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>link< Ruth's trip to
the
Galapagos Islands
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The most
popular New Year's Resolution, according to a recent poll, is
Improve Health and Fitness. Since 66% of our population is either
obese or overweight, there is a great deal of interest in any diet that
promises to take off weight. There is no way anyone can get around the
primary principle law of thermodynamics which, in effect, says that the
only way you will lose weight is if you take in fewer calories than you
burn. As people get more desperate to lose weight, they will try
different fad diets but if they lose their health in the process, what
have they gained?
So,
let's look at two diets: the Atkins (or any high protein diet) vs. the
Real Food Diet (fruits and vegetables). This boils down to "animal" vs
"plant" foods.
Added
Advantages to Plant Food Diet: You can save a lot of money because
plant foods are much cheaper than animal foods. You also get to
eat as much as you want because the caloric density is so low in plant
foods. Since exercise is an important part of the weight loss equation,
plant foods give you energy to exercise where high protein diets
don't. A plant food diet is also certainly much better
for the animals and the environment.
Ruth E. Heidrich, Ph.D.
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One of the most frequent questions I get
from athletes is how to get more protein. In their minds they are
thinking that if they stuff more protein into their mouths, that it
magically goes to their muscles and they will automatically get
stronger. Body builders, especially, want to see hypertrophy of their
muscles
(without all the work). This question is especially prevalent with
vegetarian or vegan athletes because they think that without meat, egg
whites, or skim milk in some form, they are at risk of having a protein
deficiency.
The advertising you see in magazines and health food stores plays into this fear because, of course, there is a product to sell. Protein supplements come in many forms, all with the same goal, to get you to buy their product. The fallacy is that if you want to develop a muscle, you have to overload it by putting more stress on it than it can handle. This is the ONLY way a muscle will get bigger and stronger. OUR BODIES ARE PRETTY SMART! Our bodies are built for economy. They will get rid of anything they don't need. If you don't need bulging biceps (or if you already have them and are not currently using them), the body will not let that muscle get a "free ride." The most vivid example is seen when you put an arm or a leg in a cast. In this case the body doesn't (and can't) use the associated muscles. When you take the cast off six weeks later, you will be struck with what you see. The arm or leg appears to have withered away. In addition, what you can't see is that the bone has also lost mass or bone density. Now, is this permanent? No! To rebuild those muscles and bone, all you have to do is start using them and the body responds by putting on additional muscle and bone ONLY to the extent that it needs. So, for every day usage, a normal-size muscle is attained. With heavy, extreme usage, a bulging muscle is the result. SO, WHERE DO I GET MY PROTEIN? So where do our bodies get the raw materials (protein) to do this if you are not eating another animal's muscle (protein)? Easy! It comes from plants. The best examples are the biggest and strongest animals, elephants, horses, giraffes, rhinoceroses -- every one of them vegans! (They also happen to be the longest-living animals, another lesson buried here.) Vegetables and grains are complete proteins which means that they contain all the amino acids necessary to build muscle from scratch or to add on bigger, stronger muscles. For example, the limiting amino acid in plant foods is methionine, one of the so-called essential amino acids. If you were to eat only rice for, say, a large male's 3000 calorie day's allotment, you would get 1.1 grams, way above the minimum daily requirement of .11 grams (about TEN times as much)! In fact, this points out one of the problems with consuming the excess protein you get from eating animal protein, that of getting TOO much protein. This leads to kidney disease and osteoporosis as the human body cannot store protein and is damaged when it has to break down excess protein. A SIDE EFFECT OF HIGH PROTEIN INTAKE One of the major causes of the epidemic of osteoporosis in this country is excess protein. As is generally recognized, protein is made up of amino acids. These acids are, logically, acidic -- that is, they have a pH of less than 7, which is neutral. The human body cannot operate in an acidic environment -- it must be alkaline, that is, above 7 or about 7.2. So when you take in protein powders, pills, or animal protein such as egg white, fish, dairy, poultry or beef, this acid load has to be neutralized. Our bodies have the perfect buffering system. We use the same mechanism you see advertised on tv ads for Tums and other antacids for "acid stomach", which is calcium. And where do we store our calcium? In our bones. Our bones are very active living tissue, and calcium is constantly moving in and out of them, so if we consume a high acid meal, especially animal protein, our bones are called upon to give up some calcium to neutralize or buffer this acid so that we can keep the heart beating, muscles contracting, and nerves firsing. These processes all stop if we go into acidosis, a state of too much acid. THE ROLE OF GENES This process of building muscle is
fairly straightforward: Overload a muscle and it responds by getting
bigger and stronger. Is there a limit? Of course, there is. You see
this in natural body builders where genes play a role in limiting or
enhancing the building of hypertrophic muscles. In order to go beyond
genetics, some body-builders have to resort to the use of anabolic
steroids, something our body produces naturally but insufficient in the
minds of some competitive body-builders. This comes with many health
risks, and, unfortunately, many focus on short-term gains and would
rather risk their health in the long run.
What about women? Women are sometimes advised to get into weight training to gain or maintain muscle and bone strength, but their fear is the opposite: that they might develop these huge, bulging muscles that they find unattractive on a female. Well, they need not worry because, again, their genes control the limits of muscular development. And for those women who want to develop, say, calf or pectoral muscles, popping protein isn't the answer. The same principles apply: you've got to overload those muscles. HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?
How much weight to lift and how often? The body in its present state can handle "x" number of pounds. Add about 10% and work the muscle to exhaustion and then stop. Give it at least 48 hours but no more than 3-4 days to recover and rebuild, then do it again. Gradually, that muscle will be able to handle "x" plus "y" pounds. Continue this progression and you will see the muscle grow. Remember that rest and recovery is just as important as the overload. Eating a diet of vegetables and fruit will provide all the raw material necessary. So, this is the secret to greater muscular development. The more weight the muscle has to push, the bigger and stronger it will get! You get to choose! Ruth E. Heidrich, Ph. D. |
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I have two questions for you. I read in your book that alcohol in any
dose is bad for you. Is this true of wine, too? And the
second
thing... what about all the sports medicine studies that claim runners
and other high endurance athletes need 15 to 20 % more protein than
couch
potatoes. I figure this would mean I would need about 80 grams
of protein a day and I can't imagine getting that from a vegan diet,
not to mention a raw diet. Thanks for your help.
G.B. Dear G.B.,
Dr. Ruth Yes, alcohol in wine is alcohol -- period! It is toxic to every cell in the body as it is a universal solvent. It does tend to thin the blood which counteracts the sludging of the blood from animal foods, and it's the sludging of the blood which leads to heart attacks and strokes -- plus many other problems. So wine is not the answer -- not eating animal foods is. Your second question: when athletes burn
more calories, they eat more and this is how they automatically get
more
protein. You don't need to change the composition, just the
quantity. If, for example, an athlete burns 5,000 calories a day
over the average 2,000 calories per day, that will give him/her 3,000
extra calories with an average of 10% calories from protein. So
that is 300 protein calories. Divide that by 4 (calories per gram
of protein) and you get 75 grams -- right in the ballpark you
mentioned. Don't forget that veggies have plenty of protein in
them, just look it up in the charts. Hope this helps,
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Ruth Heidrich, part of the US Senior Olympics Relay Team, carries the Olympic torch 7 miles to kick off the Aloha State Games.
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