I'm often asked what my opinion about a diet or diseases. Who cares, what my or anyone else's opinion is, always you care about is what the science says. What does the best available balance of evidence published in the peer-reviewed medical literature have to say right now, welcome to the nutrition facts podcast. I'm your host dr. Michael Greger. There has been a history of
Of enthusiasm for protein and the nutrition World. In fact century ago, the protein recommendations were more than twice what they are today. Let's start with a public health case for modernizing the definition of protein quality in 2019 dr. David Katz. And colleagues including one of my favorite researchers David Jenkins published a public health case for modernizing the definition of protein quality, the prevailing definition seems too
Have more to do with biochemistry than the net effects on human health. The popular concept that protein is good in the more, the better coupled with a protein quality definition that favors animal protein Fosters, the impression that eating more meat eggs and dairy is desirable preferable. But this is directly opposed to nutrition guidelines that are instead trying to push more plans, although protein, malnutrition still prevalent, in many areas of the world. It is exceedingly rare in the industrialized world where the most formidable
a health threat is not something like kwashiorkor protein calorie malnutrition, but from chronic diseases in 2016. A landmark study was published out of Harvard, involving more than 100,000 people that found that replacing animal protein with plant protein, was associated with lower risk of dying. Prematurely the worst seem to be processed meat, like bacon as well as egg protein, the egg whites, but swapping in even just 3% plant protein for any of the animal proteins process meat on bras.
Meat chicken fish eggs or dairy was associated with a significantly lower risk of arguably the most important endpoint of all death. Yeah. But how do we know it's the protein? The researchers adjusted for factors such as saturated fat intake which suggested it wasn't just the animal fat, okay. But how does your body even know the difference between protein from a plant and protein from an animal and isn't protein-protein know unlike animal protein, plant proteins, generally low in branched-chain amino acids, for example and
Decrease consumption of branched chain, amino acids, improves metabolic Health, it could be the igf-1 a cancer-promoting growth hormone that is boosted by so-called high quality animal protein intake, though, we suspect, the igf-1 connection is cause and effect. Since people who are born to have higher igf-1 levels, regardless of what they do appear to suffer higher rates of killers like type 2 diabetes and heart disease or it could be something the Harvard researchers didn't control for such as toxic pollutants like that auxins.
Pcbs since they tend to accumulate up the food chain in cattle, pigs chickens and fish and therefore end up on our plates. So plant-based protein, also stands as an important step to lower the body burden of harmful pollutants. If you don't think 100,000 people are enough. How about 400,000 people the NIH? AARP study is the largest diet cohort. Study in history, Anakin simply swapping three percent of calories from various animal protein sources with plant protein.
Associated with ten percent decreased overall mortality. And you get even twice that benefit if you get rid of eggs too, that's not a surprise. Since egg consumption is associated with a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Put all the studies together on dietary protein intake and mortality and people who eat more protein tend to live shorter lives, but this is mainly driven by the harmful Association of animal protein. Plant protein intake is
Inversely associated with mortality, meaning those who eat more plant protein tend to live longer lives, more animal, protein May mean more mortality, where's more plant, proteins correlated with less mortality. So, The Best of Both Worlds would be to increase the intake of plant protein in place of animal protein. In other words, as another 2020 meta analysis, concluded person should be encouraged to increase their plant protein intake to potentially decrease, their risk of death, do
Italians and vegans. Get enough protein. Let's find out the largest study in history of those eating plant-based diets. Recently compared the nutrient profiles of about 30,000 non-vegetarians to 20,000 vegetarians and about 5,000 vegans flexitarians and no meat, except Fish Eaters, allowing us to finally. Put to rest The Perennial question. Do vegetarians get enough protein? The average requirement is
42 grams of protein a day non-vegetarians, get way more than they need. And so does everyone else on average vegetarians and vegans, get 70%, more protein than they need everyday. Surprising. That there's so much fuss about protein in this country when less than three percent of adults don't make the cut. Presumably folks on Extreme calorie restricted diets, who just aren't eating enough food period.
But ninety seven percent of Americans, get enough protein. There is a nutrient though, for which 97% of Americans are deficient now, that's a problem, nutrient. That's something we really have to work on less than three percent of Americans. Get even the recommended minimum adequate intake of fiber. So the question isn't, where do you get your protein? But where do you get your fiber? We only get about
15 grams a day. The minimum daily requirement is 30 1, Point 5. So we get less than half the minimum if you break it down by age and gender. After studying the diets of 12,000, 761 Americans, the percentage of men between ages 14 and 50 getting the minimum adequate intake zero, this deficit is stunning in that dietary fiber has print protectively associated with the risk of diabetes. Metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular.
