where do you get your protein!?!

[luna99]

my second day 100% raw (first day back at work) and I already got the dreaded question... "where do you get your protein?".

I told her from green veggies (which I really haven't been eating much of yet! :rolleyes: ) and told her something about cows getting their protein from grass.. to which my co-worker said something like "yeah, but cows don't have to use their brains like you do"....

ugh. does anyone have a website where it very clearly and simply shows protein in different veggies and foods and where I can see how much protein an average adult needs?

I really want to educate myself on this so I can answer people when I get drilled about it. thanks! :cool:

[Revvell]

Luna, I hate to say this yet, if you'll search here there are TONS of threads (I NEVAH say "TONS" but, it's TRUE if you weigh them! Honest!!!! :p ) right here on this forum. Alissa has a whole section dedicated to that question, also, right here ~ ummm, somewhere here. I luffs ya, but I'm tired of doing the research for folk soooo, do it!!! :D

(No fears, others will do it for ya too, I'm sure.) :D

Rev

[lissomllama]

Just smile and say "From plants, silly! Don't you know that everything contains protein, just in different amounts. From the same place as the mighty ape and the ox get their protein. This Earth is composed of all the same elements, just all in different patterns and concentrations.. It may not be as easy as saying that but hey, it's worth a try.

[paradise2]

I would mention that they are probably getting too much protein. Too much protein causes cancer and osteoporosis because it acidifies the body. The RDAs for protein were also doubled for "safety".

[luna99]

you're completely right revvell.... I should research it myself, I just think I got a little flustered and aggravated with the question itself and wasn't thinking straight...

thanks everyone for your replies. :D

[Ariannah]

Did you announce it to everyone or something? ;)

Well, I'd say that our bodies use all the amino acids they can get when they're not cluttered up with false food. (I'd say it a bit more tactfully than that, actually haha)

But Protein schmotein. We live in a world where the end product of a cow's udders has been lauded as an entire "food GROUP", so expect whatever mentality will result from trying to convince people.

We don't have a big "protein emergency", "calcium emergency", and who knows what they'll think of next to get people rushing to the stores to buy some supplemental emergency product.

[Revvell]

you're completely right revvell.... I should research it myself, I just think I got a little flustered and aggrivated with the question itself and wasn't thinking straight...


That's o.k., you'll get use to it. It the most famous question asked of every vegetarian, vegan, raw foodist. It's where people think they are superior to us. Usually I'll ask ~ Wherever did you get that question? ... or, since you cook the life out of your food, where do you get your nutrients? ... or, do you REALLY care or you just feeling as though you know something you think I don't? :p

Don't get flustered or aggravated. Just do the Mona Lisa smile and say "I'll never tell" :D

Revvell

[JinxieKat]

You can read 'The China Study' or 'A diet for a new America' and find lots of reference to protien in both of those books. What I do remember is that noone has ever died of a protien deficency unless they were also suffering from starvation. On the other hand too much protien has been scientifcly linked to other diseases, most notably is bone loss in women (Ostioperosis ? spelling). The various 'official' recomendations for protien from medical experts range from 2.5% to 8% of your calories. Mothers milk is only 5% protien and that is the perfect food for us while we are growing the most! Also many veggies and grains have very good protient to calorie percentages.. 2% and up.. which fits right into the recomended daily guidlines.

Hope that helps!

Jinx

[Moonstone]

Here is a site as well you can read a touch if you like. I too feel that nuts and seeds are a way better source of protein than meat, in that when anything is cooked, which most meat must be, it loses much of its nutritional value.

http://www.fruitarian.com/ac/Proteins.htm

and another little extract from another site: :)

Nuts and seeds are vegetarian sources of raw proteins. They require an overnight soaking in water, followed by a morning rinsing, to leach out the enzyme inhibitors which prevent the enzymes in them from growing them into a plant. These same enzyme inhibitors also prevent your digestive enzymes from digesting the nutrients in them. Almonds, for example, also contain tannins, and prussic and tannic acids, which are leached out during the soaking and rinsing process.

[Sharon in Colorado]

Sometimes it doesn't even matter how much you know, because it always depends on the person who asks. Some people are truly concerned and under the impression that something bad will happen if you don't eat animal products. Others do it just to argue or show their superiority. So you really have to answer each person according to how they ask.

The times I've responded that first hand protein comes from plant foods I've never had a rebuttal.


I told her from green veggies (which I really haven't been eating much of yet! ) and told her something about cows getting their protein from grass.. to which my co-worker said something like "yeah, but cows don't have to use their brains like you do"....

