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Allproteinsinhumansorinsingle-celledbacteriaaremadeupofunitsof

about 20 differentaminoacids,which,inturn,arecomposedofcarbon,hy-

drogen,oxygen,nitrogen,andsometimessulfur.Tosynthesizeitslife-es-

sentialproteins,eachspeciesneedsgivenproportionsofthe 20 mainamino

acids.Althoughplantscanmanufacturealltheiraminoacidsfromnitro-

gen,carbondioxide,andotherchemicalsthroughphotosynthesis,most

otherorganismscanmanufactureonlysomeofthem.Theremaining

ones,calledessentialaminoacids,mustbederivedfromfood.Eightessen-

tialaminoacidsareneededtomaintainhealthinhumans:leucine,isoleu-

cine,lysine,methionine,phenylalanine,theonine,tryptophan,andvaline.

Alloftheseareavailableinproteinsproducedintheseedsofplants,but

becauseplantsourcesareoftenweakinlysineandtryptophan,nutritionex-

pertsadvisesupplementingthedietwithanimalproteinfrommeat,eggs,

andmilk,whichcontainalltheessentialacids.Mostdiets—especiallyin

theUnitedStates,whereanimalproteiniseatentoexcess—containallthe

essentialaminoacids.Foradults,theRecommendedDietaryAllowance

(RDA)forproteinis0.79gperkg(0.36gperlb.)ofbodyweighteachday.

ForchildrenandinfantsthisRDAisdoubledandtripled,respectively,be-

cause of their rapid growth. 134

Mostplantsandmicroorganismsareabletouseinorganiccompoundsto

makealltheaminoacidstheyrequirefornormalgrowth.Animals,

however,mustobtainsomeofthestandardaminoacidsfromtheirdietin

ordertosurvive;theseparticularaminoacidsarecalledessential.They

(AminoAcids)arefoundinadequateamountsinprotein-richfoods

fromanimalsourcesorincarefullychosencombinationsofplantpro-

teins. 135

Theuseofthequotationabovefromtheencyclopediahasbeenforthepurposeof

showingtheinformationthatisavailabletothepublicandisconsideredthelatest

“medicalknowledge.”Initthereisanadmissionthatplantsprovidealloftheneces-

sarynutrientsneededtosustainlifeandthatanimalproductsarenotnecessaryfor

humansurvival.Thedirectivetoeatmeattosupplementthedietandthesubsequent

movetoscarepeoplebytellingthemtheyneedtoeatmeatdaily,tosatisfythepro-

teinrequirementsofthebody,isafactorofexpediencyinthemasshealthcaresys-

temandanimpetusfromthecattleindustrywhichdevelopedearlyinthehistoryof

theUnitedStatesaswellasotherWesterncountries.Thecattleindustryhasbecome

themoderndaymeatindustry.Theimpetusisaquickwaytogetpeopletoconsume

theirnutrients,bythepublichealthdepartment,butthisefforthasessentially