Pass the Protein (roots) – Part 2

After 4 months we are finally nearing the end of our dietary journey.  We discussed the basic context of Macronutrients (protein, carbohydrate, and fat) as “fuel.” We learned that there is a group of Micronutrients – vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals that all constitute “service” or biological maintenance.  We understand that fat has more energy density (2x) than protein or carbohydrate.

Our body uses primary fuel glucose/glycogen through the TCA or krebs cycle to obtain energy (brain biggest single user, followed closely by liver and muscle)  and the body stores a glycogen (a special muscle protein with a carbohydrate shell) and fat (adipose tissue) for rainy day “reserves.”

If you are REALLY starving, or consume an excess, protein is (inefficiently) converted to be used in the sugar cycle through gluconeogenesis (creating new glucose from protein).  The body protects protein a bit, because there’s no sense in digesting the muscle tissue when there is plenty of fat or glycogen around to tap into. Fat on the other hand goes through a different pathway from protein/carbohydrate to derive energy (beta oxidation), but after that are dumped into the same krebs cycle.

Proteins DO NOT = Flesh. There are many very important proteins from enzymes like insulin to blood proteins like hemoglobin, which are recycled and recreated every day.  Proteins are macromolecules, unique sequences of amino acids that are defined by our genes. New proteins are created every second in your body and others are eliminated.  Protein is NOT a food group that you need to “manage.”

You should now recognize that when we break down the bonds of a starch (a carbohydrate) into glucose (a simple sugar) it happens through an enzyme (e.g. amylase created by the AMY1 gene) and we don’t have the enzyme to break down fiber (cellulose). Remember that both starch and cellulose are long chains of glucose – only one is digestible by Humans. Termites and cows eat cellulose in wood and grass to obtain glucose.  Similarly, agave and corn syrups are both high fructose (a 5 carbon sugar) syrups and one is squeezed from corn, the other from Agave plants. Fructose is fructose and I’m not a big fan of simple sugars of any kind as a main dietary source of energy.

We discussed fat as a storage container for energy and it’s necessary role in the diet. We touched on cholesterol – the bold blood biomarker advertised as an indicator of health – and its role as a basis for Vitamin D and all cell walls. We know that to lose weight we MUST go on a naturally high-fat diet (consuming our own).

Finally we figured out that proteins have a bit of an identity crisis in that they CAN be digested for energy, but what we actually need from them is the 10 essential (indispensable) amino acids that our body can’t synthesize. This causes the protein conundrum and is what sends everyone into a “pass the protein” muscle-head mindset.  Ultimately our body needs energy and amino acids to repair or build muscle that has been biologically stressed from a workout. “Protein” does not have to be the source of both the energy and the amino acid. It’s only required for half of the 20 amino acids (the 10 essential/indispensable).

To be clear about our need for amino acids, I want to dig deep, to the very OTHER end of this dialog, because it will be far easier for you to let go and follow along.  So please, set aside your bias and what you may believe about “protein” and let’s look at it from a very different perspective.

Roots

Let’s take a trip back to grammar school science class. The plants use chlorophyll and CO2 (carbon dioxide) along with energy from the sun for photosynthesis (photo – light + synthesis – putting together) .  Plants make sugars – sugar cane? Fruits? Tubers/rice starches (poly sugar)? All from carbon dioxide and sunlight. When you see the giant redwoods in California we KNOW they didn’t eat anything at all to grow that big. they absorbed a little carbon dioxide (okay a LOT) from the air, sprinkled sunshine, and presto.

These are MASSIVE living organisms with complex biochemistry and structure. They are full of all sorts of regulatory proteins and cells. Trees create cellulose (remember – long chains of glucose with beta amylase bond) to reach enormous heights. How about all the chlorophyll protein in the leaves? More massive and more protein in one of these single trees than your biggest meat-head on Venice Beach – don’t you think? In fact, did you know scientist are devising new ways to classify trees based on Phylogenic analysis – looking at  molecular structures of  DNA, RNA and protein to group closely related organisms (like trees)?

