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Well, let's consider protein and what our body needs as opposed to what we've been told to see if a vegan diet is a healthy one.
If we were infants, we would need the highest amount of protein than at any other time of our lives and that's because we actually double our birth rate in our first 6 months of life.
1. Considering that mother milk (not cow's milk) contains approximately 3% protein of total calories. That's what we would need...if we were infants.
2. According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, as adults, we only need 2.5% of our daily calories from protein. We've been told that the only way we can get protein is exclusively through animal products. We've been told that all of our calcium needs must come from dairy.
But where is this information coming from? It comes from the meat and dairy industry!
Consider protein and calcium from the following:
Kale
45% Protein
94 mg. Calcium
Broccoli
45%
62 mg.
Cauliflower
40%
20 mg.
Lentils
29%
38 mg.
Chickpeas
23%
80 mg.
Almonds
12%
89 mg.
Orange
8%
60 mg.
Sweet Potatoes
6%
76 mg.
It's easy to see that we do not need our nutrients coming from animals and animal products to get what our body needs in order to be vegan and to be healthy. Right?
In fact, the quality of protein and calcium should be questioned over quantity.
Having too much protein from meat and dairy products can leadto some serious health issues such as Kidney Stones and Disease, Osteoporosis and even Cancer.
The problem of too much protein comes from animal protein because of the side affects from saturated fat and cholesterol.
Photo courtesy of blmurch@ flickr.com
How about the calcium issue? Almost all of our calcium is in our bones. The reason we need to take in calcium is because of the loss of it through sweat, urine and feces.
High protein diets actually cause more calcium loss through the urine, especially if it's animal protein.
Quality calcium is found in many vegetables, legumes, grains and fruits.
Many scientists believe that exercise can be more important than calcium intake.