There is probably no other field of science where untruths are turned into absolute facts and false paradigms are constructed as much as in the world of nutrition. I have seen “health coaches” on social media talk about the great health benefits of consuming large amounts of animal protein (meat, chicken, fish, dairy, and eggs) when overwhelming evidence indicates otherwise. I have had clients who were put on a ketogenic diet by their doctor in the name of weight loss and are now battling chronic disease.
Last month, I received a message from a health coach who explained that vegans have more bone fractures. There are conflicting studies on this, but even if it were true, compare that to the fact that healthy vegans live 10 years longer than those who eat the standard American diet.
When I tell my clients to eat soy because it is incredibly healthy, they ask me if it can cause cancer! It is quite the opposite: it actually prevents cancer. When I put a type 2 diabetic on a diet that includes potatoes, I am asked if I am trying to kill him. This is all the result of misinformation being constantly spread about which foods are good and which are bad.
This reductive way of looking at nutrition is harmful because it leads to eating harmful foods. Of all the myths about nutrition, none has taken root more than the myth about our protein needs. How much and what type of protein should I eat? Can I really get all the essential amino acids without eating animal protein?
What is a protein?
As a vegan, you’ve probably asked yourself the question, “Where do you get your protein?” I find it interesting that most people who ask this question have no idea what protein is or how much a person needs. As registered dietitian Brenda Davis points out, animal products have been given what we call “health halos,” meaning they’re supposed to be good for you and you should eat them to avoid disease. But is it really something that’s good for you and essential in your diet?
A protein is a chain of 20 amino acids. Nine of them are called essential. This means that the body does not make them itself and must therefore obtain them from food sources.
Protein serves multiple functions in the body, including maintaining cell structure, digestion, building muscle, carrying oxygen in the blood, and more. We need protein. But on average, the amount of protein we need is 0.67 grams per pound of body weight. As Stanford University nutrition researcher Dr. Christopher Gardner points out, the average American eats about twice as much protein as they need. What happens to all that excess protein we consume, especially from animal products? It gets stored as fat.
So what’s the best way to get the highest quality protein without overdoing it and exposing yourself to the harmful effects of meat and dairy consumption?
This may surprise you, but all plants contain all the essential amino acids that make up a complete protein. Some have more, some have less, but as Dr. Gardner and Dr. David Katz have pointed out in interviews over the past year, as long as you’re eating all the healthy vegan food groups, you have nothing to worry about.
Protein deficiencies are extremely rare. In fact, the opposite is true. We should get about 9-10% of our calories from protein, but most people get 16% or more. Protein is important, but no more so than any other macronutrient.
When we consume proteins from animals, eggs, and dairy, we have a major downside. Animal products contain high amounts of saturated fat and cholesterol. Additionally, the carnitine and choline found in animal proteins end up forming the highly inflammatory molecule TMAO, which is now considered a leading cause of blood clots leading to heart attacks and strokes. There is also insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), found primarily in dairy, which has been linked to hormonal cancers and hormonal imbalances. There are also heterocyclic amines, advanced glycation end products, and the ingestion of dioxins from the polluted air that animals breathe.
These are all closely linked to chronic disease. When you get your protein from plants, you get everything you need and it doesn’t contain any disease-causing compounds. So if you eat whole grains like brown rice and quinoa, fruits and vegetables (especially leafy greens), and legumes like beans, lentils, and chickpeas, you’re good to go. All that protein without the bad stuff. And here’s the bonus: We get a lot of fiber. While we’re not deficient in protein at all, we’re definitely deficient in fiber. The average fiber intake is only 15 grams per day, and we need close to 40 grams—and more might be better.
As part of a joint project between the University of Bologna in Italy and Stanford University School of Medicine, a comprehensive study examined meta-analyses from 2000 to 2023 to assess the impact of vegetarian and vegan diets on the risk of cancer and cardiometabolic diseases. After pooling data from 48 meta-analyses, the researchers found that vegetarians and vegans were significantly less likely to develop cardiovascular disease and cancer. They also tended to have better overall cardiometabolic health, with less inflammation, lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, and lower BMI than people who ate meat and poultry.
As I mentioned, while protein deficiency is not a problem, fiber deficiency is. As long as you eat a mostly plant-based diet (the more the better) and a varied diet, you will get all the nutrients you need, except for vitamin B12, which you will need to supplement. So, as long as you eat vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, and nuts and seeds, you will have more than covered your protein intake and you will also get plenty of the fiber you need. Fiber is a very broad topic in itself, and I plan to cover it in the future.
For now, by getting our protein from plant sources, we are “adding hours to our day, days to our year, and years to our life.”
The author is a health and wellness coach and personal trainer with over 25 years of professional experience. He is the director of The Wellness Clinic and can be reached at alan@alanfitness.com.