When presenting a Living Lean Natural Weight Loss Formula seminar, I often hear, “ My personal trainer says that I need to consume 200 grams of protein per day. So where do I get my protein from if I am not eating animal protein? ”
This is a great question. We have been led to believe, often by poorly educated personal trainers and supplement companies, that animal protein or whey protein (as found in protein shakes) is the ONLY way for you to absorb muscle building protein and stop muscle ‘wastage’ or ‘atrophy’.
This is a huge misconception. Processing protein from animal sources is incredibly inefficient when compared to processing protein coming from plant sources.
To further explain, let me ask you this question…….Where do animals like cows obtain the protein that builds their muscle tissue (which we then consume for our own muscle growth)?
Of course the answer is grass or some form of plant matter.
Where do we as humans obtain the majority of our protein? Primarily this comes from animals, like cows, chicken, fish, lamb and pork.
Did you know that we can lose between 80 – 95% of the real protein value at each of these steps (when the cow eats the grass and when humans eat the cow).
Therefore is this process assisting us in obtaining ‘quality’ protein?
Definitely not!
If obtaining high quality, real protein that is easily absorbed by our body, plant matter wins by some distance over animal protein.
Consuming plant matter (vegetables, fruits, salads) is a much more efficient way of ensuring we maximise not only the amount, but quality of the protein we consume, and avoid the dreaded by-product of animal protein, which is acid. (As previously explained, acidosis leads to disease and weight gain.)
The Living Lean program provides high amounts of quality, real protein (amino acids) through the plant-based Living Lean Weight Loss and Lifestyle Formula. As human beings can only process between 25 – 30 grams of protein in any one meal, additional protein supplementation is not required when undertaking the Living Lean program.
The general public usually over estimate the quantities of protein that the human body requires for growth and maintenance. As previously stated, the billion dollar supplement industry and ill-informed personal trainers have been the cause of this for reasons of obvious self interest.
A good analogy to further explain, is to compare the source (quality) of protein you consume to the petrol you put into your car. If you own a Ferrari and want to keep it running at an optimal level, are you going to fill it with poor quality petrol? Of course not. So why do we continue to consume large amounts of animal protein when we can obtain a superior quality protein from plant and vegetable matter.
We can take this theory a step further and relate it to the actual amount of energy that is derived from the foods we consume. This theory is explained below.
Different categories or levels, exist in determining the body’s ability to convert consumed foods into energy. These levels or theory, as seen below, are referred to as ‘The Tropic Food Chain’.
Level 1 Food: Plants and algae.
Plants and algae make their own food and are called primary producers.
Level 2 Food: Herbivores
Herbivores eat plants and are called primary consumers.
Level 3 Food: Carnivores
Carnivores that eat herbivores are called secondary consumers.
Level 4 Food: Carnivores
Carnivores that eat other carnivores are called tertiary consumers.
Level 5 Food: Apex predators
Apex predators that have no predators are at the top of the food chain.
The Living Lean program harnesses the energy (and protein) of level 1 foods.
The energy transferred between levels can also be thought of as approximating to a transfer in biomass.
The efficiency in which energy or biomass is transferred from one tropic level to the next is called the ‘ecological efficiency’.
The Living Lean program has been designed to maximise ecological efficiency.
It is known that humans at each level convert, on average, only about 10% of the chemical energy in their food to their own organic tissue.
This level of energy conversion continues to decline the further up the tropic food chain foods are found. Each individual step can see a decline of between 80 – 95% of this energy conversion.
The Living Lean Natural Weight Loss and Lifestyle Formula utilizes Level 1 tropic foods for maximum energy production, maximum protein absorption and improved metabolic functions.
Furthermore, the Living Lean customized meal plan focuses on Level 1 tropic foods. These Level 1 foods, or primary producers, unlock the body’s ability to function at an optimal level which will result in more energy, less body fat, improved physiological functions and maximal health.
So next time you reach for the animal protein, to fulfil the requirements set by your personal trainer, which by the way probably hasn’t seen you strip the body fat he or she said it would, give an alternate, more efficient protein source a try. What have you got to lose?