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Question: If Amercian's eat the most protein compared to other countries......

rawcanadianrawcanadian Raw Newbie

Question: If American's eat the most protein compared to other countries......

then why are they not the most muscular people???

Instead they are the fattest, most diseased people on the planet, that spend the most then any other country on health-care???

BTW I am not bashing Americans, just making a point about high protein diets.

Comments

  • CarnapCarnap Raw Newbie

    Yes. I am trying to tell that to my friend that likes to work out. He insists he is burning off all the bad stuff.

    I am slowly getting to him. I have only been doing yoga for one month. When he visited me, his jaw dropped to the floor when I had him feel the muscles in my arms and (yeah I admit, my butt).

  • ZemphiraZemphira Raw Newbie

    You should tell your friend to read The China Study by T. Colin Campbell. Although, I've found that most people are in complete denial over how much the nutritional information is tainted by the meat and dairy industry. I guess it's inconvenient to believe that eating so much animal protein isn't good for you.

  • gratefultobegratefultobe Raw Newbie

    And Zemphira, if I may, it's really inconvenient to be aware of what using animals does to our hearts. lol not the muscle..the spirit.

  • superfood2superfood2 Raw Newbie

    That's easy - because protein is only needed to be about 6% of caloric intake.

  • PamPam

    Carnap! I'm surprise at you!! You let him touch your butt. Well I never....

    By the way, we share the same birthday... I just had it first!

  • CarnapCarnap Raw Newbie

    Hey, he was my fianc

  • I'm just a layman, but I don't think American's excessive weight issues are protein related.

    I'm sure a fair amount of our disease is caused by excessive animal protein in our diets.

    Our weight and large portion of our disease is from a whole laundry list of problems that are food, environment, and attitude related.

    I'd love to list all the ways that we are screwing up and making ourselves so sick and so very obese, but I only have two hours before I have to take my son to class. I doubt I could list them all in that time!

    Out of curiosity, where did you find out that America is not the most muscular? Which country is?

    Was it in a study somewhere or is it a conclusion you are drawing from your own observations?

  • Yeah who knows, under all that fat, there might be a goldmine of muscle lol!

    It's true, what twitch says, though. Perhaps it's not solely protein, but that in conjunction with saturated animal fat, as we do consume a LOT of saturated animal fats. It kinda goes along with consuming a lot of protein. Also consuming a lot of protein overall can mean consuming a lot of FOOD in general, since there's protein in almost everything, albeit in small amounts.

    Here's an argument a bodybuilder might use:

    The overweight have more muscle than one would think; they generally have higher metabolisms. It's a fact, if you eat more and your body weighs more and there's generally more of you, you have a higher metabolism. People a lot of times misunderstand what metabolism means. Now, bodyfat percentage, or the percentage of bodyfat IN RELATION to the muscle and bone and tissue mass of the person, now that would most likely be higher here than anywhere else.

    But, a bodybuilder would tell you that they eat high protein, but they also eat very, very low in fat, and they zig zag calories, and they eat a lot of plant matter and vegetables (sweet potatoes are a staple), and they eat every hour...basically they follow a very strict and specific high protein diet that obviously yeilds them results.

    If your friend is downing three big macs in the name of protein, then obviously they're not getting it, but most bodybuilders actually go about it in a very specific manner.

    But, I'm not a bodybuilder. I'm just a personal trainer....just saying though. I get your point, and what you're trying to make a point about is for the most part true!

  • China Study is cool, but as Raw_Canadian knows, T Colin's downfall is his belief in starchy vegetables and grains. Replace his "80" with fruit and you have the diet of champions. ;)

  • ZemphiraZemphira Raw Newbie

    gratefultobe -I fully concur, my primary motivation for converting to vegan was not health reasons, that was just a side benefit.

    --Ahimsa

  • rawcanadianrawcanadian Raw Newbie

    "Out of curiosity, where did you find out that America is not the most muscular? Which country is? Was it in a study somewhere or is it a conclusion you are drawing from your own observations?"I don't think a study has been done, but it is possible that there is muscle under that fat.

    It takes a lot of strength to move all that fat , so you might be on to something.

  • beanybeeganbeanybeegan Raw Newbie

    Hummmm. I know a lot of skinny and toooo skinny people. Then some are just right. We all are not fat.

    One reason that some may have a weight problem is stress, loneliness, fear, boredom, illness. These roads can lead to extra and usually wrong foods. We call them comfort foods.

    The other is the perception of fat. In the 60's a model could be a size 8. Now that same person would have to be a 2.

    I wouldn't say we are a very muscular country, just a regular Nation like many other Nations. A group of people. Different colors, different personality, different builds, and different eating habits.

    WOW! it is nice being an American!!

  • SuasoriaSuasoria Raw Newbie

    Add to that the health problems an excess of protein causes, such as osteoporosis or kidney disease. I can't figure out if that's just related to an excess of *animal* protein or if the plant-based proteins (such as soy) would have the same effect. In theory vegans have a low incidence of these diseases, but I'm sure some who eat a lot of tofu, seitan, tempeh, etc. are getting more than the low percentage protein that would be optimal.

