But... do you get enough protein?

Powerful Protein

One of the biggest questions/worries/comments I get as a non-consumer of animal protein is... "Where do you get your protein? Do you get enough protein?" It's an old argument and one that isn't entirely accurate. You see... most North Americans get more than enough protein... but there is no need to hit 100 grams of protein/day. Actually... 50 grams of protein/day is enough for the average woman and 60 grams of protein/day for the average man. If you're an ultra-marathoner, you might need more... but that's not me...

 So... where do I get my protein? Let's look at an average meal plan:

Breakfast (standard)

• oatmeal (rolled oats) (1/2 cup dry) - 6 grams of protein
  
• walnuts (1 oz) - 6 grams of protein
• berries ( 1 cup) - 1 gram of protein
• cinnamon (1 tsp) - 0.1 grams of protein
• hemp hearts (1 Tbsp) - 4 grams of protein
• ground flax seed (1 Tbsp) - 1.3 grams of protein
• soy milk (1 cup) - 7 grams of protein
  
• baked beans (1/2 cup) - 6 grams of protein
  
• nutritional yeast (2 Tbsp) - 11 grams of protein

Let's see... 6+6+1+0.1+4+1.3+7+6+11= 42.4 grams of protein... just for breakfast.

Just to compare... scrambled eggs (3 eggs) and bacon (6 slices) have 13 grams of protein (and 0 grams fibre). Add two pancakes for another 5 grams of protein (and 0 grams of fibre). And a glass of 2% milk for 8 grams of protein (and 0 grams of fibre). We're even! Yay! But then... we'd have to talk sugars and saturated fats and... well... I don't think we want to go there today. You get the picture I think... Gram for gram... I can meet the protein requirements. And no... we don't supplement with protein powders... we don't need them. If ever we become marathoners... we'll supplement with protein powders...

Oh... and in case you're wondering... you've likely heard that animal proteins are considered "complete" proteins which means they have all the amino acids that we need. A one stop shop, so to speak. The terms "complete" and "incomplete "are a bit misleading though. Plant-based foods also contain all of the amino acids we require, just in slightly different proportions. All that means is that we need to eat a mixture of plant-based foods (not just rice and beans)... a varied diet... some legumes, some whole grains, some soy products, some nuts.

And no... soy products do not mess with your estrogen... that's another fallacy. Eating three servings of soy products/day (every day) is perfectly fine.

Another interesting tidbit... our bodies can only absorb 25 to 40 grams of protein at one sitting... so it's important to spread out our protein consumption. If we eat too much protein (like half a chicken - 80 grams of protein)... it gets stored as fat... and the excess amino acids get excreted...

Anyhow... back to my average daily meal plan...

Lunch (an example - the salad is standard... the "main" dish varies)

• salad
• dark leafy greens (2 cups) - 6 grams of protein
• tomatoes (100 grams) - 1 gram of protein
• cucumber (50 grams) - 0.4 grams of protein
• radishes (2 medium) - 0.2 grams of protein
• grapes (1/2 cup) - 0.2 grams of protein
• kohlrabi (1/4 cup) - 1 gram of protein
• red lentil curry on top of farro
• red lentils (1/2 cup cooked) - 9 grams of protein (protein powerhouse!)
• onions & tomatoes in curry - 0.5 grams (guesstimate)
• farro (1/2 cup cooked) - 4 grams of protein (better than rice - same as quinoa)

Let's tally up lunch - 6+1+0.4+0.2+0.2+1+9+0.5+4= 22.3 grams of protein

So... let's see... that's... 64.7 grams of protein for breakfast and lunch. Boom... mic drop.

Protein for an herbivore ain't a problem if... IF... you eat a whole food, plant based diet. Toss in a bunch of white bread and pizza dough and potatoes instead of the oatmeal, soy milk, beans, nutritional yeast, dark leafy greens, lentils and farro and... the protein falls through the floor.

Fabulous Fibre

The bigger issue is Fibre... Our daily fibre requirement is in the neighbourhood of 30 grams/day... from food... not from supplements. The average North American gets 15 grams of fibre per day... and over 97% of Americans do NOT get enough fibre.

