Lyle McDonald wrote:
>> Bill R wrote:
> >
> > pathos wrote:
> > >
> > > In article <385626D5.4786 at erols.com>, Stuart Dunn <dunns99 at erols.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > > Protein intakes far above 100g increase the risk of
> > > > kidney failure, and certain types of protein, such as egg white protein
> > > > and casein, increase the amount of calium that is removed from the
> > > > bloodstream by the kidneys. In extreme cases, this causes kidney stones.
> > > > If that calcium that is lost is not properly replaced (from milk,
> > > > calcium pills, or food), osteoperosis will result.
> > >
> > > Sounds to me like this can be substaintiated with a paper or two. You
> > > state is a fact and it may be a fact but let the studies decide that.
> >
> > The person above is failing to consider that for a valid
> > comparison, all other parameters should be the same:
> > same total calcium, same total phosphorus.
> >
> > I bet that is not so in whatever study he is looking at.
> >
> > In any cases, the demographic group with the highest
> > bone mineral density -- namely, weightlifters -- also
> > is one with among the highest protein intakes. So it
> > certainly is not true that high protein diets *will*
> > cause calcium loss.
> >
> > This would be apparent to anyone capable of even
> > a modicum of thought.
>> All I'll say is that the vegan/anti-protein folks really need to look
> at more current reseearch. The protein-calcium loss is far from
> proven and recent research suggests that the early studies suggesting
> kidney damage were drawing false conclusions.
The amount of calcium in urine had to be increased to maintain the pH
level of it and that this had been proven. There is someone on this
discussion board that said that there was a study that disproved this,
but in the study the amount of protein taken in was not tracked. The
researchers relied on food intake questionaires given to women after
they got hip fractures. Keep in mind that before their diet was
modernized, Eskimos had the highest rates of osteoperosis in the world.
Besides, excess protein isn't the reason most vegans avoid animal
foods. It is usuallly for ethical reasons, and those who are vegans for
health reasons are doing so in order to take control of their diets and
make an improvement that will lower their risk of a heart attack. Vegan
men have a 4% risk of dying from a heart attack, compared to over 50%
for men who eat "normal" amounts of meat. It may be that part of the
reason is that vegans are more careful about trans fatty acids, but even
so, there is no evidence that vegans risk malnutrition, provided that
they take a vitamin B12 supplement and either get adequate sunlight or
take 400IU of vitamin D2 a day.
>> They might want to check out the paper:
> Millward, DJ. "Optimal intakes of protein in the human diet" Proc
> Nutr Soc (1999) 58: 403-413.
>> Rather than quoting from 20 year old books.
>> Lyle