These obesity and various cancers as well as high cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugars. Therefore it is not surprising. That fiber is now listed as a nutrient of concern in the dietary guidelines protein is not one problem is that most people have no idea what's in their food more than half of Americans. Think steak is a significant fiber source by definition fiber is only found in plants.
No fiber and meat, dairy or eggs and little, or no. Fiber in junk food, therein lies. The problem Americans should be eating more beans, vegetables, fruits. Whole grains. How we doing on that? Well, 96 percent of Americans, don't eat the recommended minimum daily intake of beans. 96%, don't need the measly minimum for greens. 99% don't get enough whole grains. Look at these numbers.
Nearly the entire US population fails to eat enough whole plant foods and it's not getting any better, a lack of progress, that's disappointing. Even semi vegetarians though, make the minimum for fiber and those eating completely plant-based. Ides, triple the average American intake. Now, when closing the fiber Gap, you want to do it gradually no more than
Five extra grams of fiber a day each week until you kind of work your way up but it's worth it plant-derived diets. Tend to contribute significantly less fat. Saturated fat cholesterol foodborne pathogens. While the same time offering more fiber, folate vitamin C phytochemicals. All essential factors for disease prevention, and Optimal Health and well-being. And the more plant Foods the better whole plant foods to better. If you compare the nutritional quality.
A vegan versus vegetarian. Semi-vegetarian Pesco vegetarian in omnivorous diet, traditional healthy diet indexing systems, like compliance with dietary guidelines, consistently indicate the most plant-based diet as the most. Healthy one finally. Today, we examine the myth. That plant proteins are incomplete.
All nutrients come from the Sun or the soil vitamin D.
Sunshine. Vitamin is created. When skin is exposed to sunlight, everything else comes from the ground minerals, originated from the earth and vitamins from the plants and microorganisms that grow from it. The calcium in a cow's milk. And her 200-pound skeleton came from all the plants she ate, which drew it up from the soil. We can cut out the middle move though and get calcium from the plants directly. Where do you get your protein protein? Contains a
essential amino acids, meaning our bodies can't make them and so are essential to get from our diet. But other animals, don't make them either all essential amino acids, originate from plants and microbes, and all plant, proteins have all the essential amino acids. The only truly incomplete protein in the food supply is gelatin, which is missing the amino acid tryptophan. So the only protein source that you couldn't live on is jello.
As I covered previously, those eating plant-based diets, average about twice, the average requirement for protein. Those who don't know where to get protein on a plant-based diet. Don't know. Beans get it. That's protein quantity though. What about protein, quality, the concept that plant protein was inferior to animal protein, Rose from studies performed on
rodents more
than a century ago, scientists found that infant rats.
Don't grow as well on Plants but infant rats don't grow as well on human breast milk, either. So does that mean we shouldn't breastfeed our babies ridiculous. They're rats. Rat. Milk has 10 times more protein than human milk, because rats, grow about 10 times, faster than human infants. It's true that some plant proteins are relatively low in certain essential amino acids. So
About 40 years ago, the myth of protein, combining came into Vogue, literally the February 75 issue of Vogue magazine. The concept was that we needed to eat complementary proteins together for example, rice and beans to make up for their relatives. Shortfalls, this fallacy was refuted decades ago, the myth that plant proteins are incomplete. That plant proteins aren't as good. That one has to combine proteins at meals. These have all been destroyed.
Missed by the nutrition Community as myths decades ago, but many in medicine. Evidently didn't get the memo dr. John McDougall, called out the American Heart Association for 2001 publication that questioned, the completeness of plant proteins. Thankfully though they changed and acknowledged. Now that plant proteins can provide all the essential amino acids. No, need to combine complementary proteins.
Turns that our body is not stupid, it maintains, pools of free, amino acids that can be used to do, all the complimenting for us, not to mention the massive protein recycling program. Our body has some 90 grams of protein is dumped into the digestive tract every day, from our own body, to get broken back down and reassembled. So our body can mix and match amino acids to whatever proportions, we need whatever we eat, making it practically impossible.
Even design a diet of whole plant foods that sufficient in calories, but deficient in protein. Thus plant-based consumers, do not need to be at all concerned about amino acid and balances from the plant proteins that make up our usual diets.
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