Let's bee clear... meat/fish/dairy/eggs have a great big whopping 0 for fibre. We're not talking about muscle fibres... those are not dietary fibre.

Fibre comes from plants... it's what allows plants to defy gravity and hold their shape. And our gut biomes love fibre, both the soluble and the insoluble types, and if you want anything... you want to keep your little gut biome happy...

Sooo... how does my breakfast and lunch stack up in the fibre department?

Breakfast (standard)

• oatmeal (rolled oats) (1/2 cup dry) - 4 grams of fibre
  
• walnuts (1 oz) - 2 grams of fibre
• berries ( 1 cup) - 3.6 grams of fibre
• cinnamon (1 tsp) - 1.4 grams of fibre
• hemp seed (1 Tbsp) - 0.4 grams of fibre
• ground flax seed (1 Tbsp) - 1.9 grams of fibre
  
• soy milk (1 cup) 1.5 grams of fibre
  
• baked beans (1/2 cup) - 7 grams of fibre
• nutritional yeast (2 Tbsp) - 2.5 grams of fibre

Let's see... 4+2+3.6+1.4+0.4+1.9+1.5+7+2.5= 24.3 grams of fibre... just for breakfast.

Lunch (an example - the salad is standard... the "main" dish varies)

• salad
• dark leafy greens (2 cups) - 6 grams of fibre
• tomatoes (100 grams) - 1.5 grams of fibre
  
• cucumber (50 grams) - 0.2 grams of fibre
• radishes (2 medium) - 0.1 grams of fibre
  
• grapes (1/2 cup) - 0.2 grams of fibre
• kohlrabi (1/4 cup) - 2 grams of fibre
• red lentil curry on top of farro
• red lentils (1/2 cup) - 8 grams of fibre
  
• onions & tomatoes in curry - 0.5 grams of fibre (guesstimate)
• farro (1/2 cup) - 2.5 grams of fibre

Let's tally up lunch - 6+1.5+0.2+0.1+0.2+2+8+0.5+2.5=21 grams of fibre

So... that's 44.3 grams of fibre for breakfast and lunch.

And yes... we do eat our main meal at lunchtime. It dovetails better with the body's circadian rhythm. There's nothing worse than eating in the evening... particularly within four hours of bedtime.

So... what do we have for our evening meal? That varies. Some evenings, I'm just not hungry so I don't eat anything. Some evenings I'll have a few tablespoons of hummus with some veggie sticks (peppers, carrots, cukes, kohlrabi). Some evenings I'll have some peanut butter and mashed berries on top of a slice of pumpernickel style bread. All of which boosts my protein and fibre intake even more.

Sooo... a whole food, plant based diet more than ticks the boxes for protein and fibre. Still not convinced... look at a cow or a bison or a horse or a rhino or an elephant and ask yourself... these strong, muscular herbivores... where do they get their protein from?

Where's the Beef?

Meat panic buyer's shopping cart

Did you hear about the BC couple who cleaned out the meat section in a Kelowna Save-on-Foods?

Yep, they went into the store in mid-late March with two shopping carts, pushed themselves in front of other customers trying to decide between strip loin or sirloin and put every single package of meat into their own buggies. Then apparently laughed as they went through the checkout that they had "cleaned house" and not left anything for other shoppers. Charming.

Needless to say... after that little episode hit the airwaves around the world, Save-on-Foods immediately put a limit on how many items a customer could purchase from each department.

As for the meat hoarding couple, they are now rather scared because they are getting death threats. They admit that they were motivated by fears of Covid-19 and did some panic buying. They likely aren't the only ones... just the most extreme ones. Note to self: if you want to panic buy, don't be conspicuous and clean out the entire department...

A month later... and we're hearing that meat processing plants in BC, Alberta and the US are shutting down, or going on reduced schedules, because Covid-19 is doing a number on their staff. Which might explain why, when I was in Costco the other day, I saw not a few people who had stacks and stacks of meat packages in their shopping carts. Maybe they have a big family. Maybe they don't want to go shopping every week at Costco - I sure as heck don't!

