By Jessica Scott-Reid
Jessica is a Canadian writer, animal advocate and plant-based food expert. Her work appears regularly in media across Canada and the US.
The late 1990s witnessed a significant change in diet culture. While low-fat foods and the notion that fat was the enemy dominated the diet space during the eighties and early nineties, by the late nineties a new fad had taken hold: the low carb, high-protein diet. The Atkins diet, Heller and Heller and other iterations demonized carbohydrates and turned protein, especially animal-based protein, into one of the most sought after nutrients in food. A generation of fat-starved dieters relished the prospect of shedding pounds and building muscle while eating bacon-wrapped cheese and pork rinds.
Since that time, the high-protein diet has evolved (Keto, Paleo, etc.) but the message remains the same: animal protein is the solution to all of our weight and wellness woes. As a result, the western world has a culture — even beyond the realm of diet and weight-loss — that continues to advocate for protein as one of the most essential nutrients for optimal health and desired weight, but with little concern for how those food choices impact the world around us.
But how important is protein, really? How much of it do we need? And how is this pro-protein mentality impacting the planet?
According to the Mayo Clinic, most Americans are actually consuming twice as much protein as they need. The average adult only needs about 10-35 percent of daily calories from protein. “So, if your needs are 2,000 calories, that’s 200-700 calories from protein (50-175 grams),” according to the Mayo Clinic website. “The recommended dietary allowance to prevent deficiency for an average sedentary adult is 0.8 g per kg of body weight. For example, a person who weighs 75 kg (165 pounds) should consume 60 g of protein a day.”
For older adults, who are at risk for losing muscle mass, "protein needs increase to about 1g/kg or 75 g/day for a 75 kg person”, the clinic continues. And for those who exercise regularly it's about 1.1-1.5 g/kg. "People who lift weights regularly or are training for a running or cycling event need 1.2-1.7 g/kg." The clinic also notes that, “the healthiest protein options are plant sources, such as soy, nuts, seeds, beans and lentils.”
As registered dietician Dr. Pamela Fergusson pointed out to the Ottawa Citizen, our culture’s focus on protein has become overblown. “We do not have a protein deficiency problem in Canada,” she says, “but only about five per cent of Canadians are getting enough fibre,” meaning from plant-based foods.
And how does this hyper-focus on protein, specifically animal proteins, impact the planet? As one Harvard University expert Dr. Walter Willett, told Business Insider in 2019: "Eating a keto diet that's especially high in red meat will be undermining the sustainability of the climate.”
Indeed, a study that same year published in the journal Current Developments in Nutrition, looked at the carbon footprint of five popular eating patterns in the US. The researchers concluded that the Keto diet, high in animal-based proteins, had the highest carbon footprint, while an all-plant-based diet had the lowest.
Of course, protein is an essential nutrient for humans, in particular for older adults. So how can those who need or desire to consume high-protein diets do so while keeping their impact on the planet low? The answer is to reduce the amount of animal-based protein consumed and increase protein obtained from plants, according to a study in Global Food Security.
Consuming more plant-based and less animal-based proteins from sustainable production systems has a lower environmental impact. Global Food Security
Another recent study published in The Journal of Nutrition, sought to “identify dietary changes needed to increase protein intake while improving diet environmental sustainability in older adults.” The researchers found that a high-protein diet that aligned with national (Dutch) dietary guidelines could be achieved “in concert with reductions in GHGEs” in older adults, by in-part reducing consumption of red meats “and increasing intake of diverse plant-protein sources.”
Dr. Fergusson points to beans, lentils, nuts and seeds as high protein plant foods that are also high in fibre, a nutrient important for heart, digestive and overall health, and assures that plant-based proteins “have all the muscle-building power of animal proteins.”
As diet culture evolves and even peters out, conversations around eating habits have in the last decade expanded beyond just what foods are best for weight-loss and wellness, to what is also best for the climate and the world around us.
Our food choices have very real and direct impacts on our future on this planet thus our focus on proteins must evolve as well, to include those sources that provide what humans need, while also protecting where humans live.
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