It isn’t just people who support animal rights who advocate people eat less meat or stop eating meat altogether. Environmentalists say one of the most important things someone can do to help the environment is to eat less meat. For example, it takes an estimated 1,800 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef.
Protein provides the formation and maintenance of tissues, supports the immune system, and is involved in the formation of hemoglobin, enzymes and in the production of energy. Meat is a good source of protein, but how much meat do people need? None at all, some experts say.
“Vegetables have significant amounts of protein,” Dana West, a registered dietician, said. “If you are wanting to reduce your consumption of animal products, including meat, you can easily get all the protein you need with a variety of legumes, vegetables and whole grains. One hundred grams of flesh food contains 12-27 grams of protein, while 100 grams of legumes contains 23-36 grams. Even fruit contains some protein although a small amount; per serving fruit contains an average of 0.5 grams of protein.”
West said it is more common for Americans to get too much protein rather than not enough.
“I think the message we need to bring home to Americans is protein is widely available and the average American consumes more than double the amount of protein needed,” she said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Americans are deficient in Vitamins A, D and folic acid, while protein deficiency in healthy adults is less common.
According to the National Institute of Health, the average adult needs 0.75 grams of protein per kg of body weight. That basically averages out to about 50 grams a day or 10 percent of calories consumed.
“But to put that in usable terms, if you are eating enough calories from a variety of healthful foods, than you are most likely getting enough protein because protein is widely available in a lot of foods not just meat, fish or poultry,” she said.