Originally Posted by tryreading

Insufficient protein is not going to be a problem for your kids, unless you put them on a Pez and water diet, or something equally odd. Too much protein can be a problem. And the things that come with the typical high-protein American diet, like way too much fat intake, are a big problem.

I like Dr. MacDougall, a nutrition expert who has been around for decades, when it comes to proper diet for people. There are a lot of myths he has been refuting for a long time, like dairy being a necessary 'food group,' for instance, that he has been correct on before anyone else was.



People Require Very Little Protein

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that men and women obtain 5% of their calories as protein. This would mean 38 grams of protein for a man burning 3000 calories a day and 29 grams for a woman using 2300 calories a day. This quantity of protein is impossible to avoid when daily calorie needs are met by unrefined starches and vegetables. For example, rice alone would provide 71 grams of highly useable protein and white potatoes would provide 64 grams of protein.8

Our greatest time of growth—thus, the time of our greatest need for protein—is during our first 2 years of life—we double in size. At this vigorous developmental stage our ideal food is human milk, which is 5% protein. Compare this need to food choices that should be made as adults—when we are not growing. Rice is 8% protein, corn 11%, oatmeal 15%, and beans 27%.8 Thus protein deficiency is impossible when calorie needs are met by eating unprocessed starches and vegetables.

The healthy active lives of hundreds of millions of people laboring in Asia, Africa, and Central and South America on diets with less than half the amount of protein eaten by Americans and Europeans prove that the popular understanding of our protein needs is seriously flawed.

The McDougall Newsletter - When Friends Ask: “Why Don’t You Drink Milk?”