I know as a vegan you get this all the time but it's weird to me that when I tell people I'm raw - the first thing out of their mouths is:
"Where do you get your protein?"
It's not that I don't get the question. Oh, I get it. I get that a lot of people still think protein can only be found in meat/eggs/dairy. And I get that protein is important. What I don't get is that most of the time the people who question my going raw are folks who don't seem to give much thought to nutrition in their own diets. This weekend I was asked by a woman who was sipping a diet Coke and munching on pepperoni pizza. OH THE IRONY! No one thinks TWICE about nutrition when they are eating crap but go raw and suddenly THEY. ARE. WORRIED!
With that said...
I have to admit I've ignorantly been telling people OF COURSE I get enough protein without really knowing if I do. I still tend to eat what I feel like eating instead of what my body needs. Besides I need some smarty pants replies for the next person who asks.
I found this article on LIVING FOOD. COM:
Where do raw and living foodist get their protein?
The WHO (World Health Organization) says humans need about 5% of their daily calories to come from protein to be healthy. The USDA puts this figure at 6.5%. On average, fruits have about 5% of their calories from protein. Vegetables have from 20-50% of their calories from protein. Sprouted seeds, beans, and grains contain from 10-25% of their calories from protein. So if you are eating any variety of living plant foods, you are getting more than adequate protein. Numerous scientific studies have shown the daily need for protein to be about 25-35 grams per day. So if you ate 2,000 calories per day, and ate raw plant foods that had an average of 10% of their calories from protein, you would get 200 calories worth of protein, or 50 grams. This is more than adequate to support optimal well-being. Other studies have shown that heat treating a protein (such as with cooking) makes about half of it unusable to the human body. So raw plant food protein is even a better source than cooked plant foods or animal foods. There is still a huge, foolish, misguided idea that plant protein is not "complete". This is based on studies done on rats in the 1940's. This false conclusion was drawn before we discovered the bodies protein recycling mechanism and its ability to "complete" any amino acid mix from our bodies amino acid pool, no matter what the amino acid composition of a meal consumed. This false idea is still perpetuated by the meat and dairy industries, in an attempt to influence people to continue consuming their truly health destroying products.
The WHO (World Health Organization) says humans need about 5% of their daily calories to come from protein to be healthy. The USDA puts this figure at 6.5%. On average, fruits have about 5% of their calories from protein. Vegetables have from 20-50% of their calories from protein. Sprouted seeds, beans, and grains contain from 10-25% of their calories from protein. So if you are eating any variety of living plant foods, you are getting more than adequate protein. Numerous scientific studies have shown the daily need for protein to be about 25-35 grams per day. So if you ate 2,000 calories per day, and ate raw plant foods that had an average of 10% of their calories from protein, you would get 200 calories worth of protein, or 50 grams. This is more than adequate to support optimal well-being. Other studies have shown that heat treating a protein (such as with cooking) makes about half of it unusable to the human body. So raw plant food protein is even a better source than cooked plant foods or animal foods. There is still a huge, foolish, misguided idea that plant protein is not "complete". This is based on studies done on rats in the 1940's. This false conclusion was drawn before we discovered the bodies protein recycling mechanism and its ability to "complete" any amino acid mix from our bodies amino acid pool, no matter what the amino acid composition of a meal consumed. This false idea is still perpetuated by the meat and dairy industries, in an attempt to influence people to continue consuming their truly health destroying products.
Dear Stacy,
Where do I begin?
If I could condense this information onto a business card, and just HAND it to people every time I get asked the dreaded PROTEIN question, I would probably have an extra four hours a week to do things I really want to do.
The article you posted talks about how raw, plant based foods are actually a more perfect form of protein than animal sources. Imagine taking your lettuce and fruit and putting them into a blender. How much more nutrition would we be absorbing if our bodies didn't have to work so hard breaking down the food we eat? Well a lot more!! That's the beauty of the green smoothie!!
And I pay attention to how I feel. I am rarely sick. My fingernails are as strong as steel, I heal quickly, and don't get bruises very often. I sleep like a rock, and am energetic all day.
I don't know about you, but I was always told that the proof is in the avocado pudding.
Big grin :-D
ReplyDeleteI'm living vicariously through you girls... while eating things you would not appreciate.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear it about the protein. While I'm not raw or vegan by any stretch, I do lean to vegetarian and feel really good.
My new big question... how are your insides working, if you know what I mean.
Keep up the good work, we're with ya all the way!
Ya know...I'm pretty hearty, Viva La Cabin, but even I hesitate to answer that one!! Lets just say the trip to Shangri Raw has been smooth sailing and leave it at that!
ReplyDeleteJ