FAQ

•   Can I get enough protein eating a plant-based diet?

• Are plant proteins complete proteins?

• Do carbohydrates really make us fat?

• Can I get enough calcium eating a plant-based diet?

• Can I get enough fat eating a plant-based diet?

• Can I be a competitive athlete on the Engine 2 Diet?

• Will I miss key nutrients by eating only plant-based foods?

• Will my energy be low if I only eat plant-based foods?

• Is a plant-based diet bad for children and pregnant mothers?

• Do I need to take fish oil supplements ?

• Can real men eat just plants?

• Is eating plant-based foods joyless and boring?

Q - Can I Get Enough Protein Eating the Engine 2 Plant-Based Diet?

 

A - Not only will you get all the protein you need, for the first time in your life you won’t suffer from an excess of it. Ample amounts of protein are thriving in whole, natural plant-based foods. For example, spinach is 51 percent protein; mushrooms, 35 percent; beans, 26 percent; oatmeal, 16 percent; whole wheat pasta, 15 percent; corn, 12 percent; and potatoes, 11 percent.

 

What’s more, our body needs less protein than you may think. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the average 150-pound male requires only 22.5 grams of protein daily based on a 2,000 calorie a day diet, which means about 4.5 percent of calories should come from protein. (WHO recommends pregnant women get 6 percent of calories from protein.) Other nutritional organizations recommend as little as 2.5 percent of daily calories come from protein while the U.S. Food and Nutrition Board’s recommended daily allowance is 6 percent after a built-in safety margin; most Americans, however, are taking in 20 percent or more.

 

Doctors from my father to Dean Ornish to Joel Fuhrman, author of the best selling Eat to Live: The Revolutionary Formula for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss (Little, Brown), all suggest that getting an adequate amount of protein should be the least of your calories. Look around you and tell me the last time you saw someone who was hospitalized for a protein deficiency. Or look around in nature, where you will notice that the largest and strongest animals, such as elephants, gorillas, hippos, and bison, are all plant eaters.

 

Also, the type of protein you consume is as important as the amount. If you are taking in most of your protein from animal-based foods, you’re getting not only too much protein, but also an acid-producing form that wreaks havoc on your system.

 

Why is protein so potentially harmful? Because your body can store carbohydrates and fats, but not protein. So if the protein content of your diet exceeds the amount you need, not only will your liver and kidneys become overburdened, but you will start leaching calcium from your bones to neutralize the excess animal protein that becomes acidic in the human body.

 

That’s why, in the case of protein, the adage “less is more” definitely applies. The average American consumes well over 100 grams daily—a dangerous amount. But if you eat a plant-strong diet, you’ll be getting neither too much nor too little protein, but an amount that’s just right.

  

Q- Are Plant Proteins Complete Proteins?

 

A- Plant proteins are as complete as complete can be.

 

The myth that they’re not, or are of a lesser quality than animal proteins, dates back to experiments performed on rats in the early 1900s. Forget the fact that rats aren’t humans, have different nutritional requirements, and need more protein than humans to support their furry little bodies. The meat, dairy, and egg industries have marketed the hell out of this ancient research, and even in the year 2009 most every Dick, Tom, and Jane thinks the only way to get complete protein is through meat, eggs, or dairy.

 

In reality, proteins are composed of chains of roughly twenty different amino acids. Of those, eight are found outside our body and must be absorbed from our food. These eight are the “essential” amino acids. The remaining acids are “nonessential” because they can be synthesized by our bodies themselves.

 

Plants supply all the essential and nonessential amino acids. All of them. While some plants may be low in (not missing) one amino acid and other plants may be higher in another, your brilliant body sorts it all out and, at the end of the day, complements your amino-acid profile so it is perfectly balanced. In so doing, it creates a high-quality protein that is healthier, safer, and better than animal protein.

