THE HIGH SCHOOL REUNION DIET by David Colbert MD & Terry Reed

Author:David Colbert, MD & Terry Reed
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2010-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

HOW THE WORLD ROCKS PROTEIN

You might well argue that protein is out of place in International Class. Protein is a major food group, on the estimable, life-sustaining level of carbs and fat—and it belongs in the real curriculum, right?

Frankly: not anymore.

Don’t get us wrong; protein in daily diet is just as important as it ever was. Next to water, protein is the most predominant substance in the body, and it must be replenished daily, because about half of what we need to sustain ourselves and stay alive comes through food. But let’s face it, this is America, and lack of protein is not really our problem.

In the USA, where persuasive food industry marketing has managed to make the word protein mean exactly the same as the word meat, we don’t lack protein. And the way we use this protein source (meat) is a key difference between our increasingly dangerous diet and that of the rest of the world.

Just as carb is not synonymous with cake, and fat is not synonymous with fattening, protein is not synonymous with meat. Though meat is an excellent source of complete protein, all protein doesn’t come from meat or other animal products, and there are other very good sources. Some vegetables (spinach springs to mind) have so much protein they can put Le Burger to shame. We’ll hear about these star-quality foods soon in The Lists. In the meantime, and to explain why protein landed like extra credit in the international section, other developed countries have something we desperately need: a sense of proportion about meat. In fact, the main thing we want to ease away from in order to get young again is a diet overdominated by animal products.

The best food in the world proves that you can still have a wildly successful cuisine and a delicious diet if you cut the meat portion down to size. In some cuisines (notably, Asian), meat or fish is considered more like the garnish—the way we Americans look at a prize tomato, or an appealing-enough pickle, on our plate. Vegetables and sauce and grains are the real stars of the Asian meal; the meat is just an intriguing side.

Granted, we’re Americans, and we’re never going to think of our steak in quite the same way we think of our tomato. Actually, we want ’em both, and we want ’em both big. But if you start to at least entertain the idea that protein also comes from plants, and that the best fats come from plants, you can begin to shift your perspective to that of the far healthier global one—where meat just isn’t allowed to overwhelm the rest of the diet. (Remember your vanity: we’re talking places where the people stay slim, look good into old age, and live longer than we do.) In all the world’s best cooking, a little meat can go a long way. Seriously consider the following:

Italian cuisine. Probably the world’s most popular cuisine, an Italian meal is a masterpiece of structure: first

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