Now, lately, people have been asking me about protein. What about protein? Well, "where do you get your protein from"? I think this must be the number one question of all questions you get from people, when they find out you´re a vegetarian/vegan/raw foodist/LFRV... Basically, when people find out you are one of those people that are choosing not to eat other animals. When people find out, first reaction tend to be: so, how do you get your protein?
Well, how DO I get my protein? To be honest with you: I DON`T FRICKIN KNOW!! Seriously - I don´t! I eat FOOD. I don´t eat protein! I eat WHOLE, FRESH, RIPE, PLANT FOODS. I don´t count my proteins! How could I possibly do that!? How does a protein look like?? My FOODS look like melon, banana, mango and lettuce.
But, seriously, how do YOU know how much protein you eat? Or how much protein you need? How do you know the things you know about protein? Well, the answer would probably be one of these: “because the food label says this food contains such and such much protein” or “because I am taught that we need X amounts of protein per kilo body weight” or “because everyone else says that we need protein!”. Well, to start off with, MY FOODS DOESN´T EVEN HAVE FOOD LABLES ON THEM! And - if they did - would I be interested in even reading the label??
Now, let me drift off for a few paragraphs and talk about ideas and assumptions.
We are all taught different ideas and assumptions about the world we live in. Parents, people around us, media etc educates us how to think and what idea to implement in our lives. Some of these ideas and thoughts, after being accepted by a vast majority of people, becomes accepted as being “the truth”, or guide lines by which you have to live your life. Now, sometimes these ideas are real good and valuable for us. They help us connect, survive and thrive as an animal species. Like, for instance the idea of being good to others. That is a brilliant idea that I would want to support – because it makes sense to me, and when practicing this idea it feels real good, to me and others around me. So the idea of being good to others would be an idea that I would try to live my life according to.
Now, other ideas might not serve us as well and we might look at them as something not acceptable, like being violent to others. Obviously, the idea of being violent is not something that would serve us in a positive way in day-to-day life. It would probably cause a lot of suffering and it just does not makes sense to be violent to any other being. So the idea of violence would be an idea I would choose not to put in practice in to my life.
Other ideas and “facts” though, might not seem to obvious, or clear as the example above what to think about or whether it would be good or bad to implement in your life. Now bare in mind though, that all assumptions, “facts” and ideas about this world we live in, come from somewhere or someone, articulating these thoughts. They don´t just EXISTS. Now, it is up to YOU to either incorporate these ideas and thoughts into your life, or discard them as ideas by which you do NOT want or have to live your life. Or, as most often, you might want to try them out, see if they make sense in your life and then after that, either live by them, discard them completely, or take pieces of the idea that makes sense to you and incorporate those pieces into your life.
Now, back to the protein issue. What would be the ideas, assumptions and generally “accepted” facts about protein? Well, if you ask me, most people think that we always have to be concerned about getting “enough” protein into our bodies – to be able to... well, either to build muscles, or to avoid some kind of deficiency. Now, I will not get into any “facts” here about how much or when to eat your protein or what studies says... others have explained this in such a brilliant way. Make an effort and read “The China Study” - Dr T. Colin Campbell or “The 80/10/10 Diet” - Dr Douglas Graham.
I would ask you one thing though: HAVE YOU EVER, EVER, EVER MET ANYONE - ANYONE - WITH A PROTEIN DEFICIENCY???? And, no, you health care providers out there working with starving children in Africa or North Korea, you are not allowed to answer yes to this question...
Honestly, have you? The answer would of course be: no. If anyone is suffering from not getting enough protein – they are just not getting enough FOOD, that is, they are starving.
Now, you might think, why would anyone put ideas, thought and “facts” out there – that one might think are not the most “truthful” or simply just not real? And about protein?? Why would anyone possibly want me to think that I need a massive amount of protein to be able to sustain myself? Who would benefit from having me in a constant fear of not getting enough protein to be able to be active, live my life, build muscles or do just about anything else I want to do? WHO WOULD WANT YOU TO LIVE IN FEAR OF NOT GETTING ENOUGH PROTEIN? ….
Well, the answer to that question is in my opinion one of the biggest, most profitable industries around the world: the meat industry. Yes, correctly, the industry of farming animals for our consumption. And, of course, the fitness industry with all their powders and pills. These are HUGE businesses all around the world, keeping people in a constant fear of not getting enough protein, spreading the word that we need such and such amounts of protein every day to sustain ourselves.
Now, I encourage you again to read books like “The China Study” and make an opinion on your own. In my opinion, the idea of not getting enough protein, is an IDEA, a THOUGHT, that most people spend precious time and energy being concerned about. Why not spend time and energy NOT being concerned! Why not spend time LIVING?
I know this would probably not be the answer to the “where do you get your protein from” question that most people would want. In all their honestly, they would want me to say, “well, in lettuce there is such and such amounts of protein that would be enough for X amounts of body weight after working out Y amounts of hours at the gym”. But, I just don´t know! And – I just DON´T CARE! All I know, is that RIGHT NOW, I feel real good. I feel strong, I have endurance, I run, I have all the energy I want throughout the day and I feel like I am THRIVING. And I don´t spend much time worrying about where I get my protein from or if I even need something called protein. Life is too precious worrying about protein. And that would be my take on the "where do you get your protein from" question.
Hope you all have a beautiful weekend
/Alex
