Protein Reduction in Your Diet
How Reduced Protein Intake Can Improve Your Overall Health
Eat More Fruits and Vegetables
Below is the chapter on Protein taken from Dr. Sean Woods’ book, “The Healing Vibe.”
The most misunderstood nutrient in our diets is protein and is the one I need to convince patients to reduce in their diet to improve their health. In severe cases, telling them to stop consuming protein completely becomes an even tougher task. The first thing a protein junkie will ask when I suggest fruits and vegetables is, “Where do I get my protein?” I tell them they will get all the protein they need in its perfect form in the fruits and vegetables. All amino acids are found in a variety of fruits and vegetables, and in the perfect form ready to start doing their multitude of jobs. The proteins found in fruits and vegetables are already in their most simple form called amino acids. They are ready to start building and creating everything you need to be strong and healthy.
Proteins from other sources need to be first broken down by our digestive system into amino acids, resulting in additional waste that the kidneys will need to excrete, called urea. Urea is generally not a bad product for the body unless it gets excessive and overwhelms the kidneys. I often ask my patients, “Have you ever seen a horse or a gorilla? These animals don’t eat meat or other high protein foods, yet they produce beautiful muscular bodies and have great stamina.” I realize humans are different from these animals, but the building of muscle tissue is very similar.
When protein is overconsumed, especially in the wrong form, it can be very irritating and considered foreign to the body. This is due to the acidifying and coagulating nature of certain proteins. If proteins enter the body in excessive amounts, in denatured states, and in an undigested form, the body can start seeing these proteins as foreign invaders that need to be confronted by the immune system. In this autoimmune scenario, it’s not as though the body attacks itself, as much as the body goes after the bad proteins that are stuck to cell membranes and are clogging up the body’s systems.
If you take in more of these proteins than you need, they begin to build up in the body. These protein scenarios create autoimmune reactions and various other diseases related to a body that is overwhelmed with protein. These proteins become stuck in the lymphatic, fascial, and meridian systems. Viruses and other bugs are attracted to this acidic, coagulated scenario created by the proteins and can replicate very quickly, producing a mucous response. A healthy response from the body when these proteins build up is to give you cold and flu-like symptoms if they are in the lymph and vomiting or diarrhea if they are in the bowels. These microbes can live in specific areas of the body, not making you outright sick, but creating fatigue, brain fog, back pain joint stiffness, and emotional problems.
I was recently helping my 7th grader study for a science test on ecosystems. The subject of eutrophication came up and learning this concept gave me a deeper understanding of the significance of too much urea and protein in the diet. In the process of eutrophication too many nutrients get into a body of water and algae naturally overgrow as they feed on it. As the algae die, they cut off the sunlight to the plants and deprive the water of oxygen. Remember, our bodies carry photos of light throughout our meridians and oxygen though our arteries. This cycle can lead to the death of plants, fish, and any living creature in the water. The ‘red tide’ which is a major problem along the coasts of Florida is a prime example eutrophication. This same exact process happens in the human body as we are a living ecosystem with over 70 percent of our bodies composed of water.
The quality and quantity of the amino acids you ingest are critical to the inner workings of your body. Proteins are 100 percent completely necessary to the building of the human body. They are the building blocks of the body and they play a significant role in the complex working of the cell membrane. These amino acids bond together in different shapes and change form in order to create motion in the cell. They are also needed to transport specific information into and out of the cell. This information can be physical, chemical, electrical, or vibrational in nature. Undigested, denatured, or the wrong proteins on cell membranes cause miscommunication and a dysfunction of normal bodily processes.
Many people see good results in weight loss consuming large amounts of protein. As the body burns excess glucose in the presence of high protein, energy, water and waste products are created. Overloading on protein for weight loss puts major eliminative stress on the kidneys, liver, and lymphatic system. If the person has these systems working adequately enough, they will see positive weight loss results from this high protein diet approach. Even if they see good results, they should be careful continuing a high protein diet because it will eventually run the body dry.
With excess protein for weight loss, the lymph system can coagulate from the acidifying effect of an overabundance of protein. When this high protein load stops, the weight usually comes right back on. Most of this weight gain is in the form of water and cholesterol to protect the body from the acidic overload. I commonly see very dried lymph and fascia and increases in muscle tenderness when a body is unable to process overloads in protein consumption. When weight loss is done by consuming fruits and vegetables, you won’t have to worry about the rebound effect seen with other types of weight loss. The work of the fruit and vegetable plan, however, is much harder and you often hit some real sticking points along the way. However, if you stay with it, you end up correcting sugar imbalance problems, you reset your metabolism, and you can even go so far as to correct genetic weaknesses handed down to you by your ancestors.
There are two different scenarios that can be seen with weight and proteins. The first case is with a person who is overweight and experiences low thyroid, complains of being cold all the time, and/or experiences hot flashes. These cases are highly dehydrated internally, mostly from congested protein, and the body responds with excess water and cholesterol to buffer the acidic situation. The other scenario is the person who is skinny and has trouble putting on weight. Malabsorption issues, created by the inability to properly digest proteins, cause the adrenals to run high and burn through calories looking for nutrition. In both cases the kidneys are not filtering well and causes a rebound effect in either direction. The interesting effect in these cases is that on a high fruit and vegetable diet, in the beginning, the overweight person may gain some weight and the skinny person will lose some weight. This weight change can occur until the new diet starts to loosen the congestion and the kidneys and digestive system are able to start eliminating the excess protein.
As you begin to clean up body tissues and you start feeling better, it gets easier to notice when you start hurting again and link this to the last few things that you ate or drank. I always love the “ah ha” moment when a patient comes in who has been suffering from pain and who has been improving and says, “I tried eating x again and my symptoms came back with a vengeance.” When bodies are filled with proteins and toxins it is hard to pinpoint the exact food that is causing all the problems. The digestive system gets so weak in some people that anything that causes the organs to work causes a problem. They become sensitive to almost everything and end up living on only a few foods. If you are an ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s sufferer this scenario may sound familiar to you. As you improve the digestive system, and remove excess protein, the body becomes much more tolerant to a wide variety of foods.
As more protein is added to the system and left undigested, it begins to form thick, dense mucous plaquing. Most of this problem is occurring in the wall of the small intestine and deep into the mesenteric junction. This is where you will find yeast, parasites, bacteria, virus, heavy metals, heavy chemicals, and other waste that is stuck and beating up on a body. What we start to see, and end up treating with medications, are the symptoms of this digestive congestion. Symptoms from this can represent itself in a multitude of ways. In the muscle system you will have rotator cuff problems, neck pain and degeneration, elbow and wrist problems, and fibromyalgia. Internally you will problems ranging from digestive disorders of all kinds, heart and lung congestion including asthma, and sinus and ear infections. These conditions can be the result of gluten, or any other protein, entering the body and creating a congesting scenario.