46 the rice diet renewal
next to not smoking cigarettes. Again, realize that you are worth
the cost and effort of obtaining the best organic, grass - fed, or free -
range animal products available. You really are what you eat, and you
usually get what you pay for. More is not better; in fact, consuming
less animal products but those of higher quality (if you desire any)
is healthier for you and illustrates conscious consumption with an
integrity of purpose — for yourself, your fellow animals, your neigh-
bors, farm workers, the natural resources, and the planet.
Dr. Colin Campbell, the author of the world - renowned The
China Study , suggests that excessive amounts of animal protein
predict heart disease more than does fat intake. So if you are still
remembering your mother ’ s words when she proudly served and
encouraged you to eat your meat, you need to realize that she was
doing the best she could with the information she was given. She
was likely convinced that meat, which her parents probably could
not often afford, was a special and desirable high - protein food. Yet
the majority of the world ’ s healthiest and longest - lived people are
vegetarians or eat very few animal products (see the sidebar on
page 47).
Much of my graduate school nutrition training has been chal-
lenged and altered by the real - life results I ’ ve witnessed. Dietitians
are taught that the human body needs a high - protein diet to heal
burns and skin problems or to aid in postsurgery recovery; however,
Duke surgeons repeatedly tell us that Ricers have the best postoper-
ative experiences of all the patients they see. I have witnessed skin
lesions heal faster than I could believe in a Ricer whose legs had
not had healthy skin in years. You may also hear the oft - repeated
myth that you need to eat more protein if you want to do strength
training. This is not true. One of our young athletic men lost a
total of 103 pounds in 161 days, while his strength and endurance
improved considerably. His ability to bench press increased from
285 to 370 pounds after he lost the weight. In short, inadequate
protein will not be your problem.
So, get ready to assure your less - than - informed, well - intentioned
critics that you will get more than enough protein by eating grains,
beans, vegetables, and soy milk or low - fat dairy daily.