"So Where Do You Get Your Protein?" If you begin to shift to a diet consisting primarily of whole, unrefined plant-based foods, you will inevitably be asked two questions frequently: Why are you only eating plant foods these days? Where do you get your protein? The simple answer to the second question is that we should get our protein from plants, the same place that other natural herbivores such as the elephant and the great ape get theirs. Fortunately for those species, they haven't been brainwashed by the meat and dairy producers to believe that consuming flesh is essential to their health.  Not only are animal products not the best source of protein for humans, there are a host of reasons why it should be minimized if not outright avoided altogether.  I particularly like the way Howard Lyman deals with the protein question in his latest book, No More Bull.  A former cattle rancher turned vegetarian, he has a clever way of presenting the facts of the matter.  He writes... Plant-eating animals such as gorillas, elephants, horses and giraffes all clearly get enough protein to support their massive frames.  Why in the world do we imagine that humans cannot build strong bones without eating cheeseburgers? On a healthy vegan diet, protein is simply not an issue.  You don't have to worry about balancing your proteins, or getting "complete" proteins; you don't have to pay attention to protein at all.  All you have to do is eat a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes.  If you've been programmed to worry about protein nonetheless, then go heavier on the legumes (at least until you learn to relax). Eat a variety of beans, soy products such as tofu and tempeh, peas and lentils.  Broccoli and leafy green vegetables boast a respectable protein content as well.  Nuts and seeds are also rich in protein, but keep in mind that they are high in fat as well. Now I ask you, do you know of anyone who has gotten sick, gone to the hospital, or died from lack of protein?  I'm quite sure that you don't, whereas I'll bet you know plenty of people who have become victims of heart disease and cancer.  It's remarkable how many people dig their graves with artery-destroying fatty, carcinogenic animal foods because they are afraid of a condition that can scarcely be found anywhere in America, protein deficiency. The belief in the primacy of animal protein may be the most dangerous myth circulating. Researchers have been shooting holes in that myth for years, but the man who has finally put the kibosh on it is T. Colin Campbell, the lead researcher in the most comprehensive study of health and nutrition in human history.  For over twenty years (still ongoing), his study has looked at diet, nutrition, disease and death rates in over 2400 counties in China, involving over 650,000 workers.  Not without reason, the New York Times labeled Campbell's undertaking the "Grand Prix of Epidemiology." In his superb 2005 book, The China Study, Campbell explains how, time and again, an increase in animal protein in the diet is associated with disease and death.  In America, we consume ten times as much animal protein as those living in rural China.  The resulting contrast in health could hardly be more dramatic.  The average blood cholesterol levels are barely more than half American levels.  The heart disease rate of American men is seventeen times higher than the corresponding rate among rural Chinese men.   How about cancer?  Campbell found overwhelming evidence of a direct link between blood cholesterol levels and cancers of the liver, rectum, colon, lung, breast, stomach and esophagus, as well as leukemia.  He writes "Animal protein intake was convincingly associated in the China Study with the prevalence of cancer in families."  He found that even mild increases in intake of animal protein were associated with statistically significant increases in breast cancers and other cancers.  He also found that cancer rates were five to eight times higher in areas of minimal consumption of fruit.  His conclusion is that the dairy protein casein, as well as all other animal proteins, are "the most relevant cancer causing substances that we consume." Not only is animal protein productive of heart disease and cancer, but it is too acidic for the human body, and in excess causes osteoporosis.  Country-by-country studies show animal protein intake varies directly with rates of osteoporosis. That's why I say that meat isn't really food.  Webster's defines food as "any substance taken into and assimilated by a plant or animal to keep it alive and enable it to grow and repair tissue; nourishment; nutriment."  The only alleged nutritional contribution made by meat is its abundant protein, and we now know that animal protein is dangerous and markedly inferior to plant protein.  That's why I'd argue that meat is more properly labeled a poison than a food. Ask yourself this:  if you were going to be locked in a cave for one year - a cave equipped with a working refrigerator, stove and cooking utensils -- and you had a choice of stocking that cave with an unlimited supply of fruits, grains, nuts, seeds and vegetables; or stocking it with an unlimited supply of meats, and ONLY meats, which would you opt for?  I think even the most die-hard steak lover couldn't endure the prospect of eating nothing but meat for a year.  Indeed, anyone who tried it would be lucky to survive without his organs failing.  That is why the human race contains untold millions of vegetarians and vegans but no true "carnivores."  Meat eaters are always careful to be omnivores because they instinctively know that they couldn't survive without eating some real food. Finally, I am reminded of a curious little factoid that I once read, for whose veracity I do not attest:  leather can actually be eaten and digested.  Again, I don't claim that this is true, and even if it is, I don't see much benefit in knowing it, unless you happen to find yourself stranded for a month without food in a biker bar.  But, assuming this curious bit of information is indeed true, what do we learn from it?  Simply this:  that the mere fact that something can be eaten and digested does not qualify it for the venerable term "food." Surely nobody looks at a leather jacket and sees it as food.  Well, neither is your steak a food.  It just happens to taste better than your jacket.  It's not necessarily more nutritious. If Howard has piqued your interest here, you may wish to further your knowledge by acquiring your own copy of The China Study and then reading it over and over and over again until you no longer believe that animal protein is necessary for your health.