Plant-Based Diets Won't Help

Plant-Based Diets Won’t Help

In this newsletter, I will be writing about what I learned from a discussion between Peter Ballerstedt and Dr. Gabrielle Lyon about the importance of protein in the diet. In this discussion, they discuss what ruminants are and why they are important. They also discuss the misleading way protein is calculated in plant products, how to make sense of current dietary guidelines, and whether should we eat more plants.

Peter Ballerstedt earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Georgia and his doctorate at the University of Kentucky. He was the forage extension specialist at Oregon State University from 1986 to 1992. He worked in the forage seed industry from 2011 until 2023. He is a member of several national and international scientific societies, participates in related global initiatives, and is the current President of the American Forage and Grassland Council. Peter is an advocate for ruminant animal agriculture and the essential role of animal source foods in the human diet.

Well-respected functional medicine practitioner, Dr. Gabrielle Lyon, is the founder of the Institute for MUSCLE-CENTRIC MEDICINE®. Dr. Lyon is a nationally recognized speaker and media contributor specializing in brain and thyroid health, lean body mass support, and longevity. Dr. Lyon received her doctorate in osteopathic medicine from the Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine and is board-certified in family medicine. She earned her undergraduate degree in Human Nutrition from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she studied vitamin and mineral metabolism, chronic disease prevention and management, and diet composition’s physiological effects. She also completed a research/clinical fellowship in Nutritional Science and Geriatrics at Washington University in St. Louis. 

Ballerstedt connects agricultural health with modern health.  His scientific contributions are critical and he presents information in an understandable way.

Dr. Lyon asked Ballerstedt to explain the concept of ISO caloric versus ISO metabolic diets. He explained that different diets with the same number of calories from different sources can have different metabolic effects on the body. Sugar and starch can affect insulin differently than fats, even if they provide the same amount of energy. A majority of Americans' diets consist of ultra-processed foods, cereals, sugar, and industrial oils. They both agree that the majority of our diet is plant-based and ultra-processed, which can be detrimental to our health. fell

Ballerstedt discusses his journey into studying forage Agronomy and ruminant nutrition. Ruminants are animals with four stomachs that have pre-gastric fermentation, making them essential for human health and the productivity of global ruminant animal agriculture. Ruminants upcycle marginal land and cellulose-rich plants into high-quality meat and milk through gut microbiome fermentation. Ruminants can digest high-fiber, low-fat, and poor protein-quality diets from forage crops, producing volatile fatty acids and microbial protein. Agricultural land not suitable for crops can support grazing and ruminant production, which is necessary for the health of those biomes. Livestock integration into cropping systems is essential, as over half of the biomass of crops like corn or wheat is inedible by humans.

Dr Lyon then asked Peter where is the intersection between ruminants and human health and what is he hoping to deliver to the world. Peter explained that in 2007 he realized that he was a 51-year-old obese pre-diabetic and he found a lifestyle intervention that emphasized protein and animal source protein and taught him that he need not fear the fat that comes along with these foodstuffs that provide the animal source protein. He now calls this metabolic health and he calls it therapeutic carbohydrate reduction.

Dr. Lyon encourages people to go listen to Peter’s lectures because he really brings up the point that not all proteins are created equal. Also, crude protein is different than other sources of protein. He also talks about what we might be getting wrong and how things are becoming very confusing as it relates to this integration of and maintenance of animal products into our diet.

Humanity's diet is already plant-based and causing harm.  There is abundant evidence of harm caused by too little animal-source food in the diet. Nutritional epidemiology studies are based on weak-quality evidence. Children can be stunted due to a lack of essential nutrients provided by animal-source food.

Crude protein is an estimate of protein in a food or feed. Plant-source foods have more non-protein nitrogen than animal-source foods. The ounce equivalents used in dietary guidelines have never been demonstrated to be equivalent.  Plant-based diets may not be as helpful as previously thought, according to Peter Ballerstedt. The dietary guidelines equate the ounce equivalent of peanut butter to a kidney bean to an ounce of red meat.  Labels on plant-based protein bars may not accurately reflect the amount of protein due to non-protein nitrogen.  Plant-based source foods vary more in composition than animal-source foods..

Moving away from high-quality protein may have unintended consequences, particularly for vulnerable populations like youth. The WHO recommends meat, eggs, dairy, and seafood as the best sources of high-quality nutrients for children 6 to 24 months of age. Children aged six to 24 months require meat, eggs, dairy, and seafood for proper development. Only 60 percent of children globally in this age group consume these foods. Plant-based diets may not provide the necessary nutrients for children's growth.

Advocacy for a plant-only diet lacks a scientific foundation. Plant-based diets may not significantly reduce emissions from agriculture. Improving metabolic health could have a greater impact on sustainability. The healthcare industry is a significant source of pollution. Animal agriculture contributes around 4% of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Reducing animal-based product consumption may not have a significant impact on emissions.  Metabolic health and other environmental factors may be more impactful.

