“Made in the USA” has been a popular slogan for a long time, but American consumers have undercut the making and selling of American products by their greater desire to buy the cheapest. American manufacturers have been unable to be successful when competing with countries with very low labor rates. China especially has for decades been able to sell products in this country far cheaper than similar products that are made in America. “Made in the USA” has been an ineffective slogan. And this despite the lower quality reputation of some overseas goods (i.e. “ made in China”), we still often buy foreign.
One factor working in our favor to make American products competitive is what’s called the supply chain. To get the lowest labor rates and material costs, product components are shipped all over the world. The automotive industry is an example: various car parts come from different countries, and partial assemblies can be again transported to different locations to assemble, and the final product then transported to the US. Even though many of the component parts were made more cheaply overseas, all that transportation added cost to the process. Worldwide logistics can secure the least cost, but adds inefficiency to the system. There is a way to equalize the cost…
Tariff-ying or Tariff-ic?
Any country can impose a tariff on products coming into its borders. That drives up the prices of the foreign products. We’ve learned that many countries have had tariffs and other taxes imposed on American products, while we have not imposed tariffs at the same level on their products. We are now renegotiating tariffs to make them “reciprocal”. Our tariffs will force up prices on the foreign products, leveling the playing field for domestic production. Now producing products in America is being encouraged because competitive foreign products are more costly. Adding this to the efficiency of less shipping of parts around the world, and Americans will buy more products made in the USA. As more employment comes along with production coming back home, we should be getting higher quality goods at prices we can afford. Quality is key, because…
It’s all about perception…
Americans will pay more when they perceive higher quantity. “You get what you pay for” is a common saying. This is particularly true of food — we will pay more for what we want to eat, and sometimes we will pay more for food we believe to be healthful. The remarkable thing about food purchasing: we will pay a lot more for meat than vegetables and think the cost is ok because our choice is healthful. Actually, food is one place we can get high value and low cost if we change our perception.
The best protein at the best price
The value of protein in the American diet is constantly being touted. However, we have been convinced that the best protein comes from animal products. Little understood is that plant protein is just as effective as animal protein for a lot lower cost. While Americans haven’t been convinced to buy American when cheaper products are available, they have been convinced that paying a lot more for animal protein is a good deal. We hear that animal protein is complete protein, unlike plant protein, that animal protein is needed to build muscle, and even that animal products are just tastier. Somehow animal protein has become very popular, even for those trying to build their health through exercise — they ignore the cost. Even the “green” movement, claiming that the cattle industry is contributing to greenhouse gases in a major way, has been unable to pierce the perception that animal products are the way to go.
The plant-based health movement has made significant progress in the area of perception. We are becoming more aware that animal products are generally more toxic, more disease-provoking, and more lacking in many vital nutrients than plant products. There are many reasons to stay away from or at least reduce animal products in the American diet. But perception is not easily changed. So we must definitively answer one simple question: “are plant proteins really as good as animal proteins?” If we look at the evidence, the answer is clearly “yes.”
Simply the best
Let’s consider muscle building. We have gyms and fitness centers popping up almost everywhere because men and women want to build strength. In this society where many jobs are desk jobs, we’ve tended towards becoming weak, flabby, and overweight, so the trend towards muscle building is laudable. The prevailing belief is that strength training and greater protein intake go hand in hand, that we need more protein when exercising. And to an extent that is true: if someone is getting just enough protein to be a couch potato and then starts exercising, metabolism of protein will necessarily increase. Not as much as they probably expect, because a good portion of the amino acids released from exercise gets recycled, so only some are lost through excretion. Most Americans are already getting enough protein to more than cover a major exercise program, but for the sake of this discussion let’s assume that they need more protein for muscle building. What protein source should they seek?
A study published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise by researchers at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois takes the question of which protein is better head on. They came to three conclusions: the choice between animal or plant protein makes absolutely no difference in muscle gain, the protein intake does not have to be spread out through the day, and that more protein beyond the amount sufficient for the exercise has no further impact on the muscle gain. Do these findings surprise you? You might think that the animal protein is a higher quality, that you should keep a good supply of protein coming in when exercising, and that if some protein is good, more is better. This study debunks all these theories, and opens the door for you to have muscle gain and health improvement at the same time.
The three points
The first point was simply this: protein is protein. It is true that animal protein is generally complete protein, containing all the animo acids your body uses to make muscle tissue and other proteins. So the U of I study made certain that the amino acid intake was balanced for the vegan participants, so their bodies were able to put those amino acids together to create all the protein they needed. Also, not all the amino acids are needed equally to create the proteins your body uses. You do need to pay attention with the vegan diet to balance the amino acids, but it’s not hard to do.
The second point is that your body can buffer periods of low protein intake. You don’t need to be sure you get protein with every meal to build muscle. If you set a goal of avoiding all protein in your meals, you would find that very difficult to do, because amino acids are everywhere. Plants have plenty of them. Your body can get temporarily scarce amino acids through a process called autophagy, where it simply looks around your body for damaged or improper proteins and breaks them down into amino acids. You need that process to occur so you don’t build up too many junk proteins: especially as you age, these proteins pile up and interfere with normal metabolism, so scavenging them is actually a life extension technique. Protein insufficiency is possible, but is quite rare in America, and you don’t have to chase protein unless your diet is very unusual.
