From: Harvey Newstrom (mail@HarveyNewstrom.com)
Date: Sun Jun 03 2001 - 23:55:53 MDT
Robert E. Lee wrote,
> As a vegetarian, I found Harvey Newstrom making some exaggerated claims
> about the benefits of a plant based diets. Perhaps this has to do with my
> ignorance of the science involved?
You may have answered your own question. I minored in biochemistry in
college. My statements are easily verifiable in any nutrition textbook.
> > Vegetarian proteins are simpler proteins and are easier to break down
and absorb.
>
> The body breaks down vegetable proteins into amino acids as well.
Animal proteins are more complicated than plant proteins. This is why they
are called "complete" proteins, because they contain all 22 amino acids and
are pre-formed into completed proteins. Vegetable proteins are much simpler
proteins. They are called "incomplete" proteins because they contain fewer
numbers of amino acids and are not pre-formed into completed protein. The
body can convert these simpler proteins into individual aminos or into other
aminos more easily than it can break down more complex protein structures.
(That is, the complex structures take more time and more steps to break
down.)
> > By leeching this protein directly from other animals instead of
> > building our own proteins, we are also leeching their aging-related
> > side-effects. Cholesterol buildup, free-radical oxidation, high fat and
>
> This isn't true. You break down all proteins into amino acids, which pool
> in the liver for the body to use. Have I missed something here?
What isn't true? All I am saying is that in addition to absorbing the
proteins in the meat, we also absorb the cholesterol, free-radicals and high
fat content. High cholesterol foods raise blood cholesterol levels. High
levels of free-radicals cause oxidation damage. High fat content raises fat
levels in the blood.
> > Animal diseases can also be absorbed from animals. Eating meat is
almost
> > like getting an indirect blood transfusion from the animal.
>
> What a claim! It is almost like getting a blood transfusion in what way?
If you eat a pig with trichinosis, you can get trichinosis. If you eat a
cow with mad cow disease, you can get mad cow disease. (They used to
believe this was not true, but about 100 people in Europe have now
contracted this disease.) If you eat a cow with high cholesterol, you will
have high cholesterol. If you eat a cow with high salt levels, you will
have high salt levels. If you eat a cow with mineral or pesticide
poisoning, you will ingest these same poisons. Basically, whatever chemical
or pathogen gets absorbed by cow mammals will also tend to be absorbed by
human mammals. This is not really a controversial claim. This is why we
inspect meat before we eat it, because diseased meat can make people sick.
> Veggie foods also contain more nutrients, more fiber, and less calories
> than meat.
>
> This seems rather dubious. What plant based foods contain more macro and
> micro nutrients per calorie than meat? I know there may be some, but not
> all.
Meat is good for protein, fat, and vitamin B-12. Milk is good for vitamin D
and calcium. For most other nutrients, fruits, vegetables, and grains are
required to provide these nutrients.
Veggies are better for beta-carotene, choline, fiber, anti-oxidants than
meat. Grains and seeds are better for vitamins B1, B3, B6, folic acid,
inositol, and vitamin E than meat. Fruits are better for vitamin C and
bioflavinoids than meat. Seeds and nuts are better for essential fatty
acids than meat. Minerals can usually be obtained from veggies just as
easily as from meat.
> What about long chain omega-3 fatty acids? Unless you include
> flaxseed oil
> in your diet, only fish is considered a good source.
Not just flaxseed, but many seeds and nuts, and the oils derived from them.
> Clearly heme-iron from animals gets absorbed much more readily than plant
> based iron. Plus the phytates in grains and oxylates in green-leafy
> vegetables prevents absorbtion of this non-heme iron.
Maybe, but this is disputed by other studies. (Remember that the food
animals get all their iron by eating vegetables.) By weight, bran flakes,
spirulina, agar seaweed, chives, brewers yeast, potato flour, wheat flakes,
pumpkin seeds, squash seeds, sesame seeds, soymeal flour, tofu, and pine
nuts have more iron than most meats (except for liver and organ meats).
> vitamin D, in someone who does not get sun exposure? It tends to come
only from
> fortified milk.
By weight, mushrooms and sunflower seeds have higher vitamin D levels than
milk.
> And calcium? Difficult to absorb unless you include dairy products in
your diet.
This is a controversial claim. Most studies show that it is dairy calcium
that is more difficult to absorb. Even so, both sources seem to be absorbed
well enough. By weight, sesame seeds, chives, yeast, tofu, sesame butter,
soybeans, carob flour, almonds, filberts, dandelion greens, kelp, mustard
spinach, wheat flakes, and rhubarb have more calcium than milk.
> In addition, you wrote in a reply to someone that milk and eggs
> may contain
> prions. As far as I know, they have not yet been found to do so. In
> addition, milk is pasteurized to eliminate bacteria. And of
> course not all
> of the viruses and bacteria in the animal's body are present in the egg
> producing and milk secreting portions. Also, low-fat or no-fat milk and
> dairy products do not contain the same amount of triglycerides as meat.
Yes, I lumped all these things together in the discussion of "animal
proteins". I agree that eggs are less likely than meat to be affected, and
milk even less so. I also agree that pasteurization tries to kill bacteria
so it won't affect us.
> Lastly, we do see nutrient deficiency disease in the United
> States. We see
> it in people who follow fad diets.
I didn't mean to imply that there is not nutritional deficiencies in the
United States. But it is a small fraction of the health problems when
compared to over-indulgence diseases.
-- Harvey Newstrom <http://HarveyNewstrom.com> <http://Newstaff.com>
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