In modern society, we have a cult of protein going on. It's thought that you just can't get enough of this valuable nutrient.
This cult appears to have gotten started early in the 20th century when the first nutrition experiments indicated that animals fed high-protein diets grew faster. Thus the idea got started that the more protein in the diet, the better.
Only much later in the century was it discovered that the same animals who were growing faster were also dying quicker. But by then, the cult of protein was well-established.
Nitrogen-loss studies have shown that the actual protein needed by the average human being each day is about 22 mg. The World Health Organization, part of the UN, recommends a protein intake each day of about 25-35mg.
Yet the average American every day gets 150mg or so of protein in their diet, five or six times the recommended amount. Over time, we pay a severe price for this excess protein.
Too much protein, beyond what the body actually needs, not only causes severe problems for the kidneys and liver, but over time tends to bring on osteoporosis.
Generally speaking, diets that are too high in protein are caused by diets that include animal foods—that is, diets that include meat, poultry, fish, eggs or dairy.
Why? Because virtually all animal foods are high-density, meaning that they concentrate calories but have a low bulk in relation to that concentration. Thus it's easy to get lots of calories but still not feel full—and so eat more.
It's worth noting here that the four healthiest and longest-lived peoples in the world are anywhere from 98% to 100% vegetarian. Their diets are all low in protein.
Their protein source in virtually all cases is a grain and a legume at each meal. Examples of such combinations are corn and beans, rice and tofu, pasta and beans, whole-grain cereal with soymilk and so on.
—jim sloman, fall 2000 for May 30
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