"Where do you and your son get your protein?"

This is indeed the number one question we get from others and that we asked ourselves when we first started feeding our son living foods.

The bottom line is this: the body uses the essential amino acids to build protein. If you feed your body a protein, such as one that comes from meat, your body has to break it all down anyway to access what it needs for the human body to build a usable protein. So, if you look at it this way, the question becomes "How do I know my child is getting the amino acids he needs to build protein?" And the answer is simple: All fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds have amino acids. Dark leafy greens have all the essential amino acids the body needs, with little, if any, waste. Therein lies the core of our passion: GREEN SMOOTHIES!!! They are sweet, delicious, beautiful and provide us with everything we need!

Looking forward to reading other people's thoughts on the subject

Love,
Shawna

There tends to be a great misunderstanding about protein...

The question I always ask is "why do you need to eat protein?".

Most folks don't know the answer which isn't surprising because the best answer is: you don't really - you need to eat amino acids, it is our body that creates the protein that we need.

The analogy I commonly us is the building of a custom home.
When we seek to build ourselves a custom home we do not bring a bunch of completed homes to the site to disassemble in order to get the materials we need to build our custom home; think of the amount of work required to get to the materials you need... think of the enormous amount of waste generated that we don't want and can't use that we must find a way to dispose!

We acquire the raw building materials that we need for exactly what we are building to reduce waste and increase efficiency.

Eating protein from meat sources is like bringing completed homes to the site while eating live foods such as greens is more like getting the raw materials to build our home.

That is perfectly logical to me; and I appreciate the simplicity of the information.

Nice analogy but I don't understand - I thought we need to eat a lot of complex protein to be healthy. I eat very little meat but try to get as much protein as possible.

Along the lines of John's information, we have been like sheep being led to slaughter when it comes to protein.  Our bodies do in fact create their own protein and don't need the medical genius of eating more protein.  Not only do we not need the additional protein, there is science to show that it is actually to much protein in our systems that leaches the calcium out of our bones, thereby causing osteoporosis.  There are studies proving that cultures that aren't pushed to eat protein have a negligible insidence of osteoporosis.
The only information we will ever get from and is being promoted by the FDA, is based on keeping the medical industry dispensing drugs, (some of which are in fact responsible for sickness) and treating disease, not preventing it.

I can't agree with you more.
You are one of the few that understand how protein works in the body. It's amazing but true that protein can leach Calcium from the body - that's one reason why drinking cow's milk actually gives you negative net of Calcium even though its fortified with Calcium (and because it creates a very acidic environment leaching Calcium to neutralize).

It is truly amazing how prolific the protein myth is in our society. Everybody knows "you must eat protein" but very few have any idea why or what happens to protein in the body. So you are so not alone robinB.

It's a common "understanding" that you eat a protein and it goes straight into you body to build muscle and things. That idea couldn't be farther than the truth. The proteins that enter our body through food are seen as "foreign stuff" that needs to be ripped apart to find something useful. And those proteins that closely mimic proteins in our body can "slip by" the process and end up causing harm.

Our body has to make most every protein that it needs and it does so by putting together amino acids in a very specific manor. Our body can make most of the amino acids that it needs but there are a few that it can't, those are the "essential amino acids". That is why eating foods with a variety of amino acids is so good - the body uses them as needed to build protein and there is less left over toxic waste for the body to deal with.

Right on! For once I don't think there is anything more I can say about the subject of protein.

Well said.

wow, I had no idea. Now I can tell my Mom that I get plenty of protein from my green smoothies

did not know where to post this.

i just read these responses, and i, being a raw foodist for some time, with some amount of study under my belt ( but not enough)..still have some questions.


if i go to a 'nutritional guide to fruits and vegetables' ( any one will do)

i often see a listing like : "avocado"-protein 2 grams.

how is that amount of protein calculated?  is it the amount of the protein the body can manufacture through the amino acids in the fruit?

Then, if this is the case, protein IS measured by the useable amount of protein from the fruit?

i am still confused!!!

And, say, as an active female, charts say that i need 34 grams of protein a day.( i am just using a figure..i have no idea what the charts say..) .how can i measure how much protein i am getting ,through the amino acids provided by the green smoothie?

would i go to a chart of 'nutritional data of fruits and vegetables' and add up the protein figures i see there.

still confused..please clarify..if you would be so kind.!!

alice

alice, you are not alone.
Most people are confused and many just don't think about or question such things. It's no surprise since it is a rather complicated chemistry process.


The "easy" part of your questions...

The amount of protein presented in nutritional data charts represents the amount of protein that the food contains as determined by the method used to do so.

So the best you can do is precisely what you suggested. Go to the charts and add up the protein figures you see there for the amount you are eating.



As for how is it calculated...

(I'll attempt to be clear and concise without getting too technical...)

Traditional methods, such as the Kjeldahl method, of determining the amount of protein in a food is based on the total amount of Nitrogen the food contains which is then multiplied by a determined factor to arrive at its protein content. The problem with such methods is that it assumes that nothing else, such as carbohydrates and fats, contains Nitrogen and further assumes that all nitrogen present in food is from amino acids. Such methods continue to be used to determine the crude amount of protein in food.

