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Plant Protein Preferable

Since foods are a package deal, Dr. Walter Willet, the Chair of Harvard’s nutrition department, recommends we emphasize plant sources of protein rather than animal sources.

November 1, 2011 |
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Plant Protein Preferable, 5.0 out of 5 based on 6 ratings

Sources Cited

Greek Ministry of Health and Welfare Supreme Scientific Health Council. Dietary guidelines for adults in Greece. Archives of Hellenic Medicine 1999, 16(5):516-524.

Skerrett PJ, Willett WC. Essentials of healthy eating: a guide. J Midwifery Womens Health. 2010 Nov-Dec;55(6):492-501.

Acknowledgements

Image thanks to Global Crop Diversity Trust.

 

Transcript

The dietary recommendations of countries that rely on their health departments to formulate them rather than their agriculture departments more closely parallel the recommendations of academics such as Walter Willet, the Chair of Harvard’s nutrition department, who, in his essentials of healthy eating guide talks about picking the best “protein packages, recognizing that food is a package deal and so one of his top 3 recommendations is we should emphasize plant sources of protein rather than animal sources.

See, to the metabolic systems engaged in protein production and repair, it doesn't matter whether amino acids come from animal or plant protein. However, protein is not consumed in isolation. Instead, it is packaged with a host of other nutrients. The "baggage" that I refer to in previous videos. The quality and amount of fats, carbohydrates, sodium, and other nutrients in the ‘‘protein package’’ may influence long-term health. For example, results from the Harvard Nurses’ Health Study suggest that eating more protein from beans, nuts, seeds, and the like—while cutting back on refined carbohydrates like white flour—reduces the risk of heart disease.

So the bottom line… Go with plants. Eating a plant-based diet is healthiest.

To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by Peter Mellor.

To help out on the site please email volunteer@nutritionfacts.org

Dr. Michael Greger

Doctor's Note

Please feel free to post any ask-the-doctor type questions here in the comments section and I’d be happy to try to answer them. Be sure to check out all the videos on dietary guidelines and heart disease. If you're worried about the gassiness of beans, check out my blogpost Clearing the Air. And as always, there are 1,449 subjects covered in my other videos–please feel free to explore them!

For some context, please check out my associated blog posts: Dietary Guideline Graphics: From the Food Pyramid to My Plate, Harvard’s Healthy Eating Plate, and PCRM’s Power Plate, Do Eden Beans Have Too Much Iodine?, How to Enhance Mineral Absorption, Preventing and Treating Kidney Failure With Diet, Cholesterol Lowering in a Nut Shell, What Is the Healthiest Meat?

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/mgreger/ Michael Greger M.D.

    Please feel free to post any ask-the-doctor type questions here in the comments section and I’d be happy to try to answer them. Be sure to check out all the videos on dietary guidelines and heart disease. If you’re worried about the gassiness of beans, check out my blogpost Clearing the Air. And as always, there are 1,449 subjects covered in my other videos–please feel free to explore them!

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/cocowillie/ Cocowillie

    So doc, can you direct me to any of your videos that rate the top protein rich veggies? You are changing lives – mine and my kids, especially! Thank you.

    • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/toxins/ Toxins

      Hello Cocowillie,

      When I tell people I don’t eat animal products the first thing i hear is “where do you get your protein?”. It is in fact, a myth, that plant foods are not complete proteins and in reality, all fruits and vegetables contain complete proteins so there is no need to compliment 2 foods for a full amino acid profile. If you eat when your hungry, energy expenditures satisfy protein intake. The American Dietetic Association acknowledges this fact as well “Plant protein can meet protein requirements when a variety of plant foods is consumed and energy needs are met. Research indicates that an assortment of plant foods eaten over the course of a day can provide all essential amino acids and ensure adequate
      nitrogen retention and use in healthy adults; thus, complementary proteins do not need to be consumed
      at the same meal” http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/2009_ADA_position_paper.pdf
      Plant foods such as spinach contain more of a percentage of protein than beef. For example, spinach is 51% protein and mushrooms are 35% while beef is 36% protein.

