It’s very ‘American’ to consume protein from foods with large quantities of fat. This has allowed heart disease to be one of the number one killers in the modern world.
There is nothing new about high fat diets with a doctor’s approval. In the 1920’s, doctors advocated a minimum of three Porterhouse steaks a day, and declared that the only two perfect foods were “fresh meats and water”. Dr. Irwin Stillman, a respected doctor at the time, wrote “Doctor’s Quick Weight-Loss Diet”, convincing his patients to eat meat, eggs and cheese. Suffice it to say, Stillman died of a heart attack.
In pre-industrial times only the wealthy ate meat. When industrial society managed to make meat cheap and available, there was a willing population to join what they considered the food of the upper classes. And so meat took center stage at the middle of America’s table with vegetables called ‘side dishes’.
When I was growing up, meat was considered the only reliable source of protein. My family ate great amounts of it seven days a week, with more meat consumption on holidays. We seldom ever ate fresh foods, and that was a salad a few times a year with ‘french dressing’. My own father survived a massive heart attack in his early 50’s with a five part bypass and a pace maker.
When people begin a diet of plant based foods, they worry that they won’t get enough protein. This is because we have always been taught that reliable protein only comes from animal products. But plant based foods are nutrient dense enough to build a healthy elephant. High heat alters 50% of the protein in our food, so it is best to eat plenty of living foods with their proteins intact. When I began eating a raw foods diet, I was surprised at all the fruits, vegetables, nuts, sea vegetables and seeds that are high in protein. Here are a few you can count on:
NUTS: Almonds, Brazil nuts, macadamias, hazel, pecans, pine nuts, walnuts, cashews, coconuts
VEGETABLES: dark leafy greens, peppers, seaweeds, shiitake mushrooms
FRUIT: apricots, currants, prunes, raisins, dates, figs, avocados
SPROUTS: buckwheat groats, wheatgrass
SEEDS: pumpkin, sesame, flax, hemp, chia, sunflowers.
