Making Wise Protein Choices

For most people getting enough protein should not be a problem as there are many healthy options. These include eggs, meats, fish and dairy foods. For those who won’t eat these foods, getting enough protein can be a challenge. Soybeans and certain combinations of legumes and grains can supply all essential amino acids, but you risk not getting adequate protein, and generally must eat more carbohydrate than needed. For most people obtaining sufficient protein is relatively easy, especially when choosing animal sources.

Choosing the best animal proteins means finding the best sources. This may be organic, grass-fed, free-range, kosher and what- ever other labels are used to differentiate the highest quality eggs, meats, fish and dairy foods from those obtained from poorly treated animals. In some cases, visiting a smaller local farm, for example, will help you decide. Some of today’s local farmers are not only health-conscious but actually care about their animals and how their operations impact the environment.

The human body, especially the intestine, is well adapted for digesting animal-source foods, having evolved on a high-meat/fish, low-carbohydrate diet with varying amounts of vegetables, fruits and nuts. While the popular trend in recent decades has been toward the misconception that meat consumption is unhealthy, there are a variety of unique features of an animal-food diet that are vital for health and fitness. Here are some of them:

• Animal foods contain high levels of all essential amino acids.

• Vitamin B12 is an essential nutrient found only in animal foods.

• EPA, the most powerful fatty acid, and the one preferred by the human body, is almost exclusively found in animal foods.

• Iron deficiency is a common worldwide problem and is prevented by eating animal foods, which contain this mineral in its most bioavailable form.

• Vitamin A is found only in animal products (conversion of beta carotene in plant foods to vitamin A is not always efficient in humans).

• Animal products are dense protein foods with little or no carbohydrate to interfere with digestion and absorption.

• People who consume less animal protein have greater rates of bone loss than those who eat larger amounts of animal protein.

I will highlight the main animal protein sources below, and will comment about soy products and protein powders.