The Protein Controversy

I am not now, and Have Never Been, a vegetarian.

OK, that's not entirely true, I briefly flirted with vegetarianism a few decades ago, right around the time I was Also experiments with sideburns and dashikis. But for must of my adult life-and certainly for all the Time I've been a nutritionist, I've been an unrepentant consumer products or animal.

It's not that I'm not sympathetic to the animal welfare folks-in fact, I count myself Among Them (it's a big tent, folks!) I Belong to just about everytime animal activist group on the planet and Care Deeply about animal welfare. But while I. Share With My Friends vegan a deep concern for all sentient being, I. happen to believe That we humans do better with Some Animal Products in our diet.

Of course, God is in the details, so let me be a little more specification.

Despite arguments to the contrary, the Fact Remains That we humans are omnivores. We can eat-and-on must THRIVE anything edible. And for all of the 2.4 million years the human genus Has Been On The Planet, We Have eaten from what I call the "Four Food Groups Jonny Bowden" We Could Have food hunted, fished, gathered or plucked. The exact Proportion of animal vs.. That vegetable food we consumed widely VARIED Depends on Where We Lived. The Inuit, for example, thrived on a diet largely consiste or seal meat and whale blubber (very few vegetables grow in the freezing cold) while the Bantu of South Africa thrived on a diet very high in carbohydrates and the Masai did Quite well on a Dieterich with cow's blood.

But it's almost impossible to point to-a society or a culture thrived and That HAS prospered without eating animal products Any. (The only group I Can Think Of That does it successfully is fully Tibetian monks, and They Do not reproduce.) When did Dan Buettner His landmark research on the areas of the globe Where There Are the greatest numbers of healthy centenarians (areas known as "The Blue Zones") That he found three of the four societies studied did eat meat Accent (albeit much of it Not That). The only exception was the Seventh Day Adventists in Loma Linda.

Despite vegan and vegetarian wishful thinking, sometimes nutrients are simply not adequately Represented in a vegetarian or vegan diet. Although The Vegan Will Tell You Otherwise, you simply can not ABSORB Any Reasonable amount of bioavailable B12 from plant foods. Sorry. (And this is not just my opinion. The Encyclopedia of Dietary Supplements, put together by a blue ribbon committee of scholars from the National Institutes of Health says "Because vitamin B12 is found only in animal source foods, strict vegetarianism HAS long bone associated with Greater risk of a deficiency of this vitamin.) Heme iron, absorbable form the musts or iron, is found only in animal foods. And while Vegetarians love to point to plant-based sources of omega-3 fats like flax, The Truth Is That the overwhelming Majority of studies on the health benefits of omega-3's Have Been done on the two omega-3s found in fish, EPA and DHA. The benefits of the omega-3 in flax, ALA, are far less clear.

So What About All Those studies showing horrible things happen to meat eaters?

Well, this is a blog, not a book, so to go write about all the depth problems That "link" Eating meat bad things to take dozens and dozens Would or pages. Certainly, When You Investigate dietary patterns you find That heavy meat eating was associated with a higher risk of bad outcomes Certain, for example, prostate cancer. But in VIRTUALLY everytime epidemiologic study ever done that links meat eating to bad outcomes, what's missing is the fact That the "meat eaters" are getting Their meat from factory farmed sources, meat That is loaded with hormones, steroids and antibiotics Usually not eating very many vegetables or fruits Usually eating very low amount of fiber living very stressful lives with multiple high risk factors

There HAS yet to be a study showing That Reasonable amount of grass-fed meat, wild fish, free-range eggs and Other Non-contaminated animal protein sources are consumed as part of a diet high in fiber, vegetables, fruits and omega-3 fats is associated with bad outcomes Any at all. Quite the contrary.

And before you bring it up, let me address "The China Study".