      Furthermore, Regarding our actual requirements for protein. For the average human being, male or female, the minimum has been set to 20 grams per day. This is according to Dr. William Rose of the University of Illinois back in 1942. Dr. John McDougall states that our body only uses about 10 grams of protein per day since we don’t actually store protein but use it as our body needs http://www.nealhendrickson.com/mcdougall/031200puprotein.htm The World Health Organization states “adequate levels of protein intake are recommended to be 0.45 grams of protein per kilogram of ideal body weight per day”. http://whqlibdoc.who.int/trs/WHO_TRS_935_eng.pdf For me weighing at 150 pounds, that comes out to about 30 grams of protein per day. Note that the World Health Organization states this as a “safe” level, meaning it is not a minimum. Bottom line is, our body doesn’t need a large amount of protein, and since all plant foods contain more than adequate protein quality and levels, to focus on eating a “protein” is not necessary. If you eat when your hungry and till your full on a plant based diet, you are getting MORE than enough protein. If anything, in today’s society we should be worried about getting too much protein since too much protein gets broken down to uric acid and strains our kidneys.
      Let me know if you have any other questions, such as omega 3 requirements or any other question of the sorts.

      On another topic, check out this video on cancer prevention using whole plant foods! http://nutritionfacts.org/videos/plant-based-prevention/

      • Rami

        This whole “complete protein” business is confusing. Yes, all plant foods contain all essential amino acids. But most are not in the perfect proportion necessary for us to build our own human protein. In my experience, the two amino acids to watch are lysine and methionine. They are usually the limiting amino acids. Whole grains are usually low in lysine, legumes are usually low in methionine. Plus, there are a few nonessential amino acids that are not present in plant foods, so in that sense plant protein is indeed incomplete. In my experience 2000 calories of plant foods supplies 63-73 g of protein. Not bad.

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/cocowillie/ Cocowillie

    Thanks Doc. There is a daily argument in our house about the amount of almond and soy milk I drink. I do not drink cow’s milk unless I run out of the other stuff. Any concerns about the amount of almond or soy?

    Keep up the good fight!

    • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/toxins/ Toxins

      Hello again Cocowillie,

      I am actually not a doctor, just someone who researches nutrition obsessively and tries to stay informed!

      To answer your question, almond milk is fine, but be weary of soy milk if you plan on drinking it with fruits or veggies. Check out this video for details.

      http://nutritionfacts.org/videos/soymilk-suppression/

      Also, soymilk, specifically for young girls is another thing to be cautious of. check out this video for details.
      http://nutritionfacts.org/videos/the-effect-of-soy-on-precocious-puberty/

      All in all, I would say almond milk is the safest choice of the 2.

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/HeidiWoodruff/ Heidi Woodruff

    The national Sunday paper here has run a three week series on the benefits of the Dukan diet. http://www.bodyandsoul.com.au/collections/all+about+the+dukan+diet,207 (eeek!) Do you have any studies that show just how harmful this type of diet can be?

    • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/toxins/ Toxins

      This is sickening to me
      “The Dukan Diet starts with a short, sharp Attack phase where you eat nothing but protein – just meat, fish, eggs and (unlike Atkins) no-fat or low-fat dairy products. This is the kick-start that gives you the initial, rapid weight loss (up to three kilograms in just five days), and sets the tone for the other stages of the plan. Stay on the Attack phase for one to 10 days depending on how much weight you have to lose.