The third point is that more is not better when it comes to protein. It’s worse than that, because the excess has to be processed and excreted. Following the more protein myth could be hazardous to your health, leading to kidney damage or failure, and other diseases — even cancer. The reason more isn’t better with protein is simply a matter of metabolism: your body will only build protein for what it needs at the moment and does not have a storehouse for the protein like it does for fat. Amino acids will circulate in your body for a while, but if not used soon, they will be excreted. Autophagy will regularly be shut down, and some of the amino acids will be metabolized into sugar and then potentially stored as fat. Protein is touted as a great antidote to sugar, yet excess protein can increase blood sugar and even lead to diabetes. So you want to get just enough protein to supply your normal metabolism and your exercise program. More than that is harmful.
So the animal and plant proteins are equally effective for muscle building. But are they equally effective in supporting your health? If you are still inclined to stick with animal protein, consider its downsides: it acidifies your body, carries with it the toxins that the animal processed simply by being higher on the food chain, is low in fiber, and is not generally as nutrient dense. It supplies protein in abundance, but provides an abundance of trouble too. The study is correct as far as it goes — the animal and plant proteins are equally effective, but we have to then look at research on the longevity and health-promoting aspects of plants.
You exercise for health, also eat for health
There is a multitude of studies that conclusively show the benefits of a plant-based diet over an animal diet, so let’s focus on one that consolidates many studies. Published in Translational Psychiatry is a review of 32 individual studies. Here’s their conclusion: “Based on this systematic review of randomized clinical trials, there is an overall robust support for beneficial effects of a plant-based diet on metabolic measures in health and disease.” Specifically they cited benefits to weight status, energy metabolism, and systematic inflammation for healthy participants as well as obese or type 2 diabetic participants. They cited various reasons for plant-based diet benefits: modulation of the gut microbiome towards a favorable diversity of bacteria species, lowered inflammatory components, nutrient levels, and the lack of detrimental components found in meat (e.g. heme-iron or nitrosamines, antibiotics, and other toxic substances). There is a strong consensus in the research community that plant-based eating patterns are much healthier than animal diets.
Just common sense
Normally when cost is lower for a better product, people will flock to it. Somehow the perception that meat is better, so much so that it is worth paying significantly more to buy, has taken hold. But it is clearly wrong. Ironically, the trend towards exercise and weight training has fueled this anomaly even further, to the point that muscle builders are intentionally seeking out additional protein sources, usually from animal products. What the “Made in the USA” labels failed to promote — overriding the desire for lower cost — hasn’t translated into the protein craze. Yet a well balanced non-animal or very low animal diet is not only less expensive, but it is far superior. Look at the research for yourself. It’s easy to find, because the evidence for the health benefits of a plant-based diet is overwhelming, and you now see that it can supply all the protein you need for strength training. There’s no downside here. It’s all about perception.
Dr. Nemec’s Review
Let’s go a little deeper in the University of Illinois study
1. The choice between animal or plant protein makes absolutely no difference in muscle gain.
2. The protein intake does not have to be spread out through the day,
3. More protein beyond the amount sufficient for the exercise has no further impact on the muscle gain.
1. The misperception that animal protein builds bigger and stronger muscles started in the 19th century by biochemist Justus Liebig who stated that animal protein was superior for muscular energy. This big lie by Liebig was received as truth, because the most affluent people always ate more animal products. Animal products were associated with muscular strength and a higher state in society. This was further supported in the 1840s by the “Protein Theory” confirming the belief that meat was superior nutritionally, especially to build muscle strength and the male physique. Further support came in 1927 by the American Medical Association stating that vegetarians are overly sentimental, fanatical and ignorant about science. Then other views began to counter the culture: even in the 19th century John Harvey Kellogg promoted plant-based protein. All this pseudoscience and hype was continued into the 20th century and included in the “essential four food groups” that was taught in our schools. Even in 1954, an official from the National Institutes of Health, W. H. Sebrell, called vegetarian diets a fad, based on “ancient superstition”.
As one can see, old beliefs die hard, but they will as the ongoing research with advanced science and technology continually prove this: plant protein is equal to animal protein for muscle building and strength, and far superior to animal protein for health and longevity.
2. Let’s take the case of intermittent fasting. This is defined as not eating in a daily 16 to 20 hour interval and consuming all food in a 4 to 8 hour window. As long as you can eat enough in this window, it can actually be superior for building muscle because it decreases insulin sensitivity. It decreases fat and it increases human growth hormone which plays an important part in muscle growth and repair. Intermittent fasting decreases inflammation, increases autophagy (which is cell recycling) and increases the efficiency of nutrient absorption.
3. More is not better! Let us state this once again: more is absolutely not better! More protein is just more acidity and more sugar to remove from the body through the detox pathways of kidney and liver. Protein is an acidic molecule whereas the body’s biochemistry must be maintained in alkalinity — so if we have too much protein, we have a greatly increased acidic load on the body that has to be buffered to turn it into alkalinity. Most of this job is done in the blood and kidneys, which greatly overloads them. A majority of the amino acids in protein can be broken down into sugar and stored as fat, so more is definitely not better — unless you want more sugar, more inflammation, and more fat, which also equals more inflammation.
So as you can see science and technology is constantly improving to disprove false perceptions and long-standing incorrect dogma. There was a time in the world when everyone believed that the Earth was flat, then it was proposed that it was round. This new idea was ridiculed and persecuted until science caught up, and now everyone knows the Earth is round. The same misperception has occurred about plant protein, and all the science has caught up and now clearly states that it’s equal for muscle building and far superior for health and longevity. It’s time for everyone to open their eyes to the science and embrace what is best for health and longevity.