Carbohydrate restriction has historical origins and can be beneficial for health. Eating adequate protein and healthy fats is important, while added sugars should be limited. Eating meals together and prioritizing social interaction is beneficial.

Peter discussed the history of dietary research and how it has influenced current dietary guidelines. Eating has never been solely about health and wellness but is also deeply ingrained in political and moral agendas. In the 50’s we had an influential individual who promoted the idea that it was fat in the diet that caused heart disease. There was a scientific controversy. He ascended because of politics, not because of evidence. That then became the basis, along with a certain environmental ethos that was developing at the time. Diet for a Small Planet was a very popular book along with Population Bomb. These were influential and had an effect on the culture and then showed up in the policy.

Dr. Lyon stated that the point Peter brings up is the idea that eating has never been about eating. Health and wellness have never been about simply food. It is deeply ingrained in the political agenda. It is deeply ingrained in morality and things other than nutrition and wellness.

Dr.Lyon then asks Peter what he considers adequate protein for an individual versus optimal and what that looks like. The target amount of adequate dietary protein is a controversial topic, with some suggesting .8 grams per kilogram and others suggesting north of 1.2 grams per kilogram. Peter says that too many people see .8 grams as a target rather than a minimum and you can see this in the literature when people talk about food supplies. They say that we are overconsuming. He says that is the minimum amount we need to avoid disease. Others would say it needs to be somewhere north of 1.2 grams per kilogram and then others point to the fact that there’s a real high ceiling for safety. Dr. Lyon and Peter agree that we have not found that ceiling yet but that it is there. Peter says that it is really important for people to understand that the RDA of protein is a minimum, not a target.

In the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee report, they looked at protein and what the data said was that 40% of Americans weren’t getting enough and that most females over the age of eight weren’t getting enough protein in their diet. That’s with them considering 0.8 grams per kilogram as the target as well as considering animal protein as if it’s equivalent. Both of these are not valid assumptions yet that’s how bad it is even with those assumptions and they’re able to say protein is not a nutrient of concern.

Dr. Lyon says that a change in the guidelines for protein consumption is needed. The RDA at 0.8 grams per kilogram equals 0.37 grams per pound which is really low. She says that the data supports double that as more of an optimal range. People saying that we are eating too much protein is clearly not true.

Sugar is the third leading source of calories in the human diet after rice and wheat. Wheat is a poor source of protein for humans but is a major component of the human diet.

A common misconception held by the general public Peter says is that plant sources of nutrition are equivalent to animal sources of nutrition. A second misconception is that there is a possibility of animal-free agriculture. That is not possible.

He also states that 95% of the world’s vegetarians are economic vegetarians meaning they can’t afford animal products or they are not available to them.

Peter then gives an example of Colonial North America. When people visited Colonial North America they were amazed at the amount of game and animal-sourced foods from farming that were being consumed multiple times a day. One of the things that happened is the height of people in Colonial America increased and that is seen as an indicator of nutritional status for the population. In The Netherlands, after World War Two they really emphasized dairy consumption in their population and it’s interesting that they are one of the tallest populations in the world now.

Wheat is a poor source of protein for humans but is the single largest source of protein in the human diet. Cereals as a group are larger than all our animal-sourced foods combined. If you put real dairy on the breakfast cereal there’s sufficient lysine provided by the dairy which compensates for the lack of lysine in the breakfast cereal. Lysine is one of the essential amino acids that is limiting.

Many low-income countries do not meet the minimum protein requirements. Peter thinks rather than sending soy protein as famine relief these people would be better served with being sent culturally appropriate dried meat. Also, we have people who have shown that one egg a day can make a meaningful difference in a child's development in terms of their scholastic ability and social interactions.

Dietary interventions focused on reducing processed carbohydrates and ensuring sufficient animal products show promise in eliminating chronic disease burden.

Grassland and ruminant animal agriculture are critical components of a sustainable food system and global development. Misinformation about ruminant animals and agriculture is prevalent in the media, and better decision-making is necessary. The processed food industry has a much larger marketing budget than whole food commodities, and there are restrictions on how whole foods can market themselves. For instance, beef cannot say we are a better source of protein, we have more bioavailable zinc, iron, and selenium than impossible meat but impossible meat can say we are so much better than a beef burger.

The Texas Beef Council put together some pamphlets saying lean beef belongs in the diets of your high cholesterol patients. This got them a deceptive advertising complaint from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine which is a vegan advocacy group. Most of their members are not physicians.

Peter advocates for ruminants and their place in animal agriculture, particularly grass-based agriculture. He advocates for a ruminant revolution to globally and appropriately improve ruminant animal agriculture. Over 40% of humanity is malnourished, and Peter Ballerstedt believes that improving ruminant animal agriculture can help solve this problem. Improving our own health can improve the world, and Peter believes that a tipping point may only be 25% of people understanding the importance of ruminant animal agriculture. is prevalent in the media, and better decision-ming is necessary. Operations Military. She is the fr of the Institutof Muscle-Centric Medicine® and serves patients worldwide.