This is actually another of my overpopulation alarm diaries.
But I feel a need to focus on a particular point, the question of what is the ideal human diet.
I got a diary on the rec list, but many thoughtful readers firmly disagreed with my statement on the topic of nutrition.
This is important, because if we are to make proposals of how many humans would be sustainable on the planet, we need to define, to some extent, what lifestyle we are proposing for the humans of the future.
Fewer humans, yes, but living in what housing, drinking water from what sources, and filtered and processed how, and what nutrition, what balance between protein, fats, and carbs, and what sources for vitamins and minerals, and what sources of protein, fats, and carbs?
On none of these questions should our answer be a shrug of the shoulders and a vague mumbling of whatever has been working, because that would be advocating business as usual, and that strategy has us heading straight for disaster, and quickly so.
We need to think about these things.
I certainly do not have all the answers, but I know we cannot get stuck in analysis paralysis.
I have some ideas, below the fold.
Let us start with eggs.
For every 100 grams of whole egg, there is about 73 grams of water, 13 grams of protein, 5.6 grams of fat, and 7.5 grams of carbohydrate.
To say it in round numbers, the egg is three fourths water, and, of the non-water portion, it is one half protein, and over one fourth carb, less than one fourth fat.
I got this from the USDA, but the links do not cut and paste, for some reason.
And if I post a link from the Egg Board, you might be skeptical.
Next is ground turkey.
For every 100 grams, we see about 72 grams water,about 17.5 protein, 8.26 fat, and no carbs.
In round numbers, a little less than three fourths water, and, of the non-water portion, more than two thirds protein, and less than one third fat.
Now, tofu.
There are many kinds of tofu, I hope I picked a typical one. I picked MORI-NU Tofu, silken, firm.
I read about 87 grams water, 6.9 protein, 2.7 fat, and 2.4 carbs.
That is nearly 90% water, with the non-water portion well over half protein, and well under one fourth fat, even less carbs.
But now I bring money into the picture.
I can get a pound of ground turkey for less than $1.50 per pound, and the tofu costs me over $2 per pound, for more water, and less protein.
Maybe I should buy the whey protein from the pharmacy depatment. I can add my own water. I filter tap water with a Brita filter.
Next is canned chicken breast.
Reading from the can, I read one gram fat, one gram carb, and 11 grams protein per serving, with about six servings per can, for 66 grams of protein in the 12.5 ounce can.
Next, a can of mackerel.
3 grams fat, 14 grams protein, times four servings in the can, for 56 grams of protein in the can.
In my can of collard greens, I read we have seven grams of protein, and nothing else that counts, because the seven grams of carbs are all dietary fiber, which does not count.
So, the greens are vitamins and minerals, with very little else.
My keen interest in the content of foods I eat started when I read a book called Protein Power, by Michael R. Eades, M.D., and May Dan Eades, M.D.
Here is a link to the book.
I am not selling books.
I just found a copy in a second hand store.
It was published in 1996.
My former roommate, Larry, expressed anger and disgust that I would totally accept everything in the book, without question, and I see his point. I person should never do that.
However, I never before read anything that even answered the question, the simple question, how much protein, fat, and carbs should I eat?
What is the ideal proportion, at least a general guideline?
This book gave me a formula for finding my lean body mass. The formula is a little complicated, requiring use of a chart in the book.
Using the formula and the chart, I found I have a lean body mass of about 180 pounds.
By the way, I weigh about 240 so I am still carrying around about 60 pounds of fat, which is too much, but I am slowly burning off the fat.
Anyway, back to my daily needs of protein.
According to the book, my 180 pounds of lean body mass requires, for maintenace and muscle building, about 144 grams per day of protein.
Actually, I just now got out the book, to find that number. I did the calculation for my lean body mass, but I just now did the math to find out my daily protein requirement.
Even if my memory is off, and my lean body mass is 190 pounds, and even if I go up one level because I am heavy, I still need only 171 grams per day of protein.
See my actual consumption below.
Keep in mind, this book was written by two doctors, with help from their staff.
We Democrats like science, not what is popular in the culture, but science.
This book seems to me a book that gives me a clear, easy to understand scientific explanation for what it says.
Anyway, I have not actually taken time to do everything in the book, because the book was written by doctors, so they tell me to take the book to my doctor, and to only do what the book says, under the guidance of my doctor.
I read the book just after I had a doctor visit last July.
The doctor visit cost me $150, and the blood tests cost me about $200.
I have a health savings account, but I was not ready to go back to the doctor so soon.
So, I tried to eat the maintenance diet, not the crash diet.
But I got into it, and some days, I may have my carbs low enough to be almost on the crash diet.
At any rate, I am losing fat, trimming down, building muscle mass, and even losing a little weight.
Many of you may know that losing fat, and building muscle mass, is what you really want to do, and doing so does not reduce your weight so much, because muscle is dense and heavy. But a person becomes more healthy this way.
I have gone from size 46 pants to size 42 pants.
I bought the size 42 a few months ago, and they are feeling loose.
Anyway, here is what I eat:
After working two hours, I eat four ounces of hard cheese, which gives me 36 grams of fat, which I burn off working hard at Walmart, and it gives me 28 grams of protein.
That much fat and protein can tide me over, for as long as four more hours of working hard.
