|
Our National Obsession with Protein
As a society we are obsessed with protein in the diet, and I believe we eat far too much of it.
That's a reason many kids are overweight. Kids under age three only need about one gram of protein per pound
body weightper day, older children and teenagers need half that. Given the content of protein in a Western
diet, these are extremely easy requirements to meet.
An important aspect of our eating plan is that protein is very difficult to digest compared to carbohydrates and
fats. When present in significant quantities, protein not only slows down, but also blocks the digestion of
carbohydrates and fats, leading to undigested food and obesity. Proper digestion is the key to being slim.
Even The American Academy of Pediatrics Guide to Your Child's Nutrition, a home nutrition reference, declares that
"protein is so abundant in the foods Americans eat, that most of us, children and adults alike, consume more than
we need. Protein overload may be a more serious problem than protein deficiency."
Despite this, we keep hearing that we need more protein. In fact, the current "pop" trend in dieting is to push
protein. When asked what should make up a balanced diet, even my kids say that protein is good and fat is bad. And
they add that you can't ever get too much protein. Tell that to the kidneys of America, bombarded with all that
urea nitrogen and creatinine to metabolize.
Our bodies are exquisitely designed to burn nutrients for fuel in a very specific way. Carbohydrates are the main
fuel source. When they are depleted, the body chooses fats next, the one nutrient designed specifically for storage
and reserve energy. When fats are depleted, protein, the body's main structural component, is used, but only when
severe depletion of carbohydrates and fats occur, a state commonly known as starvation or ketosis. Because protein
for energy is primarily used to build cellular structures - not to create energy - metabolizing protein for energy
is an incredibly inefficient way for the body to produce fuel.
People who go on high-protein diets are, in fact, starving themselves, which is why they are so
successful in losing weight in the short term. But it's downright dangerous for the long term.
When the body metabolizes fats and proteins in the absence of essential carbohydrates, toxic byproducts are
produced. These by-products are known as ketones or ketone bodies. When these build up to a high enough level in
the body, an abnormal state known as ketosis is created. Those on high-protein diets desire ketosis, although it is
abnormal and unsafe. They can tell by the way they feel, in fact, that they are going into ketosis because they
feel a "high," and when they feel this "high," they know their high-protein diets are effective. In actual fact,
this feeling heralds the beginning of a state of starvation.
Physiologically, ketones behave very much like psychotropic drugs. At low levels, they create a sense of euphoria -
the ketotic "high" well known to high-protein dieters. At high levels, they produce sleepiness and disorientation.
At even higher levels, coma can result.
Diabetics who receive insufficient insulin can get into this state quite quickly. The coma seen in newly diagnosed
diabetics is due to extreme ketosis, combined with the acidosis produced when the body goes too long without
sufficient carbohydrates.
The difference between diabetics and high-protein dieters is that diabetics actually consume carbohydrates, but
because they lack the insulin to drive glucose into the cells, they replicate starvation on a cellular level. The
result is a break-down in fats and proteins producing ketosis, which can lead to the so-called diabetic coma.
Obviously, untreated diabetes represents the most severe example of carbohydrate deficiency. Yet, it is important
to realize that high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets can also produce ketosis harmful to the brain and central
nervous system. Many who have tried these fad diets have experienced the light-headedness and occasional fainting
associated with this unhealthy approach to eating.
To recommend high-protein diets to children and adolescents is unconscionable. Complex carbohydrates must be the
key to every child's eating plan, as they are with the Slim & Fit plan. They are crucial for the rapid energy
production required by active lives and allow for the proper balance of structure and function required by the
developing nervous system.
Still the perpetuation of the protein myth continues. Even the mainstream media seems to have fallen victim to the
advertising clout of the meat and dairy industries. I feel sorry for parents who must rely on what they read in
popular magazines and see on television for their nutritional information. They look upon these sources as
authoritative and therefore believe everything they read in them. Should they believe everything they read?
Not long ago Good Housekeeping magazine published a very misleading article by a reputable nutritionist stating
that there wasn't enough protein in The New Beverly Hills Diet. The author said that by concentrating on fruit and
carbohydrates, people participating in the diet ran the risk of protein deficiency, scaring readers into thinking
that their muscles and organs would begin to break down if they followed the diet. All this hysteria because the
diet did not include that wonderful American dietary icon - meat - in every meal. It pleases me that at long last
even Uncle Sam has given those who choose to be vegetarian "permission." The federal government has recently
updated its nutritional guidelines telling us that even vegetarian diets, as long as they are well rounded, provide
Americans with more than enough protein to maintain healthy bodies.
[Next: Protain Alternatives]
| 
