Why do we have to eat protein?

[Mindlink00]

Human beings are among the many mammals which produce protein as part of our natural processes. So why do we have to eat protein?

Milk cows don't have to drink cows milk.
Beef cattle don't have to eat beef.
Apes are vegetarians.

So why do humans have to eat protein?

 

[Deeko]

Humans evolved as omnivores. Deal with it.

(more complete answer: your body requires protein for muscle growth and maintenence. Complete proteins. Plants give you various amino acids that on their own do not help. They need to be properly combined with other amino acids to create complete proteins your body can use. Most people that do not eat meat products (which contain complete proteins) do not eat the proper combinations of amino acids, and thus are protein deficient. Its not that it can't be done, its that it usually isn't done correctly)

Humans are not cows, and they are not apes. We evolved differently.

I'm assuming from your lack of posts and your veganesque post here that this is a troll or a bot and I'm wasting my time, but whatever. Someone with a more complete knowledge of this stuff (such as SC) come and correct or expand what I've written, if you feel like it.

 

[brikis98]

Human beings are among the many mammals which produce protein as part of our natural processes.

We are able to synthesize some types of amino acids, but not all. There are 8 "essential amino acids" necessary for our survival that we cannot synthesize and must get through our diet.

 

[Blackjack200]

We are able to synthesize some types of amino acids, but not all. There are 8 "essential amino acids" necessary for our survival that we cannot synthesize and must get through our diet.

The succinct and perfect answer. They are called "essential" because we cannot produce them on our own.

 

[darkxshade]

Milk cows don't have to drink cows milk. Beef cattle don't have to eat beef. Apes are vegetarians.

Humans don't eat humans either. Analogy fail
Meanwhile, lions, tigers, and bears eat meat.

We drink breast milk when we're born
Some of us are vegetarians as well.


And did you really create an account just to ask this?

 

[Deeko]

We are able to synthesize some types of amino acids, but not all. There are 8 "essential amino acids" necessary for our survival that we cannot synthesize and must get through our diet.

This too.

 

[KlokWyze]

there's vegan logic for you.

 

[Mindlink00]

Thank you all for your replies.

I am not able to eat red meat, it makes me very sick. Can someone tell me other things which I can eat to get the 8 essential amino acids?

 

[Deeko]

Chicken? Fish? Eggs?

 

[KlokWyze]

Thank you all for your replies.

I am not able to eat red meat, it makes me very sick. Can someone tell me other things which I can eat to get the 8 essential amino acids?

Chicken. :awe:

 

[bommy261]

we live much longer than apes because we don't eat bananas all day.. if u ate just grass all day like a cow you wouldn't live 70-80 years either. it is because we have a varied diet we live much longer than most mammals.

 

[brikis98]

Thank you all for your replies.

I am not able to eat red meat, it makes me very sick. Can someone tell me other things which I can eat to get the 8 essential amino acids?

I made a thread a while back of low calorie, high protein foods that has a pretty good list of foods with plenty of protein.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Thank you all for your replies.

I am not able to eat red meat, it makes me very sick. Can someone tell me other things which I can eat to get the 8 essential amino acids?

Like brikis said, there are essential amino acids required for protein synthesis. We don't have the enzymes required to synthesize all our necessary amino acids from plant material, like plants do. Also, I think you have it wrong on apes: many ape species eat meat as often as they can. It may infrequent in their diet since it requires a great deal of energy compared to foraging/gathering, but they definitely eat meat.

Not being able to eat red meat isn't a problem. Other animal sources are chicken, turkey, tuna, most other fish, pork, milk, cheese, eggs, etc.

To maintain a diet with all essential amino acids, a vegetarian must eat both legumes (beans, peas, etc) and grains (anything made from wheat, oats, rice, etc) daily. Soy products are also an option, since soy is a complete protein, but it has some drawbacks such as being hyperallergenic, high in phytoestrogens, and having poor environmental connotations. Being a vegetarian, it may be hard to get enough protein in your diet unless you turn turn to animal products like milk and eggs.

 

[alkemyst]

If the OP is being honest, he should be under the guidance of a nutritionist.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I made a thread a while back of low calorie, high protein foods that has a pretty good list of foods with plenty of protein.

I do not know how I missed that thread, it is very informative. Thanks.

 

[norsy]

Somewhat related to this thread and something I wonder about..why are herbivores usually so much bigger than carnivores?

 

[HN]

Somewhat related to this thread and something I wonder about..why are herbivores usually so much bigger than carnivores?

the food source is readily available and they spend much, much less energy getting it.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Somewhat related to this thread and something I wonder about..why are herbivores usually so much bigger than carnivores?

Um, there are some outliers, but they typically aren't. For every plant and nut eating squirrel, there's a mouse than eats insects. For every bloodthirsty lion, there's a gazelle. You may just be thinking about the large exotics like elephants and giraffes. Being a large carnivore means you have to kill large prey and kill it frequently. In the African Sahara, this means that large carnivores would have been wiped out during any minor famine. However, lions do just fine. Land resources limit how large carnivores can get. You're just thinking of specific examples like Africa. Think about whales. The largest animal in the world, the blue whale, eats hundreds of thousands of pounds of krill... so it's not exactly true that herbivores are smaller than carnivores.

 

[Blintok]

Apes are vegetarians.

So why do humans have to eat protein?

chimpanzees are genetically related to us.
they eat meat.
they form hunting parties to hunt.

go to You Tube. search for "apes hunt monkeys"

 

[wiedersehen]

To strengthen and build up our body structure.

 

[CKent]

there's vegan logic for you.

Not necessarily, he could simply be curious.