At my meal break, I eat another four ounces of cheese, melted into my 12.5 ounces of chicken breast, seasoned with my homemade version of Mrs. Dash, which is equal parts minced onion flakes, granulated garlic powder, and black pepper, and some saltine crackers on top.
That gives me another 42 grams of fat, and another 94 grams of protein.
So, now I am up to a total, so far, of 122 grams of protein, and 78 grams of fat.
I work very hard, dragging pallets of freight weighing over 1,000 pounds, across the store, on most days, lately. So, I think I am burning off the fat, plus fat from my body.
When I get home, I sometimes eat nearly a whole pound of turkey.
Reading from the label of my low priced ground turkey, that is another 80 grams of protein, and another 88 grams of fat.
So, my totals for the day are, 202 grams of protein, and 166 grams of fat.
I never added it up til just now.
But I have been aware for at least a month or two that I am eating too much protein.
But I asked another doctor, when I went in for an urgent care appointment, (nothing was wrong with me) and that doctor said that a person can lose a few pounds by eating nothing but protein for a few days, because the body burns carbs first, then fat you ate, then fat from your body, then protein.
If that is true, then I cannot get fat from eating too much protein.
Nobody can.
You should research that claim. I could not find it on the internet, but it makes sense, and if true, that should be the big fact to get everyone to go low carb, and low fat, to lose weight, bringing back in some fat and carbs when you reach your target weight.
And, I am apparently filling my tummy with too much protein, and about the right fat, and that leaves very little room for carbs, and it is working.
We live in America, we are going to over eat something.
The only food that is safe to overeat is protein.
I am not saying unlimited amounts are safe.
I am just saying that I am eating about 200 grams per day, when I should have maybe 150, and it simply fills my tummy, leaving little room for carbs.
Keep in mind, I am trying to avoid the type II diabetes that killed my mother.
Almost forgot, I usually eat a medium bowl of all bran, or oatmeal, with peanut butter and brown sugar or apricot jam.
I never measure the amounts, but I know that is a lot of fats and carbs, with a little protein from the peanut butter.
Oh, and very important, I take a round of vitamin pills at each of these three meals.
My round of vitamins is one generic version of Centrum Silver, one magnesium, one fish oil, and two vitamin C chewables.
So that is three of the vitamin pills meant to be taken once a day, to get more potencey without buying even more vitamins.
The bottle warns of possible osteoporosis brought on by long term use of too much vitamin A, but I am only getting 7,500 international units of vitamin A per day this way, and I will find out more before it becomes long term use.
I cannot wait until I have done all possible research before I make a move to change my life.
Anyway, I wrote the intro to this nearly 45 days ago, and I liked my intro, so that is why I am throwing this together, without any more research than, I read the book, am doing part of what it says, and I am getting results.
I had no cold or flu the entire winter, for example.
And remember the size 42 pants, that are getting loose.
This is the first time in my life I am slimming down rather than getting fatter and fatter, as I did for about 25 years.
I almost forgot, I got excited about the book, because I felt, in my body's reaction to carbs, that something was wrong with me, and my doctor did not have an answer.
Most doctors have no answer.
These doctors, who wrote this book, gave me an answer.
I have a disorder, called in the book, hyperinsulinemia, which is partly genetic, and partly caused by eating too much carbs, that makes me:
build fat inside my abdominal wall
develop high blood pressure
and could cause me to develop type II diabetes.
Most folks think the fat causes the high blood pressure and the diabetes, but this book makes it clear that the fat is only the first symptom, not the cause.
By the way, the book points out that we have a see-saw balance between insulin and glucagon, and we need to keep the insulin low, and that allows the glucagon to go up, creating a better balance.
There is so much more in the book, and you can go to the author's site
Here.
In preparation for this diary, I added many other sites to my favorites, to give you lots of links.
Here is the author's blog, in which he reviews other books by other writers, on the topic of nutrition.
This link is not by Eades.
Humans must include adequate amounts of 9 amino acids in their diet.
And the site lists the nine.
Two of the essential amino acids, lysine and tryptophan, are poorly represented in most plant proteins. Thus strict vegetarians should take special pains to ensure that their diet contains sufficient amounts of these two amino acids.
Excuse me, excuse me.
I do not have the time, energy, or money, if it costs any more than I spend now, to take special pains to do anything. I need to eat a whole batch of food, general types in about the right proportions take some vitamin pills, and try to live to reach 80 years of age.
By the way, the human body needs no carbs whatsoever.
None.
I eat some carbs, but remember my first meal in my first break, the meal that gives me energy to work hard up to four hours? Just protein and fat.
There are people, researched and verified with experiments, written about in the book, who live on just meat, with lots of fat.
If you want a site that preaches against meat, or any cooked foods at all, I have a great one for you. It is a very large site, a regular encyclopedia of ideas.
Some of the ideas read more like superstition, such as the explanation of disease.
Raw food explained.com
Enjoy this diary, enjoy your bacon and eggs, and enjoy your life.
Live to 80 years of age.
That is my goal.
Peace.
Man oh man.
I almost forgot.
I do not have time right now, but try to do a rough calculation as to how much land it would take to graze your livestock to feed just you protein.
Or how much land to grow feed to feed your livestock.
Or how large of a building, and how much labor, and how much energy in the winter, to raise maggots for you to eat, and are you ready to eat maggots?
You need to calculate, and realize, that we do not have what it takes to feed 10 billion humans enough protein, with all nine amino acids.
We need contraception, one child for every two or three families.
Peace.