Paleo but with less meat = deficient low blood protein levels for me

There has been some talk in the past here about lowering animal protein intake.

Personally, I do feel better with less meat, and understand fat animal meat is not good for sugar synthesis in the muscles.. That said, but I dont know how vegans survive unless they use a lot of plant protein shakes.

I workout a lot, mnt bike and have been am building up lean muscle mass, with pretty decent strengths gains for a lean athletic 6ft type build. So I'm no power house, but still use up / deplete protein if I dont intake much.

Now eating less meat , I am under the suggested protein level.

There are vegan athletes. I'd like to see their blood lab protein lab levels.

Of all the macronutrients, micronutrients, phytochemicals, and antioxidants that are available in food, I believe too much emphasis is placed on protein.

Besides, it's not "Protein" that we need, it's the individual amino acids. There are 20 amino acids used in the human body to construct various "proteins," and, of these 20 amino acids, only nine are essential to get from our diet. So, that means that 45% of amino acids are essential and 55% are NOT essential.

Amino acids are in a variety of foods -- including plants. If one eats sufficient CALORIES from a VARIETY of WHOLE FOOD sources, the person should get all the macronutrients, micronutrients, phytochemicals, and antioxidants that are needed and in the proper ratios and in the correct packaging.

Also, it would be helpful if people didn't eat all the time. During fasting, autophagy can begin the process of cellular cleanup -- which includes breaking-down damaged proteins and recycling their constituent amino acids. Supposedly, there are other ways to induce autophagy, but, generally speaking, many people eat too much and too often, anyway. So, going longer between meals is a good idea.

The main place, with some exceptions, people are not getting enough protein is in countries where people are not getting enough food in general. Sadly, people are eating themselves to death in industrialized countries and throwing-away excess food while poor people in other countries don't have enough. There are "Food Insecure" people in industrialized countries, too, but the outcomes are different that countries like, say, Zambia.

Ok...I've seen that side of the protein argument ...

..but....

**Per my post title, my blood protein levels are now UNDER the recommended range.**

Not much under, but its under. When I ate more meat, protein blood levels were normal.

I'd like to think that labs didn't just guess at the suggested protein levels in our blood.

The vegan vs meat protein debate, which is better? I've read that all the essential amino acids can be had in simply rice and beans. Quinoa also is a superfood that way.

I think about the sugars in meat (as in alpha gal allergy induced via tick). It seems that beef and pork sets it off, but not always. Sometimes I have a eat anything day and I'm fine, other times it really feels like something's wrong.

Considering what Dude Abides said, I try to eat a variety, even if it is sometimes junk, fast or restaurant food sometimes with nice intermittent fasts 18 hours or more. Yes protein is a slow burn, seems like you can manage blood sugar easier, but you can get too much.

I agree with Dude Abides here:

Dude Abides said...
Of all the macronutrients, micronutrients, phytochemicals, and antioxidants that are available in food, I believe too much emphasis is placed on protein.

Besides, it's not "Protein" that we need, it's the individual amino acids. There are 20 amino acids used in the human body to construct various "proteins," and, of these 20 amino acids, only nine are essential to get from our diet. So, that means that 45% of amino acids are essential and 55% are NOT essential.

Amino acids are in a variety of foods -- including plants. If one eats sufficient CALORIES from a VARIETY of WHOLE FOOD sources, the person should get all the macronutrients, micronutrients, phytochemicals, and antioxidants that are needed and in the proper ratios and in the correct packaging.

Also, it would be helpful if people didn't eat all the time. During fasting, autophagy can begin the process of cellular cleanup -- which includes breaking-down damaged proteins and recycling their constituent amino acids. Supposedly, there are other ways to induce autophagy, but, generally speaking, many people eat too much and too often, anyway. So, going longer between meals is a good idea.

The main place, with some exceptions, people are not getting enough protein is in countries where people are not getting enough food in general. Sadly, people are eating themselves to death in industrialized countries and throwing-away excess food while poor people in other countries don't have enough. There are "Food Insecure" people in industrialized countries, too, but the outcomes are different that countries like, say, Zambia.

Post Edited (borrelioburgdorferii) : 6/3/2018 5:55:00 PM (GMT-6)