 

Thus, there is absolutely no need to combine certain plant proteins at each meal in an attempt to achieve an optimal amino acid balance. Unfortunately, the protein-combination myth continues to be perpetuated by any number of respected organizations. But the American Dietetic Association gets it right. Its position statement reads: “Plant sources of protein alone can provide adequate amounts of the essential and non-essential amino acids, assuming that dietary protein sources from plants are reasonably varied and that caloric intake is sufficient to meet energy needs. Whole grains, legumes, vegetables, seeds, and nuts all contain essential and non-essential amino acids.”

 

Scream it from the mountaintops: Plant proteins are 100 percent complete!

 

Q- Do Carbohydrates Really Make Us Fat?

 

A-

Most trendy diets claim that all carbohydrates are bad guys, yet of the three macronutrients that provide calories in our diet (carbs, protein, and fat), carbohydrates are the body’s primary fuel source. They’re responsible for managing your heart rate, digestion, breathing, exercising, walking, and thinking.  The real issue is that 90 percent of the carbohydrates that Americans consume are processed and refined. Such carbohydrates are void of fiber, water, nutrients and they are calorically dense.

 

The majority of your daily calories should come from complex carbohydrates and the simple, naturally occurring sugars found in whole fruits and vegetables. Both simple and complex carbs are digested and converted into sugar, or glucose, which is used by the body for energy.  Glucose is used immediately by the cells in your body, especially your brain and red blood cells, or it can be stored in either the muscles or the liver as glycogen. When sugar is not burned by your cells due to an inactive lifestyle or if consumption is more than needed by the body, carbohydrates can be converted to fat.

 

The carbohydrates to avoid are the refined and processed carbs.  Processed and refined carbohydrates include table sugar, white bread, white pasta, white rice, fried chips, sugary cereals, fruit juices, candy, and sodas (just to name a few). Processed and refined carbs are nutritionally empty because they have been tinkered with by humans, stripped of their fiber, minerals, and vitamins. They are digested quickly by the body and cause a sharp spike in your blood sugar levels.

 

In response to this spike, your pancreas pumps out insulin (a storage hormone) to transport and deliver the energy-bearing glucose to cells throughout your body. This process causes your blood sugar and insulin levels to swing like a pendulum, leaving you feeling fatigued, hungry, and still craving more food.

 

In contrast, whole and unprocessed carbohydrates (some are complex, some are simple) are nutritious and include vegetables, whole grain breads and pastas, beans, peas, brown rice, sweet potatoes, oats, fruits, and whole grain cereals. They are loaded with fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients ("phyto" means plants). Unlike processed and refined carbohydrates, these carbohydrates cause a balanced and controlled release of sugar into your system. This slow release gives the body more time to use the carbohydrates as fuel; as a result, insulin remains stable and less sugar is stored as fat.

 

So if you consume whole, unprocessed carbohydrates, you will enjoy more consistent energy throughout the day without gaining extra pounds. As you can see, the two types of carbs differ immensely from a nutritional standpoint. Processed and refined carbohydrates are calorie laden, providing little nutrition and contributing to weight gain. Whole, unprocessed carbohydrates are nutrient dense and loaded with fiber and water  -providing bulk that fills you up sooner, alleviates hunger pangs, and keeps you feeling satisfied longer.

 

So go eat your carbs—as long as they’re whole and unprocessed.

 

Q- Can I Get Enough Calcium Eating the Plant-Based Diet?

 

A- A diverse, plant-based diet is one of the best available sources of calcium—and lets you avoid the deleterious effects associated with dairy products.

 

Great sources of calcium include green leafy vegetables (kale, collard greends, bok choy, mustard greens, romaine lettuce), nuts, oranges, kidney beans, lima beans, whole grains, lentils, raisins, broccoli, brussel sprouts, and tofu set with calcium. One reason why Americans have such a high incidence of osteoporosis (or weakening of the bones) isn’t a lack of dietary calcium but an excess of animal protein, which leaches calcium from the bones.