We're constantly being told that the food supply chain is fine. There's nothing to worry about. And yet... walk into any grocery store and you'll still have trouble finding yeast, frozen berries and/or toilet paper.

On top of that, the head of Tyson Foods, one of the meat processing giants, warned that the "food supply chain is breaking". With reduced meat processing plant capacity, farmers have nowhere to send their market-ready animals. Which means that millions of cows, chickens, etc will be "depopulated". A rather interesting word which basically means - slaughtered and their lives wasted. Which will lead to a shortage of meat in grocery stores and higher prices, etc. etc.

Which is why some of the news articles are suggesting that Canadians start experimenting in their kitchens with beans, lentils, legumes and tofu... all of which are produced in Canada. Welcome to my world!

Six months ago... the only thing I really used pulses for was chili, burritos, hummus, pea soup and making my Mom's world-famous (OK... family-famous)... lentil soup. [N.B. I keep having to add items to this list because apparently we used more pulses in my meat-eating days than I thought...]

I wasn't really a big fan of pulses... legumes... call them what you will. But... having left the animal protein world behind us (meat, dairy, eggs)... and embraced a whole-food, plant-based eating plan... legumes are my new friends.

Ever had a bean burger? They are actually darn yummy! And this is a home-made bean burger... not one of those Beyond Beef Burgers that are stuffed with all sorts of weird things. It's all about finding the good recipes... and there a lot of them out there... it just takes some experimentation. We're still working on tofu though... it's a texture thing for us... ick.

All pulses are legumes... but not all legumes are pulses!

OK... I need a digression here. Is it legumes or is it pulses?? I came across this little chart and it helped me get the distinction...

So... legumes are soybeans, peanuts, fresh peas and fresh beans AND pulses... which are the dried versions of beans, peas, chickpeas and lentils. Got it... Basically all pulses are legumes but not all legumes are pulses! I'm gonna try and keep this straight and use the terminology correctly! But forgive me if I slip back into legume territory...

Now... despite the fact that Canada is one of the global leaders in producing legumes... err... pulses...

Another aside.... Did you know Canada is #1 for dried peas and lentils, #9 for chickpeas, #27 for dried beans? Apparently Canada (Saskatchewan mostly) produces 95% of the world's lentils... whaattt!! Did you know we produce 150 different varieties of legumes? Who knew there were that many?? I mean... I kinda always thought Saskatchewan was purely grain farming... it's not!

Anyhow... despite the fact that we are a primo pulses producer... there is a limit to how much stock is on hand. We're tapping into pulses grown last year... and once that stock is gone... well, it's gone. Pulses producers have seen a 500-1000% demand in pulses from grocery stores. Which is crazy. But... what's not to like about dried legumes? They are are cheap, don't take up a lot of space in the pantry and have a long shelf life. Canned legumes are more convenient by far but not as cheap, and they take up more space. On the other hand... neither dry nor canned legumes need to be kept in a freezer, like a stockpile of meat.

Oh, and if that weren't enough... legumes pack plenty of protein and fibre. It's a myth that you need to eat meat in order to meet [hah!] your daily recommended intake of protein. Most North Americans get more than enough protein... but most don't get enough fibre. Cause meat don't have fibre... only plants have fibre... and your gut biome loves fibre... So legumes really tick a bunch of boxes...

Superstore's regular dried legume section... cleaned out.

Now... confession time... back in January, when we went meat free... we still had some meat in our freezer. Some pork back ribs, a salmon, ground chicken chubs, chicken breasts, a few roasts and not a few packages of bacon. We were debating giving the meat to some friends when Covid-19 hit... and so the meat is still in our freezer. Kind of a back-up plan I guess... in case we ever need to trade a package of bacon for a package of toilet paper or something... here's hoping it won't come to that...

In the meantime, I buy a couple of packages and/or cans of pulses every week... when we can find them.

Superstore's regular legumes - 900 gram packages

Superstore is our usual stop for shopping and... the regular pulses section (in the Canned Vegetables aisle) is kind of hit or miss. One week they have nothing... the next week they might have dry kidney beans but nothing else.

