YOU HAVE TO EAT MEAT TO GET ENOUGH PROTEIN . . . WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR PROTEIN?

The meat and dairy products in the average Canadian diet result in too much protein which has been repeatedly scientifically proven to be associated with kidney disease - high blood pressure, kidney stones, etc.; cancers, particularly of the prostate, colon, etc.; high cholesterol levels; inflammatory conditions such as arthritis.

The World Health Organization, the U.S. Surgeon General, the National Research Council all advocate that we eat 10 - 15% of our calories from protein - the Robarts Diet (a diet made up of whole grains, fruits, vegetables and legumes) is a 10% protein diet. The diet you are eating currently is a risk-engendering diet of 20 - 40% calories as protein. Vegetable protein does not have the same deleterious effect on kidney function, carcinogenesis, etc. and is in fact the key component to determining adequate growth in humans. The largest animals on the face of this planet (elephant, gorilla, rhino, whales, etc.) are all vegetarians. The most rapid period of growth for the human species is between birth and two years of age at which time breast milk only provides 6% calories as protein. Switching to a plant based diet ensures that you will get adequate protein - and a safe protein at that. It is impossible to design a protein deficient diet with adequate calories.

YOU HAVE TO EAT DAIRY PRODUCTS TO GET ENOUGH CALCIUM. . . WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR CALCIUM?

All calcium that we eat comes from the ground. All foods contain calcium - some more than others. There are three issues that need to be addressed in any discussion about dietary calcium and its effect on health.

1. The amount of calcium in the food. Although highly hyped by the dairy industry, this is in fact not correlated with how much calcium the body retains. Therefore a low calcium food may actually cause a better calcium profile than a high calcium food. This is related to the phenomenon of . . .

2. Bioavailability. Again highly hyped by the dairy industry as milk is both high calcium and highly bioavailable. Bioavailability refers to how much of that calcium in that food is absorbed when eaten. Again this is not necessarily correlated with how much calcium the body retains. Therefore a food with low calcium bioavailability may cause a better calcium profile than a highly bioavailable source. This is related to the phenomenon of . . .

3. Calcium metabolism. No longer referred to by the dairy industry since their study by Recker et al. in 1986 which showed that the more skim milk that post menopausal women consumed the more calcium they lost from their bodies. This is in fact the most important aspect of calcium in the diet - the end result of your diet on your calcium balance. There are several mechanisms by which calcium is lost from the body but unfortunately calcium loss is greatly exaggerated through the urine when you eat a high protein - in particular animal protein - diet. In summary, not enough exercise, caffeine, alcohol, smoking, phosphates (high in processed diets), and eating animal protein are the major causes of calcium deficiency and osteoporosis. Research studies consistently show that populations on relatively low calcium, but also low animal protein diets have much lower to no osteoporosis. Switching to a plant based diet ensures that you will get adequate calcium - and calcium that will stay in your body to give you healthy bones for your entire life.