 

In fact, did you know that the countries with the highest rate of dairy consumption, including the United States, New Zealand, Britain, and Sweden, also have the highest rates of osteoporosis? Although their citizens consume massive amounts of dietary calcium, the excessive protein in that milk, cheese, steak, fish, and eggs always trumps this important mineral, leaving them with a net deficit.

 

Meanwhile, people in rural China, who consume one-third the amount of dairy we do, have almost zero cases of osteoporosis. Dr. John McDougall, author of The McDougall Program for a Healthy Heart, has scoured the medical literature on the topic and has yet to find one case of dietary calcium deficiency in humans—so long as they consumed an adequate number of calories. So no milk mustache for you!

 

Q- Can I Get Enough Fat Eating a Plant-based Diet?

 

A- Trace amounts of fat are present in all fruits, vegetables, and other plant foods.

Strawberries are 5 percent fat; bell peppers, 6 percent; broccoli, 8 percent; spinach, 11 percent; and soybeans, 41 percent. Several high-fat plant foods contain in excess of 80 percent fat, including certain nuts and seeds, as well as avocados, olives, and coconuts. By eating a delicious, plant-happy diet, you will consume roughly 9 to 15 percent of your total calories from fat, which is ideal.

 

Getting your fat from plant-based foods means you will be consuming healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats as opposed to dangerous saturated fats. You will be able to eat more food than you ever dreamed of without gaining weight and feel wonderful!

 

Q- Can I Be a Competitive Athlete on a Plant-based Diet?

 

A- Just ask Tony Gonzalez, the 247-pound tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs football team. For health reasons, Tony changed his diet after signing a five-year contract extension, making him the league’s highest paid tight end, and went on to break the NFL record for receptions by a tight end in 2008. His teammates have nicknamed him "China Study" after T. Colin Campbell’s book by the same name, which Gonzalez studied before changing his diet. Check out the China Study book for yourself!

 

Or ask that question to Ruth Heidrich, who in 1982 was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer and cured herself by eating a low-fat, plant-strong diet. She has since won more than one thousand triathlons.

Or ask Salim Stoudamire, the plant-eating point guard for the NBA Atlanta Hawks, who says that by the fourth quarter, when most players are starting to fade, he’s picking it up a notch. Martina Navratilova, the world’s winningest tennis player, who serves up plant-based foods exclusively could give you some insight on how to eat plant-strong and still compete as an athlete. Or ask plant-devourer Dave Scott, my hero and six-time winner of the famed Hawaii Ironman triathlon.

 

Or better yet, try going plant-based yourself and see how much your own athletic performance improves.

 

Q- Will I Miss Key Nutrients by Eating Only Plant-Based Foods?

 

A- You’ll be consuming the wide spectrum of nutrients like never before -improving your health and reversing disease. If you were to hold a food triathlon based on the quantity of nutrients in each food, plants would cross the finish line and get a well earned massage before meat, dairy, and eggs even had a chance to get off the bicycle.

 

Calorie for calorie, the most nutrient-dense foods are plants, not animals. After all, plants are the mother source of all calories and all nutrients for all creatures, whereas animal-based foods are essentially plant foods recycled into an unhealthy package.

 

The only nutrient that plant-based foods lack is vitamin B12. Yet you can get a daily supply of B12 by downing two tablespoons of nutritional yeast, a glass of fortified soy milk, a bowl of fortified cereal, or if you wish, a daily 500-microgram pill that should be chewed or dissolved in the mouth to increase absorption.

 

Q- Will My Energy Be Low If I Only Eat Plant-based Foods?

 

A- Your energy levels will be more consistent than at any other point in your life.

