[net.veg] Corrections - Protein and B-12

dyer@dec-vaxuum.UUCP (02/10/86)

Corrections - Protein and B-12____________________________________

    A few corrections are needed for recently-posted information
regarding protein and vitamin B-12.

    There is no need to lean on milk and yogurt and cheese and
eggs to get protein; indeed, there isn't even a need to lean on
high-protein plant foods like nuts and beans.
    Most Americans, vegetarians included, get more protein than
they need.  One estimate I've seen is that the average American
gets 100gm/day (I presume this estimate reflects the fact that
most Americans aren't vegetarians).  In contrast, the usual daily
recommended protein requirement is around 40gm.  (The RDA figure.
I've seen 37gm/day and 44gm/day bounced around too.)
    You should probably be aware that these are liberal estimates.
Faced with having to recommend a "daily requirement" for everybody
in sight, the figures have been raised to accomodate people with
high protein requirements.  Most people need less, as little as
20gm/day!
    Excess amounts of protein have, in fact, been implicated in a
number of health problems.  As far as I know, no problems have
surfaced for people getting ~40gm/day; but one study of American
men showed that 75gm/day resulted in a loss of calcium from the
body.  (Dairy products, then, are obviously not the way to prevent
osteoporosis!)

    Vitamin B-12 is found in more sources than eggs.  It's present
in all animal products, and a number of plant foods (some that are
from the sea and some that are fermented).  The true source of
vitamin B-12 is a microorganism that exists naturally in our di-
gestive systems.
    B-12 deficiency is almost always the result of a diseased or
surgically removed part of the digestive tract.  B-12 deficiency
that is attributed to diet (e.g., a vegan diet that excludes all
animal products) is very rare.  There are less than 30 cases des-
cribed in the medical literature, and the researchers of most of
these didn't check to see if the digestive tract was diseased,
choosing instead to assume that the deficiency was a result of the
diet!
    That's not to say that vegans shouldn't be concerned about a
source of B-12.  The "war on germs" that was started since Louis
Pasteur's discovery of microorganisms, while a good thing overall,
has reduced the numbers of *beneficial* microorganisms, including
those that manufacture B-12.  So be sure to get enough tempeh (or
whatever you choose to use).
    (Personally, I cheat a little.  I'm an almost-vegan.  Since
it is almost impossible to find vegan fare when eating out, I'll
have a dish with eggs or cheese or yogurt in it.  Of course, I
still enjoy tempeh and sea vegetables and such . . .)
    One final word of warning:  don't get your B-12 from vitamin
supplements!  These contain breakdown products of B-12 (technic-
ally referred to as "B-12 analogues") that actually have an anti-
B-12 effect!
		<_Jym_>
P.S.:  All the information in this posting is well summarized and
cross-referenced in _The_McDougall_Plan_, which seems to be get-
ting a lot of press in this newsgroup lately . . .
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::'    ::    `::       Dracut, Massachusetts      ::'    ::    `::
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::..:' :: `:..::  {allegra|decvax|ihnp4|ucbvax}   ::..:' :: `:..::
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slb@uvacs.UUCP (sandy) (02/13/86)

>     Vitamin B-12 is found in more sources than eggs.  It's present
> in all animal products, and a number of plant foods (some that are
> from the sea and some that are fermented). 
> ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
> ::::'  ::  `::::             Jym Dyer             ::::'  ::  `::::
> ::'    ::    `::       Dracut, Massachusetts      ::'    ::    `::
> ::     ::     ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::     ::     ::
> ::   .::::.   ::   DYER%VAXUUM.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA    ::   .::::.   ::
> ::..:' :: `:..::  {allegra|decvax|ihnp4|ucbvax}   ::..:' :: `:..::
> ::::.  ::  .:::: decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-vaxuum!dyer  ::::'  ::  `::::
> ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

But if food is fermented, doesn't it contain yeast, that is to say animals?
Or do vegans draw the line when the animals are one-celled? 

sandy
slb@uvacs

mrl@oddjob.UUCP (Scott R. Anderson) (02/17/86)

In article <1032@decwrl.DEC.COM> dyer@dec-vaxuum.UUCP writes:
>
>Corrections - Protein and B-12____________________________________
>
>    A few corrections are needed for recently-posted information
>regarding protein ...
>
>    Most Americans, vegetarians included, get more protein than
>they need.  One estimate I've seen is that the average American
>gets 100gm/day (I presume this estimate reflects the fact that
>most Americans aren't vegetarians).  In contrast, the usual daily
>recommended protein requirement is around 40gm.  (The RDA figure.
>I've seen 37gm/day and 44gm/day bounced around too.)
>    You should probably be aware that these are liberal estimates.
>Faced with having to recommend a "daily requirement" for everybody
>in sight, the figures have been raised to accomodate people with
>high protein requirements.  Most people need less, as little as
>20gm/day!

Additional information, from Diet and Nutrition, by Rudolph Ballentine,
pp. 148-9:

As a result of reading popular books on nutrition, many people have
the idea that with protein, there's no limit -- "the more the better."
In fact, one well known writer suggests that many people, especially
those whose health has not been good, should take 150 grams of protein
a day for some time. [75]
....
In contrast, one reputable nutritionist states that convincing studies
have shown that an ounce a day of pure protein of good quality is
minimally sufficient for the average adult woman "and that men require
only a bit more." [77]  This was, in fact, proved in experiments at
MIT where 100 young men were given experimental diets which allowed
regulation of protein intake.  Generally an amount less than 30g
(one ounce) was sufficient. [78]  In such countries as Peru,
populations have been studied who live to an advanced age while
maintaining their health and working daily in the field.  Their diet,
consisting largely of vegetable protein, contains only 30 grams of
protein a day.  Other researchers have found that even amounts as low
as 3.9 or 6.8 g a day were enough to prevent net protein loss from the
body. [79]

75.  Davis, Adelle.  "Let's Eat Right to Keep Fit."
     New York:  New American Library, 1954, p. 39.

77.  Mayer, J.  "A Diet for Living."
     New York:  David McKay Co, 1975, p. 16.

78.  Register, V. and Sonnenberg, L.  The vegetarian diet.
     "J. Am. Diet. Assn." 62: 253-261, 1973.

79.  Bender, A. in "Proteins in Human Nutrition."  Edited by Porter, J.
     and Rolls, B.  New York:  Academc Press, 1973, pp 167-178.
-- 

					Scott Anderson
					ihnp4!oddjob!kaos!sra