 So I buy what I can find. But here's a little tip... around the corner, in the International aisle... go and look for this brand... Suraj...

Suraj brand legumes from
Superstore's International aisle
(1.8 kg package)

They come in 1.8 kg packages and are usually much cheaper than Superstore's regular stuff. And way cheaper if you can get them on sale (anything under $5/package).

A few years ago, this brand used to be super cheap... like $4/package (the same price as the regular, smaller, dried legume packages) but then... they figured out that this stuff was flying off the shelves and... the price went up. Still... you can sometimes find it on sale.

Superstore's International aisle - dried legumes

On top of that... last year Superstore rearranged their International aisle (I hate it when they do that!) and drastically reduced their selection of Suraj options. Nowadays you can maybe get 4 or 5 different types of pulses. Still... if you're looking for chickpeas, red lentils and sometimes split yellow peas... Suraj will be on the shelf, even if the regular pulses are cleaned out.

You can also try Bulk Barn... most of their stores are still open although it is a bit trickier. Ours only has online shopping since they have reduced staffing levels. Place an order online... get a phone call that it is ready to pick up, drive down, walk in and pay for it. Other Bulk Barns have escorted shopping trips - go in and a staff member will walk around the store with you and scoop your selections into bags. The prices aren't that far off either. For pulses, anything around $0.30/100 grams is a good deal.

Another option is an international food store... I've never tried any here in town but a friend in the UK says she found rice in a small international shop (Thai, I think) when the local Tesco was sold out... I imagine it would be the same for pulses since they are a staple of southeast Asian (particularly Indian) cooking.

Oh... and check the expiry date on your bag of pulses. While they do have a long shelf life, it isn't forever. We have first hand experience with using pulses beyond their expiry date. They are most definitely al dente and no amount of pre-soaking or cooking will soften them... Be warned.

Watch a Movie, Change your Life...

Ignorance is bliss.

Once seen, never unseen.

I've been watching a bunch of different documentaries about health and wellness - mostly focused on whole food, plant-based diets. I thought I'd share some of them here because they are eye-opening. Eating animal protein is most definitely NOT good for the planet, for the animals, nor for our own health. I could give you the stats about the links between animal protein and obesity, heart disease, diabetes and cancer but... that would defeat the whole purpose of watching the movies.

There are seven movies I've watched so far and they all have a different... tolerance level... shall we say. Over the next few weeks, I'll offer a review of each. Most of these can be watched via YouTube, and I've provided the link for that.

1. Vegucated - 2011 - comic/documentary - this one is a nice overall introduction to the costs of an animal protein diet versus the benefits of a plant-based diet. It covers a bit of the human health aspects, a bit of the environmental aspects and a bit of the ethical aspects. It does it with a fairly light tone as it follows three individuals during their 6 week immersion into a vegan diet. It's a great intro movie.
2. Forks over Knives - 2011 - documentary - despite the name, this movie doesn't really touch on the ethical aspects of an animal protein diet. It focuses more on the human health aspects. This is the movie you want to watch if you want to learn about the staggering effects of the typical western diet on human health. The movie presents the stark links between eating animal protein and obesity, heart disease, diabetes and cancer. If you have any questions about the human health aspects, this is the movie to watch.
3. The Game Changers - 2018 - documentary - this one is the one you want your men to watch - your boyfriend, your husband. It totally debunks the myth that you need to eat animal protein in order to be muscular and/or manly. There are some serious athletes and muscle people in this movie. They also touch on some of the health benefits and environmental costs. I have to say, after watching this movie, I went straight to our freezer and ditched all of the processed meat products (sausages, bacon, etc).
4. What the Health - 2017 - investigative documentary - Kip Anderson delves into the world of Big Business (Big Food) and government. It's eye-opening if you want to learn how the US government is putting the interests of Big Business ahead of everyday people. No surprise there really, but this movie lays it all out for you.
5. Food Inc. (Trailer only on YouTube - film is on Netflix) - 2008 - documentary - This movie takes a look at how Big Industry has taken over the production of food. Gone are the small family farms where farmer knew the names of each dairy cow. The name of the game now is producing as much meat as fast as possible in factory farms. Profit trumps all. If you think that Big Business cares about the welfare of animals... think again. And if you think they care about the health of consumers... think again.
6. Cowspiracy - 2014 - investigate documentary - Another one by Kip Anderson, in fact it came out a few years before What the Health. This is the movie to watch if you want to learn about the devastating environmental aspects of the animal protein industry on the earth. Soil degradation, erosion, fertilizer overuse, groundwater pollution, greenhouse gases, etc. etc.  
7. Earthlings (10th Anniversary Edition) - 2015 - horror/documentary - I wasn't quite sure how a movie could be a horror and a documentary but... after watching this movie, I am clear on that. This is the movie to watch if you want to learn about the ethical aspects of how humans use animals. It expands beyond using animals for food to encompass Pets, Clothing, Entertainment and Laborartory Testing. This movie is for everyone who wants to know how "humane" humans are... or are not. Even if you don't watch it... know that the choices you make each and everyday fuel the Demand that supports the Supply of these industries. It's not called Supply/Demand for nothing. We demand more... and they supply more. And it ain't pretty.

