Quote:
Originally Posted by Azure
I would venture to say that westerners eat more grains or carb related food than they do meat.
Its harder that you think to get 100g+ of protein per day. A large steak only has 50g. And how many people eat a large steak everyday?
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Well that is possible. Course people might not be eating steak. They might be chomping on fast food burgers or frying up brats. (How much meat is in those is debatable, I know...
) But people do tend to think of their meat dish first, and plan the rest of the meal around it.
Most places you go out to eat, (or maybe it's just Alberta and other places in North America) you get a huge portion of meat and a tiny side of veggies.
You're probably right that westerners eat more carbs. But they're supposed to. 3 times more according to the suggestions (grains anyways, not carbs). I'm just trying to figure out the percentages. Now the question is, do you think they eat 3 times more? I would doubt it. I would say they eat roughly the same amount, to just a little bit over. (100-150% of the meat they eat)
Course I have no data and I admit this, but I would love to find out.
And now even as I write this, I'm seeing the overlap. You can't compare meat to carbs, and grains to protein, etc. Because that's comparing the food to the nutrional value/substance inside of it.
There is protein inside grains. Heck there's protein in milk products and eggs. Part of the reason a person is to eat a balanced diet is so you can get all things from different sources. There are carbs inside many different foods too.
One needs to compare meat to non meat items like grains and veggies, and compare carbs, to other nutrional concepts like proteins and vitamins. Cross comparing is just confusing everything up.
You are right in saying, that people eat way too many carbs. But carbs and grains are completely different. There are grains with low carbs, increased fibre and protein.
So I guess when I'm saying that people eat to much meat, I'm looking at other foods, and not their intake of things like carbs and such.
Eating meat for protein is just one part of the puzzle. I do not advocating getting rid of that part, and I get a little annoyed with vegetarians who insist it's best to do just that. I think it is an important part of the puzzle. And my doctor agrees in my case too.
But the amounts I do believe are for the most part, entirely out of whack in most people's diet. People love to say, 'I need to eat meat for protein', when really their just defending that fact that they love to eat it becaue it's delicious.