Vegan? But what about protein!?

A very real concern of my own when I decided to venture into a meatless world. But now, I’m can only laugh at the question. What I’ve come to understand is if you’re eating a rainbow (variety of foods), a lack of protein will never be a health concern.

Ever heard of someone being hospitalized from a protein deficiency? Didn’t think so. That’s because unless you’re not eating enough calories, it’s nearly impossible to be malnourished from not enough protein.

This is just the beginning of the misconceptions about this praised macronutrient.

The Truth About Protein

To learn more about replacing meat with plants, I synced up with Dr. Garth Davis, who has three decades of experience in the medical industry and has seen patient after patient confused in how their health continues to decline after sticking to ‘healthy’ American diet. As Dr. Garth noticed the same toll on his own health, he took it upon himself to do the research and in the process dispels the many myths that have been perpetuated by doctors, weight loss experts, and the media.

After reviewing thousands of science-backed studies, he’s come to discover how protein really should be incorporated into our diet. He has the success to prove it through his own experience and in implementing his finding with his patients. So what did he discover? Dr. Garth claims that protein is not the answer, it’s the problem. And he lays it all out in his new book, Proteinaholic.

Enjoy our discussion as we bite into the juicy truth about protein:

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Animal vs Plant Protein Takeaways:

Get the BookBelow are a few excerpts from Dr. Garth’s new book, Proteinaholic addressing the differences between animal and plant protein and a vegan diet in general. Of course, these just skim the surface and are all backed by science-based studies he himself reviewed.

Animal protein is strongly associated with diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and cancer—the main killer of our time.

Animal meat, even fresh game from an elk hunt, is filled with that animal’s bacteria and hormones that cause inflammation in human bodies.

When many Americans get double the RDA of protein, which itself is roughly double our true requirement, it becomes a big problem.

Higher animal protein consumption is linked to poor mood, loss of mental concentration, and dementia.

Meat breaks down in the body to purines and uric acid. These substance cause gout, which can be an extremely painful arthritic condition.

We are poorly designed to eat animal protein; we do not handle acid nearly as well as carnivores, and our jaws, saliva, and intestines are better designed to consume plants and fruits.

Plant-based protein is not only abundant, it’s much better for you than animal protein and contain more than enough to support health needs.

Plant-based diets help protect against diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, obesity, cancer, and premature death. That is just scratching the surface.

The most common [assertion is] that a vegan/ vegetarian diet is deficient in essential vitamins, which proves that it’s dangerous and unnatural. I find this myth ironic in the extreme, given that I run lab tests on thousands of meat eaters and most of them are extremely vitamin deficient.

Rather than becoming “anti animal protein,” I’d rather you take a stand “pro fruits and vegetables.” That is, the vast majority of the calories you consume should come from fresh, whole fruits and veggies; nuts and seeds; beans of all types; and whole, unrefined grains. By focusing on the healthy and delicious plant-based options, you automatically crowd the animal protein off your plate without obsessing over it.

What do you think?

Dr. Garth challenges us to determine what to do with information and differentiate wrong from right for ourselves.

Do you agree with Dr. Garth’s findings? Is our protein obsession is killing us? If so, what are you going to do differently? Have you experienced anything to inform your decision between meat or plants? Let’s chat about it in the comments below.

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