Vegucated

Let's start with the easiest one... Vegucated

This was the fifth movie I watched, right after Earthlings. Sooo... in light of that, it was a relief to have a bit of comedic relief. This move follows three individuals as they take on a 6 week challenge to eat vegan. Along the way, the three people are introduced to the facts around the health, environmental and ethical costs of eating animal protein. It's a wake-up call for all of them and they make various statements throughout the 6 weeks that they will never eat animal products again. But how well does that hold up after the 6 weeks? Because as shocking as it is to be woken up to what the animal industry is really like... it's also very easy to fall asleep again and slip back into old habits. And eating animal protein is a habit, for our senses, for our culture, for our economy. At the end of the movie, the producers give a status update on all three and they are either vegan or vegetarian. Which is good.

This movie gives a few snippets of information about the health, environmental and ethical aspects of the animal protein industry. There are a few stomach churning scenes, but nothing too shocking. At least not compared to Earthlings.

If I had to over one caveat it is this: processed food, be it vegan or not, is not healthy. This movie encourages the participants to try all sorts of process vegan foods - vegan cheese, vegan hot dogs, vegan margarine, etc etc. None of these are really going have health benefits. Processed food is bad. Period. So, in that respect, this movie needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Just because something is vegan, does not mean it is healthy. We have moved in the direction of a whole food, plant based diet... and are limiting processed food as much as possible.

The Price of Animal Protein

Environmental Impact of the Livestock Industry

Livestock farming produces more greenhouse gas emissions than the entire transportation sector (planes, train, ships, cars).

When I read that in a scientific report, I was stunned. The biggest difference I could make in helping the planet was not by trading in our fossil fuel vehicle for an electrical vehicle. No, the biggest difference would be cutting out animal protein - not just meat, but dairy and eggs as well.

I struggled with that. As a carnivore, I've been in a constant state of negotiation the last few months. Maybe we could cut out meat and keep dairy and eggs? Maybe?

The thing is... it's not just the greenhouse gas emissions... it's the amount of water used, it's the pollution generated and... it's the health impacts on humans as well.

• 30% of the planet's ice-free surface is used for livestock production - that includes all the land used to raise feed crops for livestock.
• 75% of the world's agricultural land is devoted to livestock production
• 40% of the planet's fresh water is used in livestock production. One kilogram of beef requires 15,000 litres of water. That one hamburger from A&W used 2000 litres of water.
• The average American eats 240 lbs of meat/year. The average Bangladeshi eats 4 lbs of meat/year. The global average is 80 lbs/year.
• All of those resources produce only 18% of the calories that we eat

This is huge... but I could try and argue that we need protein soooo... it's a necessary evil? Nope... that one is shot out of the water as well. Most of us exceed the daily recommended allowance of protein. In fact, only 3% of Americans have a protein-deficiency. Most of us get more than enough... in fact... most of us get more than enough JUST from eating the plant-based foods in our diet. Yup, plants contain protein... and if we eat a moderately balanced diet... even without animal protein... a protein deficiency is not the problem.

