Manuel Fortin
Level 6 Valued Member
@Oscar I would be very careful with analogies with other species.
Fun fact: how do birds prepare to migrate? A human would start running or walking, and increase distance gradually, until a large distance can be covered daily. The birds, they just stay put and eat a lot: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2009/03/migrating-birds-eating-exercise. Somehow, the birds still develop adaptations required to fly long distances, like increased hemoglobin concentration. They don't need the training stimulus to do their migration, some or stimulus kickstarts the adaptations.
This reminds me of my cat. We had a rough winter here in Montreal and the cat stayed inside most of winter with little or no exercise. What did it do the first time it could go out? It climbed 25 feet up a tree. Apparently, it does not need the training stimulus to be able to do this.
This goes to show that different species can be very different.Each metabolism is adapted to specific needs. I know we are close to chimps, but humans diverged from them millions of years ago. So, if some species don't need any proteins, or only minimal amounts of them, it doesn't mean that as humans we don't need them. It doesn't mean that we need to eat 3 pounds of meat a day either automatically.
I have read so many different opinions about how much meat we need, each supposedly supported by "science", that I think that we just don't know. Human nutrition is extremely complex as the human metabolism is well adapted to work properly using many different diets. There may also be differences between people, depending on their ancestry.
Also, not eating meat does not meat not eating proteins
Lentils have about 18g of proteins per cup. An egg has about 6 and a slice of bacon 3. So, 3 eggs, 3 slices of bacon and a cup of lentils gives you 45g of proteins, and that's only 600-700 calories.. Add the small amount of protein from other food sources (rice, nuts, ...) to get to 1500-2500 calories or more needed to stay at the same weight, and the weekly meat, and you probably can get close to 70-80g of proteins a day or even more.
Fun fact: how do birds prepare to migrate? A human would start running or walking, and increase distance gradually, until a large distance can be covered daily. The birds, they just stay put and eat a lot: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2009/03/migrating-birds-eating-exercise. Somehow, the birds still develop adaptations required to fly long distances, like increased hemoglobin concentration. They don't need the training stimulus to do their migration, some or stimulus kickstarts the adaptations.
This reminds me of my cat. We had a rough winter here in Montreal and the cat stayed inside most of winter with little or no exercise. What did it do the first time it could go out? It climbed 25 feet up a tree. Apparently, it does not need the training stimulus to be able to do this.
This goes to show that different species can be very different.Each metabolism is adapted to specific needs. I know we are close to chimps, but humans diverged from them millions of years ago. So, if some species don't need any proteins, or only minimal amounts of them, it doesn't mean that as humans we don't need them. It doesn't mean that we need to eat 3 pounds of meat a day either automatically.
I have read so many different opinions about how much meat we need, each supposedly supported by "science", that I think that we just don't know. Human nutrition is extremely complex as the human metabolism is well adapted to work properly using many different diets. There may also be differences between people, depending on their ancestry.
Also, not eating meat does not meat not eating proteins
In my oldish age I have gone more veggie, but still eat meat about once a week. My body weight is same, but strength has gone way up with S&S (i also dont always have time to cook and prepare meals so I tend to eat a lot of fruits, macadamia nuts, lentils, salad, avocado throughout the day. I eat 2-3 eggs daily as well and uncured bacon- which is still a form of processed meat so not healthy, but good!).
Lentils have about 18g of proteins per cup. An egg has about 6 and a slice of bacon 3. So, 3 eggs, 3 slices of bacon and a cup of lentils gives you 45g of proteins, and that's only 600-700 calories.. Add the small amount of protein from other food sources (rice, nuts, ...) to get to 1500-2500 calories or more needed to stay at the same weight, and the weekly meat, and you probably can get close to 70-80g of proteins a day or even more.