4. Questions & Answers
I feel so good after eating several high-protein meals. I feel like I could fight a tiger! How could that be bad?
There is a very good reason that you feel so "energetic" or stimulated after a high-protein meal. The chemical composition of uric acid, a by-product of protein metabolism, is remarkably similar to that of caffeine. You're not getting any energy from the high-protein meals, you're receiving chemical stimulation. Heavy protein eaters are always "high" on drugs—either from the stimulating effects of the uric acid by-products, or they may actually become intoxicated on the alcohol that forms in the body from protein fermentation. And please—don't go around fighting any tigers; they're almost as dangerous as those high-protein meals you're putting away.
Well, then, is protein bad? Should I just not eat any protein foods ever again?
Better not stop eating all protein foods, or you may go hungry! All our biologically-correct foods (such as fruits, sprouts, vegetables, etc.) contain ample protein in the form of easily assimilable amino acids. No, protein is not "bad." But protein from animal sources is harmful because of all the accompanying toxins, fats, etc. And excessive protein, whether from plants or animals, is always harmful.
Okay, so how much protein is too much? What do you mean by excessive?
If you eat any of the foods that are not suitable for our physiology (and this includes all meats, dairy products, eggs, and other animal products), then you will be getting too much protein. If you overeat the substandard foods such as legumes and grains, you will be getting more protein than is probably needed. To guard yourself against excessive protein intake, follow these simple rules: 1) Never eat any animal products. 2) If you eat concentrated protein foods from the plant kingdom, such as beans, peas, grains, soy products, then eat these no more than once every day or two. 3) Do not overeat on nuts and seeds. If you want more calories, or need to feel "full," then reach for some fruits, fresh or dried, instead of more nuts.
I was believing most of what you said until you told me that protein causes cancer. Come on! Everybody eats protein and we've eaten lots of it over the years. Why don't we all drop dead from cancer?
There is no single cause for cancer or any other illness. All such conditions take years of poor living, eating, and exercise habits to develop. The facts are this: Most cancer patients have a history of moderate to heavy meat-eating with liberal use of fatty animal products and processed protein foods. Dr. Frank Madden of the Egyptian School of Medicine in Cairo, Egypt, conducted an extensive study of cancer throughout Egypt. He found that the tribes in Egypt who lived on an almost exclusively vegetarian diet (the Sudanese and Berberines) never experience cancer. Never. On the other hand, cancer was very common among the Arabs and Copts who followed the traditional high-protein, high-meat European diet. You cannot say that protein "causes" cancer, nor can you even say that meat-eating causes cancer. But you can most assuredly state that the usual overall lifestyle and attitude that accompanies heavy meat and protein eating certainly seems to foster the development of all forms of cancer throughout the world.
One last question. My friends and I have tried the high-protein diet in the past for weight loss. We only stayed on the diet for about six weeks, and we lost ten to fifteen pounds. It does work! Shouldn't we judge only by the results?
This reminds me of a story about a salesman who went door to door, selling what he said was a guaranteed method of weight loss. He sold a small box that would take off pounds or your money back. Inside the box was a knife and the following instructions: "1) Sterilize knife. 2) Carve away unwanted pounds."
Hopefully, all of his customers took the package as a joke or novelty item. Unfortunately, it does illustrate how far some people will go to lose weight without changing the conditions that brought about the weight gain. Sure, a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet will shed pounds, but you are not reducing—you're wasting away and wrecking your health. Are you sure these are the results you want?