A Case for Plant Protein

I checked for the meaning of meat in the Cambridge dictionary,?and what I got was?"the flesh of an animal when it is used for food". I did the same for milk and I got "the white liquid produced by cows, goats, and sheep and used by humans as a drink or for making butter, cheese, etc."

I'm surprised that these definitions have not been adjusted. I'm sure vegans will not agree with Cambridge as we now have meat from plant sources and vegetable milk like soy milk, coconut milk, tiger nut milk etc.?

One key nutrient that animal food source provides to the body is protein. Protein is an indispensable nutrient for a healthy body. The name was derived from the Greek word "proteas", which means primary or first place, revealing the crucial role of protein in the human body.?

You can visualise protein as a long chain of beads, with each bead representing an amino acid. In other words, when 50 or more amino acids combine,?they form a protein. In the human body, different proteins perform different functions, ranging from the repair and development of your body tissues to allowing metabolic responses and coordinating biological operations.

Proteins not only provide a structural basis for your body, but they also keep the pH and fluid balance in check.?They support your immune system, transport and store nutrients, and can provide energy if necessary.

Humans depend on animal sources such as meat, egg and milk, and plant sources such as pulses, cereals and nuts for protein. However, the proportion of protein from animal and plant sources varies significantly according to the economic strength of the people. For example, animal sources provide more than 60% of the protein in industrialized countries but account for only 20-25% of total protein in Africa, India, and other developing countries.

Why the discrepancy? Your guess is as good as mine. It cost more to derive protein from animal than it is to get from plants. From an economic standpoint; the cost of producing, processing and storing 1kg of animal protein is higher than that of plant protein.?

A study conducted to compare the environmental cost of producing protein from animal and plant sources reveals that producing 1 kg of protein from kidney beans requires approximately eighteen times less land, ten times less water, nine times less fuel, twelve times less fertilizer and ten times less pesticide in comparison to producing 1 kg of protein from beef.?

Apparently, "producing protein from beans requires the least amount of resource inputs, while beef requires the most, in addition to creating animal waste. Furthermore, the major plant protein source; the pulses, has a regenerative impact on the soil as they help you fix nitrogen to the soil through the bacteria domicile in their root noodles.?

Considering the findings within the broader context of public health nutrition, there are numerous advantages to be gained from reducing the consumption of animal products and adopting more plant-based food choices.

We will need to provide incentives to fuel the demand for such a dietary shift and must work together to change the perception that animal products.