INBALANCE HOW TO BE BULLETPROOF WITH YOUR DIET — IF YOU DARE
But Where Do You Get Your Protein? Tom Nowak knows what you would probably ask about his vegan diet. “Where do you get your protein?” he said, but could not help chuckling as he recalled the typical reaction. “That’s not the real question. It’s where do vegans get their patience?”
Tom Nowak
That is because protein deficiency in any diet with sufficient calories is rare. In fact, many of the planet’s largest animals, such as elephants, are herbivores. Powerful apes and gorillas are almost exclusively herbivores. Before Nowak was a financial advisor, he was a chemist in the pharmaceutical industry. So he knows something about biochemistry — enough to know that protein comes from plants. When humans eat animals, they are consuming the protein that the animal’s body made from plants. “That’s how everybody else gets their protein and we are just buffaloed, so to speak, into believing the messaging out there that vegans can’t get enough protein,” Nowak said. “Even though the best tennis player in the world is vegan; the No. 1 weightlifter is vegan. I met an 85-year-old triathlete and she’s a vegan. So they get plenty of protein.” If anything, Americans suffer from too much protein. It might seem that if some protein grows muscle, then more protein would be better, but excess protein does not build muscle it grows fat. Excess protein, particularly the kind from animals, overloads kidneys and is considered a factor in the increase in renal failure. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s daily recommendation is 56 grams of protein for men and 46 for women. Although some researchers are doubting if that is too high, Americans are already doubling that by taking in about 100 grams a day. In fact, even with all the growing attention to healthier eating, Americans ate more red meat and poultry than ever, 222.2 pounds per person in 2018, according to the USDA. — Steven A. Morelli inflammation, oxidation and cholesterol. Scientists argue over which one causes cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer. For example, LDL cholesterol has been implicated in heart disease but lately some scientists have argued it is more related to inflammation. Here is a simple answer: all three are related to animal products. They are also related to each other, one giving rise to the other. Inflammation: When your body protects itself, it produces the conditions leading to inflammation, such as a lump 50
InsuranceNewsNet Magazine » April 2019
on the head after a bump. You do the same when you consume animal products. It is your body saying that this stuff does not belong there. Inflammation leads to many conditions — arthritis, of course, but also nearly every other major illness, such as heart disease, cancer, auto-immune disorders and even depression. With any of these conditions, it is no surprise that one of the first things a doctor will usually talk about is diet. Oxidation: When you see rust, you are looking at oxidation. Technically, it is the loss of an electron from a molecule or
atom. In your body, that creates an unstable element (aka, a free radical) that floats around, looking to bind with something else. Those free radicals are actually beneficial in getting rid of toxins, but are really damaging when they overwhelm antioxidants. Free radicals can break down tissue, organs, DNA and proteins. Oxidative stress has been linked to heart disease, diabetes and cancer, along with many other maladies. A leading culprit is heme iron, the kind you get from animal products. That iron is more readily absorbed in the body, but it is too much of the wrong kind of iron because it produces excess free radicals. Antioxidants from berries, nuts and dark chocolate (woohoo!) help achieve a healthy balance. Cholesterol: Your body generates its own cholesterol and you do not need it from other sources, which would be animal protein and fat — meat, dairy and fish. Fruits, vegetables and grains do not have cholesterol. Even high-fat plant foods, such as nuts, do not contain cholesterol. Your body cannot burn off cholesterol as it can other fats. There is no “good” cholesterol that you could consume, only what your body makes.
Yeah, But …
Someone hearing all this might say, “Yeah, but you aren’t getting the essential nutrients …” So, here are a few common ones. Vitamin B12: People suddenly get really worried about B12 when the subject of a vegan diet comes up. And B12 is in fact vital for nerve and blood cell health. But B12 is produced by bacteria in the ground — not by animals or plants. It gets into animals through contamination or supplementation. Basically, before humans discovered hygiene, we were lapping up all sorts of B12. According to a Tufts University study, 40 percent of Americans don’t have enough B12 — a percentage far surpassing the vegan population (about 3 percent of the total U.S. population). Supplementing is the only way to get B12 and there is some argument that the most effective absorption is from drops under the tongue (sublingually). Omega-3: This fat protects cell walls. A lack of omega-3 contributes to many maladies, including heart disease and stroke. Omega-3 must be ingested because animals cannot create it. Fish has