The "China Study" refers to a popular book That Came Out in 2005 by Professor T. Colin Campbell. Campbell was a researcher on a massive project, Called "The China Project" (also known as the China Study). Campbell's book is not "The China Study" Despite having the Same particularly as the original. Rather, His book contains historian Conclusions about the research. Those Conclusions Can be summed up as this: Protein is really bad for you, animal protein is the worst of all, a vegan diet is the health Tst diet on earth, and everytime you need nutrient-you-can get from plants.

The book is frequently overused by Vegans and Vegetarians to "proven" that a vegetarian diet is heal thier Than Any On The Planet, And That Especially animal protein-protein-is bad for you. They recitals the book "conclusive proof" or That positioning.

To repeat: Colin Campbell's book "The China Study" China is not the actual Study (also known as the China Project). The 'real', full-length study is titled "Diet, lifestyle, and mortality in China: A Study of the Characteristics of 65 Chinese counties [Chen J]." It's an enormously thick and demanding book That gathered data on 367 variables across 65 Countries and adults involvement 6500 to 8000 yielding statistically significant associations. The popular book "China Study" by Campbell Represents, as Mentioned, historian Conclusions about this data - Conclusion Which Have Been fiercely debated, by the way. He uses hand-selected, cherry picked data from the Study to Support His Rabid pro-vegan & leaves out Everything That position contradicts it.

(Campbell is associated with Physicians for Responsible Medicine, a vegan animal rights group masquerading as a medical Responsible Organization.)

It's interesting That no one with a research background takes Campbell's work very seriously. It's too easy to spot the biases, the methodological problems, the cherry-picking and the spinning. Some statements are so patently and ridiculous thats all you can do is roll your eyes. (Example: "Eating foods That Any containerization cholesterol above 0 mg is Unhealthy.") But this is not the place to take Campbell's book apart. For Those who are interested in hearing "The Other Side" to Campbell's propaganda excuse me, I mean arguments, I Suggest the excellent article by Chris Master John on the Weston A. Price Foundation website, or you-can find a version of it here:

Also there is the stunning Debate between Professor Loren Cordain, PhD and Campbell Which Can you find all over the internet by Googling "The Protein Debate: Loren Cordain and T. Colin Campbell. Highly worth reading. As is the comments by my good friend Michael Eades, MD, on the debate.

I have a personal story about Campbell Which I think is pretty amusing. Campbell who is a very charming and sincere man, by the way-Came to speak at the Boulder Fest Conference in Nutritional Medicine, a group not known for it's affinity for high-carb diets and veganism. (It was Actually Quite brave or HIM to come and speak to this group.) At the end of the day, there was a panel discussion in Which All the speakers of the day sat at a dais on the stage and participated in a Q and A with the audience, "including Campbell.

At one point, Defending his "anti-animal protein" position, Campbell quoted a study done at Harvard University, Which, He Said, had reached exactly the Same Conclusion That hey, Campbell had reached. Harvard researchers also AGREED with HIM, was the implication.

A man sitting at The Other End of the dais got up and Introduced himself. "Excuse me, Dr.. Campbell," Said the man. "I happened to be the lead researcher on That study you Mentioned. And we made no such Conclusions" It was David Ludwig, MD, of Harvard University.

So yes, I continued to struggle with the issue of how animals are Raised That Are Treated for food. And no, I Can never recommend factory-farmed meat feedlot to anyone. But I still believe That there is nothing inherently more about a healthy vegetarian diet, Which, after all, Could Still Qualify as if it consisted vegetarian here Exclusively or pasta and Captain Crunch.

And I Do Believe That a diet with Reasonable amount of grass fed meat, plenty of game fish, whole eggs from free-range chickens, raw organic milk, lots of omega-3's, tons of vegetables, sometimes low-sugar fruits, nuts, avocados, berries, fermented foods like sauerkraut real, miso and yogurt, olives and the occasional slice of whole-grain bread is Truly a hard diet to beat for overall vitality.

At least it is for me.