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Vegetarians’ favorite question


Robyn Openshaw - Feb 18, 2012 - This Post May Contain Affiliate Links


My daughter Emma, 16, and I had a convo the other day about how every vegetarian gets sick of the question, “How do you get your protein?” (I bet we hear from some of them here!)

I often point those asking that question to my report HERE called “Protein: Are We Deficient? Or Overdosing?”

A soccer teammate of Emma’s props up her diet with protein shakes. EVEN THE VEGANS BUY INTO THE PROTEIN MYTH! And she’s not healthy. This is the logical fallacy:

“I know a vegetarian, and she’s not healthy. Therefore we must need meat to be healthy.”

Nearly every logical fallacy applies here, and I love exposing logical fallacies, but don’t want to deliver a dissertation on all the ways that fails. My readers are smart and you can poke holes in that kind of thinking yourself.

Most if not all our degenerative diseases are related to undigested proteins floating in our bloodstream. That’s right, our EXCESSIVE PROTEIN consumption is killing us. We do NOT need 20% animal protein, thank you very much Dr. Robert Atkins. (It didn’t work very well for him, did it?)

Those of you eating a plant-based diet, what’s your favorite response to that question, “Where do you get your protein?”

Posted in: Lifestyle, Whole Food

4 thoughts on “Vegetarians’ favorite question”

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Oh Robyn, how I thought of you today when I took my 4 yr old to the pediatrician for her annual checkup. Both the nurse and doctor had a standard series of questions about my daughter’s eating habits and development. First question-how much milk does your daughter drink per day in ounces? Me: none. I told them she drinks water. Then they asked about cheese or other dairy. Me again: none. Then they asked how she gets calcium – I said from the fruits and vegetables she eats. They asked if she takes vitamin supplements-me: no. At this point, I told them that we have eliminated most meat and dairy from our diet and that we primarily eat fruits and vegetables now. They asked….wait for it…how does she get protein? I said from her vegetables like broccoli and spinach. During all these questions, my very outspoken 6 yr old daughter was adding her own commentary – we drink green smoothies every day and we eat salad and we eat lots of fruits and vegetables and we don’t drink cows milk anymore.

    It’s no wonder with this line of questioning from doctors that the public thinks/assumes their kids should be drinking cow’s milk or eating dairy or getting all of their protein from meat. Thankfully, from your website and from reading The China Study, etc.I felt armed with correct information and was confident in answering the doctors questions with the truth about what we DON’T eat at our house 🙂

  2. Anonymous says:

    I’m not sure if you’ll have an answer to this but how much protein do pregnant women REALLY need? I’ve read most sources between 70-80 grams a day… I know there are many pregnant vegetarians/vegans out there. I teach a birthing class and would like to find some good research/articles on this subject for my mothers.

  3. Anonymous says:

    I’m sooooo confused on this issue. Vegetables might have a high percentage of protein, but they are low calorie, therefore the actual grams of protein are very small. Protein and carbohydrates seem to be on a continuum. If you reduce the grams protein, you increase the grams carbs, and whether the carbs are “good” or “bad” I just feel terrible when the ratio of carbs is very high in relation to the protein. Six months ago my family quit green smoothies and and stocked up on protein powder instead. I had been studying how to deal with severe behavior problems through diet and I kept reading “protein, protein, animal protein”. It about killed me, I’ve lived my life believing that less protein was better, but my kids all got better, instantly with MORE. The result was indisputable and dramatic. Increased protein helped me overcome depression as well. When I lapse on monitoring protein intake it shows up in my kids behavior instantly. I keep trying to figure out how to get adequate protein on a whole foods diet, I stare at the list of beans, nuts, seeds, whole grains, and broccoli and it just isn’t enough, we’d have to eat all day long. This comment is off-topic, so you don’t have to post it, but I just had to write it anyway.

  4. Don says:

    I like the way that Stanley Burroughs writes in his book, “The Master Cleanser”. Quote:’ Often the question is asked about the need for amino acids, and animal protein foods. The need is highly exaggerated as only 16% or our body is protein. The answer to the question is very simple. We first need to understand that pure protein is primarily nitrogen, with oxygen, hydrogen and some carbon. We all know we get a large share of our oxygen and hydrogen needs for the air along with some carbon. There is four times the amount of nitrogen in the same air as there is oxygen, hydrogen and carbon combined. Since we are able to utilize and assimilate a large amount of our needs of these elements into our bodies we are able to assimilate and build nitrogen also into our bodies as protein. This is done by natural bacteria action which is capable of converting it to our use. From the combination of the best of foods and clean air we are able to create our own amino acids, just as well as the animals do. We never try to feed amino acids to the animals. Thus we are able to eliminate the need for toxic dead animal flesh and have no further need to worry about our constant source of protein. Eat only the best variety of fruits, berries, nuts, vegetables, seeds and sprouted seeds for a further complete source of protein.”

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