People are increasingly concerned about adopting healthier diets. However, many are
prevented from necessary changes because of myths about certain nutrients. For example, it
is the common wisdom that one should eat ample amounts of meat in order to get adequate
protein and large amounts of dairy products in order to get adequate calcium to avoid
osteoporosis.
But, please consider the following: Countries with the highest consumption of dairy
products, such as the United States, Sweden, and Finland, also have the greatest incidence
of female osteoporosis. Eskimos, who consume the highest amounts of calcium of any of the
world's people, have the highest number of cases of osteoporosis. Osteoporosis occurs
relatively infrequently in China, even though they consume very little milk or other dairy
products.
The reason is that people on meat- and dairy- based diets are getting far too much
protein, generally 2 to 3 times the amount required, and when the excess protein is
excreted, calcium and other minerals are drained from the body. A recent study showed that
people getting 1400 milligrams per day of calcium along with about 150 grams of protein
had a negative calcium balance of 65 units while people getting only 400 milligrams of
calcium per day with only 500 grams of protein had a positive calcium balance of 31 units.
The main problem is the consumption of animal protein; studies have shown that protein
from non-animal sources has health benefits. So the answer to preventing osteoporosis is
not to consume a lot of dairy products, but to reduce animal protein consumption through a
balanced, nutritious diet centered on the "New Four Food Groups": fruits,
vegetables (especially broccoli, a very calcium-rich food, without the negatives of animal
products), grains, and legumes.
Researchers have found that the consumption of high-fat dairy products is a leading
cause of atherosclerosis, heart attacks, and strokes. While lower-fat dairy products
represent an improvement, they are higher in protein, and this contributes to
osteoporosis, kidney problems, and some forms of cancer. Dairy products are also the
leading culprits in food allergies. Actually, milk is a wonderful product, but it was
designed for rapid weight gain in calves. One might wonder if drinking milk is natural to
human beings when we recognize that no other mammal on earth consumes the milk of another
species or consumes it after a weaning period.
Many plant foods are good sources of calcium. Especially good sources are dark leafy
greens (such as kale and mustard, collard, and turnip greens), broccoli, beans, dried
figs, sunflower seeds, and calcium-fortified cereals and juices. Dairy products are good
sources of calcium, but they also contain large amounts of fat and protein.
According to an American Dietary Association paper, vegans (who consume no animal
products at all) can obtain the calcium they need from plant foods alone, and studies have
shown that vegetarians can absorb and retain more calcium from foods and have lower rates
of osteoporosis than non-vegetarians.
The question most frequently asked of vegetarians is "How do you get enough
protein?" However, the amount of protein that a person needs (as a percent of total
calories) is actually relatively low: 4.5%, according to the World Health Organization of
the United Nations, 6%, according to the Food and Nutrition Board of the U. S. Department
of Agriculture, and 8%, according to the U. S. National Research Council. It is extremely
significant that during infancy, the period when humans have the most rapid growth,
mother's breast milk provides only 5% of its calories as protein.
Adequate protein can easily be obtained from vegetarian, even vegan (no animal products
at all) diets. Protein is found in most plant foods as well as in animal foods. Potatoes,
for example have 11% of their calories from protein, and spinach has 49%.
While an average working man needs about 37 grams of protein per day. 3,000 calories of
rice alone would provide 60 grams of highly usable protein (for 3,000 calories of
potatoes, 80 grams of protein would be provided). It is almost impossible not to get
adequate protein, even on a plant-based diet, providing that one is getting enough
calories and consumes a reasonable variety of foods. If this is true, how is it that we
have gone so far wrong and so many people think that getting sufficient protein is a major
dietary concern. The reason is that much of our nutrition information has come from
experiments on rats, and rats require far more protein than humans do, as seen from the
fact that a rat mother's milk has almost 50% of its calories from protein.
Consuming excessive amounts of protein can seriously damage human health. As indicated,
it can result in a negative calcium balance and osteoporosis, because calcium and other
minerals are lost in the urine, along with the excess protein.
Calcium lost due to high protein diets must be handled by the kidneys, which
contributes to the formation of painful kidney stones. Excess protein causes destruction
of kidney tissue and progressive deterioration of kidney function. Many people in affluent
societies have lost 75 percent of their kidney function by the eighth decade of their
lives. Extra kidney capacity enables the kidney to carry out its function in otherwise
healthy people, but for people who suffer from additional diseases related to the kidney,
such as diabetes, surgical loss, or injury from toxic substances, damage due to the excess
protein may be fatal. When people with partial loss or damage to their kidneys are placed
on low-protein diets, they are able to maintain much of their remaining kidney function.
People on meat-based diets not only get excessive protein, but also large amounts of
hormones, fat, cholesterol, pesticides, antibiotics, and other harmful ingredients that
place major burdens on the consumer's kidneys, liver, and digestive system.
Do vegetarians have to "complement" proteins, that is, get a combination of
different foods containing proteins, to make sure that they get complete protein? This was
a theory first advocated by Frances Moore Lappe, who mistakenly argued in the first
edition of her very influential book, Diet for a Small Planet , that vegetarians should
combine proteins in order to get the same "protein value" as meat. However,
nutritionists no longer agree with that theory. The American Dietary Association stated in
its 1992 paper, "Eating Well - The Vegetarian Way", "Vegetarians do not
need to combine specific foods within a meal as the old 'complementary protein' theory
advised. The paper states: "The body makes its own complete proteins if a variety of
plant foods - fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds - and enough calories
are eaten during the day." Even Frances Moore Lappe agreed with this assessment in
later editions of her book.
In summary, more and more scientific studies are finding that the best health results
are obtained by shifting to completely plant diets, rather than shifting from red meat to
poultry, dairy, and other animal products.
The Schwartz Collection on Judaism, Vegetarianism, and Animal Rights