The response she gave you about the cows was ignorant IMO because if cows didn't have a brain they wouldn't be vegetarians, they've been created to eat food that was meant for their bodies. They know that they cannot eat animals just like a carnivore (like a tiger) knows it can't sit around eating mangos all day.

Also she wasn't really using her brain, she was probably just repeating whatever she heard, so it was just mindless banter.

[mongomango]

I'd just give them a big smile and tell them I absorb it by osmosis from the aether... :D

[konmai]

I'd just give them a big smile and tell them I absorb it by osmosis from the aether... :D

NICE! :D I also like the just give them the Mona Lisa smile and say "I'll never tell" one! hehe...as a poster already said, it really depends if someone is asking b/c they care, are interested, etc...or just asking for the wrong reasons. :rolleyes:

[Truth Frog]

Here's a great link:

http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/

Look up something like, say, swiss chard. Under "amino acids" you notice it has all of them, meaning it's a complete protein. Up at the top it says how much protein by weight it contains, when you remove the water, you see that it contains a huge ratio of pretty well-rounded protein.

*Edit: You might find this helpful too:

http://healthymeals.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php?info_center=4&tax_level=2&tax_subject=256&topic_id=1342&placement_default=0

[chilove]

Tell her that our bodies and our brains actually run on sugar, not protein. We get sugar from fruits, our natural food. :-)

Here is some info on protein:

http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/protein.html

All the best,

Audrey
www.rawhealing.com

[Rastadawta]

Hi...
Please get the Rave Diet CD/DVD..Eating.. www.ravediet.com..
This DVD was shown to my parents and they are going to stop eating meat..all kinds. This is Great Since they Live in Houston, TX..BIG CATTLE place..
The reason I suggest this is because there is a list of Protein and since we need only a 5% daily intake..Beef is 26 % on the list and spinach tops it all with 46%!!!!
This DVD helps me with not eating anymore cooked foods..Day 1 (100%) again for me.peace

[Davylp25]

Okay can some one save me from my ignorance... When the list from the Fruitarion site says Raw Peanuts 26% pro or Almonds 17 or 19% protein... How many do u have to eat to get that amount? I never understand that... lol A handfull?, a few? I dont get it...lol

[sungoddess]

davy,

i think that means what percentage of the nuts are composed of protein as opposed to what percentage of protein in our diets it makes up. am i right?

[Revvell]

davy,

i think that means what percentage of the nuts are composed of protein as opposed to what percentage of protein in our diets it makes up. am i right?


That would be my take on it.

Revvell

[Sharon in Colorado]

1 cup peanuts

grams cals %total

Total: 848 calories
Fat: 72 648 75%
Sat: 10 90 10%
Poly: 23 205 24%
Mono: 36 321 37%
Carbs: 28 57 7%
Fiber: 13 0 0%
Protein: 38 154 18%

1 cup almonds:

grams cals %total

Total: 815 calories
Fat: 71 643 80%
Sat: 5 49 6%
Poly: 17 155 19%
Mono: 45 408 51%
Carbs: 28 45 6%
Fiber: 17 0 0%
Protein: 30 120 15%

This is from fitday. The percentage relates to the percentage of calories from fat, carbs and protein.

[meinleben]

nuts and seeds are a fat source...not a protein source.....this is more than evident....

just like when my meat eating friends tell me they get their protein from meat....i thought this is where they got their fat from...not their protein...

friends don't let friends believe in the protein myth..hehehehehehe

[Sharon in Colorado]

I agree. As you can see from my posting the fat content dominates. Greens and veggies are more of a protein source.

[mershwista]

Ask them how they get theirs and if they really think that their bodies can easily absorb the proteins in meat...

If they doubt that raw vegans can get enough protein, send them to thegardendiet.com and tell them to take a look at Storm, who has been raw vegan for over 30 years.

[Pierre]

You can ask back: "Where do you get your enzymes from?" Enzymes are proteins, and their katality is destroyed by even slight cooking.

As to brains, they run on glucose (unlike other cells, they can't use other simple sugars) and are largely made of fat (insulation for the wires). Protein is used to make muscle, skin, hair, connective tissue, and enzymes.

[rawfigure]

On Sat someone asked me that question. I simply answered it. "I eat dark green veggies like Kale, green drinks, sea veggies, spirulina and hemp protein, where do you get yours ??" ...and she said Oh I do not eat enough maybe I should eat more Spinach ? Then she asked What is Kale ? " :p