Where do they get the protein?

The roots. They form these amino acids (remember Nitrogen?) from the “fertilizer” we put on the ground around them. Farmers often refer to the fertilizer as nitrogen or nitrates and while there are a few more things they get, understand that the nitrogen is critical for both protein and DNA/RNA.  They need these same building blocks, but can’t seem to get the “perfect protein” of an egg into their system.

Guess what – Plants can synthesize ALL 20 amino acids. A potato has every single amino acid. So does rice, but wait, aren’t these “carbs?” Not only that, you’ll remain in POSITIVE nitrogen balance  even if that’s all you eat [Nitrogen Balance is a measure excreted excess nitrogen from protein not needed in urine/feces]. I’m not suggesting an all potato diet, but if this is true, how does that impact how you think about food?

Where do you get your protein?

Even venus flytraps  and other carnivorous plants derive some of their nitrogen from fertilizer and ALL of their energy from the sun. They shun protein as a fuel.

The nitrogen cycle is well known and there’s no need to go into in in great detail, but  just understand we can eat animals that eat plants or we can eat plants.  We can get complete, sufficient compliment of the 10 amino acids that we don’t make either way. There’s no debate. Everything else is simply ideological arguments and I gave up politics when I retired from my government job.  Everyone can debate it, but the science isn’t going to change.

Tie Me Dinosaur Down, Sport.

Herbivores eat plants (maybe not redwoods) and they get essential amino acids and energy from grasses, leaves, and even fruits.  We are talking about some of the largest animals on the planet and even herbivore dinosaurs out numbered carnivorous dinosaurs.  We have discussed that a “grass fed” cow that has “complete protein” (amino acid profile) and gets its protein from…grass. If we ingest the beef, we get the amino acids (synthesized by the plants) use some for repair and burn the rest.  We don’t store amino acids, we just use them.

I would have to say my “beef” with all the protein double-talk is that it’s not hard to understand. Why do we complicated it? Why don’t we talk about foods to eat instead of vilifying/praising the macronutrient de jour.  I don’t want to convert anyone and I don’t want to be converted. I just want to understand a pattern of eating and how it fits in with basic caloric and nutrient needs.

This is really not difficult science and yet everyone pauses at a vegetarian or vegan diet with an incredulous question, “where do you get your protein?”  By now, hopefully that is sounding pretty ridiculous to everyone.  It’s not difficult to eat complete amino acid profiles or sufficient quantities. You don’t have to mix and match sources.  The fact is that we are flooded with a massive excess of protein/amino acids every day and most of them are inefficiently burned as fuel putting loads on our other organs to screen, sift and sort.

This is NOT an appeal to get you to “switch” a diet. It’s simply a basis for a rational understanding of what you eat and why.  It’s a foundation of information and review of things we know to be true so that you may then ask yourself a basic question: why would anyone educated to any advanced level be recommending or suggesting that “protein” is a necessary “something” you actually have to manage day to day?

This kind of thinking isn’t limited to protein pandering by diet gurus, physicians, and nutritionists. Remember, the sun once rose in the east and set in the west and that was PROOF that the sun revolved around the Earth – can’t you see it right there every day, you idiot? So democracy doesn’t win in science, at least not for long.

This protein argument is not much different and it’s most likely rooted in economy of agriculture, ideology, and cultural bias.  I can’t believe how I have been attacked for just EXPERIMENTING with a vegan diet.  It’s a “label” – oh, so you are a VEGAN? NO, I am not a vegan.  No one  should have to bow to such social labels, but we all know it happens on all sides of the debates.

I don’t want to engage in this debate of a pragmatic vegetarian (for health) vs an ideologic vegetarian (don’t eat animals), because it has all sorts of dimension, but none of the debate needs to be about protein, carbohydrates or fats.  Food doesn’t need to be described that way and everyone seems to have an ideology that drives their view of the science, rather then letting the data speak for itself.

