There
has been a craze sweeping across America, Britain and the rest of
Europe over the past several years, both for a slimming diet and a diet
being 'prescribed' for diabetic patients - its callled the high-protein
diet. I wanted to point out that firstly this diet can be fatal, and
that secondly it will not promote slimming or diabetes control in the
long-run, in fact, on the contrary! It will lead only to further
ill-health.
It
is a fact that most people in this country are slowly and some cases
quickly dying from malnutrition - that's poor nutrition. They overfeed
on high-protein foods at the expense of carbohydrate foods and this, in
turn, leads to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, etc., etc. I repeat,
most people in the Western world have an excess of protein (and fatty)
foods, in the form of animal proteins usually.
According to the PCRM, though these high-protein, low carbohydrate plans differ in details, they share some common claims:
Myth
1: If we eat too many carbohydrates, we'll have too much insulin in our
bodies. Excess insulin places us in what one writer calls 'carbohydrate
hell'; The result is supposedly increased risk for heart disease,
cancer, arthritis, and a host of other health problems.
Myth 2: Human beings originally enjoyed a diet that was high in protein. Our bodies are genetically to this way of eating.
Myth 3: You can lose weight quickly and permanently by consuming more protein and eating fewer carbohydrates.
These
diets therefore advocate a high animal-protein diet, rich in all flesh
foods, eggs and milk, etc., but low in carbohydrate foods like fruits
and vegetables.
The Facts
High-protein
foods are likely to be high in cholesterol and saturated fats -
substances that can promote heart disease and various cancers. Weight
loss from high-protein diets comes at first from losing water. However,
long-term weight control means losing fat, a goal that calls for
changing eating habits over time and from taking more exercise. On high
protein diets people can temporarily lose large amounts of weight, and
can even lower their blood cholesterol, sugar, and triglycerides, says
John McDougall, M.D., but the method is unhealthy. On a very
low-carbohydrate diet, like the Atkins diet, the body burns fat, and
byproducts of this are ketones, which suppress the appetite and can
cause nausea. McDougall points out this same condition of ketosis
occurs when people are ill; so they are freed to rest and recuperate,
rather then be forced by hunger to gather and prepare food - because
they simulate a state seen with serious illness.
These
diets contain significant amounts of the very foods, i.e. meats, that
the American and British cancer societies and heart associations tell
us contribute to our most common causes of death and disability. The
reason blood cholesterol, sugar, and triglycerides may be reduced on
high protein diets is that people are eating much less because of their
loss of appetite, and sometimes nausea. In general benefits are
temporary because it is too unpleasant to be sick - so people go back
to their old way of eating!
I,
of course, would be the first to agree that yes, you can manipulate
symptoms through diet but I would qualify that manipulation is not the
same as healing and furthermore, it does not address the cause of the
problem. Protein has such a high profile - courtesy of the meat and
dairy industries, of course. Of course, we know that certain
individuals who eat carbohydrates experience a sudden drop in blood
sugar. These symptoms include lethargy and fatigue, poor concentration,
mood swings, "foggy" brain, misperceptions, panic attacks, hot and cold
sweats, and heart palpitations. We believe that the cause of this could
be an inappropriate insulin response - too much insulin being secreted
bringing the blood sugar levels down too much. So these sufferers are
recommended to eat high protein/low carbohydrate diets. The symptoms
will abate, according to Kathryn Alexander of the Gerson Institute
because protein doesn't stimulate such a strong insulin release as
carbohydrate. But, continuing a high-protein diet is what caused the
diabetes on the first place, and continuing will not make us any
healthier, in fact, quite the contrary!
The
new wave of "hyper-insulinaemia" where we have moved on from
hypo-glycaemia (low blood sugar) to high amounts of insulin in the
blood stream. Alexander argues that the symptoms appear to be
more-or-less the same along with the discovery of excess insulin in the
blood stream. What's the answer? Reduce the secretion of insulin by
omitting carbohydrates and increasing your protein intake. Once again
manipulation of symptoms with diet - but as soon as you go back on the
carbohydrates the symptoms return. Not only this - six months down the
track on such a diet you start to experience new symptoms of a more
chronic nature.
Good
quality protein is essential for growth and tissue maintenance
particularly during infancy, childhood, adolescence and pregnancy.
However, excess protein creates acidity and puts a strain on the
kidneys which will later affect the heart. Protein metabolism is under
the control of our hormones. Insulin, growth hormone, and the sex
hormones for the laying down of protein, and the corticosteroids for
the breaking down of protein cortisone is the natural stress hormone,
which is why one cannot heal if one is under stress as it opposes
tissue synthesis and regeneration. The growth spurts from childhood
through to adolescence are controlled by high levels of growth hormone
and the sudden increase in sex hormones which, during puberty, rise to
eight times the adult levels. Growth hormone and the sex hormones begin
to fall after puberty until they reflect the stable adult levels by the
early 20s.
So
the health/sport professionals found that if they wanted to increase
body muscle mass then it was necessary to take anabolic steroids along
with a high protein intake. High protein intake on its own will not
increase muscle size. Muscles store a very limited supply of protein
and after this capacity is reached excess dietary protein has to be
broken down and discarded. Exercising increases muscle tone and size
because the more you "work" your muscles the greater their capacity to
store carbohydrate fuel (not protein - muscles do not use protein for
energy). Beware of the high protein message if you are seeking fitness.
But the question arises, why should a person appear to have too much
insulin - we can address "how" to reduce its secretion, but unless we
address the why or the cause, then nothing is going to change and on a
high protein diet the situation will inevitably deteriorate.
In
order for the body to heal, no matter what the imbalance, it has to
release its toxic load and rebuild its nutrient status. When this
occurs, the vitality rises and healing begins. The body's intelligence
will determine which areas will be healed and in what order. So again
we see that the answer to disease lies in a plant-based diet, not in a
calorie-rich but nutrient devoid animal-based one.
Disclaimer
It
is important that, when seeking medical advice one attends an
examination by a qualified medical practitioner and that, when seeking
dietary advice and wishing for a change in diet and lifestyle, then one
seeks the competent advice of a nutritional adviser. The author makes
no claim herein this article to be curing or treating any medical
conditon whatsoever.
References
Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine
Gerson Healing Newsletter Vol. 16, No.2, Mar-April 2001
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