Think of high-fiber and nutrient-heavy plant foods as the big logs in the fireplace that burn for hours. Think of low-fiber and nutrient-light foods such as processed carbohydrates as wads of newspaper that go up in a flash. When you’re eating plant-strong, you won’t have the energy peaks and valleys of the past, and if you so choose, you won’t even need coffee to get your butt and mind in gear in the mornings. You’ll awake feeling refreshed, even-keeled, and excited about charging forward into your day.

 

Q- Is a Plant-based Diet Bad for Children and Pregnant Mothers?

 

A- By the age of two (once off mother’s milk), every child is ready for a plant-strong diet. Even renowned expert Dr. Benjamin Spock recommends the practice in the latest edition of his classic bestselling book, Baby and Child Care. If you start them young, your kids will develop a palate that appreciates the subtleties of plant foods and will gain the healthy rewards that accompany this diet as they grow.

 

Pregnant women, meanwhile, can get all the vitamins, nutrients, and minerals that mother and baby need to be healthy and well. My wife, Jill, ate an all-plant-based diet throughout both of her pregnancies with no morning sickness and no complications. We are now raising two very healthy, plant-strong kids, Kole and Sophie, the little loves of our lives.

 

Q- Do I Need to Take Fish Oil Supplements to Ensure I’m Getting Essential Omega-3 Fatty Acids?

 

A- There are numerous ways to get essential omega-3 fatty acids without subjecting yourself to the potential risks of fish oils—which, according to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, are highly unstable molecules that can break down and release dangerous and damaging free radicals.

 

People are under the false assumption that taking a fish oil supplement will negate the effects of all the cheese, meat, and processed foods they throw down their throats. But fish oil is no panacea. It can actually raise total and LDL cholesterol levels, increases your chance of a hemorrhagic stroke, and suppresses the immune system.

Instead of taking fish oil, rely on ground flaxseed meal, walnuts, soybeans, and green leafy vegetables -all of which contain plenty of essential omega-3 fatty acids.

 

If you are unwilling to transition to a totally plant-strong diet, then go to a health food store and buy some plant-based omega-3 supplements that come straight from the mother source: plankton from the oceans, seas, and lakes—which, by the way, is where fish get their omega-3s.

 

Q- Can Real Men Eat Just Plants?

A- The fat and cholesterol in animal products clogs up the arteries traveling not only to the heart and head but also to the extremities, including the penis -causing PAD (peripheral arterial disease) and impotence, which research shows may be an early sign of heart disease. So, men: There is a better way, and it doesn’t involve taking Viagra, Cialis, or Levitra. It involves eating fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and beans.

 

In my father’s research study, several of the men who had been impotent for years regained their performance after changing to a plant-based diet, making their wives quite happy. Many of the Engine 2 Study participants also reported improved potency, including one who said that his erections “are now like blue steel.”

 

Q- Is Eating Plant-Based Foods Joyless and Boring?

 

A- Plant-based foods are delicious and satisfying.

 

The longer you’re on the E2 Diet, the more your palate will change. Think about milk, for instance. Since it’s well known that whole milk is not good for you, you’ve probably cut back to 2 percent or skim. At first, I bet that skim milk tasted like water. Then you became accustomed to it so when you tried whole milk again, it tasted like liquid paint. Your palate had changed.

 

It’s the same with adding oil to your foods. Anthony Salerno, one of the E2 Pilot Study participants, is a fourth-generation Italian-American who thought he couldn’t live without his olive oil. But after six weeks on the E2 Diet, he found he enjoyed meals more without it—the oil, he realized disguised their true flavors. When he returned to using olive oil, he found it tasted as though he’d poured synthetic goo on his food.

 

Foods taste better without being dunked in butter, drenched in margarine, or saturated with sour cream. Plant-based foods are absolutely glorious in their sublimeness. Without all the extra fat and processed flavors drowning them out, you’ll finally get to taste nuances you might never have noticed: the tang of a ripe red bell pepper, the zest of a Cara Cara orange, or the zing of a plate of lacinato kale with roasted garlic—foods bursting with flavors all their own.