of choice and for someone living in a poorer society where the choice is not “what should I eat” but “is there anything to eat”, any kind of food, meat included becomes a necessity for health and even just for survival. In a recent feeding program in the country where I am in at the moment. it was found that 8 out of ten children and 6 out of 10 adults in a rural community were suffering from protein deficiency, meat in the form of fish was added to their daily intake. It was deemed necessary to improve their health. Soy protein was not available since it does not grow in their area. Neither do beans, nuts etc. No, their only reliable source of protein and other nutrients are a few types of vegetables, fish and rice. That is i only one village ( of 650 people). Multiply that by thousands of villages over hundreds of island and you have millions of people who rely on fish/seafood plus a few hunted species for their total protein requirements. ow can yous till honestly look these people in the eye and argue to them that meat is not essential for them to be healthy? They might just have you for dinner..as the main course and have a good laugh about it.