If you want to deal in ideologic vegetarian arguments, I heard the most persuasive argument against eating animals (carnism) in my life recently by Dr. Melanie Joy and she does make some good points. I wan’t persuaded for those reasons, but it was the most compelling argument I’ve heard to date.   This is not my mission, but then again, I don’t see the difference between eating your house cat, a salmon or a cow in terms of basic food macronutrients. They would all provide fat/amino acids with a few fat soluble vitamins from a strictly scientific perspective. When you pause to think about it, other than fish and perhaps the seals eaten by Inuitsboost meat consumed is from herbivoires. Generally speaking, we don’t farm carnivores and I think for good reason.  These are all available from plants as well. These are not mutually exclusive arguments.

I’m not advocating eating cats or avacados right now, just making a point. We all have some sort of ideology that is brought to the table to justify what we do and reject what we “believe” is wrong. Kathy Freston (the veganist) talks about “leaning into” a vegan diet in her new book, The Lean. Her husband eats meat. She does not, but she can tell you all sorts of reasons (like her personal ideology and ridding herself of life-long acne).  She and I have discussed this and we both have to laugh, because her book or cause isn’t a discussion about protein.

On the other side of the table, there are many “Vegans” that parade unproven health benefits to disguise ideological arguments.  That is no more correct than the USDA misrepresenting food calories (like fat) on labels using a ridiculous per weight reporting system combined with recommended daily values of nutrients described per calorie. Of the two issues (vegan health or food labels), the latter is probably more responsible for deleterious health of the world.

So, to everyone reading – I am openly experimenting (with good results) with a nutrient dense, calorically restricted diet and I have been working on limiting protein consumption and biosimilar macromolecules by eating a vegan diet. I get plenty of protein.

I needed to understand how to burn fat quickly and eventually it challenged everything I knew about food.  I learned that when you cut down to a “naturally high-fat diet” of love handles, beer bellies and thunder thighs, it’s amazing how well it goes.  Sprinkle a little micronutrient on there and get your game on. Adding thermal loading takes it to an entirely different level.

Got Milk?

Finally, how much amino acid  (protein) do we need? I decided to do a little research to look at protein, carbohydrate and fats in various milks.  I mean, would anyone argue that a growing baby isn’t best fed by its mother’s milk for at least some period of life? This is not by any means the final word, but it certainly might give us some clues; although sometimes I feel like I’m living in the nutritional equivalent of National Treasure. I found sources everywhere and put them into a giant spreadsheet so I could plot protein, lactose (carbohydrate), and fat.

I won’t do a lot of interpretation, but instead let you take a look. How do Human infants stack up to other species? We learned last year (BATgirl 1 & 2)  that human infants are born with more fat and BAT than nearly any other species. We know that there are many factors in determining the “perfect food,” but one would think that good ole Mother Nature might get something right. So how does it look?

[Click to Enlarge]

I think right away you should recognize species of arctic or aquatic environments as having a lot of energy and “leaning” on fat (sorry Kathy, damn that’s a good term). Then there are the fast growers, like rats, that have enormously high protein requirements.  I haven’t plotted some of the other things I have in the table like “time to sexual maturity” (do men ever get there?), but there is a lot to learn.

Also, I’m not suggesting that this is the holy grail of diets – you all know that I believe balancing protein, carbohydrates and fats is not only futile, but is exactly how we created this entire mess in the first place.  I just want to point out a few obvious confused facts in the diet lore that abounds. Is goat milk REALLY a closer to Human milk than cow milk? I’ve heard that before.  What species matches ours most closely and if we are to consume milk past weaning, why don’t we drink THAT? Am I sounding like an Ass? Wait, what about the fat?

Marketing is way ahead of knowledge and I too stayed in the dark for WAY too long.

