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Will Protein and Vegetables Make a Comeback…In Time?

(Courtney Carpenter, MS) -- Recently the United States Centers for Disease Control reported that between 26% and 29% of Maryland residents are obese.  Since the rising costs of health care are just beginning to be correlated with obesity and it does not look good, individuals and communities need strategies for resisting this trend.

What single message regarding a healthy diet will make the most difference across the board, from individuals to organizations?  I believe that it is that “protein and vegetables will set you free.”  After all, small portions of poor quality, hyper-refined foods only beget cravings for more of the same, creating a cycle of “100 calorie” mishaps across the day or simply a steady diet of processed food.  

Our society’s current response to the super-sized mentality, through the auspices of the companies who promoted it in the first place, is an attempt to sell the idea that one can eat these poor quality, high fat and carbohydrate foods, if only one restricts the quantity.  This theoretical improvement fails however, because if one is not satisfied with a meal or snack, one will continue to eat until he or she is satisfied.

A key biochemical ingredient for satisfaction with a meal is serotonin, which is made from protein.  However, serotonin is too important to be left as the hostage of protein consumption, which over the ages has often been scarce.  Consumption of carbohydrates also calls serotonin into action. This fact is largely the reason that our “comfort foods” comfort us. It is their abundance of sugars and other carbohydrates, plus fat, which keep little infusions of serotonin in circulation while we eat whatever gooey treat it is, from mashed potatoes to a banana split.  Choosing protein at every meal, either from an animal or a vegetable source or both, supplies the raw material for creating serotonin. Having an abundant supply keeps muscles safe from catabolism for their protein.

Before the explosion of refined food products from chips to cereals to sugary beverages of every sort, people worked hard for their treats and relied on vegetables, fruits, beans and meats for the bulk of their diets. All of these traditional foods have B vitamins that are also necessary for protein’s conversion into serotonin.  Now, the fattest among us have the least vegetables, fruits, beans and meats in their diets overall.  Instead they are getting calories primarily from flour based grain products, sweetened drinks and vegetables, such as potatoes and corn, comprised of simple starches that lead to quick digestion and storage of excess sugars. 

Unfortunately, our failsafe biochemical response to carbohydrates in the relative absence of protein now works largely to the disadvantage of the western world. Our hungry ancestors would have been unwise to pass up any foods, but with refrigeration, processing and even cooking we have removed the haphazard quality of our meals and made probable the grazing that a walk through the aisles of a supermarket suggests. 

Since protein has to be eaten throughout the day and across the week in order for the effects to kick in, a new message to begin the day with protein and keep it on the plate at each meal could help end the vicious cycle of carbohydrate craving and consumption.  However, proteins must be lean and varied as much as possible to avoid the pitfalls of excessive fat consumption and the rest of each meal must be high fiber, slow-to-digest vegetable foods to provide the long-term satisfaction with a meal that definitively ends cravings. 

So along with protein promotion, the message to add more vegetables to lunch and dinner in place of flour based foods is paramount if our goal is to save our waistlines, save money on health insurance and perhaps, save our lives.

Courtney Carpenter, MS is the nutrition consultant for David's Natural Market. She has been working in natural food stores as a consultant since 1982. She has a master of science degree in Human Nutrition Science from The University of Bridgeport in Connecticut and a bachelor of arts degree from The College of William and Mary in Virginia. Her articles for the Foundation reflect her own perspective on health, wellness and nutrition.