The Starch Solution by MD John McDougall Read Free Book Online Page B

nutrients are virtually unknown, and that common plant foods fully meet our calcium, iron, and protein needs. There actually is no known nutritional advantage to choosing red meat, poultry, dairy, or eggs for their high density of particular nutrients. In fact, high nutrient concentrations come at the expense of others: milk and cheese are deficient in iron, while red meat, poultry, and eggs (apart from the shells) provide almost no calcium. These cannot be considered balanced foods: When you eat them you end up with too much of some nutrients and not enough of others. The ones you get in excess pose real and well-documented risks.
     
    In my 44 years of practicing medicine, I have never seen a patient sickened by eating potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, rice, beans, fruits, or vegetables, except in rare cases where the foods were spoiled or contaminated, or where they triggered an uncommon allergy or food sensitivity.
     
    What I do witness every day are serious diseases that stem from eating animal foods, including heart attacks, strokes, type 2 diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis, and cancer. It doesn’t matter whether those foods were processed by a large corporation using additives and chemicals, sold directly by a trusted organic farmer, or raised in your own backyard. All animal foods cause illness when consumed in amounts typically found in the Western diet. Why? Primarily because they are the wrong foods for humans.
     

A NIMAL F OODS A RE M ORE A LIKE T HAN D IFFERENT
    All animal foods provide essentially the same nutrition and have roughly the same impact on your health. It doesn’t matter whether you grill meat that comes from a cow, pig, sheep, lamb, or chicken, scramble eggs from a chicken or duck, or drink milk that comes from a cow,goat, or sheep. Industry-specific food marketers would have you believe otherwise, but in fact, these foods are so similar they are essentially equivalent as far as nutrition is concerned.
     
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Five Key Components of Selected Animal and Plant Foods
     
     
 
BEEF
CHICKEN
CHEESE
Protein
37
46
25
Fat
57
51
74
Cholesterol
32
36
26
Methionine
268
335
162
Dietary acid
6.3
7.0
10
     
     
 
EGGS
AVERAGE
Protein
32
35
Fat
61
61
Cholesterol
272
92
Methionine
251
254
Dietary acid
8.2
8
     
     
 
BEANS
RICE
POTATO
Protein
27
9
8
Fat
4
8
1
Cholesterol
0
0
0
Methionine
98
66
50
Dietary acid
1
1
-5
     
     
 
SWEET POTATO
AVERAGE
Protein
7
13
Fat
1
4
Cholesterol
0
0
Methionine
41
64
Dietary acid
-9
-3
     
    Note: Protein and fat are expressed in percentage of total calories. Cholesterol and methionine are milligrams per 100 calories. Dietary acid is renal acid load per 100 calories (a negative number means the food is alkaline).
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    As you can see, animal foods are made up of large amounts of protein, fat, and cholesterol, with high levels of the sulfur-containing amino acid methionine and dietary acids. This is true whether you eat one of these foods on its own or combine them at mealtime in people’s favorite blenders: their stomachs.
     
    Except for the simple sugars in milk and honey, animal foods contain essentially no carbohydrate, and they never provide dietary fiber.
     
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Comparisons of Levels of Potentially Harmful Substances in Animal Foods versus Starches (averages)
     
     
 
ANIMAL FOODS
STARCHES
ANIMAL TO STARCH RATIO (ROUNDED)
Protein
35
13
3:1
Fat
61
4
15:1
Cholesterol
92
0
100:1
Methionine
254
64
4:1
Dietary acid
8
-3
10:1
     
    Note: Protein and fat are expressed in percentage of total calories. Cholesterol and methionine are milligrams per 100 calories. Dietary acid is renal acid load per 100 calories (a negative number means the food is alkaline).
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    Like animal foods, starchy plant foods as a group behave essentially identically to one another. Plant foods are high in carbohydrate and fiber, low in fat and dietary acids, and have no significant amount of cholesterol. They also have sufficient, but not excess, amounts of protein on average. In other