      The problem here is that they are not shedding fat weight but water weight.
      This is from Dr. McDougall, a plant based advocate
      “The initial weight loss is rapid, and therefore very rewarding, for the desperate dieter. Most of this loss, however, is water loss, rather than fat loss. With little carbohydrate in the diet the body resorts to using its glycogen stores of glucose. Glycogen, stored in the liver and muscles, can meet the average person’s glucose needs for about 12 to 18 hours. With each gram of glycogen is stored 2.7 grams of water. The average body stores 300 grams of glycogen. Depletion of the body’s glycogen would result in an almost overnight weight loss of 1110 grams (37 ounces or over 3 pounds). The ketones also cause a strong diuretic effect on the kidneys, resulting in losses of large amounts of fluid. The carbohydrate ceiling for weight loss may be as low as 15 grams, depending on the individual. This is only 60 calories of carbohydrate, which means 1/3 of a baked potato, 1/3 cup of rice, or one orange daily could be your limit of carbohydrate intake in order to remain in sufficient ketosis to suppress your appetite.”
      Read the article Dr. McDougall posted and you will see it elaborates on why the high protein diet is so harmful. Link below
      http://www.drmcdougall.com/res_high_protein_diets.html

      • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/wickedchicken/ wickedchicken

        I feel sorry for people’s bodies if they are on the dukan diet.

        Logic is clearly out the window when it comes to weight loss diet desperation.

      • LynnCS

        I did the high protein diet we called Atkins in the 70s. Lost weight really fast, but knew nothing of Ketosis then. I was young and failed to stay on it. Because most people can’t maintain it, they/we don’t cause ourselves irreparable harm. Many of the ‘sudden onset kidney failures later in life, I read, can be traced to a high protein diet over a life time. There is often no warning. I really don’t want to take that chance….It’s a no for me!

    • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/mgreger/ Michael Greger M.D.

      The Dukan Diet appears to be like the European version of the Atkins Diet. The UK National Health Service just highlighted that the Dukan Diet is the fad diet to avoid this holiday season, citing the British Dietetic Association’s conclusion that it is “ineffective and without scientific basis.” I wrote a whole book about these these types of diets, Carbophobia: The Scary Truth Behind America’s Low Carb Craze, available free, full-text at AtkinsExposed.org.

      • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/toxins/ Toxins

        Thanks Dr. Greger for the link!

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/wickedchicken/ wickedchicken

    Always great to have references like this, thank you.

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/vwg/ vwg

    I’ve been hearing more and more about the fact that legumes and grains have lectins and saponins in them, and that they are anti-nutritive or harmful (mostly hearing this from the paleo diet crowd).

    I was wondering if you could shed some light on what the current understanding is on that topic, or if you could point me in the direction of where I could learn more. Thanks!

  • Michael Greger M.D.
  • Sanamau

    Dr G

    If you were forced against the wall with an assailant armed with a chicken drumstick and he demanded an answer to the following question, what would you say? The (difficult) question is “About how many chemicals / chemical compounds does the average person consume in his diet daily?”
    I’m trying to gain information to strengthen my suggestions to friends to investigate plant-based diets as an alternative remedy to healing ills.
    Thanks for all I’ve learned from your articles in the past.

  • Joel

    In a first aid class we were told high fever is deadly mostly because of protein in the blood becoming denatured. Is there any research indicating different temperatures for animal or plant protein for this to happen?
    Maybe this is irrelevant, just wondering :)

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Stoaty-Marmot/1425873790 Stoaty Marmot

    > The World Health Organization states “adequate levels of protein intake
    are recommended to be 0.45 grams of protein per kilogram of ideal body
    weight per day”.

    Actually, the recommendation of the WHO is:

    “0.83 g/kg per day of protein with a protein digestibility-corrected amino acid
    score value of 1.0.”

    referenced in the document you pointed to, but didn’t actually read:

    http://whqlibdoc.who.int/trs/WHO_TRS_935_eng.pdf

    This recommendation gives and adequate intake for 97.5% of the population (median 0.66 plus 2 standard deviations of about 0.09 each).

  • not telling

    doc can i hve some facts abt plant proteins

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