  • CarnapCarnap Raw Newbie

    I know the first thing I say to myself everytime I get off the airplane in Detroit when I visit my family in the states is, "oh my gosh! Everybody is so fat!!!!"

    Never ceases to shock me.

  • rawcanadianrawcanadian Raw Newbie

    hey beany,

    I now have people saying I am too skinny!!! lol

    I am 6'2" and 185 lbs, and I work out 6 days / week, which I started in december. I keep getting stronger and stronger everyweek.

    I tell people the reason I look skinny is because most adults are overweight, which is true.

    This is in Canada BTW and next time you are wait/ing for somebody in front of a store, and bored, count how many people are overweight coming in and out.

    It should be around 2/3.

    I find it amazing when people say "Im not overweight", but they are carrying around an extra 20lbs of fat. People are so used to it, that it seems totally normal.

    The point was that if Americans eat the most animal based proteins including dairy, then shouldn't they be more muscular.

    People keep telling me that I need LOTS AND LOTS of protein, especially at work, and I was just wondering why I need LOTS AND LOTS of protein. The protein they refer to is animal protein.

    If animal protein builds muscles then why are the people telling me this along with the Amercians (cuz I am in Canada obviously) not supper muscular , but instead carrying around all that extra luggage.

    Therefore, to my personal conclusions I would say that animal protein alone doesn't build muscle.

    A healthy diet and exercise , however, may be the key in this situation, no matter what country you are from.

  • 2/3 rawcanadian??

    i always thought canadians were not as hefty as americans, being that u have more open space in ur country i thought people would utilize that and be active....hmmmmm

    i wonder how those mexicans are doing then....

  • greenghostgreenghost Raw Newbie

    No disrespect meant to anyone's comments here, but in the process of becoming overweight it does not matter (in terms of packing on more fat cells/adipose tissue) what TYPE of food one eats.

    If a person overeats ANYTHING they will gain weight. It does not matter if the source food was protein, carbohydrates or fats.

    I'm pretty sure you all know this.

    Also - it is poor logic to say that if a person eats a lot of protein then they will automatically be muscular.

    I nearly laughed out loud at that!

    Weight Training and other ways of working out with resistance (isometrics, yoga etc...) is the only way a person will 'gain muscle'.

    I'm sorry, but HELLO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • emtpdmomemtpdmom Raw Newbie

    Greenghost ~

    I know this is off topic, but I took a look at your profile and noticed your comment about the additional "Favorites" threads on your profile. Just in case you haven't noticed, in the right hand column you can click on "delete" to remove any you don't wish to see in that list.

    Sorry for the digression. OK . . . now back on topic.

  • greenghostgreenghost Raw Newbie

    emtdmom

    Thanks for the tip, but I knew that.

    The thing is I started to 'delete' them, but I think they need to be deleted individually, rather than using the "ctrl" button and getting it done faster. Frankly I did not have the patience to go through and delete every single one.

    Candace and Ray have done a great job updating this website, but I have to admit there are a few things I miss about the old one.

    Still, I want to emphasize again - they have really worked hard. I'm happy this site exists at all.

    Cheers, gg

  • SuasoriaSuasoria Raw Newbie

    RawCanadian, I was at the regular grocery store the other day to use the bank branch inside the store, and I noticed the same thing. There were eight of us in line. Three were obese, two were overweight by about 30-40 pounds, one was at the high end of normal, and then DH and I, who are normal. (Both bank tellers were normal/slender as well). I am in Southern California, where there is ostensibly more emphasis on health and appearance/vanity.

    I am finding the same thing, though - people who are just moderately overweight suddenly look "normal" since they compare favorably to very overweight or obese people.

    By the way, I just read an article that the average U.S. woman is a size 14 and 162.9 pounds.

    (And I totally got your "joke" about protein and muscle.)

  • rawcanadianrawcanadian Raw Newbie

    Thanks Suasoria, ya hopefully nobody takes this post too seriously , that is why I placed it under Other Topics.

    Just here to give people something to think about.

  • beanybeeganbeanybeegan Raw Newbie

    cows. You ever met a big white face bull that only eats grass? As we know , meat or dairy protein has nothing to do with being healthy. But eating a SAD diet and being a couch potato, or living more of a sedentary life style, will cause weak muscles and extra fat.

    On the other hand you may not realize you are bashing Americans, but you really are. We have Americans dying in another country. I think this is a poor time to continue this subject.

  • Good point, it's exactly what I think. A good healthy nutrition is a good combination of food nutrients. If Americans are highest protein consumers in the world it doesn't mean they should have huge muscle mass. In the same time many of them also consume a lot of fats and carbohydrates and that leads them into bad eating habits. It doesn't take a scientist to figure this out. Muscle building is a whole different thing here and yes, it has a tight connection with protein diets, not to mention the anabolic steroid use.

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