Hi folks,
A lot of confusion is occurring on veg-raw and veggie as to human
protein requirements. The thesis I present here is one I may be putting
into the next update of "The Raw Apocrapha". (in that text I shall also
demonstrate the supperiority of a varied raw food diet against standard
vegan meals and meat eater meals using the USDAs own diet analysis
program plus some other scientific research I have looked at)
From Laurie Forti I gained the following data:
The National Academy of Science,
National Research Council claims that human protein needs are:
Category Age Weight (lb) Height (in) Protein needed Protein needed
grams g/lb body weight
---------------------------------------------------------::::::::::::::::
Infants 0-0.5 13 24 13 1.00
0.5-1.0 20 28 14 0.70
Children 1-3 29 35 16 .55
4-6 44 44 24 .55
7-10 62 52 28 .45
Males 11-14 99 62 45 .45
15-18 145 69 59 .41
19-24 160 70 58 .36
25-50 174 70 63 .36
51+ 170 68 63 .37
Females 11-14 101 62 46 .46
15-18 120 64 44 .37
19-24 128 65 46 .36
25-50 138 64 50 .36
51+ 143 63 50 .35
If we assume that the babies diet is correct, this is reasonable, then a
baby eats 13g of protein per day. Most of what the baby eats is for
growth, anabolic metabolism, only a tiny amount is for repair of
proteins damaged by catabolic metabolism (ie living!). We must build
faster than we fall apart!
The "father" figure for all biochemical processes in our bodies is the
energy requirement. This can be expressed in kilo Joules or kilo
Calories. This figure controls how much of our bodies will be broken
down by catabolic metabolism, and controls all other reactions.
Now the baby is growing, anabolic activity (building), and that process
itself is the one that dictates the catabolic (breakdown) of the body.
To put it crudely, the more energy we burn up for building
proteins, the more we need to support that growth. If you were held in
suspended animation for 1 minute, no metabolism, hence no energy or
protein requirements. If you did some severe exercise in that same one
minute you would require energy intake and materials in proporsion to
the amount of energy expended and tissues broken down. As energy
dictates all bodily reactions, the tissue requirement will also be
reflected by the energy expended.
Now a baby eats 13g of protein per day, and according to USDA figures
human milk is 1.1% protein and about 4% fat. So 13g of protein implies
approx 47 g of fat which is 425 kcalories. (1g fat=9 kcal)
Human milk contains also 9.5% carbohydrate, so that's 112g of
carbohydrate times 4 is 450 kcals. (1g carbo=4 kcal).
Total kcals for baby is 874. [Assume protein intake is for growth, not
energy!]
So a 13 pound baby requires approx 67 kcal/pound bodyweight for growth
and repair.
An adult male (sedentory) requires about 2500 kcalories per day and
weights on average 174 pounds, that's 14 cal/pound. So you can see that
babies require to burn calories at 5 times the rate of adults due to
growth + repair.
Now, most of a babies protein requirement is for growth of new tissues.
But lets assume all of the babies protein intake is for repair. For a 13
pound baby we require 13g/day protein, for a 174 pound adult male we
would thus require 169g (13 x 13) of protein, but I'm "repairing" at one
fifth of the metabolic baby rate, so we get down to 34g! This figure
will therefore also include sufficent protein for maximum growth too!!
I designed a high energy raw food diet for myself based on fruit, some
salad and some seeds (sunflower and sesame), in very small proporsions,
as per the chimps selection of foods, I ran it through USDA checker.
According to USDA this provides 38g of plant protein and 3268 kcals
which I consider great all round, and near spot on my calculated figure!
And I weight much less than that 174 pounds (126 pounds). You may have
some question about calorie & protein requirements and usage, but think
the stuff here through first before you ask, okay.
...QED....
confused? well... :) I've maintained my strength and built on in it by
doing bike riding and keeping up my weight lifting. More protein is
not required, the 63g/day RDA is nonsense, you'd need to be building
like Arny for that! Any adult male gorilla is ample evidence of this.
They eat no concentrated proteins, nor do elephants, but they eat 5% of
their bodyweight of food/day.<G>
1...2...3... get me outta there..
J.C
// The Vegan Bikers Home Page: http://www.nildram.co.uk/veganmc
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