Meat is the new Tobacco

The real kicker for me was to learn this little tidbit which often gets buried under a bunch of misinformation from American lobby groups (cattlemen's association, dairy farmers, egg producers...). Ready?

Eating animal protein has been linked to higher incidence of:

• heart disease (clogged arteries)
• diabetes (surprise... sugar is not the primary culprit)
• cancer (including breast, colorectal and prostate)
• osteoporosis (go figure)
• infertility (erectile dysfunction is one of the biggest indicators of heart disease)
• obesity (wow)

And it's not just because some meat is high in saturated fat. Oh no... it's the actual animal protein and the heme iron contained in animal protein. So "lean" meat like chicken doesn't sidestep this argument... nor do dairy or egg products. Basically, eating animal protein (from whatever source) increases inflammation and cholesterol in the body. And processed meat is exceedingly bad (bacon, hotdogs, salami, ham, etc. - sigh, good-bye salami).

That woke me up because I'm dealing with high cholesterol. I was cutting out red meat because it was high in saturated fat. And watching what oil we used for cooking. But... if I really want to get a grip on it... I'm going to have to step up my game. Cause there is no way I want to go on a statin... they've got serious issues.

And so... I say goodbye to animal proteins. I had planned to "eat the freezer" and clear out the chicken, ribs and sausages that we had purchased before our light bulb moment. But at this point... I really don't think that's in my best interests. So we are going to canvas our friends and see if they want to have any of our disease-generating animal protein.

My LDL over the last 5 years - vertical axis is:
Low - Mean - High - scary zone

At the end of September, my cholesterol numbers were as follows:

• Total Cholesterol - 7.1 (normal is 2.00 to 5.19)
• LDL Cholesterol - 4.98 (normal is 1.50-3.40 - this is the bad cholesterol)
• HDL Cholesterol - 1.48 (normal is > 1.19 - this is the good cholesterol)
• Trigylcerides - 1.40 (normal is < 2.21)

I'm going to get tested again at the end of February because... you see... their is some good news and hope in all of this. The human body is an amazing thing and... people have reduced their cholesterol significantly after just one week on a whole-food plant-based diet. I'm going to give it a bit longer than that... just to add some buffer.

Canada's latest food guide - looks different, eh?

I told my doctor that we are moving towards a plant-based diet and reducing/eliminating meat consumption and he rolled his eyes at that. He argues that the only diet shown to have a benefit is the Mediterranean diet. That's fine... but I also spoke with my nutritionist at the hospital and she heartily supports the plant-based diet. Given that most doctors get less than 8 hours of nutrition education... I think I'll go with the nutritionist on this one.


I'm kind of amazed at the realisation that eliminating animal protein from our diet can benefit:

• our health - heart disease, diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis, etc
• the planet's health - land degradation, water, pollution, greenhouse gas emissions
• animals - at least 480 lbs (240 lbs x 2) worth out of the 50 billion animals killed every year
• our pocketbook - meat is darn expensive... especially the healthier cuts

That seems like a triple WIN to me... I realize that we are just two people but... that is two Small Steps in a different direction. Our capitalist society runs on supply and demand... Usually, the marketing boffins convince us that we need to increase our demand of whatever thing they are supplying/selling... But what if we actually made a different choice and reduced our demand. Theoretically this is a two-way street and we can make a difference... Remember...

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. (Margaret Mead)

And... stay tuned for my updated blood work at the end of the month.


P.S. While our whole-foods (NOT processed), plant-based diet may look vegan, I'm not calling it vegan. There is a lot of stuff that is attached to that word... do we have leather shoes, belts, notebooks, couches? And there are a lot of people out there happy to act as the Vegan Police and point out all sorts of offenses and slip-ups...

P.P.S. What about iron, vitamin B12, Omega-3 and other possible nutritional deficiencies? Stay-tuned for another blog post. I will leave you with this tidbit... Remember that only 3% of Americans have a protein deficiency? Well 97% of Americans have a fiber deficiency... and fiber is only found in plants... and is essential for our little gut biome... but that too is another blog post!