We are basically starchivoires. It’s how we derived our calorie needs for millennium and it really helped us evolve this tremendously energy-hungry brain. Underground storage organs, Tubers, corms, rhizomes, and bulbs, are available year round in the areas where Humans are shown to evolve (my ancestors: maternal – Haplogroup J1b and Paternal – Haplogroup R1b1b2a1a2 as I had my genotype analyzed along the way). With that said, we can eat other things too and they may prove to be better in the long run, but starches are not “evil” and I’ve seen direct proof of diabetes reversal on a starch-based diet.

I think you’ll see the work of Dr Nathaniel Dominy move ahead of Dr. Loren Cordain in the future and yet both have something to important to contribute to evolutionary biology foundation.  I have absolutely no doubt that meat has played a significant role in our evolutionary past and feel equally certain that excessive dairy consumption has been part of the energetic demise.

Many Paleo and Vegan proponents agree on the deleterious health effects of milk, but is it the protein, carbohydrate, or fat that’s the reason? What about other biomimetics (biosimilar compounds) in dairy (let’s lump cheese, yogurt,  ice-cream in while we ware whipping) and what role do they play? Is it an immune response to whey are casein that is similar as the oh-so-popular evil wheat-gluten protein? We just aren’t sure and yet there are THOUSANDS of good, peer-reviewed papers on the negative effects of dairy consumption and none of it ends up on the “got milk” posters in the school cafeterias.

We know, for example, that bovine (cow) insulin is only different by three amino acids (out of 51) from human insulin. If you believe that human infants get very important enzymes and protective hormones from ingesting their mother’s breast milk, can you at the same time reject that you might be getting harmful ones by drinking the milk of another species decades after you would have been naturally weaned? What health impacts occur due to these biologically active compounds? What if we package it up as “solids” and feed it to our kids three times a day as cheese? Why is it so damn hard to walk away from eating it???

Did I mention how much I LOVE to eat cheese and yogurt? Well, I do and I still do even after not eating it regularly for nearly three years. I’m guilty, but I have that evolutionary big brain and I want to use it to inch my health along.

There are plenty of successful groups of people (like the inuits) that have moved into more energy demanding environments (like cold) and have been able to adapt the diet to eating higher levels of fat to make up energy deficits. The same is true of the original mediterranean studied in the late 50s (now the basis of the olive-oil craze).  We can eat energy dense foods when we NEED the calories. Are they really more important?

I know that calories count. The discrepancy is in the counting and labeling.

I hope this has been informative. Again, the take home is that when we are trying to run a calorie deficit, don’t fall for all of the little tricks – you’ll have to get over the addiction to calories one way or another whether they originate as ingested carbohydrate or fat.  No one knows for certain what the “real answer” will be, but I hope all of you feel a little more well-equiped and begin talking about FOOD not protein, carbohydrate or fats. What I’ve learned first hand through mild cold stress is that the Human body is amazingly adaptive. You can’t fool it easily and there’s no need to do it.

Note on comments – Let’s not diminish this to a vegan-paleo debate, nor talk about co-founding variables in the china study. What I am more interested in help is in the foundation of FOOD and food groups in lieu of protein, carbohydrate and fat.  I want you to see that food is typically a mixture of two or all and that we end up in traps by the “majority macronutrient” classification scheme.

I will touch on the feed forward response, satiety and absorption next and then we’ll return to the regularly scheduled program on mild cold stress – already in progress. Thanks to EVERYONE for support (paypal) and acting so incredibly civilized.  I think this blog is starting to take root over in the paleo and vegan worlds, let’s hope they all remain as respectful as everyone has here. I really appreciate it and apologize that we had to veer off mild cold stress for foundational material. It will be necessary information for the next step in thermal loading.

And last, but not least, having just spent a week with Wim Hof over at his home in Amsterdam planning our next chapter, take a few minutes to look at these hysterically funny commercials by Columbia Sportswear:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17Pc85ypazE

You can see them all at:  Columbia Sportswear Omini Heat

and let’s NOT forget our very own Andrew Stemler at Crossfit London:

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Thanks!

Ray