A more revised method is to isolate the amino acids by hydrolysis and then measure their amounts by several means (such as liquid chromatography and ion-exchange). Then the sum total of amino acids by weight is said to represent the protein content in the food.


Even with such "better" methods of determining the protein/amino acid content of foods there still remains important questions like the ones you ask...

"Can every body metabolize all the protein found in food into amino acids regardless of the whole food it comes from?"

"What is the actual usable amount of the amino acids in the food?"

"How does food combining effect the usable amount of protein?"

"How do the methods of growing the food effect it's content? Is there a difference between conventional spinach bought in a store that was shipped from Mexico several weeks ago versus the organic spinach I pick from my garden this morning?"


Hopefully I didn't confuse you any further 

thanks ,John.. no ..not confused any more than i was in the beginning


many thanks

alice

So I didn't clear your confusion I see 

Do you have more questions?

oh yes, thank you,John.. you answered my questions..

but also brought up more..

that was the confusion..


i am happy now with going to the protein information for each food i eat, and noting it down and using that as a basis for how much i am going to try and consume daily..i guess that is the best way to go about it in a semi scientific way..
It is mostly in response to people who ask me.  I have a couple people who insist that i am not getting enough protein..so all i can do is try my best to do something.

i am not doing heavy labour, so i personally feel that i do not need all that much.

cheerio
thanks again
alice

Hello all.. i just found an article which i had saved on my computer.. unfortunately, i do not know who to credit.

it is here

Protein does not create protein in your body. Amino acids create protein in your body. And the best source of amino acids are leafy green vegetables.

Take chicken, for example. Say there are 20 grams of protein in a chicken breast. Once you cook it, you destroy half the protein. Now your body has to digest and assimilate this heavy, dense source of 10 grams of protein, that will take up to 100 hours. How much do you think is getting stuck in your body as toxic waste by the time it reaches your colon? How much protein from a cooked chicken breast will you actually get? Maybe a few grams, if youÂ’re lucky.

Many green vegetables are excellent sources of high quality protein. A bowl of uncooked greens or sprouts may only contain a few grams of protein, but you can digest and assimilate all of it because they still have all of their vitamins, minerals, and enzymes intact. This makes this protein far more useful to your body.

In Conscious Eating, Gabriel Cousins writes: “According to the American Dietetic Association, pure vegetarian diets in America usually contain twice the required protein for one’s daily need. Harvard researchers have found that it is difficult to have a vegetarian diet that will produce a protein deficiency unless there is an excess of vegetarian junk foods and sweets. In fact, if vegetarian protein is consumed in its live state, even less protein is needed because research shows that one half of the assimilable protein is destroyed by cooking.”

John Robbins, in Diet for a New America reports: “If we ate nothing but wheat (which is 17% protein) or oatmeal (15% protein) or pumpkin (15% protein), we would easily have more than enough protein. If we ate nothing but cabbage (22% protein) we’d have over double the maximum we might needs. In fact, if we ate nothing but the lowly potato (11% protein) we would still be getting enough protein. This fact does not mean potatoes are a particularly high protein source. They are not. Almost all plant foods provide more. What it does show, however, is just how low our protein needs really are. There have been occasions in which people have been forced to satisfy their entire nutritional needs with potatoes and water alone. I wouldn’t recommend the idea to anyone, but under deprived circumstances it has been done. Individuals who have lived for lengthy periods of time under those conditions showed no signs whatsoever of protein deficiency, though other vitamin and mineral deficiencies have occurred.”

Robbins also notes that the National Dairy Council has spent tens of millions of dollars to make us believe that osteoporosis can be prevented by drinking more milk and eating more dairy products. Yet throughout the world, he reports, the incidence of osteoporosis correlates directly with protein intake. Recent research has shown that with a greater intake of meat and diary products, there is a higher rate of osteoporosisÂ…not the other way around! In fact, the world health statistics show that osteoporosis is more common in precisely those countries where dairy products are consumed in large quantities: the United States, Finland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

Most of the research that has been done on protein has been funded by the meat and dairy industry. We have all been taught, in school, from television, from our parents , to drink our milk so we will grow up with healthy bodies and strong bones. In his book, Living Foods for Optimal Health, Brian Clement agrees: “Unfortunately the meat and dairy industries speak louder then medical journals. Their multimillion-dollar advertising campaigns ignore what even the most conservative medical investigators no longer deny - excess protein robs our bodies of strength. With their high protein content, milk and meat actually contribute to the accelerating development of osteoporosis. Certainly most people do not know that one teaspoon of sea kelp mixed in a glass of water gives approximately a thousand times more calcium (without animal protein) then an eight ounce glass of milk. You can bet you won’t hear that information pop up in a catchy jingle. This false fan fare is not new. Remember when the manufacturers of Wonder Bread convinced your family in the 1960’s that white bread could build strong bones in twelve ways? Wonder has since had to recant. But we were “duped.”

The more protein in our diets, the more calcium we lose. Eating a high protein diet rich in dairy products is not a good way to get your calcium. Your best sources are green, leafy vegetables such as collards, kale, cabbage, lettuce, along with apricots, figs, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds, and other raw foods.

so , that is pretty good ..i think..which is why i saved it..wonder why i did not read it more thoroughly the first time.
cheerio
alice

Great information. Thanks alice!