Source: 101healthsteps.com
Despite what people ignorantly think, vegetables have a very high percentage of protein and in some cases double compared to meat when compared calorie to calorie.
Steve Pavlina.com states, “Plant foods are generally abundant in protein. For example, lettuce gets 34% of its calories from protein, and broccoli gets 45% of its calories from protein. Spinach is 49%. Cauliflower is 40%. Celery is 21%. Beans range from 23% to 54% depending on the variety. Grains are 8% to 31%. Nuts and seeds are 8% to 21%. Fruits are the lowest at around 5-8% on average.”
Calorie by calorie broccoli has twice as much protein as steak; furthermore, once you denature (heat/cook) the steak, most of the cells die.
Wikipedia states, “Denatured or Denaturation is a process in which proteins or nucleic acids lose their tertiary and secondary structure by application of some external stress or compound, such as a strong acid or base, a concentrated inorganic salt, an organic solvent (e.g., alcohol or chloroform), or heat. If proteins in a living cell are denatured, this results in disruption of cell activity and possibly cell death. Denatured proteins can exhibit a wide range of characteristics, from loss of solubility to communal aggregation.”
Another known myth about plants is the old theory of plant proteins not being complete; the truth is that they are and they get stored supposing that you do not have enough from the next meal. And if you want to talk about not getting complete amino acids, re-read about denaturing above and relate that with cooked meat. Furthermore, do a search for Acrylamide and how it is produced from cooking and how it causes cancer.
Steve Pavlina.com states, “The truth is that most plant foods do contain all the essential amino acids, but furthermore, your body will store amino acids in a pool between meals — it doesn’t even need to get all the essentials in a single meal. So the theory of combining plant foods to form complete proteins isn’t even remotely correct.”
In the 1971 book by Frances Moore Lappe, Diet for a Small Planet, she came up with the theory that vegetables did not have complete amino acids, she later wrote book about how she had changed her theory; however, those books did not get as much notice keeping people in the dark of the updated theory and views that vegetables were in fact complete in essential amino acids.
Even the American Heart association does not recommend a high protein diet (no believers click here). Western diets contain a lot of meat and dairy products, which can lead to a number of health problems including heart disease, various cancer, osteoporosis, and kidney disease.
Even athletes, do not need as much protein as people may think. People may feel that they need more protein but protein does not make the muscles big, exercise does. For people that notice a difference, the reason could be that the body needs time to adjust to the new diet. And making the change for only a short period of time may not be the time needed for the body to adjust. Nutrition.suite101.com eloquently states, “For many years nutritionists thought athletes needed much more protein than the rest of us. In fact, athletes, even those who strength train, need only slightly more. These amounts can be easily reached by eating larger servings and increasing calorie intake by replacing animal products with whole grains, vegetables, legumes, nuts and fruits. The most important thing is to eat a variety of plant foods in a large enough quantity to maintain weight and ensure an adequate protein intake.”
“Many nutrition experts, including the American Dietetic Association, now believe protein needs can be met simply by eating a variety of plant proteins throughout the day. However, it is important to eat enough calories to meet your energy needs.”
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