🌱Unlocking the Protein Puzzle🧩

Let's talk about protein, the misunderstood champion of nutrition. It's the builder of cells, muscles, the creator of enzymes, hormones, and the oxygen transporter in our blood.

Essential? Absolutely!

Although let’s not get too carried away.

Due to common misconceptions about how proteins benefit our bodies many people over-consume them to a point where their health begins to suffer, never realizing their issues originate from the foods they seek for health.

That’s no surprise though.

Protein's media popularity has made challenges to how people view protein hard for most to swallow. But with such strong biases dominating our food culture, the question must be asked:

Is our obsession with protein steering us into risky territory? Unless you’re pregnant, an adolescent, or actively focused on building muscle, the answer is probably yes.

👉 What Protein Is & How It's Made

Proteins are large, complex molecules that play many critical roles in the body. They do most of the work in cells – and are required for the structure, function, and regulation of the body's tissues and organs.

They are made up of the Amino Acids our bodies produce, along with Essential Amino Acids that they can’t build on their own. To have healthy protein we must get those Essential Amino Acids from the Protean we eat.

Your body breaks all the Protein you eat down into the Amino Acids it needs to make new Proteins for you.

👉 Protein Paradoxes, & How Misinformation Clouds Our Nutritional Judgment

Protein has a scientifically unsupported “Health Halo Effect” which is largely due to marketing from food brands who want to sell their products as a panacea for everything, from weight loss to muscle gain.

The health halo effect occurs when certain foods are said to be good for us when little—or zero—evidence supports those claims. Marketing emphases like “high in protein” can lead to the overestimation of the health value of food products.

This is especially true when it comes to the advertising and over-eating of meaty foods, often justified for being “a good source of protein” and the Essential Amino Acids our bodies need to make their own.

Now we all know Western diets are famous for eating a lot of meat – (Source) shows we over consume meat by (Stats) – and that’s no secret. But what’s less known is how that celebrated protein content isn’t best taken in from a meaty meal.

All Protein, and the Essential Amino Acids we need to build our own, come first from plants. This is because plants synthesize amino acids that first make protein due to their symbiotic relationship with Denitrifying and Nitrogen-fixing Bacteria, which take nitrogen from the atmosphere and put it into soil for plants to then turn into plant-protein.

Animal Protein and their Essential Amino Acids still comes from the plants animals eat—that protein creation process just involves many, many, more steps as the plant protein consumed by animals becomes rearranged into an animals’ own protein-type.

When you eat animal protein, your body breaks it down into the Amino Acids needed to build protein for itself through a high waste process your body must clean up after which over time adds stress to your body. Although when you consume plant protein, the process to pull protein from your food is far less wasteful and more efficient – the key caveat being that you have to diversify your plant-protein sources to account for all the Essential Amino Acids that animal protein can readily supply.

👉 The Shaky Foundation of What Protein actually Is/does

More protein does not make you more muscular, healthier, or live longer. In fact, more protein can make you fatter, diseased, and shorter lived.

🕵️‍♂️Unmasking Protein 🕵️‍♀️

1.      Forget the hype! More animal protein won't shed those pounds; it's a major player in the obesity game! 🍔🚫

2.      Surprise! Animal protein isn't your heart's bestie. It's linked to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, and more. 🏥❌

3.      Plant protein rules! 🌱 No marketing team needed; it's naturally healthy and abundant. 🌿🌐

4.      Lower Animal protein intake = weight loss, strength gain, and a longer, healthier life! 🏋️‍♂️🥥

5.      Milk protein isn’t innocent; it's addictive! Milk contains opioid peptides, a habit-forming chemical. 🥛🚫

👉 What Proteins do Healthy Creatures Eat

The strongest animals on earth do not eat Animal protein, they eat Plant protein.

Human breast milk, a substance evolutionarily designed to help humans grow quickly, has the lowest concentration of protein of any mammal tested at about 8.5 grams per liter. For a phase of our lives when we do the most growing, we consume very little protein.

Why is cow’s milk not a good option for a growing human? They test at about 33.6 grams per liter. That’s 2.5 times higher than what a human baby needs! Cow's milk may put babies at risk for intestinal bleeding. It also has too many proteins and minerals for your baby's kidneys to handle and does not have the right ratio of nutrients that a human baby needs.

👉 The Real Deal on What Protein We NEED for Good Health

We require Plant protein. Animal protein should be kept to a minimum. In the past, Animal protein was pushed as a remedy for nutritional gaps in our societal diet due to scarcity. However, times have changed, and we should adjust this narrative.

While protein is essential to our nutritional needs, there are much healthier and more accessible Plant protein-based sources that deliver all your key nutrients:

🥦 Elevate your salads with a mix of cooked and raw Cruciferous Veggies for Protein, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Choline, Zinc, and Vegetable enzymes.

🍋 Boost your Iron absorption with Vitamin C containing Citrus dressings (lemon, lime, orange, your choice!)

🎃 Top off any meal with Pumpkin seeds for extra Zinc, and Sesame seeds for a Calcium kick.

🥗 Snack on satisfying Brazil nuts (or chop them into your salad) for essential Phosphorus and Selenium.

🌊 Sprinkle Kelp granules to bring an, iodine-rich, ocean-inspired, boost to your meals.

🥑 Embrace a burst of Vitamin B-7 (biotin) in Pistachios and Avocado.

🍄 Have a B-12 bash with Spirulina, Shitake Mushroom, Oyster Mushroom, and Dried Purple Laver (Nori).

🍊 Unleash Avocados, more Mushrooms, and Oranges onto your plate for vital Vitamin D-2 (Ergocalciferol).

🌞 Soak up more rays for your daily dose of sunshine sent Vitamin D-3.

🍠 Unearth the power of Provitamin A (alpha-carotene and beta-carotene) with sweet potatoes and carrots!

🌿 Get Omega-3 Fatty Acids from Walnuts, Flax Seeds (DHA, ALA), Algal Oil (EPA, DHA), or Spirulina (all three!)

✨ Season plates with unfortified Nutritional Yeast for a B-vitamin barrage: B-1 (thiamin), B-2 (riboflavin), B-3 (niacin), B-5 (pantothenic acid), and B-6 (pyridoxine).

To Wrap It Up

👉 Reality check:

Ditch the excess protein myth!
It doesn’t slim down or bulk up, it just get you soft and sick.

🌱 Plant Power:

Protein is crucial, but Animal hype is overrated. Plant proteins are the heroes that offer it all.

💪 Balanced approach:

You don’t need to ditch all meat. But prioritize Protein-rich Plants and whole ingredients.

How do you balance your protein intake? Share your tips!