Many people believe we need the protein in animal products - meat, eggs, and dairy - to be healthy and lose weight effectively and permanently. We don't. Animal products are impoverished foods - high in calories, and poor in nutrients - and they are not required for optimal human health. The best scientific studies clearly show that eating more than small amounts of animal products increases your vulnerability to lifestyle diseases such as heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, and many others. We absolutely need protein and calcium to be healthy. We just do not need to rely on animal sources for these nutrients. We easily acquire all the protein and calcium we need for building and repairing muscles and bones by a variety of nutrient-rich, whole plant foods for building, growth, healing, and repair. All the protein and calcium we need is abundantly available in the vegetables, legumes, whole grains, fruits, and nuts that make up the bulk of an optimal diet, packaged with a whole food compliment of thousands of other nutrient that promote your health. The best protein sources on the planet Quick quiz: what has more protein, broccoli or a Burger King Cheeseburger? Answer: broccoli, by a landslide. The cheeseburger, at 350 calories, has 18 grams of protein. 350 calories of broccoli provides 39 grams of protein. Spinach delivers even more. And these green protein sources provide fiber and thousands of disease-fight nutrients that, in the words of MyTrainer expert advisor Dr. Joel Fuhrman, "have never seen the inside of a pill bottle." Where to get your calcium In his best-selling Eat to Live, Fuhrman writes: "Many green vegetables have calcium-absorption rates of over 50 percent, compared with about 32 percent for milk... Researchers have found that those who eat the most fruits and vegetables have denser bones." It is almost impossible not to get enough protein or calcium in a nutrient-rich diet. You would have to work at it! Animal products do not promote our health The protein and calcium found in animal products, including dairy, is not health promoting in our bodies. Casein, the protein found in milk products, is one of the strongest carcinogens (cancer-causing agents) found in nature. Cholesterol and saturated fat exist in animal products, not at all in the plant kingdom. T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D., lead investigator of the China Study, the most comprehensive study of the relationship between diet and disease ever conducted, found that: "Even small intakes of animal products were associated with significant increases in chronic degenerative diseases." Cow milk: superbly engineered for rapid weight gain Think about cows milk, the backbone of the hugely influential dairy industry pushing the fiction that milk is good - even necessary - for us. What is the purpose of cows milk in nature? Just one: to turn a 65-pound calf into a 500-pound cow in one year. Gee, does that sound like a fat-burning food to you? Do you want to gain weight? Do you want to gain it so much that you are willing to multiply your risk of dying of cancer or heart disease? Then "Get Milk!" Drop the Myth - and the Weight! Many people would happily and easily make the transition to consuming less animal products if they hadn't been indoctrinated in the belief that these products are necessary for our health - and for fast, "muscle-saving" weight loss. They would lose a great deal of excess weight simply by eating a predominantly whole food, plant-based diet. Look for the Diet Trap #5 Article: The "Low Carb" Trap: A pathway to cancer and heart disease |
