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By Matthew Rees

Food and Health Fact #82: Protein consumption and American health

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This week's "food for thought" excerpt comes from Proteinaholic (2015), by Garth Davis, MD.

"According to a 2013 survey sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and conducted by the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine, [Americans] are some of the unhealthiest people in the developed world. We die at an earlier age, on average, than our European and Japanese counterparts. We have higher rates of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. And we suffer from more cancers. Our medical advances have slightly reduced our cancer death rate – meaning, we get cancer more often, but stay alive longer due to aggressive treatment – but basically, if it’s a war, cancer is winning. . . . So we eat more protein, spend more money on health care, and are some of the unhealthiest people in the world. That doesn’t prove that protein is culprit, of course, but it’s a staggering piece circumstantial evidence, especially when you look at the countries who are thriving and discover that they eat very little protein. The longest-lived people in the world get an average of 10 percent of their total calories from protein. [The American] average is 15-20 percent, and of course, if you’re on a high-protein diet – Atkins, Paleo . . . – that figure goes up to 40 or 50 percent."